Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguins welcome Marc-Andre Fleury for one last hurrah!

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

In a special Locked On Penguins-Locked On Wild crossover edition, Hunter and Patrick are joined by Seth Toupal to talk about tonight's matchup with the Minnesota Wild. They discuss what has led to this hot start from the Wild and whether it's sustainable or not. They also discuss what the Penguins can do to get back in the win column against one of the NHL's early-season surprises before sharing some stories about Marc-Andre Fleury. All that, plus much more is on this episode of the Locked On Penguins podcast.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the app or go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. 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.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place aFIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONEHUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET!Visit FANDUEL.COM to 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.

On today's special crossover edition of Locked on Wild and Locked on Penguins, it's Mark Andre Flurry Night in Pittsburgh. We'll take a look at the game. You're locked on penguin, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What is happening, everybody? Welcome in to a special crossover edition of Lockdown Wild and Locked on Penguins. Both teams are your daily podcast for the Minnesota. Wild and the Pittsburgh Penguins. We are your team each and every day.

And we thank you for making both shows your first listen each and every day. Make sure you smash that like button and subscribe on YouTube and follow us on your favorite podcast platforms as well. Today's show is brought to you by Fandual. You can start the season with a big return on Fandual. New customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets. if you win your first $5 bet. Visit fanduel.com to get started.

On today's episode, a look at a big game tonight between the Minnesota Wild and the Pittsburgh Penguins because it's Mark Andre Fleury night. And so we will talk about Mark Andre Fleury, who obviously spent a little bit of time in Pittsburgh, just a couple of seasons. So we'll talk about Flurry.

We'll talk about where the Pittsburgh Penguins are at right now. And the Minnesota Wilds, as they are off to a good start heading into tonight's game. My name is Seth Topal host of Lockdown Wild. We're joined by Hunter and Pat of Locked on Penguins, gentlemen, first crossover that we've had a chance to do this season. And it's all about Flurry tonight. So glad to have you guys on.

And looks like it's been a little bit of a rough go for the Penguins so far this season. Hunter, did you expect when the season started that you'd be where you're at right now and the penguins would be off to a little bit of a sluggish start? I mean, I predicted them to miss the playoffs this year. I did not think it was going to look this bad 10 games into the season. You know, they start off the season, you know, at least find the first four games. You had that blowout loss to the Rangers, obviously, but you were able to rebound a little bit those first four to five-ish games.

But they've lost now five in row. They can't defend in their own zone to save their lives. They are one of the worst teams in league in terms of scoring chances allowed at five-on-five. They're actually the worst team in the league in terms of high-danger chances allowed at five-on-five. They gave up a two-nothing lead to Vancouver in the blink of an eye last game in Western Canada. They were absolutely taken to the woodshed by the Oilers. They gave up another two-nothing lead to the Winnipeg Jets. And then they gave up a one-goal lead, not once but twice.

in the third period against the Calgary Flames before losing in the shootout. So things are going really poorly right now for this team. They're getting the offense so far to start the year. The depth scoring has really been a lot better this year compared to last year. Evgeny Malkin is off to a very hot start, one of the best players in the league to start this season, but they're just not able to keep a puck out of their own net. Trisenjari, he's in the H.L. getting a conditioning stand just because he's had a really rough start to the season.

They're relying on Yuel Blumquist and Alex Nadelgovich to carry the load. and Blumquist, it looks like he is going to get the start tonight against the wild, very deserved with the way he has played. I want him to get the 1A minutes over Ned right now. And that's not to say that Ned has been bad this season, but I do think Blumquist, at least in my opinion, has outplayed Nadelcovic so far to start this season. But the main thing is they cannot defend right now.

And also, Cindy Crosby needs to get going. He's at a really rough start to this season. We've been saying it a little bit. At times, it feels like he looks disinterested. I mean, they're doing everything they can to get. his line going in practice on Monday, Seth. They have Evgeny Malkin Rickel on his line. It's very rare when you see Fagin Malkin play wing in the NHL.

It looks like you might see that at least a little bit to start tonight because Crosby has been at least so down to start the season compared to normal. So definitely a lot more of a rough start than I thought. And again, you can lose games to better teams. Like, for example, the game against Toronto earlier in the season, Pat knows that where the penguins played fine. They just got beat by a better team. but you can't look lifeless in these losses that they have,

especially in these last couple of games, the game against the Rangers to open the season. Those type of losses where the effort it feels like isn't there, that's not acceptable to me. Pat, I'll just have you piggyback off of that. How surprised are you by the start for the penguins? To kind of echo what Hunter was saying,

I'm surprised at how poorly their defense has looked, because similar to Hunter, I predicted they would maybe make the playoffs. I kind of saw them being in the same position they have been the last couple of years, sniffing around a playoff spot, maybe making it, maybe missing again. But being right on that bubble because you look at their offseason moves, you look at the way they've built this roster and what Kyle Dubus is trying to do with a quick retooling on the fly by getting younger talent, draft picks, and trying to get everybody else who is a core player locked up for the foreseeable future,

you can see where the plan is and that kind of leads you to the point of, all right, they're not trying to win this year, but they're at least trying to be somewhat competitive. So while I'm not surprised that they're in the position that they are, it's genuinely stunning to me to watch their inability to defend because if there's been a hallmark of this team, especially under Mike Sullivan, it's that they have a system that they know how to play.

It is ingrained within them. They have been doing it for a better part of a decade. And while there are some new faces here and there, the main players still mostly remain. So it's not as if they brought in a brand new roster, a ton of new faces, and everybody has to learn this, and there's going to be growing pains,

it's been genuinely painful to watch because, like Hunter said, offensive zone, the depth is showing up. They're getting goals from lower in the lineup. They're, Evgeny Malkins off to a phenomenal start, but as soon as the puck crosses the red line into their own zone and then to the blue line into their zone, you wince and just think, oh, God, here it comes.

And compound that with Tristan. and Jari's struggles continuing, Alex Nadelcovic being fine enough, but not really taking the reins. And Yoel Blumquist has been in games where he plays really well, but he's getting no help in front of them. So what's it matter? It's a shocking start in how much they're struggling.

But if you were to just open the standings page on NHL.com this morning, it wouldn't be all that shocking on its face. Hunter, let's talk about Sidney Crosby a little bit because obviously, as you alluded to, he's off to a little bit of a slow start, 37 years old, inked the extension to stay through the 2026, 2027 season. So is this just, is this just a bit of an off start? Or are we starting to, you know, you see on your cell phone, father time is calling. You just don't want to take the call. Because you look at his numbers last year. He had 94 points, 42 goals. And so still obviously a 36 all cylinders running. What's up with Sidney Crosby this year? I think now that he's a bit older since he's in a

rut, it just, it's going to take him a little bit longer to get out of it compared to, you know, when he was 25, 26, 27, 28 and all that. It feels like to me at least so far this season, I haven't seen him look this disinterested, disinterested, excuse me, at times since the end of the Mike Johnson era, to be honest. It's looking that poor right now, just with the way he's playing in his own end. And I feel like offensively, it hasn't helped that his linemates have been kind of rotating throughout the season. He started with Anthony Bovillier, who I think Bovillier is okay, but he's not a top line winger

at this point in the NHL. He's kind of had a pretty up and down start to the season. You have Brian Rust, who he's a bit banged up right now, but he's going to have a little of an up and down start to the season. They finally put Ricard Raquel up there a little bit last game. Those two have worked really well together in the past. So they're doing any and everything right now to try and get Crosby going. And if this team wants to get back into it this season, they have no choice but to get him

going. I mean, he is the engine that makes this team go. And it's just, it's unfortunate that Crosby's having the slow start because Malkin is off to one heck of a start this season. over a point per game. I felt like if Crosby was close to where Malkin is right now, I mean, they would definitely have at least, I think, in my opinion, a couple more wins to start the season. But it is very imperative that they get him going here. Pat, one final one, penguins-wise, and then we'll switch

and we'll talk about the Minnesota Wild, and you guys can pepper me with whatever questions, whatever questions come to mind. So with the fact that this penguin's team's off to a slow start, but you've got Crosby locked in for the next few seasons. Where does Kyle Dubus need to take this roster? Where does he need to take this team for them to be able to contend with the heavyweights in the Eastern Conference? Well, I think that it's a tough gamble, right? Because you made the joke that is this Crosby's iPhone going off with Father Time calling?

And I don't think that's so much the case, similar to what Hunter said. I think it's a lot of frustration. We talked about this on our show yesterday with Jesse Marshall from the athletic. You can tell that a combination of the poor defending in some of the defensemen on the team playing below the line, there's frustration seeping into his game. He's not getting clean looks. He's not getting passes into the zone. So that's hurting his game. As for Kyle Dubis, I'm a big fan.

of what he's trying to do right now because if you were to open up Puckpedia right now, outside of the big names, everybody is either on a very low money deal, they're on a one year deal, it's all extremely tradable, or if they don't work out this year, you

can shake hands come April or May and say, hey, thanks for everything, good luck out there, we'll see you down the road. So for him to get this team back to where they want to go, he's done a good job in stockpiling draft picks, getting some younger talent within the system.

And going into this next off season, just continue with that plan. You know that a guy like Rutger McGority is hopefully going to take a next step and be NHL ready either by the end of this season or going into next. You've got a handful of guys in junior and the AHL who will look to take the next step.

And then as of this recording, they've got nine draft picks coming up this off season, this draft. So what he's trying to do is to get, one last influx of young talent to be ready by the end of Crosby's extension as well as Malkin, Lattang, and Carlson to where they don't have to be world beaters. They don't have to be 80, 90, 100 point players. But if they're 50, 60, 70 point players and you have a good supporting cast that can put up 30, 40, 50 points along them, you'll have a deep team that can maybe

compete with those heavy hitters. Yeah. And just looking at, at Puckpedia right now. Remarkably clean books for this Penguins team, particularly 2026, 2027. So yeah, you're spot on in that Kyle Dubus is, he's keeping the checkbook clean and giving himself a ton of options. We will switch gears and talk about the Minnesota Wilde off to a 5-1 and to start. Don't worry. We'll talk plenty of Mark Andre Fleury before we're done here today. all coming up as we continue today's crossover edition of Lockdown Wild and Lockdown Penguins after this. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandual. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandual,

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Today's episode also brought to you by GameTime. We are in the full tilt of the fall sports season. You've got the NFL, you've got college football, the NHL, the NBA, all in action, which means that there are no shortage of opportunities for you to see your favorite teams live here over the next few months. And GameTime makes it as easy as possible to find great tickets to see your favorite teams. so you can spend more time worrying about where you're going to tailgate, where you're going to go before the game, and more importantly,

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Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-A. NHL for $20 off. Download game time today. What time is it? It's game time. Welcome back to today's special crossover edition of Lockdown Wild and Locked on Penguins. Once again, we thank you for making both shows your first listen each and every day. Do me a huge favor right now if you're watching on YouTube, smash that like button, hit that subscribe button. And if you want to go a step further, turn notifications on so you don't miss any new episodes all throughout the week. All right, Pat, all right, Hunter, wild time. And so if you guys have any burning wild questions, I'm all ears.

So my question would be this, Seth, for real caprice of, what size will the statue be? Because holy crap is this guy off to one heck of a start. Averaging just under two points per game, he's got four goals, 15 points in eight games. and it feels like a guy like him when you put the saddle on him and just let him run, he is going to do absolutely magical things. And what I want to know with him is he, because obviously there's 32 teams, I only have so many hours in a day. If I could watch every game, I would, but unfortunately I can't.

Is this him being that good or is he part of a better line? because you can see that there are a lot of players atop the wild stats page that are producing really well. Is his line just that effective or is he just knocking it out of the park on his own? Well, I think it's a nice little one-two combo in that Matt Socorrollo has really been impressive

so far this season. He kind of tailed off last year because from February on, the primary top line combination was Carol Capriza. Matt Boldy and Jewel Erickson Ack. And so Zuccarello, his production at the end of last season, really tailed off. So that was some of the thinking going into this season was, let's put Zuckarillo back up there so that we don't have that just kind of tail off at the end of the season.

And he has been really, really good. And Marco Rossi has been centering those two and is just an absolute bulldog. He's been great so far this season. But I think the thing that we're seeing so far this year is the amount of the amount of of attention that teams are putting specifically on Caprizov. And this was evident in the game against the, I think it was against the Tampa Bay Lightning where, or no, it was against the Florida Panthers, excuse me.

Carrill had the puck right out in front of the net in the slot area. And he skated it around behind. And there were like three Panthers players that went with him. And that leaves, you know, that leaves one on one for Zoccarello and for Rock. both. So Caprizov kind of takes that attention in and he finds Zuccarello after Sergey Bobrovsky was one of the players that tried to go with Corrill, which if you're a goalie, it's a unique strategy. So he got completely pulled out of the net. Caprizov finds Zucarillo and he's able to bury the goal. Teams are giving a lot of attention to Corrill and rightfully so.

but he is doing a good job of kind of realizing that and allowing his teammates to make plays while they're out there on the ice. Now at some point that's going to shift and teams are going to say, well, this is exactly what he wants. And so we can't send two or three players at him. We got to just kind of stay home. And then at that point,

he's going to start taking those matchups himself. So it's really a like pick your poison, do we want to try to leave better matchups for his linemates or do we want to try to take the attack to him? And so far, it doesn't matter what you do. He's going to win both times. And as far as the statue goes, I think it will be a statue and just name the arena after him combo. Just name the franchise. Just rename the franchise, the Minnesota Caprizov.

And I think that would be, I think that would do the justice that is needed for good he is. Now, Seth, how much money is he going to get on this next contract? Because that's coming up pretty soon. And I think the price tag is only going to go up the better that he plays. And also, talk about Matt Boldy and the start that he's had this season, 11 points in eight games and one more player as well. I feel like the Wilde have really needed him to be better this year. And he has Philip Gustafson, also with Mark Andre Floreg, Guseson, 922 say percentage to start the season. I feel like he's still the 1A goalie for the wild right now compared to Flurry. Talk about those two guys and the starts that they've had for the season so far.

Well, the money for Carill is going to be upwards of 12 to 13 a year. And at this point, it doesn't matter if that number starts with a one or a two. You pay it. I just, I'm of the belief that even if he would ask for like 20 million a season, which is just, it's an outrageous number. there's something to be said for keeping a player for a little more than you'd like to and dealing with that, as opposed to letting a franchise icon go and dealing with that. So it's just to me, obviously it comes down to this team's ability to be competitive.

But if it's a simple, hey, we just got to beat this number by this other team, you do it. I don't want to entertain a scenario in which the wild say, well, we just didn't want to go that high for the salary. Like, no, we're not the Minnesota twins. So don't, don't worry about that. Now, as far as Matt Boldy goes, off to a great start this year. And is doing all the things that you would like to see from a young player, Boldie's 23 years old, is looked on to be, you know, one of those key people. for this franchise as they move forward. He's already got a 30-goal season under his belt.

He had 29 goals last year. He got off to a pretty slow start, though, and was hurt for the first 19 games of the season. He had one goal after that, 28 goals in the final 56 games of the season. So he definitely turned it up. I think the wild would like to see a little more consistent numbers for him, as opposed to just cold and then not.

but he's doing all the little things too, which I really like. He's really engaged in board battles. He is one of the best you'll see at keeping the puck alive and keeping it away from opponents. And so you mix all that stuff together and it has led to just a really impressive start. And when we interviewed him, he talked about wanting to have those opportunities. I asked him point blank, you know, how do you handle the expectation of being somebody that just has more opportunities put on his plate. And he says, bring it on, which is something that I really,

I really enjoyed to hear that from him. And it showed so far this year that he's just, he's ready to rock and he's, he's playing really well. But I think, as you alluded to, the biggest difference between last year and this year has been the goal tending so far. And Philip Gustafson is a massive portion of that.

he came into camp 13 pounds lighter than he was last year because conditioning has been a little bit of an issue for him over the last couple of seasons. And so he came in and was in really, really good shape. And he just, it seems like he's moving around in the crease much better, but he also just the word that I've gone to over and over is decisive.

He just has been really decisive with the puck up until the start against Philadelphia. But everybody has a clunker. here and here and there. It's just, it's been great to see. And the hope is that he just can continue to, you know,

if it is that you have four or five really good games and then a little bit of a clunker, I think the wild would take that because last year it was like two good, three bad, three good, too bad. That kind of a, that kind of an uneven spread. And so if he can keep that going,

this team is definitely going to be in the mix for a playoff spot. Yeah, the one thing I will say, and obviously your listeners will know this because they're locked on wild, just like our fans are locked on penguins. I say this on our show all the time. You can only play the schedule that's put in front of you. You can't call the NHL and treat it like a restaurant and say, excuse me, sir, this competition's not good enough. Could you please bring me a harder game? You can only win the games that are in front of you. but you look at the teams that the Wild have put in the rearview mirror to start the year.

St. Louis, fine enough, Columbus, we know what they're going through. But then Florida and Tampa Bay and then Philly to Pittsburgh, in your estimation, and obviously it is still very early in the season, when you're getting these wins, you obviously want to stack them as early as you can to help you out later in the year. Is this team putting its name in a Western contenders list? Or are they kind of coming up on that? Or is this an aberration in your estimation from what you're seeing from this wild team? Well, I think the biggest thing that has given me hope that this is sustainable is the fact that the wild have gone from being a top three most penalized team in the league the last three seasons to dead last in penalties so far this season.

And that was something that was something that was something that John Heinz talked to. about or has talked about extensively is just being disciplined and being really good with the details. He obviously did a ton of work in training camp to instill that in this team. Like we got we got to be much more disciplined than we have been. And so far it has absolutely worked. Like they have had games where they don't commit a single penalty and I don't think they did that maybe once over the last three seasons combined, and they've already done that a couple of times so far this season. So if they can continue that disciplined play,

and you're not going to just string games together where you don't take any penalties, but there's a difference between having to go on the penalty kill three to four to five times a game to one to two. It's a huge, huge difference. And if they keep that up, that gives me confidence, that this team can compete for a postseason spot.

The goal tending obviously has been really, really good. Which you're welcome to former penguins in that area. So, you know, you're welcome. Yeah. Thank you, thank you guys a ton for, for all that. The five on five scoring, I think, is the one area that is going to need an upgrade. But guess what? You've got a farm system that is just completely full,

not all those guys are going to make the NHL roster. And so you have ammo to be able to go get somebody, the name that I've thrown out there just because he's a Minnesota boy, and I'm not suggesting that the Vancouver Canucks are not going to be in contention this year. But you have the ammunition to go out and get a Brock Besser type player, depending on what happens with Jared Spurgeon, it sounds like he's going to return for tonight's game. if he would be put on long-term injured reserve at some point this season,

that's a $7.5 million cap hit that you can use for whoever. And that's a big time ad. And it's just this, that feels like another way to kind of convince Carill that you are serious about winning is by this team being in contention at the trade deadline and going out and making a big swing and saying, all right, Coral, we know we need. need to convince you that we're serious about winning, take a look at this. So I feel like it is sustainable because I think the wild have prioritized the right things this season. It's just a matter of execution. And the execution is not going to be there every night, but can it be there

more nights than it's not? Will be the key as to how this team does as the season unfolds. Well, let's switch to talking about the guy that everybody is going to be keeping an eye on here tonight. That, of course, being the goalie, the flower, Mark Andre Fleury. We will talk about Flurrie's long career. We'll share some memories of his play for both teams as well as get you ready for tonight's matchup between the Wild and the Penguins that's on the way after this. Today's episode of Lockdown Wild and Lockdown Penguins is brought to you by Prize Picks. Prize Picks is the best place to get real money sports action.

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But I was really sweating what now my entire bench of six is just all injured players. You wouldn't have to sweat that though with prize picks because if your player leaves in the first half and doesn't return, prize picks keeps your lineup. Live. So, download the app today and use code Lockdown NHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, download the app today and use code Lockdown NHL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. Run your game. Final segment, the Flurry segments of today's crossover edition of Lockdown Wild and Lockdown Penguins. Once again, we thank you for making both shows your first listen each and every day. Make sure to check out tonight's game

because all eyes are going to be on Mark Andre Fleury. And so let's just start here. Pat, I'll start with you. What is your favorites from his days in Pittsburgh? What is your favorite Mark Andre Fleury moments? It's really easy to say the Secret Service save in 2009 that won them the Stanley Cup because I joked about the Kaprizov statue. If there's ever a statue for Mark Andre Fleury, that's going to be it because it was an iconic moment. But because I've got to be a hockey hipster, I'm going to go with something else. I am a gigantic nerd when it comes to hockey media things like HBO's 24-7 to the point

where I go back and watch it when I'm bored. So he was an absolute star in that for multiple reasons. There were silly pranks where they were in a hotel in Buffalo. They took two rookies rooms and rebuilt them in the hallway, which was absolutely hysterical. But the best part of him in that show was the first practice at then Heinz Field. They did an end of practice shootout. He was the guy with the microphone. and he was talking trash on everyone.

It didn't matter if it was Sidney Crosby or a fourth line plugger coming down on him. He was just yapping at them the whole time to the point where the loser of that shootout, the last person to score, had to take their skates off, put on their shoes, in full gear except for skates, run up to the highest point of Heinz Field

and touch the sign at the top of the stands. And it ended up being Jordan Stahl. And Flurry was just all over him, this entire shootout, just, oh, here comes Stalzy again. Oh, I'm going to make you climb all the way up there. I'm going to make you climb all the way up there. And it's just the perfect encapsulation of Mark Andre Fleury, because for a franchise that drafted the most intense athlete maybe of all time

and Sidney Crosby. Mark Andre Fleury's right behind him, smiling, joking, laughing, having a good time and going, boys, we're getting paid a bunch of money to play a kids game. This is fun. Yeah, that's fantastic. Hunter, what about you?

See, going off of that, I think with Pat remembers this, the PSP stuff with Crosby, Flurry, Max Talbot, Ben Lovejoy was on the plane, and Flurry is just trashing everyone. He's trashing Max Talbot. He's making fun of Ben Lovejoy for an injury on the plane that got really big because it swelled really badly. And that entire video was so freaking funny.

He pranked Justin Schultz when he got traded here in 2016. That was hilarious. Obviously, I can bring up the save on Lydstrom. That, I mean, that's obviously would be a statue. But to that save on Alex Ovechkin, 2017, is still forever and grain to my memory. Just the way that he was able to stick his stick out, barely save it, and then just taunt him after. You're taunting the greatest goal score, at least in my opinion, to ever play in the NHL right after that. And then you go on to shut the capitals out in that game, just a remarkable performance from Flurry, especially after there were years where he was really bad in the playoffs for the

Penguins, you know, 2012 comes to mind, 2013, you know, but he was able to find his game again. You know, he wasn't used as much in 2016 in the playoffs, but he was very good in the regular season. But 2017, I'll always say it. He started it, but Matt Murray finished it that year. But they don't win the cup without the way Fleury played, especially against Columbus and Washington. And I think people also forget just how good he was in 2008.

he was superb for the Penguins in the playoffs that you can easily make an argument that that is the best he's play in the playoffs. Honestly, I would subscribe to that argument with the way you look at his 933 say percentage, the way that you look at how Penguins really had no business going to six games against that Red Wings team. But Florey made it happen in game five with the amount of saves that he made in those overtime periods before they won it in triple overtime to send it back to Pittsburgh. Florey was so good throughout those playoffs. And it's going to be a very emotional night here at PPG Paints Arena. I'm going to be there with one of my friends. I'm sure this place is going to be rocking, even though the Penguins have had a rough start to the season.

But Mark Andre Fleury will forever be Penguins royalty. Pat and I have had a discussion about whether he's going to have his number retired. I lean on the side that I don't think so. But a ring of honor, hall of honor, I can definitely see. him overall. But this is going to be a very awesome night. And I mean, I can keep going for Mark Andre Fleury's stories forever. But those, again, are just a couple that really come to mind, at least for me. I have a couple that really stand out to me from his time here so far. And I'll kind of try to build up to the, I think, iconic moment. So one of which was a game last year

against the Columbus Blue Jackets in which the Minnesota Wild were trailing late and were trying to go to the empty net. Flurry was in goal. And so he was trying to get to the bench. The Wild had the puck. They lose control

in the neutral zone as Flurry is trying to get to the bench. So all of a sudden, like I see the empty net on the television and I'm like, okay, empty netter, this game is over. And all of a sudden, I see a, I see somebody just come flying in from off the screen.

And I'm like, I'm, I thought initially it was one of the wild defensemen. No, it's flurry. And he goes into a full dive and he sticks his goalie stick out as far as he can get it. And he deflects the puck. He's able to deflect the shot by Columbus into the netting. The wild end up actually with like 10 seconds. left in the game getting the game tying goal and they went in overtime. But I just, I'm like, what, what are you doing? And then I was like, oh, actually, no, that's a really good play.

Well done. So that one really stands out to me. The prank that he pulled on Brandon DuHame last year is just all time after DuHame bought him a cane for a Secret Santa gift. And also in a in-game interview said he's not he moves around pretty good in the net for a 50 year old this was a this was an all-time back and forth between these two dohame ends up getting traded to the colorado avalanche the minnesota wild play colorado and so flurry with the help of i don't even know how many people gets the tires off of do ham's truck and covers the bed in dirt and flowers and just leaves it on blocks in the parking ramp. So that's number two on my list.

But number one by far, and the only reason that this didn't happen was because of the officials, was the near Jordan Bennington fight. That's the top, that's the top flurry moment for me throughout his time. He was ready for it. Bennington was ready for it.

the officials just did not let it transpire and I will forever be bitter about that because you mean to tell me that you don't that there are people that said well it's a good thing he wouldn't have won that fight please flurry would have absolutely wiped the floor with jordan bittington i'm forever convinced to that so those are a couple of moments that stand out to me. Obviously, the ultimate competitor, guy who just embodies what it takes to be good for a long time. I mean, still playing in his 40s, 21 year career,

there are just a ton of numbers that we could sit and go through that emboldened his career, embody what he has done as a goalie. But I think the thing, that is going to stick with me about this game regardless of what happens is what Flurry said himself after practice yesterday when asked, you know, how do you keep your emotions in check in a game like this? And he said, I'm just going to take, you know, just take, make sure to take a look around and take it all in. And just it's just going to be another game. Like that's, that's, that's, That's, I think, the Mark Andre Fleury experience is that it's just another game.

It's just another opportunity to help the team win. And so I'm just, I'm looking forward to what hopefully will be just a really fun, really fun night to celebrate an iconic goalie. Yeah, it's going to be so emotional. And, you know, I know that this is going to be a bit of a hard pivot, but I think this is going to be a good chance for the penguins to break their losing streak because as much as I love Mark Andre Fleury and as much as he means to me as a Penguins fan, he's not good against them.

And him getting the start tonight, this might be unfortunately a clunker for him in net just because he is historically not very good against the Penguins. So I think it could be a chance for the penguins to get themselves back in the win column tonight. Yeah, the thing is, he doesn't usually like playing against the Penguins just because, you know, Fgeny Malkin, Cindy Crosby,

Crystal Tang, three of his best friends. And with how long he played for the penguins, he doesn't like going against him. I know I was one of the people, Seth. I was very upset that he didn't start

in Pittsburgh last year because, I mean, for all we knew, that could have been his last year in the league. He returned this year, but everyone was so upset. But then again,

I don't think he really likes playing this team. But you got to do it this last time, your final season. Come on. But it's going to be a special night. It's going to be rocking there.

And I'm super excited to see how the penguins come out. I think they're going to come out a lot better tonight. I think you'll see them tighten up hopefully a little bit more defensively. I think they're going to want to put on a good showing for the fans, considering how awful this road trip was. Yeah. And on the Minnesota Wild side of things, trying to bounce back after their first real clunker of the season against the Philadelphia Flyers, obviously going to want to get off to a better start,

gave up two goals in the first minutes of the game against Philly. So the wild will be looking to get off to a better start. This is going to be a big game for the defense to try to help flurry out the number one defense in the NHL, according to expected goals against Humble Bragg. So hopefully the defense can help flurry out a little bit. I think we're going to see a lot of what we have seen throughout his career. you're going to get some of those windmill saves. You're also going to have a goal or two that you look at and you say,

boy, I'm going to probably need that one back. But I think my official call for this one is a 4-3-winning OT for the Minnesota Wild. And the game-winning goal, Carill. Of course. Just getting one step closer to the statue. Yeah, exactly. Like we're putting in the foundation right now next, next, next is the footings. So

fellas, great episode today. Thanks for hopping in to talk about this one to talk a little bit about Mark Andre Fleury and we'll see how things go here tonight. Listeners, make sure again to hit that like button and subscribe if you're watching on YouTube.

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