Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - Will Phil Kessel put his Iron Man streak on the line for the Penguins?

Episode Date: September 4, 2023

Garrett Behanna joins Patrick Damp on this episode of Locked On Penguins and they talk about how Phil Kessel's people have informed NHL teams that he's willing to give up his Iron Man streak in order to play this season, so does that mean a Penguins reunion is in the works? They discuss if it's worth it for both sides, then since it's Garrett's first time on the show, they talk about his expectations for this Penguins team this upcoming season. Are they a contender, will they make the postseason, and what are some realistic goals for this franchise at this juncture? Finally, they have a little fun imagining what Penguins players, past or present, would make good WWE Superstars.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire 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) 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.

A familiar face has said he's willing to put his Ironman streak on the line in order to play in the National Hockey League next season. Should our Penguins give him a call? We'll discuss right after this on this edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Your Locked-on Penguins. Your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another edition.

of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Patrick Damp, and we thank you for making this your first watch or listen of the day. We are free and available everywhere you get your podcasts, as well as YouTube. And joining me today to talk about whether or not the Penguins should give three-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel A call this off-season is the one the only, you know them, you love them,

Garrett Bahana from Pensburg. Dude, I'm excited to finally get on a podcast with you because not only are we friends and coworkers, but we talk like sun up to sundown every single day and we've never been on a podcast together. So I'm really excited for this one. So what's going on, man? You know, I'm excited to be here. I thank you. Thank Hunter for having me on your guys' show. You know, like you said, it's been, it's been, it's been, it's been a long time since we've, I don't know if we've interacted like this before, like you said. So we do text quite frequently. I know the topics that we're going to talk about today are things that we'd be texting about anyway. So why not put them, put them all together, put them into a podcast and have some fun talking about Shudy Puck and the Pittsburgh Pankans.

Always got to talk about the Shudy Puck. So said it there in the intro, teased a little bit towards it. Hunter and I kind of brought it up in an earlier episode a couple of weeks back when we were talking about free agency, PTOs, looking ahead of training camp. And somebody did ask us in a mailbag edition, should the penguins think about bringing back three times Stanley Cup champion, always got to put that respect on his name, three times Stanley Cup champion, Phil Kessel.

And Hunter and I were kind of cold on it. just because he's up there in age. He's not as effective as he once was. But I feel like this is more of a topic to talk about now. Considering he has gone on record as saying his people have talked to NHL teams and said, he's willing to put the Ironman streak on the line in order to be on an NHL roster next year. So, Garrett, your thoughts on maybe a Phil Kessel reunion? So we know, especially here in Pittsburgh, we know how important that Ironman.

Man streak was to Hill Kessel. He is the NHL's current Iron Man, the only player in league history to play at least 1,000 games in a row. His current streak sits at 1,064 straight games played. It's hard because you and I, as fans, we have such a sentimental attachment to Hill Kessel for everything he did here in Pittsburgh. At 35, I think he's about to be 36 years old. I think this is a player that can contribute.

where would you put him though? That's my, that's my biggest question. You mentioned that yourself and Hunter were kind of cold on the idea. I, when you get, when you gave me the topics for today's show, I was looking through them and thinking of them. The first thing I thought was, where could he play? Because I don't know how much experience he has on his off wing. If we're talking about strictly left wing or right wing, Kessel has historically been a right wing, player. You have Ricard Raquel. You have Brian Rust. Boom, boom. That's really, if everyone's healthy, that's going to be your top six. Kessel is no stranger to playing on the third line. Maybe you move Achari. Atari has center and wing experience. Maybe you can put Kessel on the

third line and have Achari center the third line. Lars Eller center the third line. I don't know how excited we would be about Jeff Carter centering a third line again. But I think at 36, he's not going to, you're not going to see a 25, 30 goal score anymore. You are going to see probably someone, now that he's willing to set aside his Iron Man streak, if you can get 15 goals out of him, I'd consider that a success. The thing I will say, when you brought this topic up to me, I was thinking, boy, I'm reimagining what Phil Kessel would be like on that power play. Just that right-handed shot on the left side, just feeding him, not even one-timers, but you get the puck on his stick.

Historically, his release has been so quick that. Oh, in that power play when he was on the team, it didn't run through Chris LaTang. It ran through Phil Kessel. He was for all intents and purposes, the quarterback of that power play. Exactly. So from that aspect, I know a lot of talk this offseason has been with Eric Carlson's arrival, how good can this power play actually be? And I remember texting you when Carlson was acquired, we were joking, maybe in jest, maybe not so in jest.

We were saying, is it possible to maybe get 40% a 40% conversion rate on the power play with Carlson and Latang? But if you add Kessel into that mix, you know, Maybe it becomes a really kind of a reality here. All that is to say, I'm surprised he has, at least to my knowledge, he hasn't been given a PTO to this point. I'm surprised he hasn't been. I think, like I said, he can still contribute 10 to 15 goals. If you put him in a bottom six roll, I think his top six days are probably behind him.

Now that he's willing to sacrifice, you could argue what was the most important, one of the most important things to him was his Iron Man streak. he's willing to set that aside to continue playing this game. I have no problem with it. Give him a veteran minimum. I know the penguins are up against the salary cap. So are the majority of teams across the league. So I don't know how much of a motivating factor money is going to be.

But I would not be opposed to giving Kessel a call and saying, hey, you know, our bottom six, it's not, the Penguins' bottom six isn't really in limbo. Kyle Dubas brought in a lot of players who have a, heavy emphasis on defense, maybe not so much offensively. And we know Kessel has historically been the opposite kind of player, maybe not want to focus so much on defense, more so the offense in his game. But I think it would be a fun reunion. Well, I think it happens.

My analytical brain says no. My logical side of my brain says, I don't think it'll happen, but I would just love a reunion just because I love Phil Kessel that much. Yeah, that's pretty much where I am on this. The fan in me is like absolutely get the three-time Stanley Cup champion back in Pittsburgh, get our boy back in Pittsburgh, reunite him with his sister in Pittsburgh, and just let's relive the glory days, put him in a bottom six roll,

have them quarterback a second unit that would rival a lot of teams first units, and just let's all hold hands and have a, great Merry Christmas about it, but then the analytical side of my brain comes in and guy's going to be 36. He's not going to play all 82 games. He has certainly lost a step. Is he ineffective now? As he kind of nosedived in the way, say, a Jeff Carter has? Not really, but it's not far off. I love Phil Kessel. I think he is going to go to. down as maybe one of the best American hockey players in the history of USA hockey, just for the way that he was automatic to score you 25, 30, even more goals, and then postseason,

either just at or just under a point per game. So tremendous consistency. And he was just such a perfect guy for the city of Pittsburgh, right? because in no world did Phil Kessel look like an elite athlete. He looked like a guy you would see at the bar at Pramani Brothers during a Steeler game, and he's complaining about the offensive line. And he's having a couple of IC lights while doing it. But instead, he was this guy who would go out and have one of the most powerful wrist shots

and snapshots in the National Hockey League. And as we saw, a genuine candidate. for the Kahn-Smith trophy during that 2016 Stanley Cup run. So I would love to see it as a fan, as an analyst, and as someone trying to put, or trying to figure out how to make this Penguins team a contender once again, I don't think they need him. But if they can get him on a minimum, if it looks like he can, he can contribute for 40, 50 games in the season, and then he can be playoff Phil Kessel.

I think it could work, but I would say I lean like 65-35-no. No to yes. Yeah, that's a pretty good, pretty good putting a number on it right there, 65-35. Because I'm right there in that wheelhouse. I'm looking back at his stats from last season with Vegas, 82 games played regular season stats, that is, 14 goals, 22 assists, 36 points. So putting him in a bottom six role, I think you can get that kind of production from Kessel in the bottom six.

But for all of the fun, and as I was thinking leading up to recording today, you know, we have so much fun like you were describing with Kessel. He is the person that you would want to sit down at Permanagh's with. I was thinking in my head, I want a hot dog eating contest between him. and Joey Chestnut for ultimate hot dog eating supremacy. I know that the hot dog, the hot dog meme has kind of, you know,

some may say it's run its course from, you know, his time up in Toronto through now. But, you know, that's just the kind of aura that Kessel gives off because you kind of brought it up yourself. You look at a guy like Phil Kessel and you wonder, how is this, how is this man playing at the national hockey league level. And I'm not saying that in a disparaging way to knock on his conditioning or his physique because he is certainly in a position

that I will never, ever, ever be in. But compared to some of the freak athletes you see across professional sports, I think that's one of the reasons why, like you mentioned, so many people gravitate towards him because he marches to the beat of his own drum. He isn't afraid to do things his way. And there were rumblings while he was in Pittsburgh that whether who you read,

Mike Sullivan maybe didn't take so kindly to some of the things that he was doing in practice or in real game situations. I don't think, I think it's fair to say that you're not going to get a super hard back check from Phil Kessel. I think maybe he would agree with you on that. His game for his entire career has been predicated on a quick release, quick snapshot, but quick-rister offense. That has been his game. And he has had success basically everywhere he went. So.

Yeah. And I mean, we could sit here in Wax Poetic off Goe Kessel for days at a time. But I think that's as good a place as any to wrap this one up. When we come back after this, we're going to kind of take a 1,000-foot look at the season in general, take a look at all the off-season moves, and what our expectations are. for this team moving forward.

But first, today's episode is brought to you by AG1, the daily nutritional supplement that supports whole body health. I drink AG1 each day when I wake up as I'm making my morning coffee because it really helps me cover a lot of those nutritional bases. And for me, it took the place of all those annoying daily multivitamins, the probiotics and all those other supplements that were a pain to take every day. now I just get it, all of that, and just one drink every morning each day. So if a comprehensive solution is what you need from your supplement routine, then try

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And we're going to talk about kind of just the season in general. You know, as much fun as it was to wax poetic about Phil Kessel, we do have to look at the players and team that is here. Just a few days away from reporting training camp up in Cranberry. So it's about that time of year. So we obviously know the big headline move. Eric Carlson trade. He comes in. He's now on the team. Tristan Jari gets a big extension.

Alex Nadelcovic comes in as the likely backup. They trade for Riley Smith from the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights, a reimagined bottom six with a lot of guys like Lars Eller, Matt Nietto, Nolich, Nolichich, Drew O'Connor gets a nice little extension. So as we've said on this podcast, and as a lot of people have said in general, this has been a nice little offseason for Kyle Dubus. And I've said it on this podcast a lot. He did something that you really don't see in the modern NHL is he took the mistakes of his predecessor and wiped them out mostly in whole without going into any kind of retooling or rebuild.

He just did it in basically one or two fell swoops. So I look at this roster and think this is a playoff team. They are going to make the playoffs. Garrett, you look at this roster. What's your thought? Playoffs, cup run, other ETC. What do you got? I look at this roster with the players we have on it,

and I think this should be a playoff team. Last year's team, for all of its flaws, and there were many, as you mentioned, should have been a playoff team. They were only one point away, really, if they beat Chicago, the last game of the season, we could be having a completely different conversation. Oh, yeah, if they make the playoffs last year,

not to get into the hypotheticals, I'll just say this and we'll keep it moving. They make the playoffs last year. Ron Hextall and Brian Burke are still here. Yes, that much, I absolutely agree with you. So at the time, it was a blessing in disguise, considering all that has transpired, up to this point.

This team with Eric Carlson, you know, I get so giddy just thinking about the possibilities. It's video game stuff, man. Exactly. As you were mentioning right there, you were mentioning all of the moves that Kyle Dubus made to basically wipe clean almost the entirety of the Ron Hectorstall era, which is something you only do in NHL video games.

very rarely can a real person, like Kyle Dubus, in real life, go to other teams, general managers across the league and facilitate these kinds of moves. So forgive me. I will keep saying it until the end of time, regardless of what happens with this team over the next four to five years. Kyle Dubus did the Twitter meme. He traded all of our bad players for San Jose's goal. player. And with that alone, it's time to erect a statue outside of PBG for Kyle Dubas.

Look, I've said on my podcast, and I've said in writing, whatever happens for the remainder of this core, however much longer they play together, everything that they accomplish is a cherry on top of the icing on top of the chocolate cake because their legacies are already cemented. But you look at this, you look at this roster as is currently constructed. I was trying to get a gauge on some over-under projections before heading into this conversation. The Penguins over-under point total has been set, depending on which sports book you go to, has been set at 96.5.

I think that they can well surpass 96, 97, 98 points. You know, you look at the 100-point mark and you think of it as a solid barometer for regular season and postseason success depending on who you ask. My biggest concern is Crosby, Malkin, and Latang, and Carlson, everybody on this roster, is a year older. The seasons that they had last season, given all that they had to go through with Ron Hector's in large part a massive success, Crosby and Malkin were not out for extended periods of time with injury. They both played 82 games, incredibly. But we do know, obviously, the older you get, the harder it is for your body to keep up.

Everyone always says it's a young man's game. And the harder it is, the older you get, the harder it will be for you to recover on one day's rest, two days rest. Now, I'm not taking anything away from the Sidney Crosby of Gennie Malkin and how they train their training regimen, because these guys are competitive athletic freaks still at 36, 37 years old. So we've said it a thousand times over the last 20 years. The penguins go as far as Crosby and Malkin and Lattang will take them. Even with the addition of a 100-point defenseman in Eric Carlson, this is still Sidney Crosby's team to captain.

Speaking of Eric Carlson, this conversation has me thinking, what kind of player, I mean, we know what kind of player we're getting out of Eric Carlson, but I think it's okay to say that I don't think we're going to see another 100-point performance out of Eric Carlson. No, we've talked about it on this show. One, I don't think we will just because the aging curve and just he's going to get a little bit less ice time in Pittsburgh, depending on health of the roster. But also he doesn't need to do that this year because he's not the only offensive output.

He was pretty much all of San Jose's offense last season. And he won't have to shoulder that kind of load this year. He will be a very effective player given he will have more options when it comes to puck distribution and people who can get him the puck and just the talent around him. but it sounds funny to say, but like he doesn't have to be the Norris defenseman to be great this year. He had to be a Norris winning defenseman to be great last year given the team he was on. And one of the things that I'm excited about with the Eric Carlson acquisition is how this, assuming Latang stays with Crosby, let's say Eric Carlson is matched up with Hvgeny Malkin.

and I'm not sure if this is a topic that you and Hunter have discussed, but it's something that's been floating around in my mind. For his entire career, Abgeti Malkin, you could argue, has played second fiddle to Sidney Crosby. Sidney Crosby has been given Jake Gensel and Ricard Raquel or Brian Rust as linemates. And he's also spent a large part of the ice time with Chris LaTang. You have two generational defensemen now who you could argue Carlson could be the team's number one defenseman. If that's the case, you put Carlson with Crosby to facilitate a transition game into the offensive zone,

and you just put Chris LaTang right there with Abgeny Malkin. I think this is only going to be a net positive for just about everybody on this team. But, Evgeny Malkin, I am so excited to see if, Evgeny Malkin can produce even more offense than we're accustomed to. And I know that we'll be hard given that you look at their ages, 36, 37 years old. You're not accustomed to seeing these players at these ages produce elite offensive numbers. But as we sit here in early September before training camp and preseason, the only thing we can go on is speculation and daydreaming about Eric Carlson,

quarterbacking a power play and facilitating offense with Chris LaTang and Evgeny Malkin and Jake Gensel when he's healthy and Sidney Crosby, you know, that's all we can really go on until we see actual game tape of these players in action. So I'm sitting here and I'm thinking between Latang and Carlson, it's only going to be a benefit to the team's elite players as they continue to try and score points, goals, offense. all of that. Agreed. And I do think this is a playoff team at minimum. They have they have to make the

playoffs in a stacked Eastern conference. They match up pretty well. If not with the top of the table, when it comes to a couple steps down like those playoff contenders, those hey, they're not the best team in the east or the best team in their division, but they're competitive. They're definitely right there. I think this is a team that. that is on the bubble of contention. Are they true Stanley Cup contenders up there with, you know, some of the best teams in the NHL right now? Tough to say, because there are a lot of,

I don't want to say question marks because a roster like this, it's not question marks. I would say it's closer to what I would call uncertainty. Is Tristan Jari going to stay healthy? Can Alex Nadelcovic take a little bit of an enhanced role as a backup to give Tristan Jari time off? Will this bottom six get some more push out of it? We know these guys aren't going to be as bad defensively as the bottom six was last year, but we also know they'll have the same kind of production woes just given their history.

So you put all that together and you have a team that should very easily make the postseason. the way I see it my expectation overall for this Penguins team this year as constructed prior to camp, make the playoffs win around. I, you know, again, I say this all the time. They should always chase the Stanley Cup so long as Sidney Crosby, of Gennie Malkin, Chris LaTang, and now Eric Carlson are on the team. You have those four. Your goal is the Stanley Cup.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it. At the same time, you look at it objectively as an analyst and think, okay, this is a team that can make the playoffs. This is the team that can win around. And to me, I've said this for years. Getting out of the first round is the hardest thing to do in the Stanley Cup playoffs because half of the teams that are in the first round have been playing playoff hockey for the better part of a month. And the other half of teams have been just getting prepared for the playoffs and trying to get healthy. they've had their spot locked up.

They're looking towards cup contention, and those teams that have been playing playoff hockey for a month are willing to punch you literally and figuratively in the mouth. So that's my expectation for this team. Make the playoffs, went around, we'll go from there. Yeah, I couldn't have said it better myself. I think for all of the postseason woes the penguins have had the last, what, five, going back five seasons now,

getting out of the first round. Making the postseason, I think sometimes we take it for granted because... Oh, we sure did. We have been spoiled for almost 20 years at this point. Well, actually, if you want to go back even further, we've been spoiled for the better part of 30 plus years. Yeah. But besides that, we have been spoiled and we have been accustomed to the penguins being

dominant and turning on their jets when it mattered most. like you say, I have a hard time finding it in myself to say that this team will win another Stanley Cup. As a fan of this team watching night in and night out, I still want nothing more than to see Sidney Crosby lift another Stanley Cup. Will I think that actually comes to fruition? I don't. But as you mentioned, the goal should be getting out of the first round, winning it. a round. If you can do that this season, I consider that the greatest success of all. Tristan Jari, show me that you can be the guy to maybe not lead the penguins to the

promised land because you and I both know Facebook commenters are going, what would have a field day, the first time Tristan Jari screws up. And he has screwed up in the past and he will admit that to you. but I think we need to temper those expectations. It's no longer Stanley Cuff or Bust to cement a legacy. Those legacies were cemented six, seven years ago. So I think getting out of the first round, having Tristan Jari be healthy, and Crosby and Malkin and Carlson for that matter, and Latang, because they have had their history of injury woes as well.

So having your core healthy, having Tristan Jari prove that he is the guy all of that rolled up into a ball. I don't think this is the top team in the Eastern Conference. I think those days are behind them. But I still think that this can be an entertaining hockey team come mid-April. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's a good place for us to leave that. And since, you know what, we had our main course in vegetables in these first two segments.

So when we come back, we're going to have a little bit of dessert because I'm sure at this point, you've all seen it on social media. Sammy Zane and Corey Graves at WWE Payback this past weekend came out swinging in Crosby and Lemieux jerseys. So we're having a little fun with that idea right after this. Welcome back to another edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I am your host, Patrick Damp, joined by Garrett Bahana. And right before we went to break, we teased this. You've seen it on. on social media at this point. If you are a wrestling fan, you saw it live at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night at Payback, where Sammy Zane and Corey Graves paid a little homage to the hockey team

that calls that arena home and decided to put on a La Magnifice jersey and a Sid the Kid jersey, drop the gloves and do some fighting in PPG paints arena. So that got me thinking, it got Garrett thinking. I also got to say it. It got my guest from Friday, Josh Taylor, thinking as well. He kind of is upset that I didn't ask him to do this episode, this segment. But it got us thinking, past or present penguins, which ones would make good WWE superstars? If they weren't NHL hockey players, who would be lighting people up on the mic, who would be handing out DDTs and super slams inside the squared circle, and who would we be making signs for when they came to Pittsburgh for a pay-per-view. I have a couple answers, Garrett. I imagine you do as well.

So I'll let you take the first one, and then I'll get into it myself. I have two. The first player was not here for a long time. He was here for, I think, what, a season and a half, if that. The 31st overall selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1995 draft, Georges LaRocque. Oh, that's a great answer. So when you posed me this question over text message a couple of days ago, this was the first person. And you could argue, you could maybe say,

that's a really obscure answer, something that I was not anticipating. Georges LaRourke is 6'3. Now, this is according to Wikipedia, so take it with a great insult. George LaRocque is six, his listed weight and height when he was playing, 6.3, 243 pounds. I've seen some places on the internet list LaRocque upwards of 260, 270. So there's a bit of a difference there, but from a sheer size and stature point, 6 foot 3, 250, that's like, boom, that's the, if I'm building a, if I'm building a John

Sina from scratch. That's what I want. I want that kind of, that kind of girth. I want that beef. I want some big beefy, you know, I'll keep this PG. I want some big beefy dude just ready to light up. I think on this show we can, we can say the big E thing, big meaty man bumping meat. Exactly. Big meeting man bumping meat. That is exactly what I want if I'm building a prototypical wrestler. So that is a And you Given those specs You can see that is like an announcer

A great announcer thing as he's coming to the ring Well Montreal Canada Weighing 243 pounds standing six foot three George Lerock We could give him Oh yeah that's perfect that's perfect You could give him a nickname like I don't know

The French freak George Ler Rock and have some fun with that. So go ahead. I like that answer. I like that answer. And here's one I was thinking of. And it's a franchise great.

And I think he would be a great heel because he kind of was a great heel in his playing days. And that's goaltender Tom Barrasso. Because as we know, he was at the time one of the best goalies in the first goalies. national hockey. He was, for that era, almost like Roman Reins. He was almost the tribal chief. He was undisputed. But man, hockey reference has him 6-3-2-10. So that's a big man. That is another, that's another big, burly, beefy man. And this is a dude who just did not care. his like he was for a lack of a better way to describe it the less fun Phil Kessel like did have wanted nothing to do with anything that didn't have to do with hockey

he was there to play goal stop pucks win that was it he didn't want to go do promo he didn't want to do media he didn't want to do commercials he just wanted to stop the puck and that was it and he wanted you to get out of his face Can you imagine that guy as a heel? Just coming out with a microphone saying very little in getting booed to high heavens. And then chances are he wins the match and everybody just starts booing.

He, this has been a reputation that he built for himself. I don't know Barrasso personally. So I'm not going to sit here and denounce his character. But stories have since come out during his playing days. He had an incredibly icy relationship, and I think icy may be putting it mildly. He had an icy relationship with a lot of the media members here in Pittsburgh. I'm sure it was the same, wherever else he played. But like you mentioned, his goal, he was singular focused on one goal, and that was playing goal.

I think that is a perfect motivation if you're trying to play the heel character. You want to win. Your job is to win. And you could say maybe Barrasso will lie, cheat, and steal a little bit. But as a heel wrestler, like, your goal, I mean, even if you're a baby face, your goal should be to win the match at any cost. And I think Barrasso would be that kind of person who, given his icy reputation, he's not going to say a lot, but his actions are going to be louder than his words. He doesn't have to be the rock and cut this great promo that you remember of 20 years. down the line for he's there to do business and he's there to win he's there to make money

sometimes those are the best heels that you can get in pro wrestling for sure so now i got to know who's number two for you who else you got but number two i was racking i'm curious i'm curious to see if it's the same one because you and i have a very similar thought process so i want to hear this i think it's four words fgeny malkin heel term that wasn't what i was going and four, but I can see it. I can see it. Evgeny. I mean, so I will say

as I am a wrestling fan. I've, I, going back to the, I mean, I wasn't born in the 80s and 90s, but I know a thing or two about 80s and 90s wrestling. And the common trope was, it was the Russian heel or the foreign heel against Mr. America, Hulk Hogan. That sort of. Oh, yeah, dude.

He would have been in this, in this alternate timeline, that would have absolutely been him. He would have made gazillion dollars alongside Hulk Hogan. It would have been capitalist freedom, Hulk Hogan versus calmy oppression of Gennie Malkin. Think about it, though. Evgeny Malkin has played second fiddle to Sidney Crosby his entire career. Now, if I'm, if I'm, I know nothing about the intricacies of professional wrestling,

But if I'm playing second fiddle to a guy like Crosby who gets all that adulation, who gets the awards, who gets the media requests, he gets all of that. Frustration is boiling inside me. I get none of that limelight. And you can argue I'm, I should be a number one center on 31 of the other teams in this league. And for my entire career, I've been on a second line playing second fiddle to, he will say, another good player in Sydney Crosby. But that frustration will get to me. It will boil over, and I will say, I've had enough.

And, Abgeti Malkin has been, he's been the good guy for his entire run. And for so long, all of this frustration has been kept under wraps. And now he's finally going to give it to the fans. He's going to give it to the organization. And he's going to say, this is my time to shine. This is my show. I should be the champion. be the one taking media requests, not Sidney Crosby.

Dude, that was, you know what? I'm just going to make it real quick because that was perfect, and I can't add to it. The only other one I thought of, and he wouldn't end up being like a world heavyweight champion. He would never be the ultimate top of the ticket guy, but he would always be a fan favorite. He would have great Mike skills,

and he'd have fun matches and fun promos. and that's Maxine Talbot. Oh, that's a, oh, that's a fantastic answer. Like, he would have been a guy who's not going to headline WrestleMania. He's not going to be going for the world title. He might hold like a mid-card title, but he's going to be a guy who, when his music hits, the crowd goes nuts, he comes out, cuts a fun promo, wins. Like, he would be a guy who would put the next guy over.

Yeah. like he would get into a feud with the next guy and then lose to that guy a pay-per-view. But it would be a fun feud. And you would always be like, oh, man, I want to see Max Talbot win, but oh, I still love him. So, like, I think Talbot would have been a great one. I was not thanking Max Talbot at all during this conversation. But for the reasons you give, he would be the perfect. underdog in this scenario.

He's not going to win too many matches. He's not going to win too many championships. But the fans resonate with that. They want to see every now and again, every now and again, I think like you say, he can get a mid-card, intercontinental United States title, tag team run maybe with another hockey player turned wrestler. But I think Max Talbot would be,

Yes, the preeminent, just good overall, good baby face that you love to cheer and you want to see succeed. So I'll give you that one, Max Talbot would be a tremendous, tremendous wrestler. Just like we could with talking about how much we love Phil Kessel, I think you and I could nerd out over our alternate timeline where NHLers become WWE superstars. but we got to wrap this up. This is going to do it for this episode of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Garrett, let our audience know where they can find you, find your work, what you're up to.

Floor's yours, my friend. Well, Pat, as you know, you well know, I work with you. I'm writing, I'm here in Pittsburgh. I'm writing for KDCA Channel 2 here in Pittsburgh. I'm writing at pensburg.com. I'm podcasting with fans for sports network doing a Pittsburgh Penguins podcast, much like this one called the Skating Penguin Network. You can find me on Twitter X, whatever it's going to be called tomorrow. You can find me there at G. Bahana.

I think that's about it. I don't have too many socials or things like that to plug, but boy, this has been quite the experience. I'll say that. Yeah, man, we're definitely going to have to get you back on just because you are. you know, no joke, one of the smarter hockey minds on Twitter X and the blogosphere. I appreciate it. We got to get you a bigger platform because more people got to recognize the work. So I appreciate you taking the time.

And to all of you listening and watching, we appreciate you taking the time out of your day to listen to us, talk about hockey. So that is going to do it. Thank you very much for listening to this episode of the Locked on Penguins podcast. I will be back on Wednesday. we'll figure out some fun stuff to talk to. Maybe I'll reach out and get another one of my friends on here and we'll have a good time with that. So as always, thank you for listening. Don't forget to subscribe. Don't forget to rate us, all that stuff you hear on every podcast. And we will talk to you on Wednesday.