Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Should we read into any of the scrimmage lines?

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

Happy Tuesday! Hunter's voice is still a bit groggy but hey, it's a process. He starts the show by going into the Penguins training camp schedule for the next couple of weeks and when you can watch them at the UPMC Complex. Hunter gives the schedule for the first day of camp on Thursday and then does so for the next week before going into when training camp ends. He also touches on how a lot of the top players will be split into different "teams" to make it competitive, especially in the scrimmages. After that, he goes into the lines that we saw for a scrimmage between some of the Penguins regulars on Tuesday (and yes, we are reading into it just a little :). He looks at some lines that you'll likely see this season while looking at some others that could be used that have some potential. Finally, Hunter ends the show by discussing the three players that retired from the league on Tuesday.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What's up Penguins fans? Happy Tuesday this September 20th, 23 days now until puck drop for the 2022-2020 penguin season. And yes, find me over here for those that are watching on YouTube. There is Skipper the Penguin. One of the only stuffed animals that is at my house right now. And yes, he sleeps in the bed with me. I have no shame. So if anyone is wondering why he is in the picture, well, you know, there you go. So again, I have no shame in that. For today's show, we're going to get into the Penguins Training Camp schedule that came out today. I'll give you all of the information on that. Remember, all the practices are free and open to the public. I think the only practices that I don't think you all will be able to go to are the game day skates. I think those are going to be closed.

We're also going to get into some fun scrimmage lines and pairings that, you know, everyone says, do not read into it. And I would say this as well, but, you know, I'm going to read into it just a little. bit, just a little bit, because there are some pairings there that I think we could see during the regular season. And then I'm going to end the show with some talk about some of the retirements today with P.K. Suban, Zendano Chara, and Keith Yandall. So that's all coming up right after this drop. You're Locked on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast.

I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow me on Twitter on Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter at L.O. and so much for making this your first listen of the day. So a lot of fun things happening in Penguin Land lately again. I apologize. My voice is still not back to 100% yet. I've been dealing with some COVID stuff for the last week.

The last thing that the last two things that have just been taking, little longer to go away are the sore throat and the head in sinus congestion. For some reason, it just wants to stay around longer. Don't know why. You know, I've been taking some medicine, then trying to drink some tea with honey. You know, it works a little bit, but then it comes back. So, you know, the voice I have right now, that's the one you're going to have until it's fully back. But, okay, let's get rid of it. So about 3.30 today on Tuesday, the Penguins released their UPMC, Lemieux Sports Complex training camp schedule.

Remember, for those that don't know, September 22nd is the first day of camp for the penguins that is on a Thursday, three weeks to the day, actually, for when they open up on the season on October 13th. So the players, you know, they'll be split into, you know, basically like, I think it's like three teams,

something like that. So there will be two practice sessions. from 9 to 9.45 on Tuesday for those that want to go, Team 1 will be practicing, Team 2 will practice, and then they'll have a scrimmage between each other from 10 to 1045. They'll have some conditioning, and then Team 3 is going to practice, and then Team 3 will also have a conditioning thing.

And then Friday, you know, Team 2 and Team 3 will practice, then they'll scrimmage. Team 1 will then finish the day with practice, and then Saturday, Team 3 and Team 1 will practice. They'll also have a scrimmage. Sunday, remember that? I can't believe that's coming up. quickly here. The Penguins will have their first preseason game. There'll be a morning skate for that,

one o'clock game against Columbus. And the Penguins will also play another game against the Blue Jackets that night. So I think there's going to be a split. I think it's just going to be like a split team. A couple of preseason games. They'll be a day off next Monday. They'll have a game against Detroit next Tuesday, so a week from today. And then, you know, a lot of practices after that, some scrimmages on the 30th and all that stuff. and then they'll officially wrap up camp on Friday, October 7th, October 8th. So camp will be going for about a couple weeks. But again, for those that are thinking of going on Thursday, I'll repeat this for you all. Again, Team 1 and Team 2 will practice at the same time on two different rinks.

They'll scrimmage. They'll do some conditioning. And then you can watch Team 3 practice and all that stuff. And I believe everything will wrap up at around 1.30 p.m. Eastern time. A lot of fun stuff, but going forward with the Penguins. And I also should tell you all, Penguins have added forward Brooklyn, Kalmakov to the Penguins training camp roster. You can find their updated roster on the websites. I have no idea who the player they added was.

I will say that right now. I know you all, you're all going to tell me, well, you know, it's your job to know who that is. I have never heard of that player in my life. I usually know most players, I think, in hockey, he's probably just a camp body. I'm not going to really read too much into it to say the least. It's also nice the last couple of days. I always love when the penguins do their season ticket delivery. I think it's honestly one of the best things they do right before camp.

You really get to see a lot of the players just give back to the fans and, you know, meet some of the most diehard Penguins fans out there. and, you know, it was really cool to see Cid speak to the media about everything, and especially how he did confirm that he got pretty lit up at Nathan McKinnon's Cup Party. He did say that he's hoping to host one again as soon as this year. But it's nice to see that, you know, Sid's not a robot 100% of the time, to say the least. You know, Chris Tang, he was delivering tickets, Ricard Raquel, Brock McGinn, and McGinn, and, Gini Malkin, basically everyone that was on the team was delivering tickets.

on Monday. They've been doing that, you know, I believe since I was like in middle school. I'm pretty positive. Probably since before I was on social media. So, you know, I'm glad that they keep doing this. Again, it's a great way to give back to the fans and just show how much they matter to the success of this team. And, you know, it's great that, you know, the penguins that they just have, you know, that this team just has such a very passionate fan base in general. So loved that as well. I guess we'll quickly get into some of the scrimmage lines and pairings that we saw today.

So as always, great to see Jake Gensel, Cindy Crosby and Brian Rust. You know, they have their little fun. And again, these are very informal, you know, that you basically just, you come in, you have a skate before camp, you know, you just, you're screwing around with your teammates. Zucker was with Malkin and Hinen. Maybe we'll see that line this year. Maybe we weren't.

But another forward line that, you know, we did see, was Drew O'Connor, Teddy Bluger, and Brock McGinn. And I do think there's a chance that that could be the fourth line this year if O'Connor does beat out Ryan Paley and Josh Harchibald and a few other players for that 12 forward spot. You know, so pretty straightforward lines there. You know, I'm not really reading too much into those.

I mean, obviously you're going to see Jake Gensel, Sid, and Brian Rust on the top line for most of this season, unless, you know, the line does struggle. And, you know, it has at times, which means, you know, you can probably just flip-flop Ricard Raquel up there or whoever you want to put in. Hang on. Personally that, sorry, I had to take a sip of water there. But, you know, those are very, again, very informal. But, you know, I like that we're seeing some lines that, you know, there's a decent chance that those. will be some established lines, especially if O'Connor is able to really be impressive in camp. I'm going to get to the rest of the lines that we saw in that skimage coming up right after this

commercial break. There's some interesting deep airs in there that I've been talking about on the show during the off season that we're starting to see even before camp starts. And I do think you're going to see those ones camp officially does start. But before we get into that, better. online. It's the number one source for all of your pro in college football betting needs and sports info this season. You provide all the latest football league developments, game matchups, news and podcasts, including this year's opening week's games. Bet online is also your

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And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. I'm actually kind of dedicating this episode. You know, it's been one month to the day where my wonderful 93-year-old granddad passed away. You know, definitely, you know, a little bit of a tougher day than I expected. but, you know, brand out, I love you. And, you know, this one and a lot of other future ones are for you. And, you know, I can't believe it's just been a month so far. But anyways, getting into some other, some more lines that we saw here.

Some of the defensive hearings, doing with, was with Chabberweedle. Please do not read anything into that. Chris Tang was barely even present for that skate. As Taylor Haas tweeted, he was late joining the group. He just came to the bench. So he was in that first group. I am sure that he was partnered with his usual partner, Brian Newman.

So don't read too much into that. Xavier Olet was with Mark Friedman. And then there's a pairing that, I mean, I think he's basically an HL pairing. And then at the bottom of the group, Ricard Raquel was with Jeff Carter and Kisbury Capon. Again, do not read into that.

That's not going to be the Penguins third line this year. Raquel is going to play with Afghani Malkin or Cindy Crosby. Probably he'll probably start on which, you know, but I do think Carter and Capnin, I do think that's going to be at least two thirds of the third line. I don't think they would be comfortable putting a $3.2 million player on the fourth line unless, you know, he's as bad as last year, which could happen. Hopefully not, but, you know, I think they would in a perfect world want him on the third line.

Carter, he's going to be your third line center, even though, you know, the wheels could really come fall off from him this year. Now, who plays with them on the left side? You know, that's a mystery. Again, it's definitely not going to be Raquel. I say the least, you know, if you have, you know, I know it was Zulker Malkin-Hinen with the Malkin line, but I don't think that's going to be the second line for most of the season,

even though Hinen can play both wings because usually Hinen played on Malkin's left wing last year, but also Zulker did. So, again, if I've had to, I've been saying this all off season, if this is your first episode. I think it's going to be Gensel-Krozy Rust, Zulker with Malkin and Raquel, and then I think they may put Hine and down there with Carter and Kaepinan. But it definitely looks like it's Carter Capon, that's, I think, you know, I know if people are not going to like it,

I understand it, you know, those are two players that, excuse me, they've had their fair share of struggles over the last 12 months. but I do think that's going to be two-thirds of your third line next year. And then whoever's on the left wing, Dan Hinen, maybe Ryan Payling, but I don't think Ryan Payling will be up there, to be honest with you all. But again, not being too much into that. Josh Archwell was with Redeem Zahor and Alex Neelander, interesting line.

Trey Cajula was with Ryan Paling, and then another player who I think plays down in Wilkesbury. I really don't know who he is. So you have a couple of HAL lines there. Zohorna, maybe who, will make the team, maybe not Archibald. No, I'm leaning towards him being on the team because it's a one-way deal at 900K, but if he does have a really bad treating camp, I think they can just put him on waivers and someone else can claim him it's 900K at the end of the day, who really cares.

And then the bottom three defensive pairings, Marcus Peders team with Jeff Petrie. Again, I really think this is going to be a pairing that you see a lot this season. I've been talking about that for the last couple of months. Basically, I really do think this is a line that the penguins like, oh, I mean, this is a line. This is a pairing that Mike Sullivan is going to like a lot. It makes a ton of sense just because, you know, Pedersen, he's the defensive player who can sometimes cover for Petrie. And, you know, Petrie can handle those minutes. And, you know, he's the offensive player on that pairing.

You know, I think, you know, Mike, in a perfect world, you know, he likes to have one offensive guy, one defensive guy on the same. pairing, you know you look at the same thing with Brian Juven and Chris Elton. Jim one's the guy that can really cover for his mistakes when he's on this game. Let Tang, he's going to be that fire wagon in the offensive zones that Jeff Petre is going to do the same thing. And then we also had the pairing of Ty Smith and Jan Ruta in this scrimmage. Again, if I had to make a guess right now, I do think you are going to see that be the third pairing when the season starts. And yes, I'm talking about this as well. I know the Penguins can send Ty Smith down if they want to. He's waivers exempt.

You know, it wouldn't hurt them. Believe POJ, because he's on, I think he's on a one-way deal now. He would require waivers. But for Ty Smith, he would not. So if he does have a bad camp, they can just stick him down in Wilkesbury and he can develop more down there. And, you know, when he's ready to come up, they can just bring him up. In a regular world, though, I don't know regular role, but in, you know, I wouldn't even, I shouldn't even say a perfect world because, like, if Smith just, you know, plays to his strengths, he will make this team. He has talent, you know, look at the underlying numbers from his rookie season, you know, look at the hockey's prospecting numbers, watch and play. Great with the puck on his stick. His skating is unmatched. You know,

he just has to clean up his decision making, clean up, you know, his play in the defensive zone. You know, once he's able to do that, I really think he's going to be a serviceable, top four defensemen for many years to come. I know I've gotten a lot higher on him as the offseason has gone on, and I'm really intrigued to see how he does at camp, how he does in the preseason. And, you know, I know there's always preseason in training camp heroes. We all saw what happened last year with Kisbury Camp.

You know, and the media was tweeting about it. I was tweeted about saying, like he's looking like a one-man wrecking crew and all this stuff. And then he comes out in the regular season, craps all over his pants, and then just stinks. So, you know, it always, you know, you always got to exercise a little bit of caution. But, you know, I'm excited for him a lot. And then the other pairing was POJ and Taylor Faduna, you know, Fadourne, is just going to be in Wilkesbury.

And then for P.O.J, you know, this will, you know, almost be making, or break your time for him. You know, I wouldn't be surprised. Honestly, if the Penguins want to give him a 10 to 20 game sample this year, I think to really see what they have in this player, because, you know, this is the second management team that he's been around for, you know, I don't know how high Rutherford was on him, but, you know, he really couldn't crack the line out too much.

You know, he did for a little bit when the Penguins were doing some injuries a couple of seasons ago. Actually, not a couple of seasons ago. Not this past season, the last season before that. Looks good in some games, but, you know, you elevate him to the top hearing with Chris saying, and that's just, that's not going to be a fun time. You know, if he's going to play, it's going to be probably third-pery minutes at most. maybe 12, 14 a night.

But I do think the time is coming where the penguins need to unleash him a little bit and see, okay, what do we have in this player? You know, it's all or nothing now. You've been down in Wilkesbury a lot, you know, ever since you came over in the Phil Kessel trade. You were the main piece of that trade. I'm not going to say Alex Kalchernick was the main piece because he just stunk so bad.

But, you know, he was a player that was, you know, really hyped up about, really hyped up by a lot of, you know, prospect writers and analysts and all that. You know, so far he hasn't lived up to the billing just yet. So curious to see how aggressive the Penguins are and throwing him out there, you know, during preseason games. And, you know, if he's able to make the team, you know, does he get, you know, a fair shake this year?

I should say, I apologize, had to drink some water again. But those are the lines and the defensive hearings for the skimmers that the Penguins had on Tuesday. I'm sure they're going to do another one on Wednesday before camp. officially opens up on Thursday. I'm sure we're going to have the teams from the Penguins that will be announced. Maybe they'll do it tomorrow. Definitely by Thursday morning.

I would assume they'll do it tomorrow. They like to split up the core players onto all three teams. Maybe we'll get to see Sid and Gino's scrimmage against each other. You know, that's always a fun time. So that wraps up this second segment for today's episode. Coming up in the final segment, we're going to get into some of the latest in initial news and some of the retirements that we saw. on Tuesday. So that's all coming up right after this commercial break.

All right, I'm back in this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. I'm going to follow you on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow the shows, Twitter, at Eleanor for Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen of the day. So I guess everyone decided to retire around the NHL today. Zendano Chara, that's a massive piece of my childhood going. You know, I always used to refer to him when I was a kid, just as this.

just nine foot six Neanderthal. Basically, you know, I'm sure back when I was 13, I'd call him Shrek or something like that. But man, did he have talent? I mean, just changed the position for the better. The way he, how fast, his, the way he was able to skate while being such a big body was second to none. I mean, I just can't believe he was that good of a skater. Despite how big he was, his shot was something else. great two-way player.

He was elite for a lot of years in Boston. And it was only right that, you know, he decided to retire. As a member of the Bruins Day, you know, I always think back to 2013 when him and Crosby were going at it. And, you know, they were pushing and shoving each other. And, you know, it was, I believe it was game one at the Eastern Conference final. and Malkin and Bergeron, I think, if we're fighting, and they were just really getting under the penguin skin. Those penguins teams were so soft, as Michelle Tarian liked to say.

And, you know, Sid was just, you know, getting peckered by Charah. Every single time they would go out there, Char would be out there. And, you know, the battles that they had in that series were unbelievable. And, you know, he definitely got under Sid's skin. And, you know, Sid was standing up to him. You know, Chara has like, what feels like three feet. on him. He's just staring down on him. Like, what the hell are you going to do? You said, like, you're looking at me, right? And he was always just such an intimidating player

to go up again. So, you know, congratulations to Zendano Chara on an incredible career. You know, I'll always remember the battles that, you know, the Penguins had against the ruins when he was in his prime. P.K. Suban, a career, I think, cut too short. It's definitely a bit surprised that he announced his retirement today. But, you know, if ESPN or Turner Sports, aren't getting him a full-time analyst fought, you know, they're doing it wrong. You know, he's a great personality for TV. Him and Sid had obviously so many battles over the years, too. 2017 Stanley Cup final, you know, where the Listerine storylines being brought up,

and Sid's like, yeah, he made that up. I didn't say that. And, you know, obviously Sid's just, you know, kind of, it's bad to say, but, you know, he's kind of just hitting his helmet on. He love tapping his helmet onto the ice. bit. He's not really doing it on purpose, but, you know, they're always just talking a bunch of crap to each other during that series. And, you know, it's professional. I think Sid even went on a podcast a few years after that. And he said, I believe it was actually Spitten Checklets. I'm not a regular listener

of that podcast just because Whitney is just such a, such a weirdo. But, you know, it was a cool interview to listen to us. Honestly, I think that one of the, I think it's the only episode of Spaten Checklets I've ever listened to. too just because it was said. Oh, I do not go out of my way to listen to that podcast. But when he was on there, you know, it was just saying like, yeah, you know, we, we joke about that stuff all the time. It's nothing personal and stuff. But, you know, Suban was a great defenseman for, you know, New Jersey, especially Montreal and Nashville. He was beloved in Montreal. When he was in, when he was a Canadian, I would say almost every year he was a top three to five defensemen in the league.

had a booming slap shot from the point. His defensive game was also top-notch. It's a shame that his, you know, it's a shame that his play just dived off so quickly because, you know, he's still only 33. You think like, oh, he should still be having, you know, plenty of good years right now. But, you know, it's funny to think,

yeah, it just hit a cliff so quickly. And, you know, him and Shea Weber, they were traded for each other. they went out at the same time. That's crazy. Like Weber's like, what, five years older than him? And they're basically retiring like a season apart. Like who has seen that coming?

And I know Weber, you know, he was basically forced to you because of all the injuries that have caught up to him. I found his career, you know, for Suban. I definitely thought that there was going to be a team out there to give him a professional tryout for camp, maybe sign him into a one year or chief deal, something like that. I think he can still play. It's just a matter of it. you know, putting him in the right system and, you know, managing his minutes.

So it was definitely a bit surprised to see him called a career today, but, you know, I always loved watching him. He did not deserve some of the hate that he got in just like cities, like Boston. I had to throw that out there. But he was really good down in Nashville, really freaking good in Montreal. I mean, I remember watching his first game back there. And he was, tears were coming down his face. I think one of the, I think the Canadian's owner who was there, she was just crying as well. You know, the whole, all the, the whole fan base was crying just because of how much he was loved in that city.

So congratulations on a great career, P.K. Hope to see you on TV. And then for Keith Handel, you know, he was a true Ironman defenseman, was able to play in so many games, good in both zones. Camerway, think, you know, of too many battles against the penguins over the years. but, you know, he was always a fun player to watch, you know, had a nice shot, had a nice first pass, good skating ability, you know, but it was crazy how he was able to stay healthy for almost all this career and not miss a lot of games. So congratulations to Keith Handel as well on a great career.

Congratulations to all three on tremendous careers. Chara, he'll be 100% be going with Hockey Hall of Fame. P.K. Probably not. Probably the Hall of Very Good. And the same with Keith Handel. But, you know, still all three, very good defensemen, you know, the last 10, 15, and then, you know, dating back 20 plus years versus Dato Jarrah. That will do it for today's episode of the Locktime Hanglons podcast.

I really appreciate all of you listening to this one. I'll have another episode for you all on Wednesday. We'll get into some more training camp stuff and a couple of other things I do have planned for you all as well. So again, thank you so much for listening, and I'll talk with you all on Wednesday.