Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Welcome back, NHL!

Episode Date: December 21, 2020

The NHL is back! They officially announced plans for the 2020-2021 season on Sunday and host Hunter Hodies is here to break down all the details. He starts by talking about the critical dates (trade deadline, regular-season start, regular season end, etc) and the division realignment and what it means for the Penguins. He also gives his predictions on who's going to make the playoffs from each division, and what it'll take for the Penguins to beat out a lot of tough teams. Hunter also talks about what the schedule may look like. Could there be a lot of back-to-backs? Maybe some 3-4 game series? All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Hello, welcome to this Monday afternoon edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L-O-Hourquare Penguins.

What a weekend it was for the NHL, just a massive massive announcement. Before we do get into that, today's show is brought to you by Billbar. You can go to Billbarr.com and use promo code locked on and get 20% off your next order. So, yeah, guys, the ANShell officially is back. A January 13th restart, well, I shouldn't say restart.

A January 13th start date for the season is officially underway. It will be 56 games. All the games for the Penguins will be against their divisional teams. We're going to touch on that in the second segment. Just going to go through the critical dates. You know, it was peak NHL, honestly, to announce this during NFL Sunday, which of course is king in the United States of America. I mean, everyone just watches the NFL every Sunday that it's on. So, you know, you knew if the NHL had an announcement to make.

And I think they had a board of governors call that day that it was going to come on Sunday. So, I mean, it's great, though, that we are getting a season. It looked for in doubt for a bit. Of course, you know, when I had dug on the last episode, I talked about, yeah, you know, since there's been no agreement yet, and the 13 start date is about less than four weeks ago. Let's just push it back to Super Bowl weekend, play the games there. Obviously, you know, I look like an idiot on that one because they announced it just like two days later. So I'll take the yell on that one.

But, you know, a lot of critical dates for a period of run. So the puck drop guys, January 13th, the trade deadline will be April 12th. The regular season will end on May 8th. The playoffs will start right after that. The expansion draft will be on July 21st for the Seattle Cracken. The NHL draft is the July 23rd to July 24th. Free Agent Frenzy is July 28th. And basically then they're going to try to do a full 82 game season for 2021, 2022.

So, yeah, this is all very exciting. Also, the Stanley Cup final, I think the latest it can go is July 15th. Obviously, they do not want to get in the way of the Olympics. NBC and NBC Sports Network will be airing the Summer Olympics whenever they start. I think it's at the end of July, if I'm not mistaken. in like July 20th or something like that. So, you know, they always obviously want to get the season done before the Olympics start. Some other things from some of the insiders.

So the entry level slide for rookies drops from 10 games to 7s. So remember if you want your rookie to play and not have to forfeit their first year of their entry level contract, it only has to be seven games and then you can send it down as opposed to 10. Remember the Penguins did that with Daniel Sprong and then they basically like sent him down. So if Sam Poolin makes a team, they can give him a seven game trial. and then if they want to, they can burn his first year of entry level and put him on the team, or they can just send him down to the queue or just the AHL, wherever he's going to be playing on his junior hockey this season.

Also, from Chris Johnson and national teams are required to carry at least three goalies at all times this season between the active roster and the taxi squad. For the Penguins, we all know Tristan Jari is the starter, Casey DeSmith is the backup. I would assume Larmi will be the third goalie. though Jim Rutherford kind of threw some cold water on that this morning. He said Emil Laramie is going to remain in Finland for the time being due to medical protocols, while Alex DeOrio will be assigned to willing giving his proximity to Pittsburgh. So I think they'll be carrying him for potentially start of the season as opposed to Laramie,

but we'll have to see what happens in training count. So that's also good news. For the divisions, they remain the same as we saw last week. For the Penguins Division, Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, both New York teams, Philadelphia, and Washington, the North, the Canadian Division, the West, Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, St. Louis, and Vegas, Central, Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville, and Tampa Bay. For the playoffs, you know, I figured the NHL would go this way. I'm going to give you guys my thoughts on this right now. The playoffs, one versus four, two versus three from each division, the top four teams from each division make it. I will say this go, guys.

This is the first year in the history of, you know, the Sydney Crosby of Ganyi-Malkin era, that I can actually say they have a legit shot at missing the playoffs. A lot of people have said it in years past, oh, the penguins are making the playoffs this year. The penguins are done, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, this actually could be that the penguins miss just because that East Division is so stacked.

I mean, you all know how good Boston is. Washington is still good, though. They could regress. Philadelphia is a good team. They're coming off being the number one seed. at the return to play. You know how good the Islanders are. You can't really bet against Barry Trots.

Buffalo will be improved. I don't really see them as a playoff team. Obviously, you have the Penguins. The Rangers made the playoffs this past season with the bubble, but how will their defense be, especially with signing Jack Johnson? New Jersey's gotten better, but are they a playoff team? Probably not.

But still, it's going to be a knife fight, and we can't for sure say that the Penguins will be in the top four, though. I mean, we can think that they will. I have them currently at third. Jay Fresh's hockey's model, who of course, has been on this podcast before. He has the Penguins, based on his wins above replacement roster build,

he has the Penguins that tied for second with 66 points with the Washington Capitals. He has Boston, of course, winning the division, as I think everyone will. So, I mean, it's going to be a knife fight for the playoffs. It is a bit annoying that you have to play these teams eight times in the regular season, and then to get to the Simly Cup semifinals, oh, you've got to play a couple of these teams seven more times for a total of 15 games between those teams. I actually think these players may die on the ice by playing each other this much and just like with the heated rivalries on that. Someone on the other team may be killed or something just because it's just going to get so freaking heated.

But I mean, I get it for travel reasons. I just wish they would seed one through 16 or just have the top teams pick their other opponents just because I think that's just much better. Though I will say this about the next two rounds for the semifinals. I think if I read it correctly, they reseed after that. if I'm trying to find that Here's the tweet here So the top four teams in each division will qualify The four teams that advance to the semifinals

Will be seated by the regular season Point store with the number one seed Playing the number four seed in one series And the number two seed and three seed meeting And the other So guys, we theoretically could have a Washington Pittsburgh Stanley Cup final We could have a Pittsburgh Tampa Bay Stanley Cup final

Hell for all we know We could have a John Tavares revenge series Against the New York Islanders In the Stanley Cup final That is actually pretty cool You know I'm glad the league did that you're going to see matchups in the semifinals that you've probably never seen before in playoff rounds. You may see a Stanley Cup final matchup that we have never seen before.

Like I said, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay. You can see Pittsburgh play. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Crosby versus Ovescun for the Stanley Cup? I mean, like both at the end of their careers, kind of. That would be pretty sick. It's unlikely to happen, but, I mean, it would still be awesome to see. I mean, hell, we could see Vegas, Colorado in the Stanley Cup final. We can see Edmonton, Calgary in the Stanley Cup final.

for all we know. So that's going to be a lot of fun. I'm glad that the league did that. I just wish, you know, the divisional playoffs. It's just like, I get it for rivalry purposes. You know, the travel with the COVID-19 situation, 100% get that. But it's just like, you know, I don't want to watch my team play, like,

the Capitals 15 times during the season, or the Flyers 15 times. Because I feel like the Penguins and Fambase and whoever they play, if it's the Capitals or Flyers fan base, they honestly may kill each other at the end just because of how bad that's going to be. But other than that, you know, it's a great announcement that the hockey is coming back for the Penguins.

Training camp will begin January 3rd. I'm not really sure that they have not released the schedule yet. I'm assuming it's going to be coming out in the next few days. I would probably assume by Wednesday or something, they probably want to get this sorted out as soon as possible. The Penguins released a few tweets this morning. When fans are permitted to attend games in limited capacity, the Penguin season ticket holders will receive priority access to available tickets

likely by a lottery system. So, yeah, guys, at the start, I mean, most arenas are not going to allow fans There's no way Pittsburgh is going to allow fans with Governor Tom Wolfe up there. He's not even allowing any fans right now at Steelers games, Eagles games, you name it. So there's no way he's probably going to allowing any fans at Penguins games either. They also released a pretty chilling video this morning, basically saying that they're back. I'm not going to play it on here. You guys can watch it on the Penguins Twitter.

But, you know, it is pretty badass to see. But, you know, coming up in the next day, we're going to talk about some other stuff with the Penguins. You can do some predictions for who I think is going to make the playoffs this season from all the divisions. And we'll also touch on in the third segment, some comments from Jim Rutherford this morning. He finally was able to speak to the media. He had a couple interesting announcements that, you know, I'm going to get my thoughts on. But before we do get to that, it is time to talk about Bill Pard.

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That is promo code locked on for 20% off at BuiltBar.com. I welcome back to this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. So there was an interesting report this morning. This comes from Elliott Freeman and Pierre LeBron. Apparently, Tampa Bay's cap issues may be solved by long-term IR. There is where Nikita Kutrov is battling an injury that may keep him out a while. No comment from the team agent, so details are sketchy.

If he's unable to play, it will be clear room for the lightning. I mean, pretty convenient since, I mean, this kind of situation would always happen for Chicago. Hint, hint, hint, Marion Hose, though, you know, that is, unfortunately, what happened with him. Hint, hint, Brent, Zibrook. But, I mean, it is a Qudu Kutrov. I don't think a player, you know, like that would just make something up, and he's also their best player. So it's not really a situation like Chicago's. Obviously, everyone wants any Qudu Kutrava to play, but, you know, if he is able to play,

I'm still curious to see what the Lightning are going to do with their cap situation. They're still going to move Tyler Johnson. Are they going to move maybe Alex Coulorn? I don't think they're going to move Yanni Gord or anyone like that. So I'm just, I'm curious to see what they do when that situation gets resolved and what their plan is for their moving forward. Also, a couple other interesting tidbits. I did see, I was listening to the 31 thoughts podcast this morning from Elliot Freeman. That is a must listen to everyone.

So please listen to it. Talk about some other stuff that he didn't report. Apparently if a player tests positive for COVID-19, it looks like the team can put him on long-term IR until whenever he comes back, I'm guessing it'll be a week or two, or probably more like the NFL does. I mean, college football. I remember the Big Ten policy was like, I think 21 days they would have to be on there until they can come back. I think the NFL, it's a couple weeks. So, you know, whenever they get a bunch of negative tests after they test positive,

when they're not showing symptoms anymore, they can just reactivate them off of long-term IR. As for the divisions, guys, I mean, I think for the East Division, I have Boston winning it. That's really not that big of a hot take. I know they're going to be without, I think, Posternak for the first month of the season, but they're just so deep at forward. Tuka Rask is great in net. I mean, this is, I think, the best team in that division. And in second place, the team that's going to get second is the Washington Capitals.

I know they're coming off an embarrassing series loss to the New York Islanders where they just look like complete fools. but they did fire Todd Reardon who of course got scooped up by the penguins. They have Peter Lavillette. I don't think Lobelet is a good coach, but he does get results in the first year or two when he comes to a new team before it all goes to crap. You know, I kind of think of them as like an Alleyne-Vigno Jr. Because Vigno, he gets good results with teams when he first gets there. I mean, you saw what obviously happened with the Flyers.

You saw what happened with him with the Rangers. Got to the Stanley Cup final, got to a conference final. But then after that, you know, the results just go downhill with coaches like that. So it wouldn't be surprising to see the capitals be still pretty good. this year because he gets good results when he first gets there. So I have the capitals at second. You know, you have the best goal score of all time. You still have Nicholas Backstrom.

You still have T.J. O'Shea. John Carlson, for as good as he is and for as bad as he is in the defensive zone, still a really good defenseman. But, you know, they're going to have to be relying on some young goaltending this season. That's going to be a really big storyline to follow for that division. We also have with Henmerk Lundquist, in case you guys do not see. He will be out for the whole season because of a health condition. I think it's something related to his back, if I'm not mistaken,

but all best places just to Henrik-Lunkwis, your health comes first before anything. So, you know, the people that are mad that Henry Leklunculus can't play because of that. Just go kick rocks. But, you know, that's going to be a fascinating situation to watch. They're going to be relying on that young goaltender who does not have a lot of NHL experience. It's kind of a similar situation to Tristan Jari in Pittsburgh.

It can sink your season or it can just get you going pretty well. So we'll have to see what happens there. They still have the core and everything. So I have them getting second. Third, I have the penguins. I know some people are all down on them. They don't expect them to make the playoffs. I can see it, but I do think this roster is good enough to get in.

We all know how great the top six is. We all know what the question marks are, the goaltending. Trishon Jari, can he be a long-term starter? How that is the bottom pairing going to be? Could it be an upgrade? And also what's going to happen with the third line? But, you know, they have a great top six. They have a great fourth line.

For as long as Sid and Gino are playing in elite level, they will carry this team to the playoffs. And I expect them that they will. At four guys, I have the Islanders. It was honestly a toss-up between them and Philadelphia, but I trust a Barry Trots coach system over Alain Vigno. Sounds weird to say just because Trots' system is so boring, but it is effective.

All the players buy in. And, you know, for as much as we make fun of how boring it is, I mean, it works. And I'm sure Semyon Barlamov will be decent again for them this season. I know they don't have Thomas Grice to fall back on, but I still think the Islanders will get in. I have the Flyers at 5th and missing. But, you know, I could easily see them jumping into that.

top four, if Carter Hart is great for a full season, you know, are they going to get the Carter heart that was amazing in the return to play? Or are they going to get the Carter heart, you know, that played a bit during the regular season and just wasn't as good. That's, I think, the big question for them. And then everyone outside of that can finish wherever they want. I would probably have the Rangers at 6th, Sabres 7th, Taylor Hall is probably going to get traded, and then I would have New Jersey 8th for the Central. Tampa Bay is going to run away with that division. That's just, that's going to be, that's honestly the easiest call of all time. At second, I have Carolina. I think Carolina

they're awesome. They're going to continue to get better. At third, I have Dallas. Dallas is really good. Obviously, they just went to the final. They came within two games of winning the Stanley Cup, and this roster is still pretty good, and they brought Hantan Huobin back. Third, I have

Columbus. I mean, for as much as we like to shit on, John Torrella, and believe me, it is fund-do shit on him. Their system is very effective, yet boring, and they had some goaltending voodoo last year that, it was just unreal. And, you know, if they get that again, they're going to be a tough out. The players play hard for him. Cam Atkinson's awesome. Pureloch Dubois is awesome. Seth Jones,

one of the best defensemen in the league. Zach Wrenski's pretty good, too. And they just, they have a strong court, even though they don't have like a true superstar player. At fourth, I mean, the Chicago is not going to get in. Detroit's going to be bad. I don't think Florida's going to be that good. I have Nashville at fourth. I mean, I think they're good enough to make the playoffs this season. They have the roster to do it. How was Pecoran? going to be? Are they going to play UC Soros a lot more? That's the big question there. And also, you know, how's Matt Dushan going to be? I mean, what about, you know, Ryan Johansson? What about Philip Forsberg? What about their two all-star defensemen and everyone? So, you know, they have

the roster to get there. They have the talent. But, you know, can they fix their goaltending issues and actually get good goaltending from both of them the season? That remains to be seen. So that's what I have with the Central on the West. I have Vegas winning it. They have the best roster in that division. They could argue that they have the best roster in the league. They are that good. I have Colorado number two. Again, you could argue that they have the best roster in that division. You can argue that they have the best roster in the league. I would take Vegas as over them.

But Colorado, they have one of the top three players on the planet. They have Mika Ranton. They have Gabriel-Olandiscaug. They have Kel McCar, who's going to be one of the best, he's going to potentially be the best defensemen in the league in a few years. They're just, their forwards are just rock solid. And they're just such a fun team to watch. I mean, after that, though, it kind of gets a bit murky. I probably would have St. Louis getting third.

And then for that fourth spot, honestly, I'm going to go Arizona. I mean, I can see people giving it to Minnesota, but I'm going to go to Arizona. They still have some good pieces there. I mean, Phil Kessel, still playing good hockey, even though he's kind of, the decline is coming for him. But I would trust Kemper to get it done out there and for them to get it because I do think Rick Tocke is a pretty damn good coach. For the Canadian division, for who I've winning that, I mean, if Toronto can't win that division and make round two or round three, they are just never going to get it done with this group. It's just, what is this now? Year 4 with Matthews.

What is it, year 3 now with Tavares, if I'm not mistaken? I don't honestly even know anymore. I think this will be year 3 with Tavaris, with Matthews, of course. I mean, if they can't get it done, man, just take that franchise and send it somewhere else. Second place, guys, I mean, this is tough. I mean, this division is really tough to figure out. I think I'm going to go Edmonton. I know they're not going to have Oscar Clef on for the full season.

I think that was announced today by Ken Holland, but they've won't. of the best four groups in the league. Their goaltending is questionable. When you have Connor McDavid, who is arguably the best player in the world, I mean, you're going to make the playoffs mostly every year. And Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Leon Dry Seidel, they fill out, they had some forward depth. I think they signed Tyler Ennis. I think they signed Kyle Turris pretty cheap too. This is, this is going to be a better team that I think some people are giving credit for. At third, I'm going to go Vancouver. I'm pretty high on the Canucks this season. I love their high-end talent. I love Quinn Hughes. Their goaltending is a bit shaky. You know, how will

Braden Holpey play? You do have Thatcher Demko back there, who I think is going to be the star in the future. But I know, I love Vancouver's top six, even though their bottom six is kind of meh. And then at fourth, I am going to go Calgary. Kachuk is awesome. Goudreau is awesome. Monaghan's awesome. I do know, obviously, they signed Jacob Markstrom to that ridiculous deal that I just, that he is overpaid, I think. But they still have the talent to get in. I expect to still get in. They're well-coached. I'm Mark Giordano is one of the best defensemen in the league. And forward-wise, I mean, they're, I think they're decently deep and they just have a lot of star power there. I love watching Goodrow and Monaghan. And Lynn Holman, of course, you know,

watching Kachuk play. It's just hilarious. A lot of people hate Matthew Kachuk. I absolutely love that kind of player. I would take 100 Matthew Kuch's on my team if I gave with, especially with hit the offense that he does produce. So those are my predictions for the playoffs. Let me, let me know what your guys is are, you know, when I tweet out the episode on the Lockdown Penguins' Twitter or through my Twitter at Hunter, coming up in the next segment. We will touch on some Jim Rutherford for comments that he made to the media today. There are a couple interesting tibits that I did want to bring up and share some thoughts on.

So stay tuned for that. But before we do get to that, it's time to talk about a new sponsor for the Lockdown Network, a bet online. There's only one place that has you covered and one place we trust that is betonline. AG with the NFL regular season finishing up, the playoff picture is becoming clear. You can sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag. and you can use that promo code locked on for your 50% off welcome bonus. Don't just sit on the sidelines anymore, guys.

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I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. So, Jan Rutherford did speak to the media this morning. He says they are going to be bringing someone to camp, Jordan Nolan on an HL contract. He's like, we like this player. We will see how camp goes.

And any time we can flip his American League deal to an HL contract, he brings a dimension of his game that is important for our team. You know, if you do a quick Google search on Jordan Nolan, as I am doing right now, and as I did earlier today, I really don't know what he brings to an NHL team. I mean, the guy is, what, 30 years old? For his initial career guys, he's played in 375 career games, 24 goals, 52 points in 375 career games. I mean, that's just utterly terrible. His best season for his career points-wise came in 2013-14 with the Kings, 64 games, 6 goals, 10 points in those 64. games the next year had six goals and 9.60 games. So he spent most of his career with the Los Angeles

Kings and ended up winning, I think, a Stanley Cup with them. I think he actually won both the Cups with them, if I'm not mistaken. You know, when that went to Buffalo in 2017, 18, had four goals, 8.69 games. So a true bottom six player. But I mean, he also played in the HL last year, guys. He had 27 points in 60 games and that's in the HL. So I mean, Jim, I don't know what kind of dimension that you think no one brings to the penguins, but it ain't offense, that's for sure. I mean, is it grit and toughness

because I'm not trying to go back to 2017-18 where you're just trading for players who all they bring it is just grit and toughness. This guy's just not good. His best season is 10 points in, like, 60-something game. So, you know, hard pass on that. Talked about the rear-alignment. He said the East is a very strong division.

It's teams that are used to each other. There's good rivalries. Hopefully they can get the opportunities to see the games live as soon as it's safe enough. We already touched on his comment about Emil Larmy. We'll have to see when he joins training camp. This was a big update, though, on Zach Aston Reese. Originally, I thought he was going to be out until mid-February with that injury, but according to Seth Rorbaugh, Jim indicated that he is unscheduled to make a recovery

from off-season soldier surgery by mid-January. So right around when the season starts, Ashton Reese will be ready. He's probably not going to be around in time for training camp, but it looks that he could be practicing with the team right as the season starts. So that's big news for the penguins. I like Ashton Reese as a defensive player, even though he doesn't bring a lot of offense. And, you know, him on that line with Bluger and Tannav. It's just one of the best fourth lines in hockey. I love watching

them play. As for any other updates, Jimmy, you didn't really say too much more, you know, talked about, you know, the rivalry stuff, you know, goaltending is going to be an important part of a shortened season because of less of a margin for error. Again, he's 100% right on that. If your goal

goalie goes on a huge hot streak of 2025 games, he's given you 930 plus almost every night, that can really just boom your season. If Tristan Jari goes on a huge heater, that will be so beneficial for the Penguins who are playing these division rivals every single night. And, you know, another big thing that people aren't talking about, guys,

you know, what if a player has a huge high shooting percentage for the first 20 to 30 games that season? What if they're shooting 15% from the ice and they're just scoring on it everything? I mean, you're probably not going to see Brian Rust have the shooting percentage that he had last year. But, you know, what if it's someone else in the Penguins? What if it's Jason Zucker?

who, you know, I think Jesse Marshall of the Athletic was kind of joking about how he expects Zucker to score 40 goals next season. But he did ask everyone if he scores out a 40 goal pace, would you honor my prediction of him scoring 40 goals? And it's like, nah, it's a hard pass. But we'll have Jesse on here at some point to maybe preview the whole Penguin's season coming up. But I think that's it for content for today. There wasn't many other updates. I'm eagerly awaiting the schedule for this 56 game season. I did a little bit of the math in my head spread out over, I think, the 100-something.

days that the season is going to take place. It looks like with the 56 game schedule, it's going to be a game every two days. So the players are going to be gassed, I think. I mean, you're probably going to have back-to-backs, and you're probably going to have a lot of back-to-backs on there. I'm being really honest with you. I mean, for example, you know, you could do a New Jersey, New York back-to-back. You could do a Philadelphia, New Jersey back-to-back, Washington, Philadelphia,

back-to-back, just because the travel from those places is not far, and you can get just as many games out of the way there as possible. I also, I did want to say this too. I do get that the Anshol only wants to play the games in division. They don't want to be like the NFL, where they're having a team go from California to New York or Florida to California or something like that, just because they don't want to deal with the outbreak

or the outbreaks of the NFL has had. We also had baseball, had a couple outbreaks during the early portions of their season. I mean, I do think that there is likely going to be an outbreak during the NHL season. It's happened for every sport so far. You just have to navigate through it. That's the big thing.

And, you know, there's probably going, be games. They may have to be canceled at arenas. They may have to be moved to neutral sites because there might be a huge outbreak on it with a team. But, you know, it's how they manage that situation. Obviously, no one wants that to happen with a vaccine now out and it's starting to get to some people. Hopefully there won't be outbreaks for teams. But, you know, that's just, that's, that's hoping at this point. I think there probably will be at least one. But, you know, get fingers crossed to that not happening at all. That will do it, though, for this episode. I'll be locked on Penguins podcast. I'm really excited to be back with this season. Just a few more weeks, guys, we get to

see a season with the Penguins where Jack Johnson is not playing and we don't have to shit on him every single night, though we will get to be dumping on Cody C.C. assuming he wins the job from Chiber-R-R-R-Reed. We'll be back with five episodes a week after New Year's Eve, which is, of course, next Thursday somehow. I cannot believe that came up that quick. We're going to have Alan Saunders on the podcast this week. On Wednesday, I'm working on a couple other guests as well to preview this season. So stay tuned for that. Go Steelers tonight on Monday night football. Try to win the AFC North. Go check out locked on Steelers over there. Go check out locked on pirates as baseball season. We're getting closer to spring training a couple months away for

that. They do a good job over there as well. Oh, wow. Breaking news as this is my finishing recording. Apparently teams have started receiving drafts of their 2021 schedule. It sounds like they're generally grouped into two game segments against the same opponent, although there's also some three game series and I've heard of at least one instance of a four game series against opponents. You know, I honestly totally forgot about that idea. I've talked about that on the podcast. I think it was like last month or something like that. You know, that this would be a great idea to do as well, you know, make it like baseball. You know, where the nationals, like, of course, they're my team. They play the Phillies in a three to four game series. They play the Braves in

three to four games. Minimizes travel going back and forth. I totally get that. And you can just knock out a few of the matchups of the eight matchups that you have going up against those teams and just, you know, one weekend or something like that. So I honestly completely forgot about that idea. it's an absolutely good one. You know, I'm sure you can still have, you know, playing Washington and then Philadelphia the next night, but, you know, having Washington, Washington and maybe like a home and home for a lot of those games and making them like miniseries. I mean, these rivalries are about to be taken to a whole new level.

So I'm really curious to see when the schedule does come out, whether it's Wednesday, Thursday, or maybe even tomorrow. So, again, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode of the Lockdown-Pan's podcast, and I will talk to you all on Wednesday.