Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Talking the new potential Penguins schedule with Alan Saunders!

Episode Date: December 23, 2020

Today's episode of Locked On Penguins features a special guest as Hunter brings Alan Saunders of Pittsburgh Sports Now on to talk all things Penguins. Hunter asks Alan how he feels about the team's acquisitions this offseason, namely the Matheson and Kapanen ones. How high is Alan on Matheson? How long does he think Kapanen will stick with Sid? From there, the two go into the schedule and how it's going to potentially look. Could the Penguins spend upwards of 2 weeks in New York to play in blocked schedules? Could this be something permanent down the road? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. 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.

Hello, welcome to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. Today, we do have a special guest joining the podcast. Alan Saunders does a lot of stuff for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covers the Steelers for Pittsburgh Steelers now, covers pit football, pit athletics, basically, as a whole.

And, Alan, you've been pretty busy, you know, these last couple of days, you know, covering the Steelers in Cincinnati. you know, saw all that debacle of a loss. And then you go cover pit hoops, I think, last night as well. So, you know, how have you been lately, man? I'm pretty sure that since I woke up Monday morning, I have not done anything other than sleep or work. That's pretty much been the only two.

And then drive back and forth to Cincinnati. It's been pretty busy. I can't complain about being busy because I do this to myself. And I try to cover everything I can. and so that leaves me burning the candle at both ends sometimes and this is definitely a week where coffee has been required for sustenance. And you had my Tomlin's press conference yesterday, so he had to be there for that, I think.

The side of Interstate 70. Yeah, that's where we did that. You pulled over at a rest stop to do it on I-70. That is amazing. Yeah. Well, this is a hockey podcast. So it is great that we are getting hockey back in the next, I think it's basically three weeks from today. The schedule is going to be released today at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

We're not really sure what it's going to entail. Probably a bunch of back-to-back, maybe some baseball series. But before we get into some scheduled talk, Alan, you know, how are you feeling about the team going into this season? You know, what were your thoughts on, you know, the offseason moves bringing in Kaepinan, Jankowski-Rodriguez, trading way Hornquist for Matheson. Do you think the team is better now than they were at the end of the past season from the bubble? I don't know that they're definitely better, but I think they have a chance to be better. I think they put themselves in a position to be better.

I think they need some things to go right for that to happen. But I like to, you know, I think they had some addition by subtraction on the defense, obviously. I like Matheson a lot. I think he's the exact right kind of player for their system, even if, you know, I think that about Capitan, too. I feel like neither of those players were really acquired at market value, I would say, but I think they're really good fits for what the Penguins like to do. They want to push the puck. They want to use speed. You know, when I think about what's happened to the Penguins since they won their last Stanley Cup, what to me feels like has happened the most, that

the biggest issue has been that the acquisitions that Jim Rutherford has made have not lined up with Mike Sullivan's philosophy very well, and that they have gotten away from the things that made them a really good team. And I think these players, while maybe not necessarily better than the players that they're replacing, to me, are better fits for what the penguins want to do. And so I think that that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work, right? I mean, like, I thought Derek Brassard was a really good fit for what the Penguins want to do, too, and it didn't work. I mean, not, you know, well, good intentions. I only get you so far.

But I think it gives them the chance of being better. And I think a shortened season when you're a team that is planning on leaning on some guys in their mid-30s is probably a bigger help to the Penguins than it will be to maybe some other teams. Yeah, it almost feels like, you know, with a lot of Jim Rutherford's trade. signings, you know, he's kind of like just winging it with stuff. I mean, you saw, yeah, I think I saw a tweet from someone, you know, because of course, Connor Sherry went to Washington. It's like, well, I mean, you basically just got him for a few months and then just goes to a rival team and you traded Dominic Cahoon for reasons, I guess.

So I do agree with you. Like, some of his moves do not line up with Mike Sullivan's philosophy. I mean, we saw that with Ryan Reeves. He went out, oh, we got to have the protection for Sidney Crosby, which is just such an outdated way of thinking. And then Mike Sullivan's like, screw that. I'm just really not going to play him. And he even admitted when they traded for Broussard that he was not going to be playing in the playoffs.

So it really was just kind of funny that, you know, he just, he'll make these moves and then Sullivan will just be like, yeah, I'm just not going to really play this player that much. You know, I think the cause to acquire for some of these players was a bit much, especially I think for the Kaeptonin. I'm going to give it honestly until Valentine's Day until he's off Cindy Crosby's line. I don't know how long that's going to stick. I would love it who were to stick the whole season because that's why they got him. And, you know, he had that one great year in Toronto in 2018-19 playing a lot with Matthews on the top line

and this past season it just wasn't as good. But, you know, I think, well, just going back to other lineup stuff, you know, I think one of the biggest questions everyone has talked about is the third line. You know, what are you going to do with Jared McCann? Who are you going to play him with? I mean, they got Jankelski and Rodriguez for 700K.

I mean, I think it's time to the Penguin to see what they have in a player like Evan Rodriguez because you heard all this talk over like the return to play. Oh yeah, he's been their best player in training camp. He's been their best player doing this. He doesn't really get any minutes in the playoff games. They put Sam Lafferty in for God'sakes. I don't really think Sam Lafferty's that good. But you know, you bring him back and it's time to see what you have in him and what you have in Jenkowski. You know, what are your thoughts basically on that line? Yeah, I don't know. I don't think they have a good, answer for who their third line center is.

I think Jared McCann is clearly a third line capable player. He's a top nine player. I think that's what the penguins under Mike Sullivan want to have a top nine. They don't want to have a third line. They want to have a third scoring line that is going to play pretty much exactly the way the first two lines play, which is a up-tempo offensive style that transitions the puck quickly from defense to offense. And he wants to be able to move guys in and out of those top.

three lines to try to get things going. He'll have pairs where he tries to keep guys together, and then he'll move players. So he wants that to be a top nine. And Jared McCann is clearly a top nine player. He belongs there. I think there are a couple others. Like, I don't know, but, like, I don't think that Evan Rodriguez and Mark Jankowski are top nine players. I don't think you can say, well, we need to scramble things up. Let's put Mark Jankowski on Crosby's wing. Like, no. Like, let's put Evan Rodriguez on Malcolm's wing. To me, those are not top nine players. Those are guys that could play on the third line. But if you want to have a cohesive nine forwards that are going to be your guys that those are the power play guys. Also, the

first and second unit are going to be taken almost exclusively from those lines. To me, I don't know. I don't know that they have an obvious answer. I think Brandon Tanev fits there probably, just because of his speed. The third guy on that line, I don't know. And I don't really think either TANV or McCann is best suited to play center. So I don't know where, how that line comes together. And it's going to be interesting. I think one of the things that I thought might happen coming into this season,

but I haven't really seen anyone talking about. so now I'm not so sure if it is going to happen, is that I think that could be a spot where you see a young guy get a shot. You know, they obviously have some players that have been in Wilkesbury for a couple seasons that haven't really gotten a lot of traction. I don't know.

They obviously don't have a full forward lineup at the moment. I just don't know what's going to happen there. I think they've got too many guys that can't, Like if you, like, I agree with you about Lafferty. I don't think Severe is the answer. I don't think it's St. Kowski. I don't think it's Rodriguez.

Maybe it's Teddy Bluger, but if you put him on line with McCann and Tanev, they weigh like a combined 285 pounds. I just don't know. I don't know what the answer is there, but it doesn't feel to me like the right answer is obvious anyway. Yeah. Their bottom, you, you know what you have in their top six. I think it's one of the best top sixes in the league.

You can put Jason Zucker next to Gino with Russ And then Capitan First of much as we people have been down playing his acquisition I mean he We hopefully he does play up to the par on Sid's line I don't think I think it's a I think it's listen I think the acquisition cost for Capitan was high Yeah

But I think there's this big myth that you have to be a really good player To play with Sidney Crosby I think you have to be fast And you have to be able to think the game fast Pascal DuPui would have been a fourth liner For his entire career on any other NFNHL team Chris Koonitz would have been a third liner on any other NHL team for his entire career, and those guys scored a boatload of goals playing with Sidney Crosby.

You don't have to be good. You have to be fast and you have to think fast. We know Casparee Cappin is fast, whether he can keep up with Crosby mentally and whether he's willing to do the kind of third wheel things that you need to do. If you're going to be out there with Crosby and Gensel, that means it's got to be you in the corner, you in the front of the net. I don't know if Cappin is necessarily that guy, but it's going to be all about whether he wants to

and whether he can keep up mentally. I don't know. I think that's a fine shot in the dark. This thing they paid a little too much to get him. I think the third line is actually the bigger problem. I think Caponin will be at worst fine on that line. I think the third line doesn't work to me. I can't come up with a third line that works.

That's where I'm at. I can't come up with a third line with a good quality center that can win defensive zone faceoffs and have competent wings that can move up the roster if necessary. I just don't know how it works. Maybe you move Rust down to that line and maybe play a guy like a bluger up with Malkin. I don't know. The Penguins want that three-line balance.

I just think it's going to be really hard to find it this year. Yeah, I mean, I think I've said this before on the podcast this year. In a perfect rule, you would have a player like happening on your third. line and you would have like another bona fide top six winger playing next to sid but you know not going to happen for various reasons though jim honestly could do that during the trade deadline if he moved some salary out but um you know i just think the third line is clunky i mean i do want to give mccann a full go at third line center just because you know he just he hasn't had like two capable line mates that have just been able to support him you saw what happened in the return to play

playing the corpse of patrick marlowe next to him is not going to work patrick hornquist for as good of a player as he was and still is, just wasn't working in, you know, this is why I wanted them to go out and sign a player like Craig Smith this offseason, who is great underlying numbers, a good defensive player, has, can also really shoot the puck. I think he's like one of the highest shot volume players in the league. And he just like puts good offensive numbers up for a bottom six role. And, you know, Jasper Foss would fit that bill too. Instead, they wanted to go out and sign two players for cheap. I don't hate it, but, you know, I just think there were upgrades there that could have helped the penguins more than someone like

Jankelski and Rodriguez because you're kind of just hoping that Jankelski goes back to his 12-goal season that he had just a couple of seasons ago. You're hoping that Evan Rodriguez can play well after having a falling out in Buffalo and then just being traded to Toronto and then not even getting a qualifying offer there.

And then, you know, for the fourth line, I mean, they obviously want, I think the same thing as last season. Tannab, Blugher, Aston Reese was one of the better fourth lines in the league. You know, Brandon Tannad, I think, eight, had some people eat some crow you know his defensive numbers are through the roof we just need to see him get some offense to support that five more years left at 3.5 million per but you know they will be

getting ashton rees back that's way i think he's actually on jim said he's on track to come back right when the season starts so it looks like a little bit early he's been skating a bunch so that's good um before we get to our next segment though which we'll talk about you know more about mathes than the defensive corpse um it's time to talk about bilko um Whether it's a mental, physical wall, you can break through it with Go every day. You can put in your briefcase for the most focused presentation ever. Put in your golf bag to power through the back nine. Or you can put it in your pocket to get through the day.

It's the best workout gel on the market. There's three delicious flavors. Peanut Butter, Honey, chocolate coconut, and chocolate mint. You can go to buildgo.com and use promo code locked and we'll get 20% off your next order. That is promo code locked for 20% off at buildgo.com. Let's go. Okay, Alan, so they did a little bit of musical chairs for the defense this off season, you know, obviously getting Jack Johnson out of the lineup was priority number one because, you know, the fan base of sanity was on the line here. But then, you know, you're bringing someone like Cody Cici, who, let's just say, has not had a good career so far.

If you watch that clip from Dmitri Filippovich on Twitter with Cody Cici missing the net from 100 feet in one of the Return to Play video in one of the return to play games against Columbus, it's not a good time. And he'll be playing on the third pairing with Mike Matheson, who they got as Jack Johnson's replacement for Patrick Hornquist, which sent him to Florida. I think my assessment of the defense before I give it to you, great top four, especially if Marino makes another jump with his offense. He could be the best defense on the team as Crystal Tang starts to age. But then the bottom pairing is the big question mark.

You know, what are your thoughts on the defense? Yeah, I like the Matheson acquisition. I think he fits what they want to do. I think he'll give them a second left hand. shot to put on that second power play that they really haven't had in a while. Listen, Cody Cici is not good. Let's like not sugarcoat it. But that's exactly what they should have done when they signed Jack Johnson.

If Jack Johnson had been a one year, $1.25 million, well, let's see how he does here in Pittsburgh. Maybe he'll find his game a little bit better than he has in other places. At least he's cheap and he's only here for one year if it doesn't work out. If that had been the Jack Johnson signing, no one would have had any problem with it. Am I sure Cody Cic is going to work out? No, I think it's probably more likely than not that it'll continue to be a below-average defenseman and not add a whole lot of value to the team. But it's a fine guy to take a chance on and sign for a relatively low amount of money

and see if maybe the Penguins can help him improve and maybe he has talent. I think that was the thing with Johnson too that I think Jim Rutherford fixated on was that there's talent there. I mean, it was the first round pick. It's not like it's, you know, some undrafted plug. Like, you know, there's things to work with there. There are physical tools to work with. They just haven't been put together in a package that results in above-average play

in the last couple of years. So I think it's a perfectly fine shot. And I think they have a good safety net in Chad Ruehiel, who's a guy that, like, if Cici just bombs, like Johnson did, well then because he's only here for a year, there's no reason to keep him in the lineup. If it doesn't work out, he'll just go to the press box and Ruudel will play.

And I think we've seen over the last few years that while no one's super excited about him being in the lineup, it's generally good enough if he's the number six guy to get by. I think Matheson is a higher risk move, both because of what they paid to acquire him and also because he's going to need a bigger role than that pure number six defenseman who's going to be that last right side guy.

Anyway, I think they acquired him with the intention of being a guy that can move up in the lineup if necessary. If you have an injury in the top four, he's the guy that's going to go up, right? Yeah. He's the guy that's going to play more special teams minutes. And so I think he's, he and he's a high upside, high risk kind of player. You know, he, you watch his highlights. They're fun, man. I love watching him play.

He is, you know, I grew up loving Paul. coffee. He's clearly not as good as Paul coffee, but there is a lot of just that kind of of damn the torpedo's attitude to his game where he's like, no, I'm just going to skate it by three guys, go up the wall in the offensive zone and not care what happens behind me at all. And I love it. That's how I want to see hockey played. But there's obviously some high risk to that behavior as well. He does turn the puck over an awful lot, especially when he's standing still trying to make a pass. He's actually far better. when he's moving, interestingly enough.

But I think he fits with the penguin scheme very well. I think the defense is going to be a lot better if they can stay healthy, especially. You know, they played a lot of last season without a healthy defense. And I think that made having Jack Johnson around that much worse because he was playing way more minutes than a number six defensemen should, especially not a particularly good one. So I think if they can stay healthy, I think it'll be a much better defense. I'm not sure they have a lot of good depth. you know, but we'll see what happens.

Yusariko is a guy who's a useful player in a purely number five or six role, but I wouldn't be excited about him doing a lot more than that. But, you know, I think Jim Rutherford did about as good as can be expected with trying to fix that defense in one-off season. Yeah, I mean, the point about Matheson is just awesome just because I agree. I have watched his highlights. seem to skate out the offensive zone. I'm not going to play defense on the way back. I'm just going to let them have a two on one basically. I mean, I'm sure Todd Reardon is probably going to

coach that up a little bit. But I mean, someone is one of my brothers was telling me, they should just play Matheson it forward and then just have Yuselika play with Chad Rubito on the bottom pairing. I'm like, as much as that would be hilarious and total team chaos, it's probably not going to happen. And at a perfect role, I would love to see Rubito actually beat out CC for that number six spot. And then you just put CC in the bench. I I know it'll be weird paying him $1.125 million to be in the press box every night, but I still rather see Ruudel in the lineup than C.C. I think he's better defensively, and he can contribute more to the offensive side of things,

and he moves the puck up the ice better. But they are going to give C.C. a fair go. That's why they signed him in the first place. They're going to hope that maybe a change of scenery benefits him. Maybe Todd Reardon can work some devil magic on him. Not really confident that that will happen. For some reason, Yusarikla is still here. I don't know why he decided.

to sign back me, he's probably not going to get a lot of playing time. But, I mean, I do agree, you know, with the injuries last year, you to force Jack Johnson to play top pairing minutes with Chris LaTang, not something you really want to do. You know, Dumlin was out. Marino was out for those three weeks. I think for a time, even Chris LaTang was out for a little bit. I mean, you need to keep that top four healthy because I think it is one of the best

top fours in the league. You know, Dumo and Tang is one of the best top hearings in the league. And then Marino, if he just continues to get better, This is going to be one of the best defensemen in the league. Before we get to the next thing, I just want to ask you, Alan, about, you know, the goal-tending situation. And, you know, I kind of compare what they did this off-season to flipping a coin. You know, you're choosing one of the two young guys who have similar sample sizes. You know, Jari's is a lot smaller.

You know, they're kind of hoping beyond hope that, you know, he continues his play of those 30 to 40 games where his saber percentage was, I think, close to 920. had that great playoff game in Game 4, even though the Penguins as a whole, did not want to show up. He did, though. He was one that wanted to send it to game 5. What do you make of Tristan Jari going into this season before we get to some schedule talk and all that?

I've got a flaming hot take here. I've always thought that Tristan Jari is a better goaltender than Matt Murray. There has never been any point in which I ever thought Matt Murray was a better goaltender than Tristan Jari, except for the like three months where he won two Stanley Cubs, by playing way over his head. Jari was a better prospect coming out of juniors. He's more technically sound to me.

I think he has fewer flaws in his game. He's not as big as Murray, but I think he projects to be a better player long term because he's quicker and he's more technical. I think he's a better player overall, and I think the penguin's made the only decision that could be made there. And I like Casey to Smith as a backup.

I think you're going to need him. You know, we're talking about playing three and three, four or two and three or something like that on a regular basis. You have basically like an ECHL schedule. They all play their backup goalie a ton. He has been a guy that has played really well at the NHL level, and he's also had some stretches where he has not played very well, and he's not some incredibly high pedigree guy.

So I am actually more worried about that half of the arrangement than I am Tristan Jury as a two-thirds starting goaltender. I think he'll do fine. I'm also not sure about their depth. If they have a goaltender injury, it could be pretty ugly there. They don't have somebody in Wilkesbury that I would feel very confident in playing in 25 games. Yeah, they really, yeah, there's not a lot of debt there. They would have to trade for someone, I would think, or try to sign someone off the street.

Like, I think Ryan Miller is still out there right now somehow. I could also see the Capitol signing him because of what happened with Henrik Bonquist. He's not going to be available for the season. But yeah, it would have to be a trade or something. I mean, that is an interesting take, though, about Jari versus Murray. You know, that's honestly the first time I think I've heard someone say that coming out of juniors and, you know, seeing what he did in 2016 and 2017. I like it, though.

It's different. I'm excited to see how he can do over a full season. He got a nice raise for his contract. You know, I'm also happy for Murray that he got a lot of money from Ottawa. They want him to be the guy there, you know. They also have the money to pay him. So, I mean, that was awesome. a slam dunk move there.

Alan, before we do get to some schedule talk and you know where you see the team overall this season and with them making the playoffs, it's time to talk about betonline.ag. There's only one place that has you covered in one place we trust. That is exactly that. Betonline.ag.

You can sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promo code locked on for your 50% off welcome bonus. Don't just sit on the sidelines anymore. Get in on the action. Don't forget to use that promo code locked on. to receive a 50% welcome bonus with your first deposit.

Bet Online, your online sports book at Spurks. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. So, Alan, the schedule is expected to be released at 3 p.m. Eastern time today. And there's been a lot of rumors that what that schedule is going to entail. There's been rumors that it might be a baseball kind of schedule, like two, three games series against the rival teams. Obviously, the Penguins are going to be playing.

All their division. rival teams eight times the season for a total of 56 games. I'm pretty sure a lot of players will be dead on the ice, you know, after some of these viable matchups. What are your thoughts on that if it is a baseball kind of schedule and just what are your thoughts overall on like the new divisions and just, you know, in the playoff format and everything like that? Well, I like it.

I think the NHL is going to come out of this kind of stroking their beard a little bit and saying, hey, some of this was not so bad. I mean, listen, everybody loves back-to-back games in general, like the home-and-home kind of classic, like, get them once and then get them back. I think playing teams consecutively kind of just builds the passion and the fuel for the next one in a different way, especially teams that, you know, maybe, like, what's the juice in an islanders game? I don't know. Like, can you, can you hate the, does anybody hate the Islanders? I think the Rangers are probably annoyed by their existence. But, like, I don't know, there's no hatred there.

They're a relatively boring team to watch play. They play that super trappy, a defensive style. I don't know. It just adds something to that. And, yeah, I think they're going to play some of these twos and threes and threes and fours. And, yeah, I've heard that the penguins might end up spending, like, two weeks in New York at some point because they'll be playing a couple of those series back to back.

You know, they might play like at Rangers, at Islanders. or at Islanders out devils so they could be spending like 10 or 14 days in New York and one swing before coming back home. I love the division. Look, I'm a kind of a traditionalist when it comes to the teams I want to see.

I want to see them play the Flyers and the Rangers and the Caps and the Devils. And I don't really care about the rest of the games. I'll be perfectly honest. Like, I will not miss seeing the Penguins play the Blues on a Tuesday night. I don't know. That's a game with no juice to me. I think hockey is better when you have more familiarity between the teams. And I'm really excited for the schedule, the format. I think it's going to be great hockey. Guys are going to get worn down and teams are going to have to rely on their depth. I know that that is not what the NHL wants. The NHL wants the star players playing, you know, 35 minutes a night. But I think it's going to be a really strong test, too. You're not going to get the same 82 game kind of grind, but I honestly have always felt like 82 games is too many

anyway. And I think this is a good way to really test the depth of a team without the season taking six months. My prediction is that I'm going to come out of this season wishing this was the plan every year. You know, I mean, I could see myself doing that, you know, it is going to be, you know, I just, I think about, you know, how people can't handle the Penguins of Capital's playing four times. Now we double that and potentially if you get them in the playoffs, that's 15 games against the Capitals, 15 games against the Flyers. I truly think the fan bases may honestly just kill each other by the end of this season just because it's going to be so many games against each other. For the playoff format, man, I mean, I get why they did it. Travel reasons, of course,

you know, rivalries and all that. I just, I've long been a sucker of just, you know, C1 through 16, How have the top teams pick who they play, make it a national event, get those teams fired up to play that team that they picked. You know what I'm saying. I kind of said it backwards. Whatever. But like something like that. But, you know, the one thing I love about the playoffs, though, is after the divisional stuff, they're going to do the league semifinals. You could get like a Pittsburgh Tampa Bay.

A Pittsburgh Tampa Bay final. You get a Pittsburgh Washington final. It would just be like, you could do two New York teams in the semifinals. something like that. The John Tavares Reven Series against the Islanders, there's a chance for that. I mean, there's endless possible matchups that would not be possible in a regular year. And, I mean,

for all we know, we could do, Vegas, Colorado, Alan. I mean, that would be awesome as a Stanley Cup final matchup. What are your thoughts on, like, the league semi-final matchups and the potential for just virtually anything like an all-conference Stanley Cup final? My first thought was,

huh, how are the Canadian teams going to blow getting the Stanley Cup? now that they've been gifted a guaranteed one and four shot of it at the beginning of the season. So that's going to be the most interesting part to me is that like we're guaranteed to get the best Canadian team in the semifinal. And it's going to be hilarious to see how that happens. Of course, no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since 1994, three, somewhere there. And yeah, that was my first thought. My second thought was I really enjoy mixing up the conference finals in a way that, like,

there are a lot of time. There's been a lot of seasons where, you know, there's been like just clearly the two best teams in the league are on the same side. And I think I would be fine with mixing up the conference finals all the time, you know, make those the championship games. I mean, like, we see it in the NBA, which basically has the same playoff format, all the time where like the Western Conference final everyone's like well that's you know the winner's just going to roll over this other why not there's only four teams left why not see the

one through four I don't I don't see the need to go west east I'm fine with that and so yeah again I like everything about this season I'd like to see the Canadian teams mixed in a little bit they don't deserve that one in one and four built-in advantage and uh but I'm confident that they will find a way to blow it oh I'm sure you know and if if Toronto doesn't get there I honestly just trade Matthews and Tavares at this point. I mean, honestly, they don't even get to round two. And when is it ever going to work with that core? You know, just the takes from Maple Leafs Nation will just be through the roof.

But I agree, man, I'm glad that they are seeding it one through four once they virtually get there. You know, we're going to have some awesome matchups that you'll probably never see again, potentially, when the league goes back to what it usually does. Before you go, though, man, it's time for a little bit of Jersey talk. I know you're a big jersey guy on the Penguins got their reverse retro jersey. I don't think you're that big of a fan of it, is that you're not a big Pittsburgh diagonal guy. I am a monster that Pittsburgh diagonal fan.

You know, I think the Snoop Dog jersey is one of their top three best jerseys in the franchise's history. What were your thoughts on their jersey? And would you like to see a different old jersey return someday? Well, first of all, it's not a Snoop Dog jersey. It's a Rangers jersey. There it is. It is a New York Rangers jersey.

The Penguins will be dressing up as the Rangers for several games this year. sort of like an NHL version of cosplay. It's sort of interesting that, you know, it's allegedly this throwback to their original jersey in 1967, which was just admittedly a rip-off of the New York Rangers. And then in 1993, like seven months after Adam Graves broke Mario Lemieux's wrist with one of the dirtiest slashes I've ever seen in an NHL game, the Penguins decided they wanted to dress up like the Rangers again,

and changed their uniform after winning back-to-back Stanley Cup finals because they wanted to cash in on merchandise sales, not because they didn't have beautiful uniforms as we've come to learn. Dressing up like your rival is never smart, and those are the ugliest Penguins uniforms they have ever worn in any iteration, whether it's light, blue, black, or white. In fact, I think this one's actually uglier than the black ones they wore in 1993. It just doesn't look good at all.

I don't like any part of it. But yeah, stop dressing up like the Rangers, dress up like the Penguins. Or even if you're going to dress up like an opponent, pick a good one. The Rangers stink. Like dress up like the Flyers, if you want to dress up like an opponent,

at least they're, you know, there's some respect level. They're dressed up like the Washington Capitals. I don't care. But don't dress up like the Rangers. They retired Adam Graves jersey. And the most notable thing he did in the entire career was Break Maryolemue's wrist.

And now the Penguins want to dress up like him. It's disgusting to me. They're ugly anyway, and it should never, ever have been allowed to happen. All right, guys, thank you so much for this podcast. We're done here. No, I'm kidding. But Alan is fired for that take. They've grown on me.

I mean, I love the original ones that the replicas. I just, the colors, though, on them are just gorgeous. And they look so much better than the ones the Rangers wear it now. That's why I love them so much. And, I mean, the iconic video of Snoop wearing it, just riding his bike. down. I mean, come on. And listen, it's been widely proven that Snoop will wear any jersey you hand him. There's, like, clips of him wearing every NHL jersey.

There's even a clip of him wearing just like a gray jersey that says NHL. Like, he'll wear whatever you hand him. It's not like the penguins were like cool or something. He's not a fan. Like, it'll just wear whatever you give the man will wear whatever you give him. I know. I have seen him in a bunch of kings jerseys and a bunch of other stuff. Alan, is there a jersey that you would want to say?

see them bring back at some point though the robo penguin has been people people want that one back any any other jerseys you would potentially want to bring back well the one i was wanted was the all gold ones that they have i think they look really really awesome um i would think the if i was going to turn one in so you know the whole thing is they were they're going to reverse uh retro i would um the the the sort of all black ones with the uh you know the the the pigeon whatever you want to call it robo penguin um and and the sort of gradient stripe across the midsection that, you know, sort of to me, are defined by that Peter Nedved triple overtime game in Washington. To me, that as an all-white jersey would have been really interesting.

I think all-white is an underrated uniform combination that you don't see a lot in hockey. There are very few teams that wear all-white, and I think that actually would have looked really good. And so I don't know. I'll wait until I see what they have on the ice. And I actually, I agree with you that I think the black and gold colors on the the diagonal Pittsburgh jersey look a lot better than this one. The white, I don't know, they just don't pop as well against the white. It looks kind of washed out. And I think the letters look smaller to me or just not as bold.

I don't know. It just doesn't look as good from what I've seen. I guess we'll see what they look like on the ice. But this doesn't look as good. But yeah, I'd have been interested to see an inverted version of that. They haven't had that many different jerseys. And I think that's a credit to the team outside of their colossal misstep in 1993. It's generally been a pretty good-looking hockey team for quite some time.

Well, as long as they don't bring back the Vegas goal, all those all-black jerseys with the white logo or whatever from what they wore. I don't know. I didn't hate the Vegas goal. I think the whatever they want to. called the athletic gold is clearly better. Yeah. Yeah.

The problem with the Vegas gold was when they first brought it in, it was like a metallic gold. They have like a sheen to it. And then they changed the uniform suppliers and that was khaki, basically. And exactly the same as the Ottawa senators and the Anaheim ducks and like now Vegas, where's that color scheme? I don't know just think the bright gold is the way to go for sure. Yeah, I don't really have a, I think an all white, you know,

You know, they wore, against the Blackhawks and the stadium series game. I think they wore like a mostly white uniform. Like, I think that all white would be kind of a good look if they're looking for some kind of alternate. Yeah, I didn't mind that jersey. That winter, that winter classic or stadium series year actually was not bad as opposed to some of their other ones that they've worn. Get the blue ones out of here. I can't stand most of those. I just...

I thought the blue was an okay thing. but it kind of ran its course. Like they did it and it's been done and now they're trying to do something else and I'm fine with that. Yeah, there we go. At least we could agree on that with all the jersey stuff.

But also, before I let you go, Alan, do you have this team making the playoffs this year? I mean, I think this is the first year that I can recall that the playoffs are not a slam dunk for the penguins every other year in this said Gino era. I've said, yep, no, we'll easily make the playoffs. They're in their prime.

You know, they're not in a division like this, which is just a group of death. You add Boston to it. you have to play them eight times. Do you have them getting in? And if you do, you know, how far do you have them going? Yeah, I think they'll get in. I think they're probably the fourth best team in the division.

I think I have a hard time seeing them beating Boston in a playoff series. But we'll see. I think to me that's the key to how well they can do this season is that I think they're not nearly as good as Boston. I think they're in striking distance of Washington and Philadelphia. and of course the Islanders right there too. If they can get into that two three game, I think they can win it and they give somebody else a shot to beat Boston at least. And maybe they can get, you know,

at least to the conference finals, maybe to the Stanley Cup final. I think that's the path, right? I think if they have to rely on that fourth seed, I think it's, I think playing Boston's going to be tough. And look, you know, that's how things stand now. They've got to play 50 some games between now and then. to me, I think that's, I think they're definitely a playoff team. And I think they, if they have a shot of going far into the postseason,

they've got to elevate from where I think they are right now to find a way into that, that two, three matchup. Yeah, I have them at third right now. I would love for them to get that two, three matchup. And then a potential series with Boston, I mean, that would cross off, I think, the last thing you, one of the last things you would want to see for, I think, from the Sid Gino era. They've obviously won three cups.

They've been almost all their rivals in the playoffs. in one series or another. But, you know, to beat, you know, Bergeron, Marshawn, Posternak, and all the Bruins, you know, that would, I think, be one of the last things that I would want to see, you know, from this era is just, you know,

beat the Bruins in a series, you know, that's the one rival that they have not beaten yet in a playoff series. And to get that off their backs and, you know, besides a fourth Stanley Cup, that's basically all I would want,

you know, just to close out this era. But, Alan, thank you so much for coming on this episode of Locked on Penguins. I really appreciate it. I'll definitely have you on again as the season gets rolling. Talk about, you know, how the team is doing and all that. Where can everyone find your work and where can they follow you on Twitter?

Well, at A Saunders underscore PGAH is where I'm out on Twitter. You can find my work, Pittsburgh Sports Now for high school and college coverage. Steelers now for the Steelers. Hockey stuff at Pittsburgh Hockey Digest, where we cover Robert Morris and local junior kids in high school hockey, all of which is not happening right now. So not a whole lot going on there at the moment. But yeah, and that's everywhere. You know, I cover everything.

So pretty much it. Yeah. Please go follow him on there, guys. He does great work for, he just does outstanding work. So thank you so much for listening to this episode. We'll have another one probably tomorrow. I really don't want to do one on Christmas, just for obvious reasons. But we're getting closer to the season.

season now and I will talk to you all later.