Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins welcome Joe Brand as the new radio voice!

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins officially have their new radio play-by-play voice in Joe Brand! Hunter and Patrick discuss his resume, what they hope to see from the new commentator, and how he can fit in with the Penguins organization. After that, they move from radio to TV and discuss the current team, what roles they can fit into, and how the Penguins can make it so they have an above-average TV broadcast for years to come. Finally, a player they're keeping an eye on for this season: Anthony Beauvillier and how he could be a potential fix for some of their depth scoring woes!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelNow through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COMto get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Penguins Radio brand has a brand new brand. Your Locked-on Penguin. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguin. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes.

Joined by my co-st Patrick Damp. You can follow him on Twitter at Center for Wet. and you can follow these shows, Twitter at L.O. Understore Penguins, of course, thank you all so much for making this your first lesson slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms. And finally, today's episode is brought to you by Fandall now through September 22nd. All Fandul customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV.

Visit fandul.com to get started. So Pat the Penguins announced a bit of news to start the day on Tuesday, announcing that Joe Brand is the new. radio play-by-play voice for the Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network, and he will be replacing Steve Mears, who went on to be the television play-by-play announcer for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Again, congratulations to him. Well-deserved honor, we hope that he crushes it in Columbus. And Brand, he's 33 years old. He comes over from the Chicago Blackhawks, where he was there for the previous few seasons. He did some play-by-play stuff for WGN Radio 720am, but he was mainly

their studio host for Blackhawks games. He hosted pre-game stuff. He did intermears. He did intermars. mission things, post-game shows for all the Blackhawks regular season games, also did a weekly radio show called Black Cox Live. He's also done preseason play-by-play for the Blackhawks. He's also done baseball games, football, basketball, a whole bunch of other sports, again, 33 years old. And the most important thing out there, no people, I do not take over the Penguins Radio Network. I've gotten so many texts from people saying that I look exactly like this guy. I guess I can maybe see a little bit of a resemblance, but no, I did not take over the Penguins radio play-by-play announcing duties. So congratulations to Joe Brand. He'll be taking over the radio play-by-play duties

for the Penguins. And also Pat, Phil Bork will be accompanying him for most of the games during the regular season. But Bill Ork will also be doing some TV games with Josh Getsoff. We'll have to see the full schedule once the TV schedule gets announced. That's probably going to be coming, I would say, maybe this week, next week. I remember last year, this is when they really announced all of the TV and radio stuff. So I could see a TV announcement coming this week as well but pat your thoughts on joe brand and what he can bring to the table for the penguins don't listen to him people he this is actually hunter hody's uh radio pseudonym he is actually joe brand he goes by that on the radio so congratulations to hunter doesn't have the jufro baby that's that's that's what we're

i don't know man i can see it i can if you're if you are watching the show right now on youtube uh pull up a side by side of this guy and hunter and tell me that they don't look like they can be related because they absolutely do. But yeah, I mean, it's cool to finally have an answer on who's going to step in here for the radio broadcast this season. And I like this move because, well, for a couple reasons. One, he's on the younger side, which is hilarious for me to say, because he's 33. I'm 33. I'm 11 days from 34. So it's hilarious to look at it from that regard. But I like this because on the other end of that, like even though he is only 33 years old, he has been working in a gigantic market with a gigantic team. This isn't like they plucked a guy right out of

college who was calling some goofy division two football or basketball team. This guy's got extensive experience, not just in the National Hockey League, but with one of the teams who, along with the penguins in this modern era, has been one of the more popular. and prolific teams to exist in this era. So they got a guy with a lot of really good experience. And I like this because even though, yes, he was working with the Chicago Blackhawks, you know that this is a guy who's got a little something to prove. He's not a seasoned veteran who's been bouncing around from team to team from league to league.

He's a guy who's going to have to come in and make his mark. He's going to have to bring a unique voice to the radio broadcast booth. And I don't think that'll be too difficult for him simply because listeners of our show, no, we love Phil Bork. I think he is one of the better color guys around. Obviously, there's a bias there because we're penguins fans. He is a diehard penguin at heart. It's where he made the majority of his money in his career, played some of his best hockey, was with Pittsburgh. So a lot of Pittsburgh penguin in him.

but as we've said, he's not afraid to call this team out when they need called out. He's not going to go Sunnyside optimism at every turn. If this team's playing like crap, he's going to say it. If players aren't working the way they should be, he's not going to be afraid or ashamed to say that on air, even though they are directly employees of the team. So I think he's going to have a really good partner to help him get into it. But like you said, at the same token, we do know that Bork is going to do television games this year.

So kind of in a funny way, we go from having this revolving door of color commentators on TV to now on a little bit of a lesser level. We're going to have the same thing on radio where when Bork's over on TV, we're probably going to get a handful of different people to fill in as color commentator alongside brand. And so one person I'm looking forward to seeing again, or not seeing, but hearing again on radio broadcast is Penguins inside scoop, Michelle Creckiolo. She did some appearances last year as a color commentator for the radio and did an amazing job. She's a great hockey mind. And that's someone I hope the Penguins can hold on to for well, well past the Sydney Crosby era. Oh yeah. I mean, she's been with the organization for so long already.

I mean, I don't think she has any plan of leaving anytime soon anyway, but she already does great content for the team website and just as a reporter. And she brought that Times Infinity, I felt like, to the radio broadcast last year. I felt like her insight was really good overall. And I agree, especially when Bork is on television, I would like to see Krakikyolo come in and do a handful of games just to build upon the success that she had last year on the radio broadcast as well. sure they'll have some other people filling in for Bork as well throughout the season,

but I do definitely agree with you on Krakkeolo for Brand. I know this might scare some people as well just because he hasn't really had a full-time play-by-play, you know, job at the NHL level. But I trust the Penguins with this just because, Pat, we all know how much of a legend Mike Lang was over the years, one of the best to ever do it. They replace him with Josh Getsoff. He does a fantastic job on radio, graduates to television where I have. I I think he's also done a really good job. And now you hire Joe Brand. They've already gone two for two with this on radio.

I very much trust their judgment with this hire, considering the success that this organization has had with this specific gig over the years. For sure. And I'll kind of build upon that this way. One thing this organization has done both in the Mario Lemieux group ownership era and then into the Fenway Sports Group ownership era, which I will say 25 years ago. on Sunday. Marya Lemieux buys the penguins. We love U-66. Thank you for saving our team. But the one thing they've done really well, they did this when John Barbaro unfortunately passed away. They bring in Ryan Mill. And when like you were just saying about when Mike Lang retires and steps away, they bring in Gets off. They've done a good job in the sense that they have not tried to

replicate the legend. They have not tried to say, okay, we need to bring in Mike Lang 2.0 or John Barbaro 2.0, they go out and get somebody almost completely different because you're never going to replicate what those guys did. Everybody remembers if you're of a certain vintage John Barbaro calling number 66 Mary Illamu. I'm not even going to try to do an impression of it because it was just so iconic. Hey, because impression of Crosway and Malkin were just also, you can't replicate that. Exactly. And then Mike Lang, you know it. He's one of the most colorful play. by play guys to ever do it, just off color, offbeat phrases and ways to call a game that were so uniquely him that you don't want to try to replicate that. You want to bring in somebody who's

going to forge their own legacy, somebody who's going to have their own voice and sound. So I have, obviously, we're still going to find out what kind of play-by-play announcer brand is, but I'm extremely skeptical that he's going to come in and try to be a Mike Lang type. And then the one last thing I'll add for brand is this. I know that he's only done the studio hosting and some fill in play by play for the Blackhawks, but you look at his resume. He has done play by play for multiple sports, baseball, football, basketball. He did white socks games for Chicago.

So he has cut his teeth doing play by play. And I'm a firm believer in if you can do play-by-play for baseball, you can do just about any sport because even with the implementation of the pitch clock and speeding up the game, it's very difficult to be a play-by-play announcer for baseball because it is not a fast sport and you have a lot of time to fill. So if you're able to successfully do that, it's still going to be a challenge, but it's not going to be this monumental challenge. for somebody to do hockey. So really excited to see what this guy brings. I think it's a nice little infusion of youth in the Penguins organization, kind of the whole theme of the last couple years. So excited to see what he does.

Excited to see who fills in. And welcome, Joe, to the Penguins family. We're excited to have you. Yeah, man, I'm just really excited to see how he brings his own unique voice to the Penguins Radio Network, how his goal calls are, how infectious his energy is, all that good stuff. I'm just super excited to be able to hear the radio broadcast when I can throughout the season, when I'm not watching the TV broadcast and all that stuff.

I know there are some people out there who kind of sync up the radio broadcasts at the TV broadcast. I'm excited to see how those people enjoy Joe Brand as well. But to echo your thoughts, yes, Joe, welcome to Penguins organization, and we hope that you're going to crush it here overall. But that'll do it for this first segment. Coming up in the second segment, we're going to discuss how this impacts the TV side of things. And since Bork is going to still be doing a lot of games on radio, who will be doing a lot of color commentary on TV.

Pat and I are going to give our thoughts on who will probably get back to the idea or how it would probably be a split we have to think coming up in this second segment. But before we get to that, we have to tell you all about our first sponsor, and that is Fandul. You heard us talk a lot about Fandul America's number one sportsbook. Well, we have something a little different for you now through September 22nd. All Fandual customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial NFL-sended ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV.

Then with a YouTube TV base plan, you'll be able to watch every regular season, Sunday afternoon, out-of-market game. All you need is a Google account in a current form of payment, and you can cancel any time. Just visit fendool.com and download America's number one sports book. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodeys, joined by my host, Patrick Dam. So, Pat, let's look at the TV side of things here. Now with Bork, going to be still doing a lot of radio color commentary. He'll still be doing some with Josh Getsoff on television, as we've said, too many times on the show already.

What does that mean for the other games for Josh Getsoff? If I had to guess, and I think you agree with this, we've also had Josh Yowie on the show to tell us this as well. I think this means both Mike Rupp and Colby Armstrong will be doing color commentary alongside Josh Getsoff, who will be doing the play-by-play. Again, if I had it my way and I was running this thing for the Penguins Organization, I would just do Gets off and Bork full-time on TV just because they met. mesh really well together. And I would put actually someone else on the radio play-by-by-play,

not radio-pilot-by-play, excuse me, but the radio caller commentary, just because I love how Bork and Getsov are together when they call games. Obviously, the Penguins disagree with me. Totally understand that. But I still like Kobe Armstrong a lot when he calls games. I think he adds a very fun, unique insight.

He's also just a really funny guy in general. The jokes that he tells are really good. He's like that typical person you put on the broadcasts who plays. He's like that. jokes. There's someone in the locker room who everyone loved and respected. He does bring a lot to the broadcast. Mike Rupp, I do think he's at least fine. I prefer Colby Armstrong and Phil Bork over him, but I still think Rup is overall okay at what he does for color commentary. But I still think this means it's probably going to be a split with those two while Bork gets at least some games

on the TV side this year. Would you agree with that? That kind of feels how it's lining up. and obviously we know that is how it's lining up. I will say I'm with you in the sense that I would love to see Gets Off and Bork full time on television. You know, you guys know that we have a lot of love for Phil Bork. And to build on what you said, you think about some of the best broadcasts in sports, especially on a local and regional level,

there's always, and even on national, now that I think about it. There's always a team together. It's the same two guys. And then maybe the between the benches, on the sidelines, whatever reporter is different. And that person goes in and out. But the main two anchors, your play-by-play and your color commentator are consistently the same. And I would like to see that for Bork in the color commentator's chair the rest of the way.

But obviously, we're not there quite yet. And the one thing I will disagree with. with a little bit here is, and I think I've said it on the show before, if not, here's my thoughts on this. I would love to see them just use Colby as a Between the Benches guy. Yeah. Because regional broadcasts, you're obviously slanted. You are the home of one certain team. And while you're not outright cheerleading for that team, you clearly have a slant towards that team. And I think Colby between the benches makes it a little bit more fun. He still knows a lot of those guys, both from his time in the organization,

as well as being one of the hosts of Spit and Chicklets. He talks to a ton of current NHL talent. So he can bring a little bit better of an element between the benches than I think he can in the color commentators chair. And for Mike Rupp, I like his style, but I think it's better suited for the studio. It's better suited for the guy who's going to explain to you what's happening in the game when the game isn't going on between periods, pregame, post game. Because when he's in that element, I think he's fantastic.

I think he sees a lot of things because he is an NHL journeyman. He was never really a superstar or a franchise guy. So he has that traveled experience to really bring you an element of an. you might not get otherwise. It doesn't mean he's bad. I don't think it color commentating, but I think of the group that we have available for the Penguins this year, he's a solid third.

But in an ideal world, I would go gets off, play by play, Bork color commentator, Colby between the benches, Mike Rupp doing the studio, pre post game in between periods. So I think all the talent is there for the penguins to have a really,

really good broadcast team. on SportsNet, Pittsburgh, they just have to put these guys in the right positions to succeed. Right. I mean, I've been saying the first three for that broadcast throughout the whole off season, you know, Gets off doing play-by-play, Bork up there with him, Colby between the benches. I think you would have a very sound broadcast and you have Haley Hunter as like that rinkside reporter, to be honest. I think also she adds a really good element to the broadcast as well. I thought she did a pretty good job in her first season with Sportsnet Pittsburgh last. you're excited to see how that continues this year as well. If you have all four of those people together,

you have an above average broadcast in the NHL, in my opinion, because there's a lot of bad broadcasts out there. Like, there's, like, I remember, like, when the Penguins broadcasts really wasn't that good, you know, before, you know, Gets Off came around and, you know, Bork came back on a television. I would kind of go out of my way at times to watch some of the other broadcast, just because I really wasn't big on the Penguins' home broadcast overall for several seasons. that has changed the last couple of years just because, you know, Mears came in, brought some energy to the TV side,

Getsov was the same. And again, you add those four for a full broadcast. That's at least a B broadcast in my book. And I agree with you about Rupp. I think of the three, he's the quote-unquote weakest. I'm not trying to be mean to him or anything like that. I think he does a fine job. I just do think some of his takes are a little too,

what's the word, boomery, I think for me, but I'm also only 26. I know some of the older hockey fans the level he asked to say. Again, totally fine. If you think he's your favorite, that's a totally fair opinion to have. I would put Bork and Armstrong over him.

But again, I'm not saying rup stinks or anything like that. I think he's a totally fine. Clark Commentator, excuse me. I just think of the three, he's at least the weakest in my book. And then also, you know, maybe at some point, you know, we talked about Michelle Krakkeola for radio. I wonder if she'll do some TV stuff for the Penguins

at some point this season, Pat. Considering how good of a job she did for radio, I'm very curious to see if the have her do some TV stuff to fill in if maybe one of Colby can't do something since he's doing TNT. If Mike Rup can't do anything, Phil Bork is doing radio. Here's to see if they go down that road because I think she would do a pretty good job. I agree. I think for nothing else, just to see what you have. Because last year that it can translate to radio, what her skill set is.

Now we'll see if they can translate to television as well. And I'll add to your point is that they finally started to do that as an organization. with putting people in the place to succeed because I made it no secret that I did not like Paul Staggerwald as a play by play guy, but it's not because I thought he was bad. It's because he is a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins

and he is a fantastic storyteller. And now they have him in that position to where he's doing more feature work. He's doing more interviews. He's doing more storytelling. And your job is to be a lot. stuff for him, that is a great gig for him. Exactly.

Your job as a play-by-play commentator isn't to so much tell a story, but to describe what is happening. And his strength is storytelling. And now that they have him in that position, he is knocking it out of the park. It's home run after home run. So having him in that position is great. And then I look at all the talent that they have available to them for their television broadcast coming up this year.

And there are certain niches. that these people can fill. And if you put them in them and let them run, you're going to have, like you said, a very well above average broadcasting team. No, I agree with you. And just to go after your point about Staggerwald, he did a tremendous job for the Yager ceremony

during last season, Pat, as the main keynote speaker, just blew me away with the way he was able to tell stories about Yager and those teams from the early 90s and all that stuff. That is his bread and butter along with the pre and post game stuff. I'm glad they have him doing those sort of things now because I think just towards the end of his tenure as the play-by-play guy for TV, it felt like he was getting a little too, you know, homery for me, at least in my opinion. Now he's doing things that I know he's fantastic at, and I'm glad the Penguins were able to find something that we all know that he was able to excel at. But I think that'll do it for this second segment. Coming up to end the show, Penguins have made a lot of moves at forward, especially over the offseason.

but we're going to tell you why you probably shouldn't forget about Anthony Beauvillier overall. That's all coming up right after this. All right, we're back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes, joined by my host, Patrick Dam. So, Pat, but Penguins have made quite a few moves at Ford. You know, this off-season, you know, Cody Glass, Rucker McGority recently, Kevin Hayes, Blake Lazott. But people should not forget, man, about Anthony Bavillier.

I also have a couple conversations with some friends over the weekend that I went to, when I saw Green Day and smashing pumpkins at PNC Park. And by the way, if you were there, you were treated to a show, people. That place was sold out. Green Day can still fully bring it despite those guys being in their 50s. But I was having a couple conversations with some friends, and they were just giving me their mock lineups, and they didn't have Anthony Bovilley in it.

And I'm like, you guys do realize he's going to play this year, right? And I know Bovillier did not have a good year last year. Pat and I have discussed that a lot throughout the golf season, you know, only had five goals, 17 points, but he also played for three different teams last year, played for the Blackhawks, played for the Canucks, played for the Predators. He really just didn't have time to, I think, mesh with one specific team. He'll have the opportunity now with the Penguins after signing a one-year deal for not even $1.5 million during the off season.

I mean, just two seasons ago during 22, 23, this is a player who had, you know, 18 goals and 40 points overall. So I still think this is a player that can make an impact. for the penguins, how big of an impact that remains to be seen. But I don't think he came here to just be a healthy scratch every day. I mean, we can say that for all the forwards that they brought in via trade or signed. But I think people should realize that Bavillia is going to get a lot of games this season, whether it's on the third or fourth line.

I know the competition at training cap is going to be very fun to watch. But I think Bavillier is going to carve out a role for himself on this team. I think people need to stop sleeping on him at least a little bit and realize that, yeah, this kid is going to be in the lineup this year. I'm looking forward to his game because you look at a lot of the deals that the penguins have given out this year, whether it's free agency, whether it's trades. They're bringing in a lot of players who have something to prove. It's players who aren't going to be here for very long, whether it's one or two year deals. And these are guys who need a bounce back. And this is a franchise and a team that needs a bounce back this year.

And like you said, this guy's only a couple seasons removed from putting up 40 points. And he's consistently in his career, with the exception of last year where he bounced around to three teams, he's hovered around 25 to 35 points every single year. So this is a solid bottom six contributor that the penguins are getting. and he's not a player who's all of a sudden aged out of being a good player. He's only 27 years old. There's still hockey to be played for him. I mean, he's only played 550 NHO games,

and he's got 246 points in those games. Now, on the surface level, those numbers don't jump off the page at you, but you put them in the context of this guy is a third or fourth line player who is going to eat up some bigger minutes in that role against bigger and better competition, that's solid production. And he kind of said it himself this summer when he first introduced himself to the media in Pittsburgh that he never really got a foothold anywhere last year, whether it was Vancouver, Chicago, or Nashville. He just never really had the opportunity to dig in and be a part of that team.

And given the way he has played against the penguins and played on, I think I've said it about, but Villiers before, he was a guy who was able to put up points in a bottom six role on an Islander's team that did not produce a lot of points. They were a boa constrictor team. They would score two or three goals on you and then just lull you to sleep. They would make you play that slog of a game. And he was one of the players who was producing, not at a high level. he wasn't one of their top scorers, but if you needed a depth guy to chip in every few games, it was Anthony Bavillier. And what have we said, outside of me saying that the penguins need bastards, what do the penguins

need in this lineup? Guys in the bottom six who aren't going to score a ton of points, but every few games, they're going to chip in. And that describes Anthony Bavillier. Yeah, I mean, he was a part of those Barry Trots hockey teams, baby, they score, you know, two, three goals, and they may just put you to sleep where I think I'd rather be watching. my water boil for pasta, then watch those Beretrae's Islanders teams at that point. But I think the hope for them is that he's going to produce, you know, 12 to 15 plus goals in a third-line

role next to Kevin Hayes. I still think Hayes will be the third line center to start the season. And I think their hope is that Beauvillier is kind of going to be the player that finishes the chances that Hayes creates. You know, we all know that Hayes is a better playmaker than he is a finisher in the NHL that has been his bread and butter throughout his career. So putting a pure finisher like Beauvilliers next to him, someone who has a history of producing, at least in a depth role, makes all the sense in the world. They just have to be able to hit on this reclamation project. I mean, a lot of these signings, or a good chunk of them, at least, they are reclamation projects. You know, Matt Grisleck also. He's not a foreword, but that's also a reclamation project

considering his year in Boston this past year didn't go so well. Coding Glass with Nashville. He had a pretty good year a couple seasons ago. This past year was rotten. This is another reclamation project. The Penguins are taking chances on those types of players to see if they can get better play out of them so that they can help them at least be in the race and potentially make the playoffs for Beauvillier. Yeah, I mean, he's going to get a ton of games. I mean, sure, could he be a scratch at times? Absolutely.

I mean, this is going to be a very competitive, I guess, what's the word I'm looking for here? It's going to be a very competitive situation. I think for the Penguins forward group just because of how many NHL caliber forwards there are on the roster right now he's going to have to go out there and earn it but I think you know when you look at the options there despite there being a lot

I think he is going to call about a rule for himself how he'll do we'll have to see but I just don't think people should forget about him so easily at this point do you have anything else to add before we wrap this just real quick to build off your point about bringing in these reclamation projects

The thing that gives me more hope this year than in prior years about bringing in guys who need to have a bounce back, if you remember, there's a long list in the Sydney Crosby era of players who were brought in to be reclamation projects that just really didn't have the history of being, at the very least, average in the NHL. You know, the name that always jumps to mind for everybody is Jack Johnson, but there's also been a ton of others. a lot of the guys that they brought in this year have, and even into last year as well, you think of some of the bottom six signings like Noelle Achari and guys like that, they have track records of playing well in the National Hockey League. It wasn't a, oh, we can fix him moment. It was a, hey, this guy stumbled. Let's put him in an environment to succeed now.

And while the jury's still out on quite a few, you look at a lot of the guys who were brought in this off season. And these are guys who have succeeded in the national hockey. Now, does it mean I think the penguins are going to jump back to contender status? No, I'm not going to try to convince myself or you are listeners of that. But it's guys who you can see a world where, okay, put them in the right environment and things could go well. It's not a, oh, my God, what do they think they're going to do with this guy? He's stunk everywhere he's gone.

These are all guys who have shown at one point or another for extended periods that they can play. And I absolutely put Anthony Bavillier in that category. And if you give him a defined role on this forward group rather than trying to bounce him from line to line to line and then trading him, he might actually be able to have a solid bottom six season for the payments. Yeah. Again, third or fourth line role for him. I think that's basically what they're looking for out of him. I don't think they're going to be putting him in the top six unless a lot of injuries arise for this team.

But God forbid that happens, by the way. But, you know, third, fourth line, that's totally fine for him at this stage of his career. But I think that I'll do it for today's episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much for taking the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with another episode for you all on Wednesday. Then we'll have another episode for you all on Friday before three more episodes the next week. And then, my friends, yes, daily episodes return the week of September 16th because training camp will be starting for the Penguins that week. and it'll be full steam ahead for the regular season

because this season is coming up very quickly at this rate. But again, that will do it for today's episode. Thank you so much for tuning in. We really appreciate it. And we'll be back on Wednesday.