Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Which Pittsburgh Penguin will have the biggest impact at 4 Nations Face-Off?

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

The 4 Nations Face-Off starts tonight and all of the Penguins' player representatives will be on the ice when Canada takes on Sweden. Patrick and Hunter talk about where Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell, and Erik Karlsson will be used on their respective clubs and how it's shaping up to be a very exciting and competitive tournament. Then, they give their takes on who they think will ultimately win the tournament between Canada, the United States, Finland, and Sweden. Finally, even with the Penguins on break, it's still Wednesday which means they give out their weekly MVP as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to Indeed.com/LOCKEDON right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. FactorEat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com/lockedonnhl50off and use code LOCKEDONNHL50OFF to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. Wonderful PistachiosGet snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins! FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

International hockey is back tonight when the four nations face off kicks off between Canada and Sweden. Hunter and I are going to get you set for that tournament. Talk about which penguins are involved. And of course, give out our Warrior Helmet for Warrior Helmet Wednesday. All that right after this on a new Locked On Penguins. 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 partner in crime, the one and only Hunter Hodes. You can follow him on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. You can give our show's Twitter account a follow at L0 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 follow us on YouTube, don't forget to hit that notification button. That way you can be among the first to know when we drop our daily Monday through Friday episodes. The wait is over Hunter. International hockey returns tonight, albeit it's only four countries. A lot of big names are not going to be at the Four Nations face off because we are are only looking at four nations, as it says in the title. It will be Finland, Sweden, Canada, and the United States, and it all kicks off tonight with Canada versus Sweden at 8 o'clock. So that means we will get to see some of our beloved penguins involved in this tournament.

For those who may not know, and I understand, this is locked on penguins. If you're listening, to this, chances are you know all of this, but we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we didn't give you that quick rundown. Here is who is involved from the Penguins for Team USA. Mike Sullivan is the head coach of that team. He also is the head coach of Team USA next year at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Sydney Crosby, captain of Team Canada, he will be in action tonight, and he will go up against two of his teammates in regards. Raquel and Eric Carlson, who are part of Team Sweden. So that is your Penguins involvement.

And I got to say, we were doing this before we hit record. It's why we're dropping this show a little bit later than usual today, because we were geeking out over the line combinations and talking about all the possibilities. So rather than do that prior to hitting record, why don't we do that after we hit record hunter? So let's start with Team Canada. where Sidney Crosby is once again wearing the sea for his home country.

And fun fact, he is not on the first line. But when you talk about the line that he is on, dear God in heaven, how is this even fair? According to Daily Faceoff, and I imagine this is probably going to change somewhat because it is essentially three centers on a line. but he is with Nathan McKinnon and Mark Stone. That is an absolute cheat code of a line.

100%. And they were really testing that line throughout the practices this week. It was actually Crosby at center for the start. Then they kicked him over to wing a little bit. That's why you see it on Daily Faceoff right now. We'll have to see what the full lines look like tonight once that game starts at 8 o'clock against Team Sweden. but by all intents and purposes, we are going to see Crosby play with McKinnon,

which is going to be a lot of fun. Like, again, people, I know some fans are not going to watch this. I totally get it. It may not be your thing. I 100% get it. But as someone who still likes international hockey, even though it's only four countries, I am still going to tune in, especially because we're not really going to get

to see McKinnon play with Crosby that often. So I will cherish this because these are two of the top five best players in the world. they're also best friends. It's going to be a lot of fun seeing what they can do together. And oh yeah, Mark Stone, no slouch either, Pat, by the way. Really fun player to watch. Just a total psychopath, honestly. That's what I think of Mark Stone.

He is a psychopath on the ice in the absolute best way. Their top line is even better, though, with McDavid, Sam Ryanhart, and Mitch Marner. Like, they have an embarrassment of riches in this lineup. It's going to be fun. But with Crosby, I'm excited to see how he looks coming off this injury. He may not be 100%. but you can still tell how much being the captain of this team means to him, playing in this game, how much it means to him.

So I'm curious to see how he plays. He's always played super well for Team Canada over the years. He really loses while wearing that sweater, excuse me. So I'm excited to see. And then on the other side for Team Sweden, you get the two Penguins you mentioned, Ricard Raquel and Eric Carlson. We'll start with Carlson.

He's not on the top pairing, which I'm fine with. That's Victor Hedman and Jonas Brodine. I think people forget just how good Jonas Brodine is. He's especially great in his own zone. Headman, we all know how good he is in all three zones. But Carlson is playing with Matthias Ekholm, and I love that Sweden is doing that, by the way. That is the perfect partner for Eric Carlson.

I mean no disrespect to Marcus Pedersen, very good player in his own right, especially in his own end. Matthias Ekholm is just a little bit better. And that's the perfect partner for him because you saw how it worked in Pittsburgh with Pedersen, with how he was able to kind of cover for Carlson's mistakes at times. So if Carlson does make a mistake or two during the tournament,

Eckcombe will be back there to try and cover for him. And you also get the offense from Carlson on that second pairing, especially at five on five. If you want him to quarterback a power play, he can do that. It looks like headman is quarterbacking that top unit for Team Sweden. I would expect Carlson to be quarterbacking that second unit, but I really like that second pairing with him at Atcom. And finally, Ricard Raquel, playing in the top six very, very well,

deserve, especially considering his 25 goal season, he is going to be playing on a line with Mika Zabenejad and William Nielander. While Zabinajan has not been good this season for the Rangers, he is at least a distributor, and he can get the puck to Nielander and Rakel whenever he wants. We all know how great of a player Nielder is. His release is disgusting. Also good playmaker in his own right. But Rakel, he's the pure sniper on that line, in my opinion. All you got to do is get a puck to one of those two guys in Nielander and Rekyll, and you're cooking with offense on that So again, while I don't think Zabenegette is having that good of a year, I understand the vision why you're putting Raquel on that line.

It's just funny that because he went from a player who Raquel, that is, wasn't on the team originally. He then gets put on the team, oh yeah, we're going to throw you into the top six and be one of those de facto one A, 1B lines. I'm excited to see what he and Nylander can do together. I think they can cook potentially.

You're absolutely right about that line. Yeah, Zabenegette is not having a year that is conducive to what we know. know from Mika Zabenejad, from what we've seen over the past few years. But you put him with two guys who have absolutely lethal shots. And he still, even in a down year, is a very solid puck distributor. So that's exactly the kind of line you want to put him on. William Nealander underrated playmaker, but still has, again, an underrated shot because who are his two teammates, Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner,

two absolutely electric players. So he flies under the radar ever so slightly. But you put Zabinajad on this line with Raquel and Nielander, and you are absolutely cooking with gas. It sounds like a slight to Zabinajad to say this. But in reality, it's the perfect way to set it up with this center is get the puck to one of these two guys and get out of the way. Your job is to be the quote unquote responsible one on this line.

Let those two focus on putting the puck in the net. and you sit back and be the safety net for those two as they attempt to score. So really underrated team, I think underrated is probably not the right word because this is international hockey. But Sweden to me is a team that I don't think is getting as much hype and we'll talk more about the tournament. We need to stop sleeping on them. Like we all know how great Canada is.

We all know how great team USA is is the best USA team I've seen in my lifetime. But Sweden can win this man. Like you look up and down that lineup really. good forward group defensively they're nasty they got a good goaltender in philb gustavson especially if he turns it on do not sleep on sweden like i'll just say that no not at all and you you then look at obviously we can go to the penguin's head coach who is the head coach of team USA and this is just this is going to be and again i'm not making a direct one-to-one comparison it is just a way to bring this into the tent that is locked on penguins,

you look at this team USA team, and you can see what Sullivan's vision is. It's very similar to the 15, 16 penguins where you look up and down this lineup, especially at Forward, and it is a well-distributed group. You've got a top line of Jack Eichel, centering Kyle Connor and Matthew Kachuk. Your second line is Austin Matthews,

centering Jake Gensel and Jack Hughes. Third line, J.T. Miller between Matt Boldie and Brady Kachuk, and then your fourth line is Vinny Trocheck between Brock Nelson and Dylan Larkin. So you look at that lineup and the way he's setting up those forwards. It's very similar in a way to what he did with the 15, 16 penguins, where you have killers up and down the lineup. You're not loading up. You're not putting everybody right at the top of the lineup.

You're giving yourself options up and down. And you have been saying this ever since we found out that international hockey was returning this year, this is arguably the best crop of talent the United States has had since maybe ever. This is a culmination of, and if I can kind of digress a little bit here, this is the end product of USA hockey as an organization, dedicating itself to player development rather than constantly chasing the Canadians or the Russians or whatever country you want to name that has been at the top of the hockey world for the last 30 or 40 years, because as someone who has coached in the USA hockey program, I had to register with them.

I had to take all of their classes. Their emphasis, top to bottom, is skill and player development. It's no longer just you have to be part of this organization, do whatever you want. They have a model for developing skating, developing skills, developing whole 200-foot players. So this is starting to bear fruit because you look at this lineup, not a lot of older players. A lot of guys in their early to mid-20s, a lot of guys who are just getting their footing under them as professional hockey players. So this is, I would say the start of a very great era for USA hockey. I hope so.

And just giving it as a penguin's discussion, I feel like this is the exact type of lineup that Mike Sullivan could potentially do a lot of damage with. A lot of speed and skill. That's exactly the type of team that he likes to play with. You saw in 15, 16, and 16 and 17. The Penguins bulldozed all these teams with their team speed. He's hoping to do the same thing here with this crop of USA forwards and defensemen. The only thing that sucks is that Quinn Hughes is not playing. He's banged up.

Totally get it. I'm excited to see him at the Olympics because he really changes a little bit of the dynamic of the team with how great of a skater he is on the back end, how much offense he drives. He does not give it all back in his own zone. own. It's going to suck not seeing him there, but I'm excited to see him at the Olympics next year. But I like these lines. Like, what I like to see Matthews maybe is a top fine center? Sure, but I also understand why Ikel is up there because he's probably a bit more defensively

responsible than Matthews, in my opinion. I think Matthews defensive game is, you know, okay. But Ikel, he's one of the best two-way centers in the league right now, in my opinion. I don't think he gets talked about enough as one of the best two-way centers in the league, but Ikel is right up there. But, honestly, we're going to dive into more into this lineup. the second segment as well as team Finland. So I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. No, neither do I.

I was just going to say we're going to throw it to break here. We're going to keep this discussion going on the lineups, the teams, and give some predictions on what we think is going to happen at the four nations face off, which again, kicks off tonight 8 p.m. Canada versus Sweden, Captain Sidney Crosby going up against Ricard Raquel and Eric Carlson. And as I said, when we come back, we're going to dive more. into the rest of the teams and lineups and give our predictions on the four nations face off. But before we do that, we've got to tell you about today's first sponsor, and that is Factor.

If you're looking to optimize your nutrition this year, Factor makes eating well, easy with chef prepared, dietitian approved meals that are fresh, never frozen, and ready to heat and eat in just two minutes. With 40 options across eight dietary preferences every week, you can customize your meals to fit your lifestyle, whether it's calorie smart, protein plus or keto plus Factor even offers wholesome smoothies, breakfast, and grab and go snacks to keep you fueled all day long. I absolutely love how Factor takes the stress out of meal planning over the past year or so I have been really dedicated to getting myself back into shape. I joke all

the time. I'm not getting any taller, so I better make sure I'm not getting any wider. And Factor is sure helping with that along with all of my workouts. And part of that is I have had to really increase my protein intake and I tried their protein plus meals packed with flavor, absolutely convenient and kept me full throughout the day. That convenience is absolutely unbeatable. No prep, no mess, just great food in minutes. So eat smart with Factor. Get started at FactorMeals.com slash locked on NHL 50 off and use code locked on NHL 50 off

to get 50% off of your first box plus free shipping. That's code locked on NHL 50 off at Factor. Factor Meals.com slash locked on NHL 50 off to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. That's Factor Meals. All right. Welcome back to the Wednesday edition in International Four Nations Face Off edition of Locked on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp, joined as always by Hunter Hodes. And let's keep this going here, Hunter.

I got to be honest with you. I'm going to start with this because we're going to dive all the, way into all the other rosters and this is a way to get started on that there is an under the radar game in this tournament that i am very much looking forward to and that's on saturday afternoon at one o'clock sweden versus finland because we obviously know as a bunch of backward hat wearing flag wave and americans that u.sa canada that's our rivalry we love that rivalry whether it's men's hockey women's hockey, you name it. Our two nations have absolutely battled on the ice

over the past couple of decades, and it's always a classic. But Sweden versus Finland, underrated rivalry. These are two teams that are essentially mirrors of one another. Sweden, they obviously have more of an emphasis on speed and skill. We talked about their lineup. They have a ton of talent.

But when you look at Finland, Are they one of the better team? They are probably four of four in this tournament. But the underrated strength of this Finland team is down the middle. You have Alexander Barkoff as your top line center, Sebastian Ahro in the second line, Eric Halle in the third line, and Anton Lundell on the fourth line.

And then you look at their defense, and while you're not going to look at these six defensemen and think, oh my God, these are the best of the best. They are all very reliable. Nico Mikola, Essel and Del, Yusel Valamaki, Olimata, our old friend. And overall, this is a team that is going to play Sweden, very tough.

They will. The only thing when I look at Team Finland is, man, I wish Mero Haskinen was healthy. That's the biggest one, man. He is so good at the top of that lineup. He drives a lot of offense, really great in his own zone, really good in transition.

It's just going to stink not seeing Hayskin in there. But I'm excited to see him at the Olympics in 26 because without him, and they're just really banged up on their back end overall. This defensive group, it's fine, but it's not nearly as good as Canada's, Sweden's and team USA's. You know, Mikola is fine, but he's not a top pairing defenseman. S.L. Indel, he's the top four guy.

You have Olimato Valmaki, as you mentioned, but still, they're really missing an elite puck mover up there. Forward-wise, I do think they have a really strong lineup. but it all starts with Sasha Barkov. You know what you're going to get from him. He's the best two-way forward in the league. He is going to try and shut down the opposing top player every time he's out there.

He has Miko Ranson next to him. That's going to be fantastic, by the way. Seeing Barkov and Ransan together, sign me up for that, especially with how good Ransan it is as a player, Arturi Lekinen as well. You have Rupé Hintz and Sebastian Aho together on one line as well. With Hints, he's also a really good two-way player,

underrated shot, but Aho, great playmaker. I think those two could work really well together on a line. You have Patrick Line on there. Congratulations to him, by the way, with the way he's been playing this year, the fact that he was named a team Finland, super happy for Patrick Line. You have Tara Vinen, UL Armea,

crats to Michael Granlin playing on this team as well. Goaltender-wise, though, you got Soros, you got Kevin Lankin. Soros, I know he's been a bit down this year in Nashville. Watch out, though, especially with a lineup like this. He has the ability to steal any game, because when he's on, this is a top five goaltender in the NHL.

So while I do agree with you, they are, I would say, the fourth best team out of four in this, they're still going to give every team a really good fight. And I'm excited to watch them against Team Sweden this weekend. And you hit on the biggest thing for me when it comes to Finland. Is it probably the fourth best roster of the four in this tournament? Absolutely. But when you have UC Soros and Kevin Lankenen as your two goalies,

you are going to have a chance. And again, you said it, I agree with it. UC Soros is having a down year. But we're going to find out if that is because of Nashville's struggles overall as a hockey team or if he really is having a down year. But you put him in front of a defense in a team like this. I think you're going to see the UC Soros we're more used to seeing over the past couple of years than we have this season because it's a much stronger roster. So he has the ability to really buoy this finish roster in net. And don't sleep on Kevin Lankenen.

He's also having a very solid year. So they are very good at the most important position. And it's a four game tournament potentially if you make it all the way. So you get hot for a couple games in net. I can steal you this tournament. So don't sleep on Finland whatsoever. Now, we know. what the main event is.

We know what game we are most looking forward to. And that is Saturday night at the Bell Center in Montreal, USA versus Canada. Two absolutely loaded rosters. If this was NHL 25, one team would probably have an overall of 99, another would have an overall of 98. and there is so little daylight between both of these rosters. But we talked about this very quickly at the end of our Tuesday episode with our pal Josh Yohe. I think the X factor for the United States over Canada is goaltending.

You look at who the United States has in net. They, of course, have Connor Hellebuck, who is one of the best goaltenders on the planet. They also have Jake Ottinger, who is known to get very hot when it matters. And then you go to Team Canada, and it is really, really not much of a competition between these two teams. They named Jordan Bennington, the starter for Team Canada. They've also got Aden Hill. Their third goaltender is Sam Montembow, which is fine, whatever. He's probably not going to play.

That's really what it comes down to for me with USA versus Canada. the United States has the better goal tending. I would give a slight edge to Canada's forwards, and I would say the defense plays to about a draw. So you match all that up. I think USA has the ever so slight edge over Canada. Well, I'm sure Canada is wishing that they took Logan Thompson for this tournament, especially with the year that he's having in Washington this year.

Canada is always going to have the most talented roster in general, especially at forward. I'm glad that Team USA really did not Galaxy Brain this decision. I mean, yeah, I did say like a couple months ago, they probably should have brought in selling like Tage Thompson, Cole Caulfield, but for the most part, they brought all of their best players. They did not try to Galaxy Brayness like they did in the World Cup of Hockey

back in 2016 when they tried to bring a bunch of grinders, some defensive specialists against Canada who, I mean, they're just going to mop the floor with you when you do that. Your only hope, in my opinion, is you bring the best players that you have and see what you can do. you all know Canada, their roster is absolutely stacked, especially at Ford. I think their forward group is a little bit better than Team USA's. That's just being objective.

Defensively, it's close. I think if Quinn Hughes are playing in this event, I would potentially take Team USA's defensive group, but now that he's not, it's almost a draw. Like I would say, it's kind of right there. It's still very good for Team USA. I mean, Slavin with Fox is going to be a great pairing. Renski's having a heck of a year. He's playing with McAvoy, Noah Hannatham with Brock Faber.

I will gladly take that. but obviously wouldn't you like it if Quinn Hughes was replacing one of those two guys on the bottom pairing. It would probably be Hanifin if I had to guess. Favor, I think when he's in the lineup, it's a really good addition to this team. He's been awesome since coming into the league. But I've been going back and forth on my prediction for this. USA or Canada, I'm going to take Team USA to win this.

I don't feel 100% confident about it because I feel like when you doubt Team Canada, that's when they strike even more, especially when how. deep this talent, how deep this team is, excuse me. But I think the goal-tending edge with Connor Hellluck is going to be just enough for Team USA to squeak out a win here in this event. Now, will they win in the Olympics? We'll have to see that's a year away. But in this glorified little appetizer four nations thing that I know is not going to be

for everyone, I'm going to take Team USA to win it by a snitch. I am going to hedge a little bit here. And you can all call me a coward. You can say whatever you want. But I do think whoever wins the first matchup. I do think the final is going to be USA Canada. I think that's what everybody wants. I think that's the most obvious.

But I think whoever wins Saturday night in Montreal is going to be the team that loses in the final because you have again we're not making this a referendum or a discussion on mike sullivan but i want to say this canada and u s a have two of if not the two best coaches around right now in mike sullivan and john cooper and whoever loses has the coach that will make the necessary adjustments to win the next game so i do think there is a very very real world where these teams split and the split will be between Saturday night and the final, but I will put my marker down and say, if you look at me and go, Pat, you have no choice, you have to pick a winner of the Four Nations face off.

Give me the red, white, and blue. Team USA comes out victorious at the Four Nations face off. Hey, I'm just glad you didn't wear your Crosby Team Canada sweater today on this show because I probably would have had to fire you. Hey, like I said, like I said to you yesterday when I threatened to do that. USA doesn't play till Thursday. They don't play till Thursday. It's Canada, Sweden to kick it off tonight. And if nothing else, I am a fan of Captain Sidney Patrick Crosby. But for those who may not know, here is the rundown of the schedule. Obviously tonight, 8 o'clock, Canada versus Sweden, kicks off the tournament tomorrow night, 8 p.m. USA versus Finland. Saturday, we get Finland versus

Sweden at 1 o'clock, and then 8 o'clock on Saturday, USA versus Canada. And then the tournament finishes its round robin on Monday, Canada versus Finland at 1 o'clock, Sweden versus the U.S. at 8 p.m. And then on Thursday, February 20th, is the championship game at TD Garden in Boston at 8 p.m. So just because the NHL and the penguins are on break doesn't mean that Hunter and I are on break. we are going to follow this tournament. We're going to follow the baby penguins in any news that may come up. And we'll obviously put the call out for some of our pals to come on the show.

Speaking of, Wilkesbury got screwed last night, Pat, with that call. They need video replay in the HL ASAP because they should have tied that game and sent that to overtime against Hershey. That was an amazing game. A lot of scouts there watching that game. I can't believe Wilkesbury got screwed there at the end. They got absolutely hosed. but that is going to do it for this second segment when we come back. Again, Penguins may be on break.

Locked on Penguins isn't. And it's Wednesday, which means we're handing out our weekly MVP as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday. And we will do that when we return right after this. But we got to tell you about our last sponsor before we do. And that is wonderful pistachios. If you're looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious, crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachios is one of the highest protein nuts.

Each one ounce serving has six grams of protein, giving you over 10% of your daily value. Plus, they're packed with fiber and better for you unsaturated fats to help keep you feeling fuller longer. I love the no-shells variety because I'm a busy guy. I don't got time to crack nuts. I just need to pop them in my mouth and get my daily protein. It's the perfect grab-and-go snack for busy days.

Whether I'm snacking at my desk, on a road trip, or just need a quick protein boost, they're always my go-to. And if you love cracking open every shell for that satisfying crunch, the in-shell options are a classic favorite. So get snacking and get cracking with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more. All right, welcome back to the Wednesday edition of Locked-on Penguins. I'm Patrick Damp, alongside Hunter Hodes.

and it is once again a Wednesday, my dudes, which means it's time for us to hand out our weekly MVP award as part of Warrior Helmet Wednesday. For our new listeners and subscribers, this is us paying homage to the 2016 Stanley Cup winning Penguins, where their in-house team MVP that they would give after every victory was a Warrior Helmet. So Hunter and I give our MVP every Wednesday on Warrior Helmet Wednesday for who we think was one of the best penguins of the previous week.

Obviously, we don't have a lot to choose from. They only played two games. They had the back to back against the Rangers and the Flyers, and then it was Four Nations break. But I do have one that might be a little off board. I don't think a lot of people would consider this one. But going back and watching some of the tape from those two games, there is a player I have to give my warrior helmet to,

and that is Blake Lazot. I thought he had two very strong games. obviously scored against the Rangers, but overall, he looked a lot more like the Blake Lazotte we saw a couple of months ago where, yeah, everything he was shooting was going in, but he was extremely effective in all three zones. He was great in the offensive zone, whether it was providing pressure or at the very least being an outlet to keep teams from breaking out. He was very good in the defensive zone shutting down a lot of good players across both the Rangers and the Flyers. So I really liked his game in the back to back trip up to New York

and Philadelphia. So I got to go with Lazot. I thought he had a strong two games. And I think coming out of the break, he is going to be one of the players to keep an eye on down the stretch. That's a good one. I've been going back and forward between a few players. And I think I've landed on Philip Tomasino for my warrior helmet for this week. I almost gave it to Ned once again, just because of the way he's been playing lately, Pat. But the way that Tomasino has been playing for the last couple of weeks, I feel like it's overdue for him getting a warrior helmet. Had that really nice goal against the Rangers in the first half of that back-to-back,

ended up being the game winner, by the way. Really nice one-timeer Pasha Sturkin. He scored two goals in his last four games. For the season, seven goals, 13 points. He had a goal against Nashville back on February 1st, was shut out and in the game against the devil, same with the Flyers, but still two goals in his last four games. Ever since that healthy scratch, which I disagreed with, and I still do right now,

he has been a much better player. And you kind of hinted at it, Pat, that it was maybe a little bit time for him to reset a little bit. It seems like he has because he's been really good since coming back in the lineup. And he saw him that I could see the Penguins really having for not just the rest of this season, but next season, maybe the season after. I think they found something in this player. And I really like the week that he had, even in the game against the flyers, I felt like he was generating offensive scoring chances.

Sam Merson had a really good game. Like sometimes that's the difference, even though he's not been that good of a goalie this year. So my warrior helmet this week, I'm giving it to Philip Tomasino. Almost gave it to Ned, though. I will say that. And also almost gave it to Raquel again.

But we've also given a lot of warrior helmets to Raquel this year, especially the year he's had. But my warrior helmet this week goes to Philip Thomasino, and I believe that's the first time I've given him a warrior helmet this year. If I do look at my notes here, I do believe that is the first warrior helmet for Philip Tomasino. It is the second time we have given Blake Lizada Warrior helmet. You gave him one a few weeks back. But yeah, I mean, I can't disagree with anything that you said. And you hit on something

I brought up a couple of weeks ago with Tomicino is I don't think he was so much being punished as he was giving just a chance to reset. And with a player of his age with, I don't want to say everything he's been through, because it's not like he's had some tumultuous career. But a player of his age at his development. It's not the worst thing to give him a game or two to just watch the game from up top, take notes, then watch film when he's away from the rink, practice, hit the reset button, and get back to the things that have made him effective as a penguin. And it certainly has seemed to work because in the past couple weeks,

he has been a pretty effective forward and he does look like he will be part of the long-term solution for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But that is going to do it for the Wednesday edition of Locked-on Penguins. Hunter and I will be back with a brand new episode for you on Thursday. We will obviously talk about what we saw in the opener of the Four Nations face-off as well as probably dive into some minor league things and whatever else may happen between now and then. But for Hunter Hodes, I'm Patrick Damp.

Thank you, as always, for tuning in. And we will be back with a new episode on Thursday.