Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins make more changes to their broadcasting teams!

Episode Date: September 18, 2023

We are back to daily episodes! Hunter and Pat welcome everyone to Season 5 of the Locked On Penguins podcast with some fresh news about the broadcasting teams. The two discuss how Steve Mears will be brought back as the radio PXP voice and how this is a good thing while also giving their thoughts on Phil Bourque staying as the radio color commentator. They also analyze Hailey Hunter replacing Dan Potash on the broadcast while also wondering who the color commentator will be for Josh Getzoff as he will be moving to TV. After that, they give their thoughts on the prospect's challenge so far and who has stood out before ending the show with some talk regarding Mike Sullivan and whether he's under pressure this season!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNHL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNHL for a free water bottle with any order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you.AG1If a comprehensive solution is what you need from your supplement routine, then try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase. Go to drinkAG1.com/NHLNETWORK.Jase MedicalSave more than $360 by getting these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical plus an additional $20 off by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS - GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) 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.

The Penguins announced more changes to their radio and TV broadcasting crews for this season. To start off the show, Pat and I are going to give our thoughts on those moves right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am one of your hosts.

Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter. At Hunter Hodes, to my right, Patrick Damp returns to the show after a brief one-show hiatus. You can follow him on Twitter at Sinem for Wet. You can also follow these shows, Twitter, at LRs for Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. Pat, your first daily episode as we get the season, season five of Locked on Penguins started.

Training camp starts this week. I'm fired up. Hunter, can you feel it? Can you feel it? Right now, the sun's coming up just a little bit later. The sun's going down just a little bit earlier. There's a nice little chill in the air in western Pennsylvania. It's mid-September, and that means we made it. hockey season is right around the corner. And I got to tell you, man, for the first time in a good few years, I am genuinely, truly, and completely fired up for the return of Penguins hockey. Doesn't mean I haven't loved it every time it comes back.

That love and fire never dies. But man, with all the changes after the end of last season, I'm ready. I'm ready to get after it. I've been fired up for the first game of the season, honestly ever since the Eric Carlson trade. I was pretty fired up before then. That trade obviously just catapulted it up to just another dimension, to be honest. That's also the best opening monologue I think the show has ever seen.

So you have that going for you right now. And also, it smells like fall outside at night. You get those fall smells coming back mid-September. Official start of falls in only a few days. October's right around the corner. we are just about there. And the Penguins, in the spirit of that, made some more announcements on Monday

when it comes to their broadcasting crews of both radio and television for this season. Pat, starting off with Steve Mears going from TV to radio. He will be the new radio play-by-play broadcaster on the Penguins Radio Network. And Phil Bork will stay on radio. A lot of people were speculating that Bork was going to be going to television,

That is not the case. He's going to be staying with Steve. Congratulations to Steve. By the way, he's going to get to continue to call Penguins games for this season. We'll start off with that news. Pat, give me your overall. Yeah, I said it when you were on vacation when this news first broke when I had Josh Taylor on the show. I did feel, I felt a little bad for Steve Mears because he's a Pittsburgh native. This is his home. It's his childhood team. It's the team. team that got him into hockey. He gets the dream job as the play by play guy for that team after years of putting his head down and grinding away with a bunch of other spots, including NHL network and some other regional broadcasts that he had done. So I'm really happy for him that he gets to stick with the Penguins organization and continue to be a play by play guy for this team. And I'm also really happy that Phil Bork's sticking around. The one thing I will say, anytime this team's in a slump, anytime this team is struggling,

I would always go to the radio to hear what Bork had to say because that man does not mince words. Yes, he loves the Pittsburgh Penguins. They have a special place in his heart for everything he did with the organization in the 80s and 90s. But that man will not sugarcoat it. When that team is struggling, he is right there to tell you why and give you some very honest thoughts on it. So keeping him within the organization as an analyst for the radio broadcast, a plus move.

That was always, I think, the biggest difference between the radio and the television broadcast was that Bob Erie, I mean, yes, I enjoyed Bob Erie. He was always pretty silly on the air. He had some funny things that he said, but he never truly, I thought, gave it to the Penguins when they were playing bad. Bork always has and always will. is it, I wouldn't say unfortunate, but is it a little sad that he won't be teaming up with Gets off on television? Yeah, but I still think he has a great voice for radio. And also the same

for Mears. I think with Mears, he was definitely a step up from Paul Staggerwald, in my opinion. I thought towards the late ages of Staggy's career with the Penguins, he was kind of just just at the point where it was probably time to go in a different direction. Mears wouldn't be better, but I do think he has a better voice overall for radio compared to television. Yeah, and I always say this about Staggerwall. And I mean this with absolutely no disrespect. The man isn't a play-by-play guy. He's a storyteller. He's a color commentator. Where they have him now essentially hosting podcasts and hosting online content and doing pre and post game things way more in his wheelhouse. He's a storyteller. He puts things in an incredible perspective.

I reference it all the time because I'm a nerd, but the Penguin's 50th anniversary documentary, he's a star of it because he puts things in an incredible perspective and tells you a great story. And that's just not what a play by play guy has to do. A play by play guy or girl, my apologies, is to call the action, to let you know what's happening. And then it's the color commentator and the analyst's job to put that in perspective. So having Staggy in that role is perfect for him. I agree. And he's going to be continuing to do that kind of stuff, even with this new network that the Penguins announced while I was on vacation. But there are also a couple other moves that they announced today.

Josh Getsoff, excuse me, officially going to television. We don't know who is full-time analyst partner is going to be yet. I'm kind of thinking it's going to be Colby Armstrong, but maybe it's going to be him and someone else. but there is going to be a new rinkside reporter. Dan Potash is going into a different role. And the new ringside reporter is Haley Hunter. She, funny, I know some people may not like this part. She was a reporter for the New York Islanders just a couple of years ago.

So she'll be bringing that mojo into Pittsburgh. Hopefully the bad vibes from the Islanders will not be coming into Pittsburgh with that. But before that, she had done some golf content for the PGA tour. in NBC Sports, and she also covered the Winter Olympics for last year. Really strong hire, it looks like. She grew up with hockey. She's done a lot of things in hockey. I'm really excited about that.

Potash, he will be a studio host for the new network, and he'll be doing that all throughout the season. There will also be longer pre- and post-game shows for the announcement. There are going to be hour-long pre-game shows that Potash will host and hour-long post-game shows that he will host. So I know it's going to be a little jarring, not seeing him pester some of the players, not seeing him pester Mike Sullivan, because let's face it, he is a riot on those broadcasts. I absolutely loved him.

But I do think Haley Hunter can do a really good job. And I think POTash is also going to do a good job as a host because he has done some of the hosting in the past. For example, even this past year when the penguins would come on at like 630 or even at 7 o'clock, he would be the one to welcome in the audience. And so he has experience doing that. But those are the few other moves that the Penguins made today as well. Yeah, taking a look at Haley's social media pages and some of her reels in previous work, I think she's going to be an extremely good hire.

She's going to bring a really good perspective. The experience is there. This isn't someone green who is just getting started. She's had a diverse amount of experience between Winter Olympics, golf, NBC sports, the Islanders. So it's not someone that they're feeding to the wolves. It's someone who knows what they're doing. As for Potash, I like this move because I like that he's still around.

But the thing I'm really hoping is that along with being a studio host, I hope he's going to get to do some feature work as well. Because the way he can get some fun and personality out of these guys on the team shouldn't be underutilized. It should be utilized frequently because he's a very great guy. He has a warm personality. Players don't have any reservations about opening up to him and showing a little bit of personality when he's around.

So I do hope that in that studio role with the expanded pre and post game, we do get some feature content from Dan Potash. But all in all, I think this is a small. smart re kind of reshuffling of the broadcast. I think that Gets Off is going to shine. I thought he was great on the radio. His calls were fantastic. Yes.

I think Steve Mears, like you said, much more suited for radio the way he calls games. And just overall, it's a nice little blending of getting some of the new blood in there, getting some of the younger guns in there, but still keeping the staples around to keep this train moving. So all in all, this just furthers my excitement for the upcoming season. Yeah, I would agree with those points. And as I said before, I would expect Colby Armstrong to have a pretty heavy presence on the new broadcast network for this season. Now, I don't know if he's going to call all the games. I think he's probably going to call a decent amount. But would you agree with their logic, I guess, of maybe having him call a good chunk and then

maybe bringing in some other faces that are pretty familiar to a lot of Penguins fans. Maybe you have Mike Rupp, for example, Pat, come into Call Some games. Now, I don't want someone like Pierre McGuire coming into Call games. Please, that's a hard pass. I don't need him saying Christopher Latang every five seconds on a Penguins broadcast. That's just really cringe. But someone like a Mike Rupp who played during the Crossby-Milken era, maybe you have someone else from even before the Crosby and Melkina era comes in to call some games.

Do you think it's going to be more of a rotating cast, or do you think someone full-time for all 82 games will be announced at some point? I do think this kind of feels like it's going to be a rotating cast, and I'm with you. Huge Kobe Armstrong fan. I was a huge fan of his when he played for the Penguins. Him and I both wore number 20, and that's about where our relation begins and ends. But I think he has become an absolute star. He's great on the broadcast. He's great on television.

He's great as an interviewer. And the couple of games over the past couple years where they put him between the benches, it was elite. I loved it. So I really, and just the fact that they announced the whole team except for the color commentator kind of tells me they've got multiple irons in the fire. So they got to get those deals done before they make them official. So it does kind of feel like there won't.

be a staple next to Getsoff all season long, it'll rotate. But like I said, I really like Getsop. I think he'll take that in stride and it's only going to make the broadcast stronger. I agree. And with how good of a play-by-play announcer Gets off is, he's only going to continue to kill it on television. Whoever is next to him as an analyst, whether that's Colby, whether that's Mike Rupp, whether that's someone else that comes into the full because I don't think anyone saw the

Haley Hunter hire coming. I think it's still going to be a pretty solid broadcast for this season and for years to come. I'm really excited about it. Yeah, and like you said, with the Haley Hunter hiring, for all we know, it could also be a wildcard. I don't think it's going to be somebody that nobody knows, but it could just be a name we hadn't thought of who's had hockey broadcast experience. As long as she doesn't bring that Islanders, just the how the islanders. I get it.

I know. It's just, anytime something bad happens to the team, it's always because of the Islanders. So, I don't know. I'm not saying she's going to screw up the team or anything like that. I think she's going to do a tremendous job.

Just with the history between the Islanders and the Penguins, you can't help but just feel a little bit like, okay, bring some good karma from your days with the Islanders. Yes. But that would do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to discuss the first couple of games of the Penguins Prospects Challenge.

Penguins went one and one, and they have their final one coming up at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. We're recording this at about 3.30, 3.45 p.m. on Monday. And then we'll finish up the show by discussing Mike Sullivan. But before we get to both of those, we have to discuss the Jace case. Everyone should be empowered to care for themselves and their loved ones during the unexpected. That's why Jace Medical offers the Jays case. It provides five life-saving antibiotics.

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We're back during this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am Hunter Hodes. That is Patrick Dam. So I recap the first prospect game on Friday with Jeff Taylor of Fly Penguins Fly. Saw some good, saw some bad. For example, Pat Joel Blumquist was awesome after the first couple of goals that he allowed. He's looking like someone who not going to challenge her roster spot this year, probably not next year. But I think two or three years down the line,

he might be an inch already. I thought, especially during that five-on-three sequence, he was tremendous. They'd lose that game on Friday, but then on Saturday, they'd come back. They absolutely beat the doors off of the Ottawa Senators eight to three. Some really good standout performances there. I was watching some college football. I was kind of flipping back and forth between some college football and the prospects game. But Brady and Yeager had a really nice goal.

Same who win. I thought he struggled a little bit in the first game, but in the second game showed why he should be, I think honestly better than most. to these players on both teams. Let's be real. I think he should be arguably the best player on the ice, in my opinion. And he was really, really good in that game. Dylan Hamillick coming over from the Sharks in the Air Carlson Trade. He also played pretty well.

Avery Hayes, I thought played well. Evan Verling as well. He's a player to watch, I think, heading into camp. I don't think he's going to make the team, but I think he could be pretty decent this year, potentially in Wilkesbury. What were your overall takeaways from the first two games? for the Penguins Prospects Challenge. Well, as I said before I went on my one-episode hiatus,

the two guys I really had my eye on in this tournament were going to be Poulan and Yeager. And I really like how Poo-Lan bounced back and the team in general, because the first game, they didn't look that great, but again, let's keep it in perspective here. It's the prospect tournament. This is a little less than real hockey

than even the preseason. is. So keep that in mind. But he definitely, uh, Poulan definitely struggled a little bit in the first game, but the mark of a good pro is when you can bounce back from that. So I thought he had a very strong performance against Ottawa. And again, I said it on this show. Yeager is someone I want to keep an eye on. I don't think he's going to make the team. I don't think he's going to even maybe play, play pro at all this year. But he has shown a lot of flashes that we talked about on this show and it was talked about after he got drafted. He's a very good two-way player.

He was one of the more noticeable players in that game against Ottawa, and he scored a goal. And the goal he scored, it wasn't just some nice shot in a break, anything like that. He went to cover for the defense and then found himself in the right position to score the goal. And that's something you want to see from a player like him, is that he's not just, focused on getting to the scoring areas. He's focused on playing a solid 200-foot game that ends in offense. So seeing that from him in this tournament is an encouraging sign. I also really think that this is a big moment for Sam Poulan's development because,

like I said, he bounces back well after a not-so-great performance in the first game, played a pretty big factor in the second game. So now for him, the key is to build off of this. It's to have a good final game today at 5 o'clock, be a factor in the game, be one of the better players on the ice, and then carry that into camp later this week to show that, listen, I'm going to make a push. I'm going to be an option this year.

I don't, again, similar to what I said, don't think he's going to make the team out of camp. But I think for him, the next step in his development, is to simply be one of the top three guys that this team looks at when somebody struggles or somebody gets hurt, that they can go, all right, we're bringing them up. It's his time. So for me, those two having good performances in the second game

is just a net positive. And especially when it comes to Yeager, having him work on that 200-foot game is massive for him because, you know, if he wants to be a everyday center in the NHL, probably going to be on the third line right now, at least in my opinion for how his development's going. He's going to have to be super solid in the defensive zone. I haven't seen enough of that so far from him, but these past couple of games, I think that's been a pretty good start for him with working on his 200-foot game. Yes, we all know how great that releases.

It's one of the best out there. But if he can work on that playmaking ability, work on his defense, I do think there's a path for him to become a center and not become a winger. even though I'm kind of in that camp a little bit right now, but hey, my opinion can change, and I hope it does. As for Poulan, I thought he was a menace during that game on Saturday, was winning some really nice puck battles against some of these centers players. It was also really solid in his defensive zone, and oh, yeah, he scored as well, just an all-around really solid performance from him.

And I'm just really rooting for him heading into Camp Pat because of everything he's been through over the past calendar year. He doesn't make the team, which I don't think he will. he'll start a Wilkesbury and he will be, I think, a solid call-up option. But I want to see also what he can do today on Monday because the Penguins will have their final Prospects Challenge game at 5 p.m. Eastern against the Buffalo Sabers that is going to be a sold-out crowd. And oh, yeah, for Poulan, he gets the honor because of how great he played over the weekend to center the top line with Lucas Fakovsky and Jagger Joshua.

It's going to be a lot of fun to see how he does centering the top line. Brandon Yeager will be centering the second line with Sam Hood and Avery Hayes. He'll also have Cooper Foster playing. Atle of Calvert, excuse me, Matt Soto, Ty Glover, Jackson and Ivy, Joel Blumquist will start in net. Really excited to see how he does for his second game of the Prospects Challenge. But overall for Poulan, man, I'm just stoked. I'm really happy that he's playing like this. And hopefully the best is yet to come for him.

Yeah. And one last thing I want to add about this year's Prospect Tournament. that it's kind of stupid, kind of silly, but it's something I like. I like the fact that they're going to the tournament and wearing practice jerseys. Because, again, as much as I am a forward-thinking person with hockey, there is still a large part of me that does still have some old school takes. And one of them to me is like, this is the organization saying, you're not a penguin yet.

You have to earn that. You have to earn a penguin's jersey. Now, I know there's going to be guys in preseason who maybe never play a game in a penguin's jersey, but this is the organization saying, you want to be a penguin, you earn it. I like that take on it because when I was watching the game against the Bruins on Friday, the Bruins players were wearing just their regular sweaters. And it was almost just like, oh, they're part of the team that are going to be on the team this year. When for almost all those guys, probably all of them, I should say, it's probably not going to be the case.

So I agree with you. I like that the Penguins are doing that. And hopefully it's a tradition that they carry over into next year's Prospects challenge as well. But that will wrap up this segment. Coming up to end the show, when does the pressure really start ramping up on head coach Mike Sullivan? This is a coach now who still has four years left under contract.

This upcoming season is his final one under his second contract. And then after this year, his three-year extension kicks in that he signed in 2022 under Ron Hecht star and Brian Burke. So this is a pretty big year for the head coach of the Penguins. But before Pat and I gets that, we got to discuss Fandle. Snap into action this NFL season with Fandul America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $200 of bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. That's $200 of bonus bets win or lose. If you've been thinking about joining Fandul, there's no better time to get in on the action than right now. The app is super easy to use. And there's so many different betting options that you can choose.

including spreads, player props, over unders, and so much more. So visit fandle.com slash locked on and kick off the NFL season. That's Fandle official sports betting partner of the NFL and locked on. All right, we're back to this episode of the Locktime Penguins podcast. I am one of your host, Hunter Hodes. To my right is Patrick Dam. So coming into the season, Mike Sullivan, who has been here since I was a senior in high school, if you all can believe that.

I was 18 years ago. I'm going to be 26 this year. That's just crazy to think about how long he has been the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Comes in, there hasn't been a lot of success in recent years. This is a team that hasn't won a playoff series since they took down the flyers in 2018. It's been a long time. And I think some people right now are starting to get a bit frustrating. When are the Penguins going to win a playoff series again under Mike Sullivan?

and has he reached his expiration date? Because let's face it, a lot of NHL head coaches do not last this long. In the last, what, eight years, you could probably have four head coaches on teams because they only last a couple of seasons. Heck, we just saw Mike Babcock didn't even coach a game for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

And yes, that is a crazy, messy situation. The Blue Jackets look absolutely awful for that. If you want to learn more on that, go check out the Blockton Blue Jackets podcast. They do a really good job with their stuff. But do you think this is the year, Pat, where it really ramps up on him? Because I think he has a team now that should be a playoff team. You have a loaded top six. You have two number one defensemen.

You have a bottom six that's better than the one it was last year. You have a number one goalie who hopefully is coming in healthy. There's not really too many players who are considered dead weight outside of Jeff Carter. I think it's time for him to really start getting results, or I think more and more fans will start to question him. I don't think he's going to get fired at the end of this year unless they just totally tank or a bottom 10 team or something like that, but I do think this is a big year for the head coach.

Yeah, I want to make clear here too. I don't think the pressure's on him yet. I do agree that depending on how this year goes, that might change. But you look at what's, happened since they beat the Flyers in 2018. 2019, when they lose to the caps, as always with the Capitals,

coin flip series. A couple things go a different way. They win that series. 2019, I do put on everybody in the organization top to bottom. They got out coached, out played, out goalied out everything when they got swept by the others.

Then the COVID bubble, I maybe give him a little bit of blame. The Murray-Jarie thing was pretty bad. Yeah, he's stuck with Murray too long, but at the same time, you're not that far removed from him being a back-to-back cup winning goalie who was money in the playoffs. So I get it to an extent. 2021, nothing he could do. Jari just completely melts down. And there's no real backup option.

Last year, what do you say about last year? And then 2022 again. injuries and goal and nobody there to really solve the problem. And that's a management issue, not a coaching issue. And then last year, just a bad roster that he got to the absolute bubble of the playoffs. When in reality, looking back at that team, they probably shouldn't have even been there. But I will say this. If he doesn't get results and I mean win a series or two this year,

I do think he gets a two-year grace period because of, Kyle Dubus coming in. I don't think this team has been fully shaped in Kyle Dubus's image yet. And by all accounts, him and Sullivan get along really well. So I think this year, if it's catastrophic, then yes, the spotlight is shined on him. But if they make the playoffs win a series or lose a seven game series that's tight, no big deal right yet to look at Mike Sullivan. But if the lack of success continues after next season,

then yes, it's time to look at him. I don't think there's any reason to put him on the hot seat just yet. I think in general, he's probably a top five coach in the National Hockey League. So, and the most important point is he has the trust and respect of all the big guns. Crosby, Malkin, Latang, all respect them. And I know it's a lifetime ago at this point, but if you remember, when he first came in, he sat down with Crosby, Malkin, and Latang and said, you have basically five to ten games to prove to me all of you belong on the top

power play unit or I'm splitting you up. And then they went out and performed. And that could have been a moment where guys like that go, who's this guy? I'm not doing this for him, but he commanded the room and it led to a lot of success. So I think we're a year or two away from really having that discussion. but overall, I think they have one of the best coaches in the National Hockey League, and there's no reason to change that right now. And there's no reason to rush into doing it either.

One of my biggest things is when people want to fire Mike Sullivan, I'm like, okay, who would you replace him with? And there's so many retread options that people will throw at you. And some other people will say, well, maybe someone who's new. It's like, okay, maybe, but that's also carrying a massive risk, because what if that doesn't work? And the person that you're suggesting turns out to be a really, bad new head coach. I'd rather go with the veteran in Mike Sullivan who has shown a even a recent

ability to out coach teams in that playoff series against the Rangers. He was taking Gerard Galant's lunch money and spending it that series. He was outcoaching him ridiculously badly. The only reason why the Rangers came back to win was A, you know, the Cindy Crosby thing obviously. And B, the biggest one I should say, I should put this at A, goaltending, Louis Doming, in the South of Beach fall those final three games. Tristan Jari had to play on a broken foot. That's why they lost that series. You even go back to 2021.

I thought he was out coaching Barry Trots in that series. And Barry Trots is one of the greatest head coaches in the history of the sport. I have the utmost respect for Barry Trots. Was his style boring? Absolutely it was. I hated it. But he is still a tremendous head coach. And Mike Sullivan was out coaching him before Tristan Jari failed to perform in that series.

he is still a very good head coach. I will also say he is the best head coach in franchise history, and I mean that no disrespect to Badger Bob. Legend, he will forever be remembered and entrenched into Penguins' lore. But Mike Sullivan, and for obvious reasons, I know, I know. Mike Sullivan's the only Penguins coach to win back-to-back championships as the Penguins coach. obviously Badger Bob, his tragic passing helped him from doing that. But this is a franchise that's won back-to-back Stanley Cups twice.

And Mike Sullivan's the only one who was behind the bench for both of them. I also think you look at his body of work. And like you said, it's a tremendous risk if you try to go with somebody new. Look who coached right before him. They brought Mike Johnson in from the junior. circuit. Right. And it was a disaster.

So I don't mean this with a negative connotation, but you stick with the devil, you know. That's a beautiful way to say it, actually. I love that. And another thing with Sullivan is that, yes, he's definitely a little bit stubborn. He had some weird moments last year where he trusted Jeff Carter way too much. He trusted some of the other veteran players, way too much. much. The Brian Duhlund thing, I will say, was very annoying, but I think he was also being a bit loyal to someone who helped the Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cups. Could he also be better

with putting some more youth into the lineup? Yes, he could, and I hope that changes for this year. I hope he continues to evolve as a head coach. But the top players respect him, even the role players respect him. Everyone in the organization respects him. You will not find five to seven better head coaches in the league because when he is at the top of his game, he is out-coaching everyone and is putting tactics in place for the penguins that give other teams fits. And you've seen that happen in the last two times they've been in the playoffs. They changed up their tactics against the Islanders in 2021.

They changed them up against the Rangers, especially in 2022 with how they were defending against their top six. you give him time to game plan against you outside the regular season, he is usually going to make it work. It all comes down to one of the biggest things, goaltending, and of course the health of the team. So I agree. I don't think he's on pressure right now,

but that can change if they get off to a bad start. If they're really, really bad this year, I think that can 100% go in the opposite direction. but I still think he's one of the best coaches in the league. Maybe you change up some of the assistant coaches if things go bad this year. For example, Taw Reardon didn't have good work on the power play. Mike Volucci. I'm not really too big on his PK stuff, but hey, you know,

maybe he makes some changes to that unit this year or two. But I'm still a believer in Mike and I will die on that Hill. Yeah. And last point I'll make on Sullivan is just the fact that, again, I know it was a lifetime ago when he got brought in. But I knew I was all in on this guy when in his introductory press conference, they asked him obviously, like, what things need to change, what do you have to do to turn this team around? And he said, basically, we're going to have a system, but we are not going to take the sticks out of our most talented players' hands.

And that is always an Achilles heel for most NHL head coaches. Hell, that's an Achilles heel for most coaches in all of sports to where they come in and say, this is my system, we're playing it, no questions asked. He's a coach, a rare coach that says, I've got these three incredibly talented players. I'm not going to get in their way. Yeah, I want them to play a system. Yeah, I want them to make sure that they're defensively accountable in doing the right things. But I'm going to give them the leeway to improv because they are geniuses of the sport. So you do not get in their way. You let them produce. You let them play the game to their advantage, and he's great at doing that.

And he'll be doing the same thing for Eric Carlson this year. Yes, is he a bit, a little bit of a tire fire in his own zone? Yeah, Mike Sullivan worked on that, but he also won't want to work on it so much that it takes away from how amazing Carlson is in the offensive zone. And I think you're going to see that a lot this upcoming season. But that would do it for this episode of the Locked-on Pinguins podcast. Thank you all so much for listening slash watching this one. Pat and I will be back tomorrow, and we'll have a couple of special guests, it looks like.

A couple of the hosts of the Locked-on Flyers podcast will be teaming up with us for a pre-season. I guess we want to call it a preview for this upcoming season, maybe get the rivalry back in full force because, let's face it, the Penguins Flyers rivalry is not what it used to be right now. I would probably put a couple of other teams of other Flyers right now, notably the Capitals and the Rangers. I remember there was a time where this was the biggest Penguins rival. I love how it kind of goes.

in cycles, but it's not the flyers right now. But hey, maybe this episode tomorrow puts the flyers back up at number one. We're really looking forward to it. You can look forward to that. Kind of the same time that this episode goes like. Honestly, Pat, if you want to make this announcement, when can listeners expect most episodes to drop this upcoming season? So now that we're back to daily episodes this season, the way Hunter and I have decided we want to have the show going is we want this to be your commute home listen. on Monday to Friday. So you can expect our episodes around 445, 5 o'clock, right as you're dealing with the nightmare that is parkway traffic when you're on your drive home.

Hopefully we can make that just a little less stressful for you. We'll have the game recaps, game previews. No, I will not be going live at 9.45 right after the game. A couple times I will. Maybe like at one or two games, but most likely that is a thing of the past. We'll be doing all of our episodes right around 445, 5 o'clock. So you all have that to look forward to for this season. But again, thank you all so much for listening slash watching. We'll be back with another episode on Tuesday.