Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins have been SOLD to the Hoffmann Family, what's next?

Starting point is 00:00:00 For the second time in just four years, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been sold. We're going to talk about the new ownership, the Hoffman family, and what it means for the Pittsburgh Penguins right after this. 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 edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet,

Starting point is 00:00:40 joined as always by the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L.O. underscore Penguins. You can also find us on Instagram at Locked-on underscore Penguins, as well as TikTok at Locked-on Penguins. Of course, as always, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. And if you follow us on YouTube, which you should be doing,

Starting point is 00:01:15 make sure you've hit that notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. This episode today is brought to you by Fandul. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this NFL season, visit fandle.com and place your live vets all season long. Hunter, the Penguins now have their 13th owner in the 58-year history of the Penguins, and it will be the Hoffman family based out of Chicago. They also own the ECHL's Florida Everblades.

Starting point is 00:01:53 This has been a long time coming. Reports surfaced back in late August that Fenway Sports Group was in discussion with the Hoffman family on a potential sale. And as of Wednesday afternoon, through multiple reports, it is all about official. It is still going to need NHL Board of Governor approval. And also, according to multiple sources, the sale. price is $1.7 billion. So FSG has more than made its money back from its sale or purchase of the Penguins, excuse me on that from the Lemieux Group a few years ago.

Starting point is 00:02:40 But I'll really start with this. I don't know a ton about the Hoffman family. I've done some reading on them. They're obviously involved with the Everblades. They've done a really good job with them. They've seen really consistent attendant spikes. They've also been a very successful franchise on the ice. They won three straight championships from 2022 to 2024.

Starting point is 00:03:07 So that is a good sign that they invest in the product. It's also a highly diversified ownership. They're not just involved in sports. They have their hands in a lot of different businesses. That includes agriculture, aviation. transportation, financial services, hospitality, and entertainment. So this on the surface looks like just a giant company purchasing the penguins, but clearly for their head honcho David Hoffman, he has wanted an NHL team for quite some time.

Starting point is 00:03:42 And now it appears he's got his team. Yeah, there's been reports that he's wanted to buy an NHL or an NBA team at some point. and he's now getting his wish with buying the Pittsburgh Penguins. I will say, Pat, you know, you mentioned company. To me, it kind of feels more like a family buying the team rather than a huge conglomerate owning the team, which I do like a little bit more. However, I think this is still going to be totally fine unless they just, I don't know, don't spend the cap or make dumb decisions with front office or other stuff that could be involved.

Starting point is 00:04:16 I don't know. As long as they kind of just let the front office do their thing, let the coaches do their thing and kind of stay out of their way but still pump money into the team upgrade some areas this is going to go totally fine again as long as they don't do anything stupid i think this is going to be completely good you brought up the three straight kelly cups and the echel they've been involved in hockey for a bit now so they at least have that experience they don't have an hl experience but again it's at least some experience and again it felt like the writing was on the wall for this to happen with FSC, when you saw them really pour a lot of that money into

Starting point is 00:04:53 Liverpool this summer, two really big signings, one of them, Alexander Isak with their soccer team. They, again, they spent a boatload of money. And that was after this team won the Premier League last year. So you have that. And also, they bought the team for $900 million for years ago. They're getting basically, Pat, double of what they bought the team for, only four years later. Pretty good return on investment, if you're asking me. So they're getting out of it now. There was a couple reports when we talked about this four months ago when Elliot Freeman was discussing it on his pod that FSG and the initial maybe didn't see eye to eye. Maybe we'll get more clarity on that someday. But this is totally fine to me. And again, as long as they kind of

Starting point is 00:05:36 their hands off and they let the front office and the coaches do their thing, I think this is going to be totally good. I do think also we can get into this a little bit, Pat, I think FSG is a little bit overhated by some people in the Penguins fan base. Some people are like, oh, my God, they're so bad. They're so bad. I don't really think they did anything purely bad with this franchise. Did they do anything really good either? No.

Starting point is 00:06:00 I mean, they did upgrade the arena. They poured some money into this team. They signed Kyle Dubas to that pretty big deal. But in terms of bad things, not really. I think a lot of people just didn't like that. They weren't from Pittsburgh, which, hey, that's valid. I get it. They're Boston based with the Red Sox, and they have Liverpool, and they own a whole bunch of teams.

Starting point is 00:06:19 But I just think they were a little over again, in my opinion. But still, am I sad to see them go? Absolutely not. This is totally fine. I would agree. I don't have any loyalty or really opinion of Fenway Sports Group. I think they saw an opportunity that Lemieux and the rest of his group were looking to get out. They were looking to make their money back and make some more money on everything.

Starting point is 00:06:44 that they had done to build the franchise back up from where it was when they purchased it all those years ago. And you kind of brought up that they, I think they did a lot of good. I know that because they're a Boston based company, they're a Boston based property, that there's always been a rivalry between the cities when it comes to sports. But, you know, you bring up, they invested a lot of money into PPG paints arena in upgrading it. And it's still one of the better places to catch a game in the NHL. They opened their wallets to get Kyle Dubus. And regardless of what we're going to talk about later in the show with the way the

Starting point is 00:07:24 season has gone the last week, Kyle Dubus has done a pretty damn good job of making this team transition into its next era with the plan he has in place. So they get their guy on that. They invest in the arena. Yeah, again, it's Boston. so everybody's got their issues with it. But I thought they did fine. And if they didn't see eye-to-eye with the NHL,

Starting point is 00:07:48 that was never going to end up well. Because if you don't see eye-to-eye with the league in which you own a team in, eventually you're going to hit some roadblocks. The thing I have seen some people say, and I want to caution against this, because if you listen to this show, you know how I operate. I have seen a lot of people saying that they're worried about the over-leveraging that the Hoffman family might be putting themselves into by paying so much for this.

Starting point is 00:08:14 I've seen some comparisons to Alex Morello when he was the owner of the coyotes. Listen, I am not dismissing those concerns. I'm not saying that it is not possible, but let's wait and see what happens under this ownership group. It's not someone who has a reputation or a company or a family of a reputation that has done shady. business deals or anything like that. There is some stuff here and there, but for the most part, I understand the skepticism and the pessimism because nobody is going to be Mario Lemieux, but they have purchased the team. Let's see how they operate and evaluate it from there.

Starting point is 00:08:57 And speaking of Mario, I still wonder, Pat, does he come back in a bit of a bigger capacity with this new ownership group? I mean, he's been around PBG paints arena a bit more as of late. He was in the building as recently as last. night seeing if Sidney Crosby was going to tie the franchise record in points, if not break it. He's now one point away from tying Mario's record and then two away from breaking it. But even before that, he's been to a couple other games this year. You're seeing him around a bit more.

Starting point is 00:09:25 So I'm really curious to see once more of the details come out, is Mario going to be a bit more involved in the team going forward? Again, just speculating on my part, but it's at least a possibility. And that would be a really good starting off point for the Hoffman fan. once this sale gets approved and they become the property of the Hoffman family to make sure that Mario Lemieux is involved in some capacity. If for no other reason, that would give you a good reputation and a good starting point to say, hey, we're bringing this guy back into the fold. He's going to play some kind of a role with the organization. Even if it's just some kind of fan service, it would

Starting point is 00:10:03 certainly help their case as the new owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But that is going to do it for our opening segment. Obviously, we're going to keep our ears to the ground on this one and bring you any developments that come between now and then with the impending sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But now we've got to talk about some hockey. The Pittsburgh Penguins were absolutely dominated by Connor McDavid-Leod, Leon Drysidle, and the Edminton Oilers on Tuesday night. We're going to recap that game when we get back right after this. But first, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is Monarch. The holidays are amazing, but they can also get overwhelming fast, whether it's travel,

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Starting point is 00:11:18 I'm a big fan of Monarch. I've been saying it since they've been on as a sponsor. They have really helped me keep track of all my finances, especially this time of year with travel on the docket, all the gifts I'm buying, holiday parties, you name it. I've got to spend a lot of money this time of year. And Monarch's making sure I'm sticking to my budget. They're keeping everything tracked.

Starting point is 00:11:38 And I'm making sure I'm not overextending myself in one of the most hectic times of the year. It is an absolute game changer. So don't let financial opportunities slip through the cracks. Use code locked on NHL at Monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at Monarch.com with the code locked on NHR. all right we're back here on the wednesday edition of locked on penguins i'm patrick damp right alongside hunter hoodies losing streak it reaches six and that is how many goals the edmonton oilers put up against the pittsburgh penguins on tuesday night at ppg paints arena

Starting point is 00:12:23 and i'll start it this way hunter i wanted and i know a lot of people are going to want us to come on here and get angry and get ourselves worked up over another loss. And I totally get it. Six-game losing streak. You don't win a single game during a five-game homestand. There's a lot to be annoyed by. But I think I depleted my anger reserves on our Monday episode after the Utah game. Last night was just a case of a really good team came into PPG paints arena, played a not very good struggling Penguins team. and that was what happened The funny thing is

Starting point is 00:13:05 I don't even think the Oilers are that good especially this year so far they're getting a bit hot but they're still not very good I think the thing is one team has Connor McDavid and Leon Dryasidal the other one does not

Starting point is 00:13:18 and you saw Connor and Leon go absolutely off I said it for the preview it's the Connor and Leon show if you don't stop them you're not going to win this game sure enough they didn't come close I mean, Conor McDavid, just going through the entire penalty kill for the goal that made it to nothing, literally, have you seen the meme?

Starting point is 00:13:38 I am in danger. That literally was all of the penalty killers there. You all had no shot at stopping Connor McDavid. When he gets a burst of speed, good luck. And, yeah, I mean, poor Stewart Skinner, he knew that was coming. He still couldn't stop it. Leon Drysidal, he was knifing through dudes left and right, didn't matter. So that's really where the game was won and lost.

Starting point is 00:14:01 A, Conner McDavid and Leon going God mode. And B, we talked about it on the preview show, Pat. You can't take penalties against this Oilers power play. It's one of the best units in the league for a reason. And that's really the first power play that has really taken the Penguins penalty kill to school this year. I think the Penguins P.K has done an amazing job on virtually every other power play they have gone up against, except that one. The movement, they had no answers for it. whether it was McDavid, dry sidle,

Starting point is 00:14:29 Bouchard, Nugent Hopkins, Hyman around the net doing his thing. They had no answer for it. It looked like men against boys out there, which I can't believe I'm saying because the Penguins penalty kill has been elite this year under Dammeuse. But the zone entries,

Starting point is 00:14:45 they were allowing way too easily. They couldn't get clears. McDavid was way too quick for them in the offensive zone. It was making them look like an AHL unit, which, again, I still can't believe I'm saying because the Penguins PKK has been fantastic, but that's how stark of a difference it was when you watch the Edmonton power play versus the Penguins penalty kill.

Starting point is 00:15:04 And those sequences early on, that cost the Penguins game. Because I felt like before those penalties, the Penguins were fine at five on five. I thought they were getting the better of the chances. But once you started taking penalties and it was looking like Penn's Caps, game sakes third period of 2016 with a delay the game and you got too many five on threes, when you do that against the Oilers, they will make you pay every time. And they got behind the eight ball.

Starting point is 00:15:30 The taken away goal from Justin Brzoe didn't help matters. But when you get behind like that, very hard to come back from. So just can't be, you got to be more discipline there. The penalties were really their ultimate undoing because I'm right there with you. Before they paraded to the penalty box, they were playing quite well. And it kind of looked like, all right, this might be the night they picked themselves up off the mat. and then three straight penalties, a disallowed goal. And I know that I've written about it.

Starting point is 00:16:01 I know we talked about it, that, hey, this team kind of crumbles under pressure. But listen, I don't think they crumbled because even after the 2-0 goal by Connor McDavid, which was just, I said it to you before we hit record. How do you defend that? You just can't. Connor McDavid, and this is a loose comparison, but I think it does apply. It very much in a way reminds me of 2010 Sidney Crosby before he got the concussion where he was just playing a different game than everybody else.

Starting point is 00:16:34 It was inevitable. And that's the level Connor McDavid is on right now, if not even better, just because of how fast he does everything. But to the point, even after the two nothing goal, they kind of got back to what they were doing well for the most part. And like you said, you take those penalties. against an Euler's power play that is that potent. You are not setting yourself up for success.

Starting point is 00:17:00 And that really is kind of the beginning and the end of this game. Didn't hate the way they played for the majority of it, but you put yourself in a 2-0 hole early after a parade to the penalty box. And that's really going to be your undoing. And it was for the Penguins. And I think we'll talk a little bit more about the game here because there is some more to talk about but I do think right now it's probably not the worst thing that the penguins are heading out of town for a few games it's just been a nightmare of a week it's been a nightmare of a stretch

Starting point is 00:17:35 and just getting away from all of it being on the road it's the dad's trip coming up it's it's a chance for a reset now they have to take it if they keep putting forth the same efforts it's going to be all for nothing but at the very least you have a chance over this next week to kind of reset, get yourself back to what you were doing well and close off the calendar year, hopefully on a high note. I'm glad you brought up the dad's trip because I was going to if you weren't. I think that's huge. Having some family around during this really rough stretch, having them come on this little two game trip with you before the Penguins come back home to play the second half of a home and home against the Canadians. That's so huge. I hope the dads are

Starting point is 00:18:18 also there for that home game as well pat you just make a full little end of week slash full weekend had of it if you're the dads on this trip but you get to go on the row with your a little bit of your family you get to get away from all this hopefully because they've been a better road team and they have a home team hopefully they're able to rediscover some things on the road you're going up against the ottawa team that again is still trying to figure things out montreal is the same these games are winnable but again it's on the penguins to really picked themselves up off the mat. I thought the power play last night was too much perimeter play for the penguins against

Starting point is 00:18:54 an Oilers PK that hasn't really been that good this year. I wanted to see more. I know the Oilers PK is a bit more aggressive than a lot of the other teams in the league, but it's still nothing that the Penguins haven't seen before. And I just don't think they were really in sync. I think it's time for Ben Kendall to get back on the top power play, at least until Evgeny Malkin is ready to return. And it looks like he's getting closer because he participated in a scale.

Starting point is 00:19:17 gate today wasn't a full practice but he at least skated for a while before then same with blake lasotte so looks like they're getting a bit closer i also thought late in the game and i know a comeback wasn't really likely then kendall was also not on the ice for a six on five thought that was really weird from dam news i think he could be a little bit better with some some of his personal decisions no i am not calling for his job nor should anyone be calling for his job we are literally 30 plus games into his tenure i just think there's a couple kinks he's got to be working out with, you know, some, some personnel decisions. That's all.

Starting point is 00:19:51 Pat, Crystal Tang, again, just another really rough night. I feel like you and I keep saying the same things about him on the show. He's averaging about two minutes less on the ice this year committed to last year. Last year was about 2330. This year, it's about 21.30. He's still not doing enough, man. Like, it's really rough to watch him in his own zone. Offensively, he's still, you know, not driving play in his end.

Starting point is 00:20:16 you know, when you look at expected goals for, you know, it's actually funny. His is a little bit higher than Carlson's, but Carlson's production is also much better overall, which is expected because he's getting more of the minutes and he is their best overall defensemen on this team. But Latang, when you look at all the defensemen at five on five, he's been on the ice for the most scoring chances against. So they got to figure this out because it's getting really bad. And then lastly, before we had to break, and I'll give this back to you. Stuart Skinner, I thought he was fine. The Savoy goal. goal he's got to have otherwise a lot of those other shots he's not stopping so overall i like skinner's

Starting point is 00:20:53 game for the most part considering the circumstances he'd been here for around 24 hours if that and he gets thrown into the net to play against his former team and you know you can i know a lot of people will say oh that's the same thing but jari already had a start under his belt with the oilers so bit of a different situation i thought he was fine enough and shout out to all of you guys who listen to the show because we heard it loud and clear at PPG last night. Every time you made a save, Stu. So I thought he was okay. And then the one thing I did want to add that you brought up.

Starting point is 00:21:30 And I would, if I'm the coaching staff, I'm showing the team this today on the road for as much as I can. When it was six on five, the difference between the way the. Oilers played a six on five and the way the penguins have played a six on five this year was stark. They did not allow the penguins to get set up. They did not allow the penguins to make any easy passes. They really made it difficult for them to do anything with the six on five advantage. When you compare it to what the penguins have done this year and it's part of the problem with the blown leads is they kind of just go into a shell and protect the middle and play extremely passive. and it's led to goals against.

Starting point is 00:22:16 It's led to blown leads. And you looked at the way the Oilers played it last night. And it was just a complete 180 from what we've seen from the penguins. And it's part of the reason that even though I thought the penguins were playing fine enough, they weren't going to be able to really get anything going at six on five because they were under pressure the whole time, which was leading to mistakes. It was leading to broken plays. and it really was a big difference at the end of the game.

Starting point is 00:22:46 But Penguins, they are going to hit the road here for a few games. We'll obviously get you ready for those on this show throughout the rest of the week. But yes, even in a nightmare of a week, it is still Wednesday. That still means we got to do my favorite segment where we pick our MVP of the week in Warrior Helmet Wednesday. and we've got some interesting picks for this week's warrior helmet. So stick with us. We'll get into that right after this. Before we do that, though, we've got one more sponsor to tell you about,

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Starting point is 00:24:30 I'm Patrick Damp right alongside Hunter Hodes. And yes, it's my favorite segment on this show. my favorite thing that we do each and every week, it is Warrior Helmet Wednesday, and if you are new to Locked on Penguins, here is what Warrior Helmet Wednesday is. As I said, it's our MVP of the week. It can be a player, a coach, a front office member, whoever we want, because we made this segment up. It's not based in anything real. It's our thing to do so we can do whatever we want with it. But it also pays homage to the 2016 Stanley Cup winning penguins who, in the locker room after wins, all the way through their Stanley Cup championship, they would give their

Starting point is 00:25:12 team MVP a warrior helmet. So we're paying homage to that. Hunter, I'm going to let you go first. And I want to put up the graphic early, even though it'll spoil my pick, because if you're a Chappelle show fan. I think Hunter Hodes is putting his name in in the hat for player hater of the year with this pick. So let's get that up on the screen. Hunter, this is who you're picking. If you're listening, you're not going to be able to see this. So Hunter, for those listening, tell them who you're picking. I hope you're hungry for nothing. I'm not picking anyone for this week. Sorry, no one on the ice deserves the warrior helmet for this last week with the way this team played sorry i know you're going with well i'll just spoil it for everyone pat's going

Starting point is 00:26:00 with kyle dubus for the tristan jari trade which is a very fair pick but i was just going off the players for this week i could have given it to dubus if i wanted to but player wise no one deserves it for this past week not with all these blown leads not with these performances six game losing trade we're going to try again next week pat especially if they hopefully can win a game over the next week and we'll hopefully see some better performances but yeah nobody gets my warrior helmet which i have never done before i really honestly can't agree or disagree with you on it because it's been a nightmare of a week there's been some okay performances that get overshadowed by the results of the games so for everybody on the ice there really isn't anybody to hand the warrior helmet to

Starting point is 00:26:47 i could maybe make a case for sergey murashov i thought he did a pretty good job holding the Fort is best he could, as long as he could against Utah, despite not getting a ton of help from his mates, but- Wasn't good in the third period, though, so probably not. Again, like I said, because of the result, because of the outcome and the way that third period went, would be even more difficult to give him for that. But as you said, I am giving it to Kyle Dubis for the Tristan Jari trade. I thought he did really well on this trade, all things considered. You get all of Jari's cap hit off of the books. You're not retaining any salary. you get Brett Kulak, who if this team decides to turn it around at any point,

Starting point is 00:27:27 could be a useful piece in helping you maybe make the playoffs. Stuart Skinner, less money, younger, but still basically the same as Tristan Jari, but he's a UFA at the end of the year. So if it works out, maybe you talk about bringing them back. If it doesn't, happy trails, go find a team that'll sign you. In the 2029 second round pick, it can be whatever you want it to be. If this team doesn't have a ton of success, you keep that in your back pocket. You've got a second round pick in 2029.

Starting point is 00:27:59 If you feel like you're going somewhere and you need a little extra piece to put in a trade, a 2029 second owned by the Oilers or from the Oilers, considering where they might be heading by 2029, might be a nice little valuable pick to have. So Kyle Dubus gets it for me because that's a pretty good week and a pretty good trade for him, despite everything happening on the ice that's fair i again if i if you really pressured me into giving a royal helm out to someone i probably would have given it to caldubis but i was just strictly going off the players for this week and yeah hope everyone's hungry for nothing there because none of the players deserved it we're going to try again next week pat i think i'll definitely

Starting point is 00:28:43 have someone for next week as long as they please win a game or have a strong performance We'll see. Who knows? Maybe we go two weeks in a row, and I actually have to put nobody on the tracker because if they get two, then, well, I might have to put nobody on the tracker. But if you're watching us on YouTube, you can see the year-long tracker on your screen. If you're listening, let's give you a little bit of a rundown. Several people with one warrior helmet this season, Eric Carlson, Dan News, the penalty killed, the power play, and now former Penguins goalie, Tristan Jari. With two on the season, Justin Brazo, now Kyle Dubus, Ben Kindle, and Sergey Murrishov in leading the pack this season with three warrior helmets of Genie Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Why are we doing that, you ask? Well, because we've got to take this segment to the next level this year. We've been doing it for a couple of seasons. And now this year, whenever the season comes to an end, whether that's game 82 or a

Starting point is 00:29:44 playoff series, we'll keep all this tally together. and we will hand out some season-long warrior helmets. But Hunter, unless you've got anything else to add, that is going to do it for us here on the Locked-on Penguins podcast. We will be back with a fresh episode for you on Thursday, previewing the game against the Ottawa Senators and anything else that may develop potentially, whether it's roster moves, ownership updates, you name it.

Starting point is 00:30:13 We'll be here to update you on it. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I am Patrick Damp. Thank you, as always, for tuning in, and we will be back on Thursday.

Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins have been SOLD to the Hoffmann Family, what's next?

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