Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Which Penguins prospects balled out during Sunday's game?

Episode Date: September 20, 2022

Hunter is finally back...again. He's still recovering from COVID-19 but is definitely feeling good enough to churn out content again. He starts the show by going into the Penguins prospects challenge game from Sunday (yes, that happened for those watching the Steelers). He looks at who stood out the most in the Penguins' 6-4 win and if those players can carry that over into camp. He also looks at how Filip Lindberg played in his first game action since getting hurt about 10 months ago. After that, he gets into Rob Rossi's story on the RoboPenguin and thanks him for confirming the scoop (only a little :-), excellent reporting Rob!) He looks at what the jersey could look like and how many games the Penguins could wear it for this season before thinking about if the team will bring an original one back after this one is done. Finally, Hunter breaks down the Sonny Milano to Calgary news and wishes that the Penguins would've done that since it was basically free (until they have to move out space). All that, plus much more on this episode of Locked On Penguins!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! 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.

Hello there. And yes, if you're watching on YouTube, this is a much different backdrop. I've gone home for, well, gone back to, well, where I grew up, the house I grew up in, at least I'm back at my mom's house for the next week or two. Just, you know, been dealing with some stuff back at the house in Richmond. I'm not going to really get into that. And yes, it has been a long time since I have talked with you all. We're going to get all into that to start the show today. We're also going to get into the Penguins. Only game in the Prospect Challenge is 6 to 4 win for the Penguins.

We're going to get into who stood out, who didn't do enough, all that kind of jazz. Also getting into Sunny Milano's Pia Tio today with the Calgary Flames and why I think that was a missed opportunity for the Penguins. And we're also going to get into some more Robo Penguin talk because Rob Rossi just a couple of days ago confirmed my scoop that I had on the show a few weeks ago when I was hearing that it was going to be the robo penguin that was going to be the reverse retro jersey. Maybe we'll sprinkle in some other stuff as well. So that's all coming up right after this drop.

You're 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 episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honour Hode. He's going to follow me on Twitter. Oh, geez.

It has been a week here, people. Remember to follow me on Twitter, Hunter. How do you follow this show, he's Twitter at L.O.R. Penguins. And, of course, thank you all so much

for making this your first listen in the day. We're back to Dailies. You know, we've made it through the off season. We're now three and a half weeks away until the start of the NHL regular season. Believe it or not,

Jens, three and a half weeks until the 2022, 2020, 2023, NHL regular season begins. And I'm sure to see one of you all wondering, you know, where the heck have I been? I've only basically done three, three episodes in the last two weeks. Yeah, I know. That's, that's half of what you guys should be

expecting of me. You should have about six episodes for me by now. So obviously, I was in Aruba from the six to the 11th, right? Did two episodes. I was going to do another and wasn't really much to talk about on the other one, whatever. So came back, was supposed to do episodes. You all know, Tuesday, you know, Wednesday, Friday last week. So I record on Tuesday, and I kind of started to feel sick a little bit. I'm like, okay, something is scratched it in my throat. Sure enough, Wednesday, I'm working two, three, four o'clock comes, and I'm just, I start getting chills. I'm feeling really cold. And I'm like, all right, something's up. So go to CVS, go get a couple COVID tests. And sure enough, I test positive for COVID. It's the first time I've had it.

I went two and a half years without getting it. I have triple, I'm triple, I'm triple Vaxed. I did not know if I ever going to get it. And it kicked my butt last Wednesday. I had like a 104 fever, nausea chills. I could not even. I went to bed like seven o'clock. Thursday felt a little bit better, but took off work. And then Friday was feeling better, but still I wasn't, I wasn't good enough to record an episode. I wanted to make sure I was, you know, mostly back to 100%. I still have a little bit of congestion. I still have a little bit of a sore throat. My voice, my voice isn't back to where I want it to be. But, you know, I'm back now. And that's all. I'm matter. So again, the last couple weeks, I really apologize for lack of content.

But that's changing now. We're back to daily episodes. I'm going to have an episode for you all every day this week and every day moving forward with regard to the Pesborough Penguins. Let's start with the Prospect Challenge. The Penguins only played one game. Some other teams played two, three games. But the Penguins, they played the Boston Bruins. Well, they're rookies. At least, they played it up at the Harbor Center in Buffalo. And the Penguins, you know, they struck quick. It was a 3-0 lead right out of the gate. Sam Poulin, Philip Hollander,

and Valterrey Pustinen, I believe all had goals to open up the scoring. I believe actually the Penguins were even up for nothing. And when Philip Hollander got his second goal today, that's when the Bruins, they battled back to tie the game at 4-4, and then the Penguins were able to make it 5-4 and then 6-4 to win the game. You know, my, I wasn't following it as much on Sunday just because I was watching the Steeler game.

I think most of Pittsburgh was watching the Steeler game on Sunday. I don't think a lot of you guys were probably watching that game of in Buffalo or finding a stream for or something like that. But I was able to go back, you know, weed up on Taylor, Haas and Danny Shiree's coverage on D.K. Pittsburgh's boards and we had a couple of other sites, you know, and it definitely sounds like to me that Hollander, Pustinen and Poulan stole the show. And, you know, those three of those are three of their best young players and they're going to potentially have to try to show out in camp to maybe try to win a roster spot. I mean, it's highly likely I think that any of the three make the team out of camp. But, you know, who knows? There's training camp, you know, surprises all the time.

I think also Nathan Legerre, he also had a really strong game in that from what I've read, you know, from the highlights, I think that Taylor posted and all that. So, you know, it's good to see, honestly, like, the four main prospects in the penguin system, you know, have good games. Just because, you know, at times they haven't been noticeable, but, you know, you're playing against, you know, some top, you're playing against top prospects, especially the Bruins. They have usually have a pretty decent system. And the fact that they played well, you know, that's good in my eyes. Also, it's massive to me. Great to see Philip Lingren back on the ice. he's been out.

I believe it's now, I believe it was 10 months with like a leg, ankle injury, something like that. He's just been, he was really affected by it. He came in, sounds like made a lot of nice saves

before he exited the game in Rose Replace. But, you know, I think he's going to, I think, need to have a big year this year down in Wilkesbury. You know,

there were people talking about how he could be like the backup to Trish and Jari at some point. I don't know if that's ever going to happen. You know, someone like Lindberg, you take a flyer on. and you hope that maybe he pans out to something more than, I don't know, I guess, like a fringe

NHL backup. But, you know, he did have really good college numbers. And, you know, in Wilkesbury, he was playing fine until he got hurt. So I do want to see how he can be when healthy this year. And I thought yesterday's game was a pretty good start in that category, at least in my opinion. And yes, just real quickly here. For those that are watching on YouTube, yes, the mop is gone. I went and got it trimmed today.

It's a new season. She's, beard's gone. There's no playoffs. So, yeah, you know, there will be another time where this mop will be, well, the mop will come back and one will be freaking out about it and all that other stuff. But it is gone right now. Again, going back to the Penguins talk. That mainly wraps up, you know, my thoughts on the prospect game yesterday.

You know, rookie camp, I believe, is still going just for a little. a little bit longer training camp is set to open on Thursday of this week. Hallelujah. First day of autumn, you know, you can, the temperatures are starting to get cooler in the mornings, you're not, you're starting to not hear those stupid bugs as much in the night, especially crickets. I hate those bugs. Just can't stand it.

I love summer as a whole. Hate the bugs that come with them. I just, I wish they could just be eradicated from this planet, to be honest. If that makes me sound like an ass, then you know what? So what. But, you know, I'm fired up. You know, this is a great time, you know, to be a hockey fan, you know, we're three and a half weeks away.

There's going to be training camp, even though there's a lot, not a lot of intriguing storylines, it should still be a lot of fun. Remember, the practices will be held at the UPMC Sports Complex. Practice should be free and open to the public. Hopefully, you know, some of you all will go. And, you know, if you want to send me some photos, send me some videos, some of your thoughts, even, I'll include that on the show. and all that jazz.

So again, that wraps up this first segment with, you know, talking about the Penguins Prospect Challenge and how it was mainly just, you know, the big four that stood out plus Philip Lindberg. In my opinion, you know, I think Shavkovsky had a decent game. Kyle Olson was on the third line. Jonathan Guden was centering that line. Ty Glover was also in the lineup, Josh Manascalo. You know, he's a player that, you know, I've always been intrigued by,

but I don't think he's ever going to be an NHL defense. Jack St. Ivy was playing. Remember he just signed. and entry level deal with the penguins over the summer. Chris Ortiz, Isaac Bellevue, Colin Sawyer, some of the other names that were participating in this. And yes, going back to Pustin just real quick, he has a clapper of a slap shot.

I was able to see a video of the goal that he had, and wow, what a rip that was. See, he can fire the puck. That's, you know, one of the strong points of his game. is his shot. I like his skating too, but his shot, I mean, it's something you can't teach. I'll say that. I'm not going to sit here and say it's like an album so that you can kind of shot. Or something like that. But, you know, that gets you into the NHL. And there's a chance that, you know, maybe he'll be playing more than one game for the penguins this year.

You don't have to see. Now, before we get to our next segment, which will be about the robo penguin, actually, here's a cool little thing for that you all on the, for watching on YouTube. Look at that. That online. So let's get right into that. It is your number one source for all of your pro and college football betting needs and sports info this season. You can find all the latest football lead developments, game matchups, news and podcasts, including these years, open week games. Bet online is also your continued source for all of your sports information, including live betting, e-sports and scores. It's the fastest, easiest way to check on all of your favorite sports and events, including MLB, MMA, and boxing and golf. You can head to the website or use your phone to more with the trends in action.

that has been online where the game starts. I'm back here on this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I am your host, Honor Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can also follow all the shows, Twitter, at Eleanor for Penguins. I am going to take a sip of water here because I can feel my mouth is just, you know, I'm still recovering a little bit. That is much better.

So let's get into the second segment here, and that is, of course, the Robo Penguin. So Rob Rossi wrote a story just a few days ago, and he said, according to sources, Penguins 2020, 2022, 2023, Revers Metro Jersey is going to feature the 1990s Robo penguin logo. Thank you for the scoop, Rob. I'm glad you're able to confirm it. I'm mainly just planned, but I'm glad that, you know, that scoop that I got from someone that I know and trust was reliable. Again, you know, it's not often that I get these scoops. You know, I'm not, I will never pretend to be Elliott Friedman. You know, I do not have all these connections. But when I hear something from someone I trust,

I do pass it on, and I'm glad that I was able to get out of front of this scoop and, you know, just hear what I was hearing. But Rob writes in this article, he says it will feature the Mary Lemuel and Yarmierager, the retro jerseys. Oh, geez. The reverse retro jersey will feature the logo that Lemuel and Yager wore together throughout most of the 90s run together, multiple industry sources told the athletic. It will appear on the front of the jerseys, wore by Crosby and Malkin for an unspecified

number of games in 2022, 2023. The Penguins have also not worn the main logo since 2001, 2002. That is just absolutely nuts. And also, it's going to appear on a black jersey with no gradient. The logo will be there. So again, the logo will appear on a black jersey with no gradient. And I'm going to try to share my screen here real quick. If I can find my buddy, I'm going to go to Jason's Twitter account,

because he had a jersey design that showed what the jersey could be. I'm not saying this is what it's going to be. If I can find this here. Okay, here we go. I'm going to share my screen here real quickly. Yes. Here we go. Okay.

So you all can see my screen here. Let's go to the Twitter out. So this is what Jason put out. I'm sure you all can see. This is for the YouTube audience. As you can see, black jersey, you know, The crest is in the middle, and then there's a yellow outline. It kind of looks like a little, you know, if there weren't a penguin there,

it would kind of be like a throw, like a Boston Ruins kind of jersey. But, you know, this is something that I would buy a hundred out of a hundred times. And again, I did not create this. They didn't not create this. It was posted somewhere. I think it was posted on the penguin subreddit, to be honest with you all. So if that is the jersey or something related to it, I think that would be, pretty nice. You know, I would, again, I would definitely buy the one to say the least.

This has been a long time coming. You know, I know it's been divisive among fans. Some elder fans as Robb, right? So, you know, they were skeptical of the Roeb Penguin and new uniforms that debuted and, you know, obviously with a failed ownership before Mario Lemieux came in and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But, you know, this is a jersey that it's going to sell a lot. And I'm honestly, I would not be surprised if this jersey or another Robo Penguin kind of jersey is worn again in the new future you remember what they did with the first reverse retro jerseys remember they had the Pittsburgh diagonal in white right so and they were like oh okay this was mostly I think fine by the fan base so they were like okay let's just bring back the original one so I think

with this one the penguins you know they're going to bring back a reverse retro one see how it does, and if it does well, which I assume it will, they'll be like, okay, let's bring back one of the original Robo Penguins that they wore, you know, back in the early 2000s, back in the 90s, you know, something like that. And Rob also writes that they plan to unveil this jersey within a few weeks. So Rob wrote this on September 15th, it's September 19th right now, probably sometime in October, probably either right before the season starts or like right as the season starts, they're probably going to announce it. And as Rob writes, the Penguins will wear their current home in road jerseys,

which I think are the best in the NHL. They're diagonal Pittsburgh alternate jerseys, the Black Reverse retro jerseys, and a special jersey for the Winter Classic against the Boston Ruins on January 2nd. There has been no update regarding that. All I've heard the scoop I have about that jersey is that the penguin logo is not on it. That's all I have. I don't know what it is. It could be like a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey from way back when. I don't know. Sounds like they have it picked out, but they're not going to announce it

probably until later on in the season. Best part about the Robo Penguin coming back is that it had to have had to happen under new ownership. This was never going to happen under Mary Louie and Ron Berkel. Mario hated those jerseys. He cannot stand them. So there's probably a small part of them right now. that's just definitely a bit upset. Jeez, to say the least. But exciting times, I'm definitely going to buy one. I assume they'll probably wear them for 10 to 12 games, something like that, if I had to guess.

Maybe a little less, I'm not really sure. But yeah, that wraps up the second segment. Coming up in the final segment, we're going to get into Sonny Milano and, you know, how it's just, it's ridiculous that he had, he signed a PTO with a team. and not a one-year contract and what that means for the penguins. So that's all coming up right after this commercial break.

All right, I'm back here on this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Hunter Hodes. We're going to follow me on Twitter. Hunter Hodes can also follow the shows, Twitter, L owner score Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for you're making this your first listen of the day. So word today, basically, yeah, it's one day now, that came out from Elliot Freeman, that Sunny Milano is going to be signing a PTO with the Calgary Flames. And it's just like, I don't understand how someone like Sonny Milano,

someone who had double-digit goals last season, double-digit assist had, you know, basically what? Like, if I can just make sure I'm getting his stats right here. Sorry, I can try out everything right. 14 goals, 34 points in 66 games. you are telling me this guy is only getting a PTO from a team and the penguins couldn't do that. I'm not trying to get fired out about that,

but man, that is just free stuff for the penguins. They should have taken that. And I know, you know, they're basically right on the cap right now, but you have three and a half weeks. You do. Gee, sorry. Damn it. Just dying over here still a little bit.

But you have three and a half weeks. you have time to send a defenseman down, maybe make a defenseman trade, something like that. They could have, I think we could have been able to work something out. This is a player that, you know, is good on the third or fourth line.

I mean, he's probably best on your third line. And just is coming off the best season. I mean, excuse me, of his crew and his underwines were also pretty solid. You know, 52% of the shot attempts with the ducks when he was on the ice,

about 50, 50, when it comes to actual goals, 52% of the expected goals, 52% of the scoring chances, and 52% of the high-dain chances, and 51% of the high-danger goals when he was on the ice, you know, the ducks had those numbers.

All really strong. Someone who can, you know, potentially also jump up in the lineup when he needed really fast skater, really crafty with the puck. He was always trying to, you know, with the Michigan stuff. Him and Trevor Zegress were just so fun together.

And, you know, those were the two, players that were giving John Torrella, just migraines on ESPN. Last year, I think it was like during like November or something like that when the Michigan first happened. And that's, you know, when Torrella was, you know, like that old man yells at cloud, basically. But, you know, it's honestly insane that that player is getting a PTO. You know, he should be getting a deal a hundred out of a hundred times. And I wish the penguins were able to do that because the PTO, you know,

you know, that's free. You know, you don't have to pay for him. He comes into camp, you know, tries out for you. Obviously, he's going to make the flames roster. I mean, why wouldn't he? He just sees coming off basically a 15-goal season. But, man, you know, even though the penguins are up against the cap, I still would have done it.

I feel like they could have, you know, been able to make a move or, you know, send someone down or something like that. You know, the teams always find a way to get cap-compliant, and I think this would have been no different for the penguins, at least in my opinion. So definitely there's maybe a little bit of a missed opportunity there. I would have loved to have him on the team. But, you know, I'm sure he'll do great with the flames. I think they've had a really solid offseason.

You know, it takes guts to do what they did. You know, you lose Cadro and Chuck. And you're almost like, oh, you know, let's just basically fold and retire here. but they were like, nope, you know, where we're going to keep going and we're going to do what we can to have a winning team for next year. And I think, you know, they've done as good of a job as they can, at least in my opinion. I believe that wraps up today's episode for the Locked-on Penguins podcast. You know, there's going to be a lot of contact to come. I'm going to have another episode for you all tomorrow.

We're going to start getting into some bold predictions. for this season. I definitely have a couple already that I've been thinking about for the last few days. That's going to hopefully be either on tomorrow's episode or Wednesday's episode. All I can tell you all about this new season of Lockdown Penguins is this. If you're not subscribed to the YouTube channel and if you're not listening to this show, you're missing out.

We're going to try to hit 1,000 subscribers on the YouTube channel right now. We're at about 640. I think that's definitely very doable this season. This is already season four of the show. this is this is going to be the best season of the show yet i have so much fun content plan it's going to be so much fun to talk about this team on a nightly basis and i'm there's a chance in that i could be at the games you know and if i if i do end up moving to pittsburgh you know in december um there's a chance that the show could get credentialed and i could be going to games

and you know potentially up in the press box of some of the other big boys and maybe even asking some questions to the players or coaches after the games and i could get some of those all video recordings and play them on the show and all that. So I really do think that, you know, big things could be coming for Locked on Penguins this year. And I, you know, I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me over the offseason, especially these last couple weeks. Again, I apologize for the lack of content with going on my final vacation to getting COVID. And I'm still not fully over it yet, but I'm close to 100%. But I'm back. I'm fully back at this point. You know, I'm not going to skip any more episodes this week. I'm not going to be skipping any

more episodes moving forward, either to say the least. But again, thank you all so much for listening. Thank you all so much for sticking with me through the off season. And welcome back, Penguins Hockey. Training Camp starts on Thursday. I'll be back with another episode for you all on Tuesday.