Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Two Penguins make the cut for the 4 Nations Face-Off!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Four nations will face off in 2025, and just two penguins will be part of those four nations. Hunter and I are going to break down the rosters and more on this edition of the locked on penguins podcast. Your locked on penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Hello, and welcome back to another edition of the locked on penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Patrick Damp. You can follow me across all social media platforms at Synonym 4Wet. Joined as always by my co-host, the one and only Hunter Hodes.

Starting point is 00:00:42 You can follow him on Twitter by just typing in his name, Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's account on Twitter a follow at LO underscore Penguins. And of course, we appreciate you making us part of your daily routine. Don't forget that we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts as well as YouTube. Plus, if you're following us on YouTube, don't forget to hit that notification button. So you'll be alerted to every time we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. Before we dive in today, today's episode is brought to you by Fandall. You can start the season with a big return on Fandall.

Starting point is 00:01:19 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 fandle.com to get started. Hunter, we finally have all the rosters for all four nations for the upcoming four nations face off in 2025, a little bit of an appetizer before we get back to the 2026 Winter Olympics, which the NHL will once again send its players and coaches to. Thank God for that, because there is nothing better than international competition with the absolute best being on each nation's roster. But low key, I got to say this, I was skeptical at first on the idea of the four nations

Starting point is 00:02:08 face off because the NHL never really gives us much reason to be anything but skeptical. But looking at the rosters for all four of these teams, this is going to be a really fun tournament to watch. We just got to hope that there is. is buy-in from the players and coaches, which, considering how passionate so many players have been about wanting to get back to the international stage, it does feel like we are going to get some buy-in from them. This won't be a glorified All-Star weekend where these guys just go on a little vacation

Starting point is 00:02:46 to Montreal, Boston, Toronto, where it's going to be played. And they're actually going to get after it to play for their respective countries. So that's going to be very exciting. As for our show, since this is locked on penguins, there's only going to be a little bit of penguins participation in this tournament. Obviously, head coach Mike Sullivan will serve as the head coach for Team USA, both at this tournament and in the 26 Winter Olympics. Sydney Crosby is on Team Canada as to be expected.

Starting point is 00:03:21 And defenseman Eric Carlson is on Team Sweden. so cool to see that we got still a couple guys on these international rosters. Obviously, someone like Evgeny Malkin, we imagine, would have been on Russia if Russia was allowed to participate. But I digress. Overall, though, Hunter, you look at these rosters. Team USA, absolutely stacked. Team Canada, maybe the best forward group in the tournament. Finland and Sweden, very deep on both sides of the puck.

Starting point is 00:03:54 So this could be a very fun tournament, and I think it's going to exist on a razor's edge. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's been a long time since we've gotten true international hockey. I mean, we haven't had this since the 2016 World Cup of hockey. Before that, we hadn't had it since, you know, the Olympics in 2014. You know, when they go back to the Olympics in 26, it's going to be the first time in 12 years that we get Olympic hockey. For next year, this will be the first time in nine years that we'll be. we get international hockey. It's a crime that we've had to wait this long for best on best

Starting point is 00:04:30 competition, but I'm so happy that we're finally getting it. You look at these four rosters, they're all very good. These games are going to be fairly close. Even the weakest team, if you want to call Finland that. Finland still can put up a really good team. You already have, for example, Sebastian Ahjo and Rupert-Hince, they're awesome. You have Mika Ranssen, you have Sasha Barkov. You can really go Barkov and Ahio down the middle. That is one heck of a one-two punch. You can put Ransin with Barkov. That's going to be a ton of fun, man. I mean, seeing those two as a combo go up against the other team's best combos on their top lines, that's going to be awesome. Seeing Barkov go up against potentially. McDavid for Canada, Matthews for Team USA, and then whoever else for Sweden,

Starting point is 00:05:15 we'll get to them in a second. That's going to be great. Finland, their defense is a little shaky for me. They do have Mero Hayskin, which is right. Esa Lindell, but they have kind of a bunch of number three, number four defensemen after that. But then goaltending-wise, you have UC Soros. He's the answer in net. Yeah, I know Nashville has not been very good this year, but you put this team in front of them, I think he's going to perform really well. Then after that, you have Team Sweden, and you look at this forward group, man. It is fan-friking-tastic. You have players like Philip Forsberg and William Leelander who can really hurt you off the rush. You have other players,

Starting point is 00:05:50 like Lucas Raymond and Elias Pedersen, who can really hurt you with the way they forecheck, the way they cycle the puck. Defensively, that is their bread and butter, I think. So there was a couple analysts I saw a few weeks ago saying, like, well, why should Eric Carlson be on this team? Because he drives offense. You're not going to get defensive play from him,

Starting point is 00:06:08 but you have other players on this Swedish team that can play defense. I mean, Gustav Forsling is arguably the best defensive defenseman in today's game right now. He is fantastic for the Panthers. At home is great in his own zone. Jonas Brodine is still very good. I'm so excited to watch Rasmus Dahlin as well for the first time in international competition. That's going to be awesome.

Starting point is 00:06:29 And then, of course, Canada and the U.S. I wasn't alive in 96, which I know a lot of people say that's the best USA hockey team ever. This one's just about there with the amount of talent that team USA has. And no, Pat, you're not allowed to use my Austin Matthews joke during this segment. So you know what? Get lost. You have Austin Matthews, you have Jack Eichel and Jack Hughes down the middle. That's disgusting.

Starting point is 00:06:56 It really is. This is the closest that Team USA has gotten to matching Canada's talent in terms of forwards. They got this roster for the most part right. Do I think both Trocheck and Kreider should be on here? No, I would have taken one off, put Tage Thompson or Cole Field on there because they've better seasons. I don't think Kreider is having that good of a year. Trochecks been fine, but he hasn't been as good as last year. I would have taken maybe one of the Rangers.

Starting point is 00:07:23 Perfect while I would not take either of them and put both Hage and Calfield here. But again, I'm kind of nitpicking. I also will say this. Bill Guerin said this on TNT to the panel when they asked him about the rosters. And he basically said he was one of the people who was abdicating for 25-man rosters rather than 23 because the I-IHF in all other. competition allows a 25-man roster, whereas this is not an I-IHF tournament. This is an NHL tournament.

Starting point is 00:07:55 So they stuck with 23. And Garin basically came out and said, listen, I'm following the rules. These are the decisions we're making as Team USA, but I think you can figure come 2026, some of the guys that you might count as snubs for the four nations face off, assuming they don't fall off of a cliff. Plus, you also have to keep this in mind. The two players you named come 2026, they're going to have a lot more miles on their body going into that. So they might not even be, I don't want to say not in consideration, but their stock may drop.

Starting point is 00:08:29 The other thing I wanted to add here is, to your point, you look at Team USA. Look at a lot of these names, right? Adam Fox, Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldie, Jack Eichel, Gensel, Jack Hughes, Dylan Larkin, Austin Matthews, Brock Nelson to a certain extent, the Kachuk brothers. These guys aren't grizzled bets. These guys are young.

Starting point is 00:08:54 They're going to play in the team USA system for quite a while. And then you go to Canada's roster and Sidney Crosby, a little bit Nathan McKinnon, but not as much. Bradshaw, Braden Point, Mark Stone, Alex Petrangelo, Devin Taves, these guys are a little bit older. And yeah, there's still going to be plenty of talent in the Canadian system because they churn out hockey players that nobody, like nobody's business. But the fact that some of the biggest drivers for Team USA are still early to mid-20s and have a lot of good hockey around them, assuming they stay healthy,

Starting point is 00:09:35 Team USA is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Then you add in this fact that let's compare this, in net for the United States. It's going to be one of Connor Hellebuck, Jake Ottinger, or Jeremy Swayman. It will be Hellebuck. It will be Hellebuck, but those are your three goalies. Then we go look at Canada.

Starting point is 00:09:57 Jordan Bennington, Aiden Hill, Sam Montembow. You can see how Canada constructed this roster. They understood that they don't have the goaltending depth they once did. They are going to try to outsource. score their problems and rightfully so. 100%. And I mean, you have, they don't have Kerry Price anymore. I mean, he was always that great goalie that they could rely on for big saves.

Starting point is 00:10:24 They could play these, you know, one nothing, two, one, heck, even three, two games against the United States, Sweden and all that way back. One, because they had Kerry Price and Net, who was the best goaltender in the league at that time. They don't have him anymore. It's guys who are fine, but again, it's not. Hellebuck. It's not Jeremy Swam and it's not J. Gondger. It's not Lienis Allmark, U.C. Soros, Philip Gustafin, all those guys. That's definitely the weakest part

Starting point is 00:10:52 of that roster. And I am excited to see who Crosby plays with at Team Canada. I assume one of the players he's going to play with is Brad Marchand. You remember, Pat, he played with Marchand at the World Cup of hockey and at the Olympics as well. He loved playing with Marcia and Burr's run. They were always stapled to his line. He loved playing. playing with them. I would very much assume that John Cooper is going to have Marshawn with Crosby. And next to him as well. They easily could do that. They could go one, two, three down the middle with McDavid, Crosby, McKinnon, which would be a lot of fun. But they also could go McDavid as the Top Line Center, Crosby at number two with McKinnon next to him along with

Starting point is 00:11:32 Marchand. That would be so much fun to watch. I kind of have been out of the Nova Scotia line. Yes, legitimately. I think that would be awesome. We all know that Crosby is going to be the captain of this team. I mean, that's no secret here. That's not breaking news. It's Sydney Crosby and really still no one else at this point. If someone wants to argue for Conn McDavid, okay, whatever, but it's still going to be Sidney Crosby, I think, to virtually everyone. But again, the U.S., I think this is Team USA's best shot at dethrone in Canada and a best on best in quite a bit here. I know we haven't had it in a long time, but talent-wise, this is the best shot that the U.S. has had in so long because of the Fords they have.

Starting point is 00:12:11 defensively, they're very strong, and they have the answer and net. I'm super excited for the Kachuk brothers to hopefully be on one line together to piss off everyone on Team Canada. But they'll be going up against Sam Bennett also, who is on Team Canada. That's going to be a lot of fun. If there was one snub that maybe Canada had, I would have potentially brought Bouchard or Hamilton. I don't think you need both Colton Perrako and Travis Sanheim on Team Canada.

Starting point is 00:12:36 I think one of them is fine. But again, that's just me being hit picky. I get some people have grives about Bouchard. and his defense. And people do have the point when you say, like, oh, he's not going to get top power play time because that's Kel McCar. But still, if you're asking me, I'd rather have Bouchard there over at least one of Parakeko or Sanheim. Again, just my opinion. But for Team USA, they mostly got this right. And for the other two countries as well, those rosters are very strong. It is unfortunate that Ricard Raquel is not going to be on Team Sweden. He had a really

Starting point is 00:13:06 good quote to the local media this week. He was not happy about not being selected to team Sweden and he even said at the end he wants to prove everyone wrong so maybe he's on the Olympic team in 26. Yeah, it's good. It's good to see that that fire and that motivation is there for someone like Ricard Raquel, couple that with the start to the season that he's had. That might be very good news for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But that's going to do it for this first segment. Four nations face off coming at you in February, February 12th through the 20th in both Montreal and Boston. I said Toronto. I forgot that that was in discussion when there was some issues with Montreal, but that has since been resolved. So again, February 12th through the 20th,

Starting point is 00:13:49 the four nations face off. That'll kick off then. But like I said, that's going to do it for this segment. When we come back, we're going to look at some news and notes from practice with the Pittsburgh Penguins from the last couple of days. But before we do that, we got to tell you about our first sponsor. And that is Fandul. Get ready to tackle NFL action with Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The Fandul Sportsbook app gives you everything you need to place live bets on the NFL all in one place.

Starting point is 00:14:22 So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, few live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. Just visit fandul.com to join today, and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. That's fandle.com. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandul, an official sports book partner of the NFL. All right, we're back here on the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins.

Starting point is 00:14:53 I'm Patrick Damp alongside the one and only Hunter Hodes. And we kind of didn't get around to too much of this yesterday because we were so in-depth talking about what a bizarre win that was over. the Florida Panthers earlier this week. But a lot of things to touch on from practice the last two days with the penguins. First and foremost, something that we did miss is that Jack St. Ivaney has been sent down to Wilkesbury Scranton. Our good pal, Taylor Haas, she did some good reporting on this talking to what Mike

Starting point is 00:15:28 Sullivan had to say about St. Ivanie getting reassigned to the H.L. And he brought up something that we have spoken. about on this show saying, quote, we don't think Jack has had his best game here for a while. We tried to give him an opportunity to play through that process here, and we just felt that that's not an easy thing to do for a young player. Recently, he's been in and out of the lineup a little bit, but for a long stretch, he was in a lineup, and we were trying to give him an opportunity to find his way and capture his best game, end quote.

Starting point is 00:15:59 I think that kind of sums it up for Jack St. Ivney. I do think, and it's not a large golf, but I do think Ryan Shea has, has been a little bit better than St. Iveny. And like I said, while it's not a lot, it's been enough that St. Ivany in his opportunities, like Sullivan said, hasn't really picked up the ball and ran with it. So it's probably best for him to go get some playing time down in the HL and see if he can figure it out. I agree, but also disagree at the same time. I definitely agree that St. Ivney has had a little bit of a sophomore slump this year. He hasn't been nearly as good as he was to end last season, his numbers are down a little bit.

Starting point is 00:16:40 Even the eye testing, he's been out of position in his own zone. He's not making the same plays that he was in the offensive zone. Definitely agree there. But I don't know if he's been worse than Ryan Shea. I think Shea has still been a bit worse than him this year, in my opinion. But I do understand why they sent him down and try and work out some of those kinks in his game, and then they can bring him back up whenever. I wanted to see more of Shane and St.

Starting point is 00:17:04 I haven't together because that pairing was fairly, decent for them at the end of last season. And it looked like that was going to be the case last week when Grizzlick was probably going to be a healthy scratch until Pickering got sick and then Grizzar got to come back in. But this also does allow Pickering to keep playing in the lineup, which he should be. I mean, there's really no reason to send him down to Wilkesburg right now. If not at all, the season with how he continues to progress and show that he's NH already. But I do hope that this is not a long stint for St. Ivany in Wilkesbury.

Starting point is 00:17:35 I think he has shown that he has what it. takes to play. And in the NHL, it's just, again, working out some of those kinks, and then once he's ready, he can come back up. But I do think, you know, once, you know, maybe a move is made around the deadline, you know, Matt Griswick maybe gets sent out. I think St. Avenue would definitely be playing full time, but I think he'll also be up there before then too. But I still think he's been a bit better than Shea this year. But again, I get why they send him now. I would say it's more of a burden of expectation than it is anything else. Again, in no world do I think Ryan Shea has been tremendous. I don't think he's been one of the better defensemen, but the expectation for Jack St. Iveney's

Starting point is 00:18:18 a little bit higher. You want him to play a little bit more of a significant role on the defense, whereas with Ryan Shea, you just want him to eat up those minutes, not be a liability. And I think for the most part, Shea has done that. Whereas, like I said, said you want St. Ivan to be, I haven't, I have any to be a little bit more of a driver and a little bit more dependable, which he has been in some cases, hasn't been in a lot of others. So you want him to go get right. You want him to get back on that track so you can use him more consistently. So I agree overall with that. Other thing to note that we do have to bring up no real changes in the Penguins lineup at practice today, basically they're going to roll out the same unit.

Starting point is 00:19:03 they have been rolling out during this four-game win streak. On one hand, definitely understand that. Don't know if I agree with it, but when you're on a four-game winning streak, it's not broken. Don't really need to try to fix it. But at the same time, Jesse Poo-Yarvey, I know it's become a little bit of a meme between me and Hunter about how much we like Jesse Poo-Yarvey,

Starting point is 00:19:26 but at this point, I just don't understand what else he has to do to get into the lineup and remain there. I hear you, man. And shout out to Danny Shirey. He put out some really good stats about how great Plyarvey has been for the Penguins this year for some underlying numbers. Go check him out on social media at Danny Shiry PGA. Again, really good tweet. It showcases just how good he's been.

Starting point is 00:19:51 And even before he tweeted that, you and I have been discussing that for these last couple of weeks. Sullivan's usage with Puyarvi is super strange, man. He's been a bright spot for this team. Even before this four-game winning streak, he had been playing well. The underlying numbers were there. He's been passing the eye test. When he's on the ice, the penguins are generating. But you're taking him out of the lineup for a veteran or two who just aren't playing that well.

Starting point is 00:20:15 And I'll get to Matt Nietto here and maybe to a lesser extent, Noachari, Kevin Hayes. Because I feel like Poo Yardy should at least be in the lineup over one of those three players, Pat. You know, we were discussing this before we started recording. Kevin Hayes, he's been up and down, but I think Hayes just needs some help right now. He's not getting any help on that fourth line with Nyeto and Achari. And let's face it, you're not going to get a lot of offense on that type of fourth line. It's mainly just going to be a defense.

Starting point is 00:20:43 If anyone's giving you offense, it's probably Hayes. But considering his age, considering the type of player that he is, he needs a little bit of help. And Puyarvi can be the kind of help that he needs on that line. Achari, a bit of a mixed bag this year. He's had some good games. his physical presence has been there. He's been good on the penalty kill.

Starting point is 00:21:01 But there's also been some games where I'm like, okay, I'm not noticing you kind of like last year. And then you have Matt Nietto who I applaud him for coming back from all of those surgeries. Great job. I even said on this show those first two to three games, he looked like a competent NHL player that can play in the bottom six. He was passing the eye test. But after those first two to three games, it's all gone downhill where I'm just not really noticing him that much.

Starting point is 00:21:27 And I feel like, you should be able to scratch one of these veterans to put Poo-Yarvi in there and see what he can do. It doesn't even have to be Nieto. It can be a different veteran. You know, you're not going to scratch Michael Bunting. You're not going to scratch Blake Lazzat. He's played really well since coming back in from his second concussion, excuse me. But you should be able to make room for Puyarvi over one of the three veterans that I just mentioned.

Starting point is 00:21:54 Right. The suggestion I had when we were talking before we hit record was you can kind of treat this the way that they have been treating the bottom pairing throughout the season where you're cycling in a couple of guys. And I think the main one is Matt Nietto. I know that they want to give him an extended look because he's finally healthy. And I understand that. However, both Nietto and Puyarvi kind of suffer from the same type of issue. they play well for two, three, four games. They tail off for three or four games.

Starting point is 00:22:31 And if that's the case, just run them on that schedule. Just say, all right, Matt Nietto is going to play two, three, four games. Then Paul Yarvey's going to play two to three, four games. And once you get into late December, early January, the mandate from Sullivan has to be the, the onus is now, on you. You need to play well enough for me to keep you in the lineup. And eventually somebody has to take that spot and grab it. Because I understand everybody's frustration. God knows I'm leading the bandwagon for Yassie Pooey RV and have been for a year now. But the problem is, good as he's been, he has not been able to put it together consistently for an extended

Starting point is 00:23:19 stretch. He will play well for a few games. Then he'll kind of disappear for a little bit. And I understand the numbers are good. The underlyings are good. But we have seen it from him his entire career. He cannot play to a consistent level. But at the same time now, he started this season and this preseason really well. Give him the opportunity to do it. And it can't be a one mistake, one strike you're out policy. And that's the thing. I think he has been mostly consistent this year. I don't really think he's tailed off too often.

Starting point is 00:23:56 That's where I think I maybe disagree a little bit because you look at some more of the numbers here. You know, 20 games of the Penguins this year, a little over 200 minutes of five on five ice time. When he's on the ice, the Penguins have almost 52% of the shot attempts. They also have right around 50% of the scoring chances, 45 high danger chances for 37 high danger chances. against five high danger goals four two high danger goals against he's been great in the defensive zone he's generating play especially in the offensive zone the numbers are very good he's passing the act as i think in my opinion this has been probably one of his more consistent seasons in terms of how he's looked on a game to game basis compared to other seasons where i think that's been the case

Starting point is 00:24:39 where he's tailed off at times of this year i don't really think that's been the case i again i get that Sullivan wants to see what he has a little bit in the veterans, but I think it's past time at this point to take one of these guys out and put Poo-R-V back in and give him a run at games. When healthy, I'll keep saying it. He is one of your 12 best fours. We were talking about this a week or two ago when he first came out of the lineup and started being scratched a little bit. It made no sense at the time. It makes still no sense now. Yeah, it's really baffling. just because, again, while I still hold steadfast on, he's got to find extended consistency,

Starting point is 00:25:16 I also understand and acknowledge that he hasn't really been given the best opportunity, which I don't understand. But that is going to do it for this second segment. When we come back, we didn't get a chance really to touch on this earlier in the week. So we definitely got to touch on it. Now, the penguins, they now have even more of their fingerprints on the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, including two former champions being inducted on Wednesday night.

Starting point is 00:25:47 We'll get into that when we come back right after this. All right, welcome back to the Thursday edition of Locked-on Penguins. One more time, I'm Patrick Damp, joined as always, by the one and only Hunter Hodes. And what a celebratory night it was on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, no less. The United States Hockey Hall of Fame welcomed its latest class, and the Penguins fingerprints were all over this one. Two of the inductees, two back-to-back champions with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team dad from the 2016-2017 championships.

Starting point is 00:26:29 Matt Cullen is inducted to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Joining him in this year's class was arguably one of, if not, the best power forward from the 1990s, Kevin Artie Stevens. I am going to kick it off by saying this, Hunter, I'm not wearing this hat by mistake. It was completely by design because I've said this line on the show. I've said it on social media. I've said it in my everyday life. Mary Illamue and Yarmir Yager got me into hockey.

Starting point is 00:27:05 Kevin Stevens made me love hockey. And the last thing I'll say about Kevin Stevens before we wax poetic about him a little more, you can go ahead and keep Mark Messier's will win game seven. Give me Kevin Stevens in Boston. We are going to win four straight. And damn if he didn't back those words up and the Penguins went to on to win their first Stanley Cup. We're biased, but yeah, that's still better than Mark Messier's guarantee. I'll still take Kevin Stevens word any day of the week.

Starting point is 00:27:41 But I know I wasn't alive for a lot of those moments, but man, he was such a boy with the puck on his stick, just going back and looking at the film of him during the early 90s with the Penguins, the way that he was able to help lead them to the Stanley Cups in the 90s. He was a bully pat. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. He was like, okay, I have the puck on my stick.

Starting point is 00:28:04 I'm going through you. and there's nothing you can do about it. And he was an absolute treat to watch again, just going back and looking at the highlights and looking at the film. My mom always used to tell me stories about some of the goals that he would score. That was her second favorite player in Penguin's history,

Starting point is 00:28:23 right behind Paul Coffey. He was such a delight to watch. And I'm super happy that he was able to get into the United States Hockey Hall fame. I'm also super happy that he's doing so well now, man. That's what makes me so happy you saw how happy he was when earlier this year remember yager gets his jersey jersey retirement excuse me and artie's there just smiling reminiscent with yager and everyone and you can tell

Starting point is 00:28:48 this place still means so much to him with everything he accomplished here with the penguins and there was a lot of penguins royalty at that ceremony last night i mean 66 was there he's not around too much anymore obviously because fenway sports wren owns the team and such but it's great seeing Lemieux come back. Crosby was there. Craig Patrick. Mike Sullivan, Jim Rutherford, Ronnie Francis was there. Mark Recky, obviously Artie Stevens, Matt Cullen.

Starting point is 00:29:17 A lot of great Penguins royalty was in the house for that. And that makes me so happy. And also, of course, congratulations to Matt Cullen, man. I mean, the team dad from 2016 and 17, so many big goals for this team. I'll always remember, you know, the third period, game three against the Rangers in 2016. that game is tied. Penguins are all playing them and Cullen, he gets the game winner in that game. And the Penguins went on to fully dominate the Rangers and the rest of that series.

Starting point is 00:29:42 I also remember how much he cooked Kevin Chattonkirk during that series against the Washington Capitals in 2017 as well. And whenever you needed a quote that wasn't from the big three, Colin was always like, hey, come on over. I'm here to speak about the team. He was always such a big leader in that locker room. I also felt old today, by the way, because I saw the video, the Penguins tweeted out, and Matt Cullen's kids look like they're all 18. And I'm like, they were just like 9, 11, 13.

Starting point is 00:30:18 I'm like, my God, it's been that long. Literally, like one of them looked like it could have been almost 21. I was like, geez, we are all getting old at this point because they look so tall. Just a really funny thing. But I'm still so happy for both of them. And they have contributed so much to this organization. of the years. They really have. And you, you said it all about Matt Cullen. I don't want to downplay his significance to the Penguins' championships in 1617. Yeah, Crosby, Malkin, and

Starting point is 00:30:48 Latang were by all accounts veterans at that point. They weren't the young guys that needed veteran leadership, but they needed, that team needed a veteran of that kind of stature, just a guy who was going to contribute, but he was, wasn't going to be a driver of the bus, a guy who could, you know, kind of take, like you said, that pressure off them, especially when it came to non-hockey things, whether it was interviews, post game, or just having his kids around and kind of being a character, very similar to what Bill Guerin brought in 2009, where, yeah, he's, he's a contributor, he's helping out, but at the end of the day, he's not a guy that you're, you need to be a driver.

Starting point is 00:31:34 of the bus. But one more thing that I got to add, well, too, because it's about Kevin Stevens, but first and foremost, I watched it back today. There is a mini documentary. You can find it on YouTube from Sportsnet called Shattered. And it's about Kevin Stevens Road to Recovery. Very heavily recommend that. It will be difficult to watch for some because it deals with a lot of very heavy issues, including drug usage and addiction. But it really shows. you how much this man has had to overcome to get to where he is now as a as a scout with the penguins and getting his life back on track but it's very well worth your time but back to the player of kevin stevens when those penguins teams of the 90s the early 90s were coming up

Starting point is 00:32:22 becoming contenders yeah mariel lemieux paul coffee larry murphy yarmier yager ron francis those guys those names come up all the time, but you cannot go without mentioning Kevin Stevens. Just listen to this three year run from Kevin Stevens in the regular season. 9091, 40 goals, 86 points in 80 games. 91, 92, 52, 53 points in 80 games. 92, 93, a little bit of injury, unfortunate injuries for him not counting the injury in the playoffs, but 72 games, 55 goals, 111 points. In the early 1990s, man, he was the best power forward in the game. And he was on a team that already had all of those names I just mentioned. So an absolute embarrassment of riches for the penguins in the early 90s, but chief among

Starting point is 00:33:29 them, if, and I hate to say this because it sounds like, so crappy to say, but man, if he had not gone through the struggles he had gone into, it would not just be the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. It would be the Hockey Hall of Fame for Kevin Stevens. 100%. And he was also so clutch in the playoffs for the Penguins when it really mattered. I mean, Pat, you know, 9091, 17 goals, 33 points, and 24 games. The year after, 91, 13 goals, 28 points in 21 games, well over a point per game, both. And even in 92, 93, five goals, 16 points in 12 games.

Starting point is 00:34:08 For his career in the playoffs, he had 46 goals, 106 points, and 103 games. Whenever the Penguins needed something big in the playoffs, Artie was always there to deliver. Just an absolute menace of a player. So congratulations to him. congratulations to Matt Cullen. Congratulations to the Salt Lake City, U.S. sled hockey team that also was inducted along with one of the best U.S. women's Olympic players in program history, Brianna Decker.

Starting point is 00:34:42 Awesome night. Awesome that it would happen here in our city of Pittsburgh. So congratulations to them. And thank you, as always, for tuning in to Locked-on Penguins. That is going to do it. for us on this edition. We will be back tomorrow to get you set for a weekend back to back against the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. But for now, for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp. Thank you again for tuning in. We'll be back in your podcast feeds on Friday.

Starting point is 00:35:12 And thanks as always for tuning in.

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