Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Should the Penguins bring Emil Bemstrom back for next season?

Episode Date: June 5, 2024

It was a rather unimpressive Penguins' tenure for Emil Bemstrom, and on this episode, Hunter and Patrick discuss how he performed, whether they should bring him back, and what comes next. He's the final player in the season in review series (already!) and they look at what he provided the team and what he lacked during his 24-game tenure. They also applaud Dubas for at least trying something new with a younger player before the deadline. After that, they bring back "what they'd fix about the NHL" and today, it's about ESPN and TNT! They discuss how ESPN and TNT have done so far and whether the former should replace its top play-by-play announcer.  Pat also brings up a new idea for airing games during the season before Hunter gives a small idea for TNT, even though the network has been better than ESPN. Finally, we have to discuss it...11 years ago today, the Penguins suffered one of their most painful playoff losses of the Crosby era.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.PolicygeniusCheck life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonnhl to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today we end our season in review series with a player that Pat and I don't expect to be back with the Penguins next year. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-s, Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Cinderfrew Wet, and you can follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins.

Of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fansul. Make Every Moment More. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet.

Visit Fan. duel.com slash locked on to get started. So, Pat, we have made it to the end for our season in review series. The final player that we have not reviewed yet for this season is Ford Emil Benstrom. So he was acquired at the end of February right before the trade deadline for Alex Neelander and a conditional sixth round pick. And it would have upgraded to a third round pick if Benstrom scored six goals for the rest of the season. But he got halfway there. He scored three goals with the Penguins and finished his season total with Columbus and Pittsburgh combined. Eight goals, 16 points.

Just with Pittsburgh in 24 games, though, three goals and five points during that time. His underlines were kind of just okay. He was below water and shot attempts for 60 minutes in terms of goals for goals against, eight four, eight against, 50% expected goals rate, 52% scoring chances for rate, 55% high danger chances for rate. I kind of saw that trade as kind of like a last ditch effort to at least get something out of the bottom six for the rest of the season. And while I did like Benstrom's release on a couple of his goals, I just didn't think he was that consistent for the Penguins overall. I think the trade was worth it at the time because, you know, the draft pick, it's a sixth in

2026. You're really not giving up much there. And I know that a lot of people like Alex Neelander within this organization, but he was given chance after chance of the penguins, and he just didn't run with it. I know he had a nice end of the season with Columbus. I want to see how he does in his next full season in the NHL, because I personally don't think he's going to repeat that, but I thought the trade was fine at the time. I'll still say it's fine. But overall, I see Benstrom as a player that the Penguins really shouldn't give a qualifying offer to right now. He is a restricted free agent. So if you do give him a qualifying offer, you retain his rights, and you can you can sign him to a deal.

But if you don't extend him a qualifying offer, he becomes an unrestricted free agent. And I think that's the route the Penguins need to go down just because they need to make quite a few changes to the bottom six. As we've said, countless times on this show. They do. And I'm right with you in the sense that at the time it was a fine enough trade. You have a guy who has consistently put up between five and ten goals for the majority of his career. He broke in in 2019-20, and that was probably his best goal-scoring season where he put up 10 with the Blue Jackets in 56 games. And the ingredients are there.

He's 25 years old. He's probably not reached his full potential, though I don't think it's much higher than what we've seen already. He's got a nice release. He can move. But at this point, there's better options out there. There's better ways to go. And it just doesn't feel like the kind of player they need right now. If they were kind of in a rebuild or just starting,

turning the corner from a rebuild, you think like 2006, 2007 penguins when they're all young, they're all figuring it out, they're all coming up together. It's a player you could make an argument for to hold on to, figure out if he fits in long term with this core, figure out if he's a player who's got more upside.

but at this point where the penguins are, you need a lot more sure things in your bottom six than you do projects. And he feels a lot more like a project than he does a consistent bottom six performer. Maybe he goes elsewhere a la kind of the same as Alex Neelander and has a little bit better of a performance. But overall, I just, I wasn't totally impressed with what he brought. He was fine. a liability. He wasn't a strength, but at this point, that can define so many players in that role, both on the Penguins and just in the NHL in general. So if they let him go, no big deal.

Right. And I mean, I don't just like looking at counting stats. Sometimes those can be deceiving, but you look at his time in the NHL so far, 228 games, 34 goals, 74 points. And his highest point output was last season, 22, 2022, 23. In 55 games, he had seven goals, 22 points. In terms of goal scoring output, his highest was as a rookie in 2020, played 56 games, 10 goals, 20 points during that time. He's kind of just a fringe, third, fourth liner at this point, kind of a 11th, third, 12th forward. The Penguins already have quite a few of those players on the team right now, even petting into next season. So I just don't know why you would want to burden yourself. with another one of those.

There's other better options that will be available in free agency and probably via trade that can play at a higher level than he did, even though it was only 24 games. Yeah, I would agree. And kind of to build on what you were saying about his overall career totals, like you said, 228 games, 34 goals, 74 points. That's a fourth line forward or a third line fill in with injuries. and that's fine enough. And I'm not denigrating his body of work.

I'm not talking crap on him as a player. But at this point, he is, I think we can say he is what he is. Maybe he's got a little bit more upside because, like I said, only 25 years old. He could maybe slot in and become a third line forward in the next couple of years and up his production a little bit. But when you hit your high watermark and goals, your rookie year and you kind of plateau there for the rest of, not the rest of, but your career. year so far.

I think we have a pretty good idea after almost after more than 200 games at the NHL level. That said, I will give him this. He has been on the Columbus Blue Jackets who have not really been one of the better teams since he entered into the league. They had one year where they stunned the Columbus Blue Jet or the, the Tampa Bay Lightning,

but that was right before he came in. And they kind of trailed off after the pandemic shortened the 2019-20 season. and then the pandemic shortened season in 2021. But since then, they've been on a downward slide. So they're one of those teams that I think you can put an asterisk next to just about everybody that plays for them and say, hey, look, this might not be exactly who they are. But I think in Bemstrom's case, you see the numbers after more than 200 games. We have a pretty good idea of what his ceiling is and where he is as a player.

Yeah, I would agree with you. And another thing for me, again, I liked his release quite a bit when he used it, but he just didn't use it enough. And I was always looking for more when it came to this player. Same with his foot speed. At times, I would notice him skate really well. And I'd be like, oh, I want more of that. But then he would just go back to just being a typical run-of-the-mill bottom sex option. So I applaud the effort that Kyle Dubus had when it came to this trade. But I just don't think you're going to get too much more out of him, even if you give him a one to two year contract. And if you do extend him a qualifying offer and bring him back, that's going to be really cheap anyway, 900k, 950k, maybe a million if that. Though, again, if they're up to me, I wouldn't do it. I'm, I'm the same. I don't think it's worth bringing him back. And to build on what you were saying, that kind of gets into saying what I was talking about him kind of just hopping out at being a bottom six forward. He skates really well at time. He has a really good release at times, but he's been, at least in my estimation and watching him,

unable to put all of that together, get two spots with his skating to use his release. And you would hope that he could eventually figure that out, put those together. And rather than be a bottom six forward, you could have him as a middle six forward, mainly a third line guy that can slot into your second line if need be for a short amount of time. But it just never came to be. never able to get to those high danger areas of the ice or get into those scoring areas, at least not consistently. Like you said, there were times where you would see it.

The first couple of games following the trade, it actually looked like he was going to pull it off. I mean, his first game was against the Flyers and that crazy, what was it, 8-7 win or 7-6 win, whichever one it was. 7-6, yes. 7-6. And he scored a pretty nice goal in his first game as a penguin. And you thought, okay, maybe there's something here.

but there was way too much time in between him making those plays and not making those plays. So if he ever figures it out consistently, he could be a solid middle six forward, but like I've been saying, you get to the past 200 games mark and you can kind of feel like, okay, this guy is who he is. And again, going back to something I said a few minutes ago as well, you can say the same about a lot of the Penguins' bottom six options from this past season overall, maybe mainly outside of Drew O'Connor before he got elevated and then Lars Eller as well just because Eller had a great year for the Penguins too but that'll do it for this first segment of today show

and that'll also do it for our season in review series looking back at the 2020 23 24 pittsper penguins grade wise pat what are you going to give this a C overall I think incomplete what do you think C C minus like yeah what like I said wasn't a strength but also wasn't a liability, he just was there. Yeah, I hear you. I probably shouldn't have said incomplete just because we got at least an okay sample out of him. But yeah, C minus somewhere in that ballpark works for me.

But again, that'll do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to bring back a segment that we did last week fixing the NHL part two. We did part one last week. We can continue that for today's episode. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first. a sponsor, and that is Fandul. It's winner to take all time in the NBA and NHL,

and Fandle's giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 to bet on spreads, money lines, player props, and so much more. All you have to do is visit fandul.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count. That's Fandle, America's number one sports book. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host Patrick Dam. So it's time.

Fixing the NHL Part 2. I'm going to start with some of the broadcasting stuff. So ESPN, TNT, they have the broadcasting rights in the United States for the NHL. And I think both could be better. I'm going to start with ESPN. And I mean no disrespect to Sean McDonough. He is great at the NFL. he is great at college football hockey just hasn't come naturally to him if i were in charge

i would move bob wucheson up to be espn's number one play-by-play guy would choosing is to use one word outstanding he really is he has kind of like how i said about gets off yesterday that right conviction that right energy just had he has such a great read on the game overall. He knows when to get loud. He knows when to quiet down to let the crowds tell the story a little bit. And his goal calls are also great. And he also hasn't made as many mistakes. I feel like McDonough has. I mean, you've seen McDonough over the last couple of seasons, get players names wrong, just even get some of the rules wrong on broadcast. And it's just like, I know it's still kind of new to him, but he just hasn't wowed me as

ESPN's number one play-by-play guy. Ray Ferraro is incredible. He's been doing this for a long time. I love him on ESPN broadcast, but McDonough, he needs to get a bit better. And I think Wachewskin should be ESPN's top play-by-play guy. I would definitely agree with what you're saying. I think with McDonough, it's more that hockey's not his speed. And I don't mean that in a negative way. It's very similar to what I was saying yesterday about certain play-by-play and color commentator people. The games, just a little too fast for him. You talked about he's great at football, he's great at baseball, he's graded a couple

other things. They're slower games. You have more time to build the narrative, talk about what you're, what, what's going on in the game. Hockey, it is go, go, go majority of the time. You know, we've looked at these playoffs and it's happened a lot throughout all of the playoffs this year. We've had several games where we go five, six, seven minutes without a whistle. And it's just nonstop. And McDonough speed is more like football where it's like you have a play,

everything happens, reset. Have a play. Everything happens. Reset. You don't get that very often, especially not in this era of hockey anymore. Late 90s, early 2000s, yeah, probably would have worked a lot better because clutch and grabs, slower pace, more face off. more whistles. So I'm right there with you. I want to kind of keep going with what you're saying. And I want to do a little bit more with the scheduling. They're kind of doing this with ESPN and TNT.

I would like to see them do it more going next year. And that's, I know it was a meme. I know we all made fun of it, but it tells me that it worked. Remember NBCSN's Wednesday night rivalry, when everybody made a meme about, oh, these teams aren't rivals, blah, blah, but we were talking about it.

We were tuning in. We knew what it was. I would love to see, and again, we'll pick Wednesday night as just the random example because it was the last one. But whether it's TNT, whether it's ESPN, whomever, there should be a Wednesday night national game before the Super Bowl. And it should be ESPN hockey night, whatever you want to call it. And Wednesday night, that's your best or second best matchup on the schedule that night.

It doesn't have to be rivalry-based, doesn't have to be history-based. It's just, hey, here are two great teams, and it's Wednesday night hockey on ESPN or Wednesday night hockey on TNT. And then, and they are starting to do this a little bit more on ESPN. It's a bit of a challenge because you also have the NBA rights through Disney on ABC. But post Super Bowl, there should be a Sunday game at noon on a ABC or ESPN. And I know people hate day games. I get it. It's annoying all that.

but you know, at least in this era of hockey, when there is a game on Sunday at noon, the playoffs are right around the corner. And it really starts to set the stage that, okay, we're getting into the final stretch of the NHL season. The playoffs are right here. And think about one of the best games from this penguin season this year. It was the Tampa game.

And it was an afternoon game. And it was one of the best games of the, year and it really set the tone that, oh, okay, it's a midday game and there's a team fighting for their playoff lives in it. Yep, I was there for that game and that was a bona fide playoff crowd. I know this was during the regular season, but that was a playoff like crowd. The amount of let's go Penn's chance throughout that game, the amount of times this crowd would get insanely loud for just the smallest little things that were happening on the ice, that was a playoff crowd. So whenever March or April, especially April, comes around, you know when there's a day game,

those final couple months of the season, you know the push for the playoffs is fully on. And while I understand your take about, you know, that Wednesday night game, honestly, I would bring some form of Wednesday night rivalry back, but just have it be a legitimate rivalry. Make the schedule so you have Wednesday night games scheduled on whether it's ESPN or TNT in the United States. have it be between two teams who are legit rivals. I don't want it to be like NBCSN where you have, I'm just throwing two teams out there,

the Penguins and the Blues, for example. That's not a rivalry here, people. If you do Penn's caps, Penns Flyers, Penns Islanders, Penns Rangers, obviously. So the entire Metropolitan Division is basically what you're saying. I'm just using the Metropolitan Division as an example. You want to go to the Pacific. I mean, we can do Edmonton, Vancouver,

Edmonton Calgary if you want. We can do L.A., San Jose, especially when San Jose gets good with Macklin-Colabini. Again, I'm just throwing rivalries at the wall here, but have it be an actual rivalry, not that cheap stuff that NBCSN did towards the late stages of its tenure with the NHL's media rights. Yeah, no doubt.

And then one last thing, and I know that this is simple guy on a podcast, making something more complex, or talking about something more complex, and trying to make it simple. If there's one thing I would really like to see the NHL do, it's really further their partnership with ESPN and ESPN Plus, because let's call this what this is.

Part of the reason the NHL got back with ESPN is because ESPN wanted to launch ESPN Plus. They wanted to start their streaming service, or not start because it was already a thing, but they wanted to give it more. and they were like, hey, we can get hockey rights back, and that can be a big home for the NHL. One thing that this league needs to do is to become more accessible. I'm not calling for RSNs to go by the wayside,

but I think we are headed that way in the near future. But take blackouts out of the equation off of ESPN Plus. Thank you. Make ESPN Plus the exclusive home of the NHL. And it's not saying that ESPN is going to cover every game every night for every team. But if you want to watch Penguins Capitals on a Thursday night, you can watch the Capitals broadcast or you can watch the Penguins broadcast. If you subscribe to ESPN Plus, no matter where you are in North America,

you can watch this game. Because the biggest problem the NHL has, and a lot of leagues have this issue now, but I think the NHL has it more than most, is a lack of accessibility. It's really hard to find games. It's really hard to watch games. And I love the fact that I have an ESPN Plus subscription. I can watch every other team.

I can watch all 31 teams except the Penguins because I'm in Pittsburgh. But that's great for accessibility and great for hardcore hockey fans like myself. But if you want to watch a team and you're in their market and you're not, a cable subscriber, which a lot more people aren't anymore, why not just say, hey, screw it, you know what? We will just play this game on ESPN Plus. You can watch the Penguins broadcast, the opposing teams broadcast,

and that will bring more people into your game because you're making it easier to find rather than making people jump through a million hoops just to watch a game. Especially those illegal websites that are probably downloading malware on your computer and all that crap. I mean, you know, we used to do that quite often. But thankfully now I have Fubo TV, so I don't have to deal with that anymore.

I got one more. And while I do think TNT is better than ESPN, I want their number one broadcasting crew to be a bit better. I think Kenny Albert is fine. Is he great? No. Is he bad? Also, no. I would take him over Sean McDonough, though, when I compare the two networks number one play-by-play broadcasters,

but I still think he could be better. Outside of that, Eddie Olcheck, I'm sorry. He just doesn't really do it that much for me anymore. It feels like when he's giving analysis, he's always reacting to being like, oh, this is what happened, but this is what I would have done. It's like, okay, but I want actual analysis on the play. And then his obsession with too many men on the ice is just a meme, I think, at this point. And then Brian Boucher, he just doesn't really do it that much for me either.

I like TNT's intermission panel. I do think they're funny. sometimes I think they try too hard to be funny, but it is a nice breath of fresh air overall. Liam McHugh is great. Henrik Lundquist, I know on the ice you can say what you want about him, and trust me,

we all know he had a lot of battles against the Penguins over the years. Him flipping the net over will forever be hilarious. But as an analyst, he does a very good job. I actually learn something from him every time he talks about the game, especially when it comes to old tenders. parts of the other crew, I feel like could be a bit better. But I just want to see TNT also improve their number one broadcasting crew a bit as well.

So just both networks, I think, could take steps in a better direction for next year and I think in future years as well. No doubt. I love the way that TNT's leaning into having fun with it. I'd rather them try and fail than not try at all, which is always a hallmark of the NHL. They'd rather just not try at all than try and fail. and that's been great with TNT. Real quick, I don't know what his contractual obligations are with the Washington Capitals, but if we could get Joe Beninati back on national broadcast for hockey,

I would take all the money I have and bring him back because we talked about it a couple weeks ago in a throwback segment like we're going to do here in a minute. But his call on the Hvgeny Malkin, no look backhand pass is electric. and or backhand going up past. It was electric. And he is a great hockey broadcaster. If we could get him back on the national stage, I would take it in a heartbeat.

I remember, you know, when I was a kid watching all those Penn's Caps games and I would be forced to watch the Capitals broadcast, I really liked how he called the games. And it translated over to Versus during those days. He just has a great feel for the game. His energy is infectious. and he's incredible.

I really wish he could do more national games. So I completely agree with you on that. But that would do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, yes, Pat and I are going to revisit some heartbreak, some pain for the Penguins organization. As 11 years ago today, Patrice Bergeron scored the double overtime winner

for the Boston Ruins to get his team up three games to nothing in the Eastern Conference Final against the Penguins in 2013. Pat and I are going to discuss that right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Gambon. Yes, for those watching on YouTube, Pat is very upset right now. More upset than I probably am just because it's been 11 years,

but it still stings a little bit of just how the Penguins lost that series to the Boston ruins. At that time, I was only 15. I was a freshman in high school finishing up. my finals and I remembered when that game went to overtime, I watched the first one and it was pretty late at that point. And my mom was like, okay, you need to go to bed. You have a final tomorrow. And I'm like, are you serious? This is double overtime and sustainability got playoffs. I know the material. She goes, no, you need to go to bed. And I'm like, okay, whatever. Of course, I'm not going to

listen. I'm 15 years old. So I snuck back downstairs after everyone went to bed and watched double over time. and I'm thankful that I restrained myself because I didn't scream or yell when the penguins lost that. I just basically sunk my head and I'm like, you've got to be freaking kidding me. That series, I know it's been 11 years, but man, it stinks.

Just the way the penguins lost it, the way Tuka Rask was 985 for the Bruins and Net, the way the penguins just had so many fits trying to get around the Bruins neutral zone structure called Julian badly outcoached Dan Bilesma in that series. And as a trivia question, do you know who scored the Penguins two goals in that series? Okay. So I know one of them was Sutter.

Brandon Sutter. He scored in the 6-1 blowout in game two. So that means because they got shut out in games one and four. Yes. Let's see. So I know it wasn't any of the big guns. They got completely shut out in that series. Crosby, Malk, and Latang, none of them scored.

Neither did a Ginla. It was Chris Kunitz in this game that was 11 years ago today. He had the one goal against the Bruins. So it was Sutter and Kunitz who scored in to what you were saying, I was 22. I was just finishing up college. I had a job with IUP that year because it was going into my senior year. I had a job in a professional job study thing for my senior year.

And I was living at IUP that summer because I started the job in the summer. And I just remember being at one of the bars that people would go to to watch sports. Like there was one bar up there was like you knew that's where you went when there was Penguins games, Steelers games in the fall. If you were up there in the summer like I was, Pirates games that were primates. that were prime time. And that city goes dead when the call, when school's out.

And I was one of like 10 people and we all were just sitting there like head in hand or hands and head like staring at our beers and just being like, oh my God, they're going to get swept. And you're right though. Like that series, I think was the real actual end of Dan Bilesma as the Penguins head coach. Because it wasn't.

just, hey, you got out coached on the margins, a couple decisions here and there. No, just nothing. I mean, nothing worked for the penguins. And you brought up the fact that Tuka Rask had a 9-8-5. Tomas Vokun had a 9-15. You get a goalie playing 9-15 hockey in the conference final. That should be good enough to win. I felt bad for him throughout that series. I mean, he was great all playoffs long for the penguins, especially when Flurry was struggling in the game. the first round against the Islanders he brought in, or he came in, excuse me, stabilized the net and was tremendous for the Penguins throughout that playoff run. I felt awful for him in that series against the Bruins.

And also, we love Yarmierro, we always have, but he got away with a blatant hook on the getting ballroom in double over time. That should have been called, but that was peak NHL playoff officiating. Yes, it's been 11 years, whatever, but he definitely got away with a hook there before Burj Rons, double O.T. winner. And I'll also say this about that series. I had tickets to go to game five. I didn't know it

until they got swept after game four. Game four was on the last day of school. My final was the day after game three. That was my final exam of the school year. I got to be on that. I remember the grade I got. Anyways, again,

my last day of school was on game four, the night of game four, excuse me. And after the loss, mom comes downstairs. She's obviously upset just like I am and I'm probably about to cry because I'm a stupid 15 year old kid. And she looks in me and she goes, you would have went to game five. And I'm like, excuse me. You said you didn't have tickets. She goes, no, here. And she hands me her phone. The tickets were in her email. And I just basically collapsed. I was so upset because I was going up to Pittsburgh anyway, because my mom, my sister and my dad were going out to California.

she had to have some sort of operation for her nose. And I was going up to Pittsburgh for a week. And I was supposed to go to game five with my grandpa. So I was very upset after that, to say the least. Yeah, that's, that's brutal, man. One last thing about maybe not just so much that series, but that playoff run. I know we all meme about it.

I certainly still do about putting a Ginla on the wrong wing. But at the same time, he played 15 games and still put up. 12 points. He was the third highest score for the penguins behind the guys you wanted to be the leaders. And Malkin was 16, Latang was 16, and Crosby with 15. And then there's a Ginla with 12. So yeah, I know that it was annoying. We didn't like it.

But he still produced. Yeah, he was still good. I mean, was it annoying? Yes. But did I also get over it pretty quick? Also, yes. It just felt like at the time when I was 15, I know the Penguins had gotten the first one of the Crosby, Malkin, Latangera in 2009.

But after that series in 2013 against the Bruins, I was really thinking, are they ever going to get back to another final? Thankfully, they did twice in 2016 and 2017. But I really had that thought for quite a while after that series. But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this episode. Pat and I will be back with another show for you all on Thursday. So until then, for Pat, I'm Hunter Hodes. Thank you all so much for tuning in.

We'll talk with you all on Thursday.