Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Who makes the biggest leap this season?

Episode Date: September 22, 2021

The training camp schedule is out and that's where Hunter starts on Tuesday's episode. He breaks it all down on what days you can go see the Penguins practice as it's all open to the public and free. He also goes over the Penguins' preseason schedule before touching on the final day of development camp. Who was impressive in it? After that, Hunter dives into which 3 teams are the Penguins' biggest rivals for this season and you may be surprised to hear the 3rd one. Finally, he goes over which player is projected to have the biggest leap this season, and no, it's not a goaltender.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 “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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. This Tuesday evening episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast, I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Houdies. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins.

Today's episode is brought to you by rockado.com. Amazing selection. Right below prices, all the parts you cover at Arneen. can visit rockado.com and tell them locked on sent you so the penguins released their 2021, 2020 training camp schedule well at least part of it. Actually I think it's the entire training camp schedule. My apologies. I have the email loaded up here. I only uploaded part of it to my Twitter and the locked on penguins Twitter account. I'm going to go over it with you all in case you guys are looking forward to going to a practice. So first off, all the practices,

or we'll be at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. If you don't know where that is, that is located in Cranberry. So it's about 25, 30 minutes outside the city. You go up by 79 north. It's right off the road. I mean, there's probably going to be maybe a little bit of traffic just because that's how 79 is. But, you know, it's right past most of the Pittsburgh guys.

It's just a little bit up north. They are all free and open to the public. There's no statement with regards to how full it can get. I'm guessing it is going to be full capacity, but it is great to see that all the practices will be free and open to the public. The first practice will be on Thursday. Teams 1 and 2 will open their first practice from 9 to 9.45 a.m. A scrimmage will follow for the next 45 minutes at 10 o'clock. And then team 3 will come on at 11.30 a.m.

And then again at 1240. Josh Williams and Sam Houd have been added to the training camp roster. And then they will also have. practices on Friday the 24th. Team 2 will practice there, Team 3, then there will be a scrimmage between those two teams, and then they'll also be conditioning. On Saturday, Team 1 and Team 3 will practice at the same time. Then there will be another scrimmage. Sunday, I don't think we know which teams will be practicing yet. There's still going to be a scrimmage that day from 11 a.m. to 12.30.

On Saturday's scrimmage, that will be from 10 to 10.45. Friday's scrimmage will be from 10 to 10.45 as well. Monday, there will be a morning skate at PPG paints arena. I do not think those will be open to the public. And then there will be their first preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG paints arena. Wednesday, they will have practice. Thursday, September 30th, they will have practice.

Friday, there will be a game at Buffalo, their second preseason game. Sunday, October 3rd will be a game against Detroit. Saturday, October 2nd, they will have practice. Their other preseason game is October 5th against the 7th. Sabres, October 7th against the Red Wings, and then October 9th against Columbus, and then they have a day off on October 10th before I think they have their first game practice Monday or Tuesday. I think that's probably when after that game, they'll announce their big roster cuts.

But if you're looking to go this weekend, 9 to 9.9.45 is when the first two teams will practice. Then from 10 to 10.45, there will be a scrimmage between those two teams. And then from 1240 to 1.30, Team 3 will practice. I don't think they have been split up into their teams if I check out this PDF right here. No, they have not announced that yet. I'm guessing that's going to be coming by tomorrow because tomorrow's Wednesday. So that roster will have to be out sometime in the next 24 hours. Once I have that roster in my email from the Penguins Communications Department,

I will let you all know either on the locked on Penguins Twitter account or my Twitter account. Then of course I'll talk about it on the show as well. Again, to summarize all of this, most of the practices, basically all of them will be in the morning at Cranberry. They are free to get in and all are open to the public. And in other news, Development Camp actually wrapped up today. I thought it wrapped up yesterday. That is my apologies. The scrimmage, or the official wrap-up scrimmage was today.

It was Team Black versus Team Gold. Sam Poo-Lam was on the line with John Gruden and Valteri Pustinen. Felix Robert was with Kyle Olson on Team Black with Camley, Ryan McLeary on defense, Nicholas Amar. and Dylan McPherson. Team Gold had Josh Williams and Justin Almita on their top line with Philip Hollander and Nathan Legerre on the second line, and then Isaac Bellevue, Josh Manasalo, excuse me, on one defensive pair. Then Chris Marisier Ortiz and Will Riley on another defensive pair.

The three goalies all rotated throughout the scrimmage. And they were doing quite a bit of stuff from what I was following on Twitter. They did 5B5. There was a shootout. And according to Taylor Haas, Philip Lindberg stopped Sam Poulan, Pousin and Ann John. and Gruden while Brochusho stopped Josh Williams and Nathan McGarry. So I don't think anyone scored in the shootout, which is a bit surprising. I guess the goalie's really just won the day with this.

They also played three on three. Will Riley scored twice. And that's a player that Matt Vensel was talking about on Penguin's Twitter today as someone who he thinks could be on the NHL roster this year. I'm not too sure about that if I had to offer up my take. I think honestly I'm not too sure about that. I mean, there's every chance that he could be on the roster at some point, but I think that would only be because of injuries.

I would prefer to see Cam Lee in that role to see what he has over someone like Will Riley, but, you know, I'll eat all the crow on that if Riley comes up and plays well in a short stint with the team. But it definitely looked like he had a good game. And I think one of the goals that he had, he roofed over Philip Lindberg. I'm pretty sure. And then Lindberg also stopped Poulin and Felix Robber on breakaways during the scrimmage. Taylor says he had a really strong game overall.

after the three on three they went through another shootout. Pusinin scored in that one. I think a couple other players scored as well. Cindy Crosby again skated today during the scrimmage, well, on another sheet of ISO. It's really big that he is already skating. Again, he's probably still going to miss at least the first week of the regular season, but the fact that he's already skating in training camp has not even officially started yet.

That's some pretty good news, and I think shows that he's not going to miss too much time. outside of those six weeks, at least in my opinion. We also did see Jari debuted his new pads today. They are basically all black. I mean, there's a little bit of gold down at the bottom, but these are pretty sweet. I know everyone in the comments, and especially on Twitter,

is just going to be like, okay, you know, where's the new glove or where's the new glove hand? And I understand that's a low-hanging fruit joke, but these new pads are still pretty sweet. I can't wait to see them in game action. I think they are going to look pretty decent. And in other sad news, According to Taylor, Crystal Tang has cut his hair and his hair is now short again.

So we absolutely hate to see that. I am always a huge fan of Crystal Tang having longer hair than shorter hair. And that is a type of content that I would be bringing on this episode of Lockdown Penguins. Yes, a discussion about Crystal Tang's hair and whether it should be better long versus short. In my opinion, again, I would prefer it long, but you know he's probably just going to grow it out through the regular season. and hopefully it's a lot longer by the time the playoffs roll around if this team does get in, but I'm sure they will. Okay, I'm done talking about that for the next five to ten minutes of this episode.

I don't need all of you just tuning out after the first seven minutes of this one. That's for sure. But okay, also, I did do my early season predictions for locked on this morning. It was basically a Google Doc that comes out, or I should say a Google Sheets thing, that comes out to all of the locked-on hosts, and they just get to feel who you think is going to represent this conference in the Western Conference Final and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I am going to share the picks that I had for this one.

So the first question was who will represent the Atlantic Division at the Eastern Conference Finals. I did say the Tampa Bay Lightning. I am a big fan of the Maple Leafs this year, but until they actually win a playoff series, I'm not going to pick them in anything regarding the playoffs. Boston, I think, is going to be really good again, but when it comes down to it, even when Tuga Rask is there,

I would still take Tampa's roster. Florida is going to be really good, but I think Tampa is just, they're better. And Montreal, they're not going to get into playoffs this year. I know everyone is probably going to think that I might be a bit crazy just because they went to the Stanley Cup final this past year, but this roster right now is worse than what they had after this season, and they just play in a really tough division so I can't see it.

which team will represent the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference Finals. You know what? I just said the Pittsburgh Penguins. I don't trust any of these other – well, I shouldn't say that. I trust the Islanders a lot, but if the Penguins get average goaltending against them, they will beat them in a playoff series 100%. It should have happened this past season. If that actually does happen in the playoffs this coming season, Pittsburgh will beat them

and they will be the team in the Eastern Conference Finals. I know Carolina is really good, but I don't trust their goal. Goaltending. Washington has gotten really old despite having some good forwards. I just don't trust their goaltending as much either, and you all know my thoughts on the flyers, Blue Jackins, and Devils. I don't really think those three teams are going to be that good this year, and I think the Rangers, honestly, are not going to be that good either.

Which team were represented at Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup final? I did put Tampa Bay. I mean, I have them going back just because they're so freaking good. I have the Penguins losing in the Eastern Conference final. I think it would be a big surprise if Pittsburgh would be able to win that series against the lightning. Call me a homer for putting the Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final because of the results in the last few years. I do think when this team is fully healthy and they get at least average goal-taining, they have what it takes to go through the Eastern Conference and play Tampa,

but probably not beat them in a series where it really matters. Which team will represent the Central Division. I have Colorado. I mean, Arizona is not going to be that good. Dallas might be okay St. Louis, they'll be good, but I don't see them beating Colorado. They got crushed in the playoffs last year. Chicago's going to stink.

Winnipeg I don't really like either. Nashville, I'm not really sure what to make with them. I think they're kind of doing a big retool. Minnesota will be really good, but when it comes down to it, Colorado should come out of that division into the Western Conference Finals. Pacific-wise, I'm going to do a rematch.

I'm going to go Vegas. I mean, Seattle's probably not. going to get in. I like what Los Angeles did this long season, especially with adding Philip Dinoe. I believe they also added Victor Arvidsen. I think they are a playoff team. I think it's going to be one of my bold predictions this season when I do that for the entire NHL.

I think the L.A. Kings will get into the playoffs this year because I've really liked what Rob Blake has been doing with that rebuild. Anaheim stinks. Calgary, I don't even know what their plan is there. Vancouver, I also think, has a chance to get in, but I don't think they're going to beat Vegas in a seven-game series. San Jose is going to stank.

Edmonton, you know, that's a huge wild car. But I had Vegas playing in the Western Conference final. Then I have Colorado going to the final against Tampa Bay with the abs winning. I really do think this is the abs year. I understand everyone probably has a sour taste in their mouth for, you know, probably picking the abs this past year and then it didn't happen as Vegas went on to play Montreal. But I do think Colorado has what it takes to win that series and they will do it. And then again, I have Colorado winning the country.

Cup. As regards to the Hart Trophy, Connor McDavid until he basically dies. Norris Trophy. I'm going to go Cal McCar. I think he had a good case to win it last year. And if he is fully healthy this year and doesn't miss any time, he should be able to win this

even if Victor Headman is back and is his former self. I'm really high on McCar this year. Vezna, I'm just going to go Andre Vastolevsky. I know Flore you won it this past year and maybe he should not have, but I'm still very happy that he did, even though Vasilevsky, I think, had the better stats.

So I'll go Vasilevsky again just because he's probably going to stay healthy. With regards to the Calder Trophy, I was going back and forth between Zegris and Cole Cawfield. I'm leaning towards Cawfield right now. I really liked what we saw in those Stanley Cup final games and in the 30 NHL games that he played. He's going to be a really good player for a really long time. And I think he's going to send a message to a lot of people around the league this year that he is here and he is here Tuesday. So I really think

Caulfield will win. So that is some of my NHL predictions for this season. Let me know what you all think on my Twitter at Hunter Hodes and the show's Twitter at L.O underscore Penguins. Now before we do get to the next segment, we do have to talk about Rock Auto. It is a family business serving do-it-yourselfers

for over 20 years. The price is all reliably low for every customer. They have everything you can need from break parts. Tail and I'm smart oil on even new carpet. You can go explore. They're easy to use as websites. today to find a solution to your auto part needs. You can go to rock auto.com right now and see all the parts available for your car truck, and you can write locked on in their how do you hear about us, Vox,

so they know we sent you. Amazing selection, wide below prices, all the parts of car ever need. That is rock auto.com. Now, does this sound familiar to you all? You've got one device that lets you catch the game live, another that lets you stream your favorite shows, you're watching sports highlights on your phone, and you've got your neighbor's best friends log in for the good stuff.

Well, I want to tell you about a simple way to get all of that entertainment you love without the hassle and a great way to finally get your TV together. It is called DirecTV streaming. It brings your live TV and on-demand favorites together, like Number 4 so you can watch your favorite sports, movies, and shows all in one place. That means no more juggling remotes and no need to buy another device ever again. And the best part, there's no annual contract. So get rid of the clutter and the confusion and get your TV together with DirecTV stream. You can learn more at DirectTV.com.

that is directTV.com compatible with device required content varies by package. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Honor Hoides. I'm going to follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O.1.Square Penguins. So I wanted to do something different in this segment and talk about the three biggest current rivalries with the team coming into this season. I mean, obviously all of them will be in the Metropolitan Division.

number one, definitely Washington. I mean, these games are always so much fun when the two teams play. And I think there's kind of a mini big brother, little brother version with these two teams just because the penguins have usually beaten them all the time, especially in the playoffs. And last season, Pittsburgh actually won six of eight meetings against the capitals. But the skill between the two teams is just top-notch. And you all know that the fan base is absolutely despise each other.

I live in Capp's country. I have lived in Capitals country for 18 of the 23 years that I have been alive. It has only gotten worse as the years have gone on. I don't really think they've had another big rivalry. I mean, I think Washington fans have hated the Rangers a lot, but nothing, and I mean nothing trumps the penguins. And, you know, I think it's been the same in Pittsburgh for the last couple of years now. It always used to be the Flyers. but I really think that rivalry has gone downhill bit. I mean, it's probably number two on my list of top rivalries for the Penguins, but it used to be number one by a landslide,

but it's just not that anymore. Washington has taken that place, and maybe some of it does have to do with Tom Wilson, and yes, he is going to be a big factor this year in the games, and know the Penguins should not sign anyone or do anything stupid to try to get back at Tom Wilson. The best way to always do that is should just light them up on the scoreboard, and then just laughing his face after the game saying,

hey man, thanks for the win, thanks for coming, and we'll see you in the next matchup. So it always is fun when those two teams play. I like when they're on national TV as well. I think the league should be still promoting that as much as they can just because it's one of the premier rivalries in the sport. I would like to see, I want to see a couple of things before Sid and Gina retire. Obviously, the championship is number one.

But I do want to see Sid and Obie go at it, one more time in a Stanley Cup of apps. I know that it may seem crazy to say that just because they've gone at it four times during the Sid and Oviera. But I think one more round five for all the marbles. I know the Penguins would probably, you know, overall they would win the series three games to two. It would be better if it was four games to one, of course.

But I think we all need to see that one more time before they go. You know, Vetchins 36 at this point, Sid is 35. they're going to retire faster than you think. So I really do want to see another playoff series between these two teams because, again, I think that would bring the rivalry to even bigger heights. And with full capacity, likely going to be back for all those games, it's just going to make it that much bigger. Again, number two is the Flyers.

It's just the rivalry is not the same anymore. It really is not. I mean, I'm not a proponent of fighting. I used to like it back in the day, you know, when Aaron Ashum was dropping the gloves with Brayden Shane and, you know, just Mike Richards, excuse me, and then Jeff Carter was being an idiot on Philadelphia. Then, you know, they had Simone Danya and Brian Boucher and Michael Layton and chemo teaming and Chris Pronger, Andre Mazzaros, Danny Breyer, who I can't stand.

You know, a lot of people on the 2012 team to, Scott Hartnell always never forget him in that series. And it was just, that series was fun just because it was chaotic, even though it also had no goaltending, but man, that was one fun series to watch. And that really probably got a lot of Penguins fans and Flyers fans into the sport. Well, new fans, I should say, because I'm sure some people tune into that and are like, wow, you know, this is really cool. I'm going to start supporting, you know, this team. And then they can tell that story to whatever friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, family members that they have. But in the last few years, it's just been the same.

You know, you get the Crosby sucks chance when he comes to Philadelphia, then still owns them every time he walks into the Wells Fargo Center. Nothing really happens on the ice. But I think that also has to do with a lot of, you know, longtime flyers leaving. Wayne Simmons is not there anymore. Heck, the modern-day caveman, Jacob Voracek is not there anymore. Braden Shen left, who, you know, I couldn't stand when he was in Philadelphia for all those

years. Danny Breyer is gone. I mean, the only real one that I think people in the Penguins fan base make fun of is Claude Drew. And the games are also just not even that excited anymore. I think that maybe has to do with Elaine Vigno Hockey. because he is a very boring coach in today's NHL. But it's just there's a lot of new faces there.

And so it's not the same and it hasn't been the same in the last few years. Lastly, I think the third biggest rivalry with the penguins, I don't even want to say that it's the Columbus Blue Jack. It's just because they haven't played each other in a year. And I also think that's the biggest big brother, little brother thing because Columbus thinks of Pittsburgh as their biggest rival when the penguins probably consider them like their fifth or sixth. biggest rival.

I'm not going to say Chicago because I know NBC would always try to hype that up as a rivalry, but, I mean, it's not. I think outside of that, it honestly is the New York Islanders. I really think that is the Penguins' third biggest rival. I know some people would want me to say the Rangers, but, you know, they haven't really played in the playoffs a lot lately. I know they used to play them quite a bit in 2014, 2015, and 2016, but after that, the games kind of died down a bit, and I just don't really think it was too fan-based.

hate each other as much as the Penguins and Islanders do. It also helps when these two teams play each other in the playoffs. Two out of the last three years, and Barry Trots is leading one. Mike Sullivan is leading the other. But these two teams have been rivals for well over 30 years now. And the games, well, they are a bit boring just because Trots coaches the Islanders. But I always like to see the big chess match between Mike Sullivan and Trots. It's so fun to watch.

You saw it a lot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I think Sullivan would have won that matchup again if Tristan Jari would have given them better goal-tending. So those, I think, are the three biggest rivalries with regards to the Penguins right now. And I think the three teams that you'll definitely see some chippy games among them this year, though I would have to think the Islanders and the Capitals are atop that list just because they're bigger teams. And they always try to get under the penguin skin, especially the Islanders. You know, they're fourth line of Matt Martin and Calutterbuck and Casey Zezkas always likes to stir crap up for

literally no reason at all. So those are my thoughts on the three biggest rivalries pertaining to Pittsburgh right now. We still have a little more to get to for this episode. But before we do that, we have to talk about betonline.ag. As always, betonline is your number one spot for all the pro and college football action this season with a new updated side and interface, even more odds, props and contests. Ben online.org dot a.g continues to be the number one source for everything football. You can head to the website or use your phone to send up today to receive it 100% off welcome bonus. That's done. your initial deposit just for signing up.

Don't forget to use the promo code NFL 100. Bet it's bet on mine. The fastest and easiest way to bet on all your favorite sports with the promo code Locked On. All right, welcome back to this episode of the Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'm your host, Hunter Hodes. Remember follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes. Follow the show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins.

So I wanted to spend this segment talking about which player I think is destined for the biggest leap this season in, terms of play. I've actually had a lot of thought about this with, you know, regards to players at all positions on this team. But I think the player that will have the biggest leap this season in terms of play, I'm going to say, I think it really is going to be John Marino. And I'm going to tell you why. I think he's going to spend the majority of his minutes playing with Marcus Pedersen, which is so crucial for him because it allows him to do the things that he is really good at, you know, carrying the puck into the zone, being one of the better players on the team in terms of zone

exits per 60, and you know, again, zone entries per 60, and just being a good playmaker as well. You know, I know his defensive numbers are also really good, but I do think that there is a lot of untapped potential there with his offensive game that needs to come out if he is going to live up to the contract that Jim Rutherford signed him to because that was a pretty lengthy extension. I mean, what was it? six years, almost $5 million per, and he's only someone that provides value right now on the defensive side in the ice.

I know that's all fine and dandy, but sooner or later, you're going to have to put out some offensive numbers to make that money worth it. There was a bit of regression with regards to Marino last year. Part of it probably had to do with him playing with Mike Matheson a lot of times. I've explained on the podcast numerous times. The Rappian season, that why that is such a terrible idea. Now, again, both of those players are very,

offensively minded, especially Matheson. He's not going to the defensive zone. Both of them want the puck at all times and want to carry it into the zone. When you have that on one pairing, it's not going to work, which is why Marino works so much better with Pedersen, because Pedersen is able to be back in the defensive zone if Marino makes a mistake. And I would trust him a lot more than someone like Matheson to cover for a mistake that Marino would make, and then vice versa. If Pedersen makes a bad pinch in the offensive zone or does something else, I would trust Marino a lot in the defense zone just because of how great he is in one D1 matchups and all that other jazz.

But again, you know, his finishing impact last season was just not good. When you look at it in the offensive zone, minus 7.3% expected goals for a whole lot of blue in front of the net. That's not what you want to see. The year before that, it was a little bit better at minus 4.4% expected goals for, but you always want to be on the positive. So there was definitely a big regression for him there. But by playing him with the right partner and deploying

him the right amount of minutes, whether that's, you know, 16 to 18 in night, I really think you're going to see the big leap that we all expected from Marino last year for this season. And I would not be surprised to see him get a lot of second power play minute times. I know Mike Matheson likes to chew those up, but I think Mike Sullivan has always preferred to D-Man on the second powerplay unit just because, you know, it is a second unit. He wants to load up a top unit as much as he can. He's not going to go full Dan Bilesma. and put Paul Martin and Chris Lettang on my top pairing and leave out my top player back in the day.

I think what they did was they did Sid, Gino, Martin, Lettang, and I'm pretty sure they did James Neal, but they left out quite a few other elite players from that unit and just put them on the second unit. But, you know, Mike Sullivan does not believe in that. It never has, and I know you will see him on the top penalty kill unit because I believe he had a lot of minutes on there last year as well. So that is my pick for the player that is going to make the biggest leap this year. And, you know, the Penguins better hope that he does because if he plays like the way he did in 2020, they will be up a creek defensively wise.

You know, you all know what you're going to get in Crystal Tang and Brian Dillon. They're going to be rock solid for you on a nightly basis. Marcus Pedersen is going to outplay his critics pretty badly. You know, I think some people are a bit too harsh on him. They just, they see him lose a battle in the corner and think he's too soft or something like that, as Michelle Tarian says. But I don't really believe in that kind of stuff. I think he's just fine how he is. You all know how Mike Matheson is a total chaos player,

and then who knows who's going to win that number six job. But, you know, again, if Marino is able to make that big leap, it makes the Penguins defensive corpse that much better, and I do think he will make that leap for Pittsburgh this year. But that'll do it for this episode of Lockdown Penguins podcast. I'll have another episode coming out tomorrow with regards to some things with training camp and other stuff around the team. I hope you all listen to it.

I'm so happy I'm back doing these daily episodes for you all. Check out that tomorrow. you all the great rest of your evening.