The Athletic Hockey Show - How to fix the Pittsburgh Penguins

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Sean Gentille welcomes Josh Yohe to discuss the rebuild in Pittsburgh, what players will be on the move at the deadline, Evgeni Malkin's future with the team after this season, what the prospect pool looks like and if the Penguins will be ready to contend again, before Sidney Crosby hangs up his skates.We want to hear from you! Please fill out our listener survey: https://forms.gle/CDbF51vAPngm2ZYS6Host: Sean GentilleWith: Josh YoheExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Jeff Domet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show. What up, what up? It's the athletic hockey show. Just Sean Gentilly here from the Wednesday, boys, because this is a special summer edition here. We're doing a series. McIntyoo, as I'm sure you know, kicked things off a couple days ago,

trying to figure out what's wrong with the Buffalo Sabres, trying to fix him with Matt Fairburn. That series continues today with my boy, Josh Yoey, covers the Pittsburgh Penguins. man, there is, is there any franchise outside of the obvious that has more stuff going wrong and more things to fix than the Pittsburgh Penguins? We're going to, we're going to dive into that now. Josh, how are we doing, brother? Yeah, it's not 2016 anymore, my friend. Hell, it's not even 2020 anymore anymore for these Pittsburgh Penguins, is it? Let's just let's start at the top, man. We're trying to diagnose the original problems, like the main things that went wrong.

let's let's start with that. I have an idea of what you're going to say for most of these, most of these answers since I read your work and we talk, and we talk plenty, but if there was one overarching theme for Pittsburgh last year in terms of what went wrong, in your estimation, what is it?

I like to use the term goal prevention or lack thereof. Now, it's very easy to point at the goal tend and we'll get to that in a second, but I just, in the almighty words of Michael Terry and, they were just the worst defensive team in the league. Like they just really were. It's just a pathetic blue line.

It's really, really bad. And you couple that with very, very suspect goaltending, and you've got yourself a problem. And it was just so easy to score against the Penguins last year. They still have some names. They still have some star power up front. They can score a little bit. But when you give up as many goals as they did,

I think they finished second in the league, and goals against, I want to say. That's the problem. And it wasn't just one thing, which is a problem moving forward. Yeah, it was a lack of defensive talent, for sure, and a lack of goal-tending talent. And also just like the sequencing of goals for them all season was incredible.

Like whether it was first goals, early goals, it was, it was a, the issue was one of talent and I think also one of math. in the order that they that they allow. Like it was really crazy on a on a night by night basis. It wasn't just that they played badly. It was that they picked the worst times to play badly and the worst sequences in in which to play badly, whether it's an issue of talent or decision making or some

combo of the two, right? Like that's what it takes. That's the kind of stuff it takes to be as crummy defensive team as they were last year, isn't it? Yeah, I would say the penguins in a microcosm were this. As everybody knows, they had an amazing habit, a great penchant of giving up a goal on the first shot of the game against. I think it happened 14 times, give or take. I actually lost track.

I knew you'd have that one on deck and one way or another. But here's the thing. I actually went back and reviewed them when I was really bored at the end of the season one day. I swear to God, like 12 out of the 14 were not on the goaltender at all. We're talking breakaways, two-on-ones, tap-ins, all within the, the first like 45 seconds of the game. So yeah, you can say, well, Jari wasn't very alert or Ned wasn't

very sharp in the, well, maybe, but these were not like random shots from the point beating them on a nightly basis that they were for a team that was, I will presume, well coached. I still think Mike Sullivan is a really good coach, even if he

probably wasn't the right coach for this team anymore. But when you've got a great coach and you got one of the great captains in the history of the sport, you would presume that your team would be well prepared, but the fact is they never looked well prepared. They never looked well coached. And it just became such of a habit game after game. And yeah, you're right.

Not only were they bad defensively, but they would give up goals and bunches and they would give up the first goal of the game constantly. It just never failed time and time again. And I still look at the blue line when Eric Carlson at this stage and Kirstla Tang at this stage where you're two best defensemen, and they're still getting huge minutes, and frankly, they were both abysmal most of the season. That's where it started, and it all just kind of fell from there.

But the whole organizational approach toward defense and goaltending, I suppose, you know, it's up in the air right now, and it's not something that you fix overnight. Let's talk about the goaltending a little bit more, because I think you said it well that, you know, using the minute one goals is is kind of is kind of the example like those guys whether it's jari whether it's sandalkovich whether it's blumfist or whoever

it wasn't all on them in instances like that but then but then there were also times in game over the course of certain stretches where the goaltending was you know if not the primary problem then certainly a lot a lot closer to it right like just just how bad was at his worst, just how bad was Tristan Jari last year, because we rode the roller coaster with him a little bit. He looked, he looked like he was bouncing back at certain points, and then at times he looked like he, you know, didn't, like he deserved to get waived.

Yeah, I mean, let's put it this way. The Penguins, you know, Kyle Dubus, Mike Sullivan at the time, everyone else, they were very well aware of how bad defensively they were. So I think they were willing to be very lenient with their goaltender. and they still put Tristan Jari on waivers, and they still sent him to Wilkesbury, not once, but twice. That's what they thought of him.

And yet, I give Jari credit. In the last month of the season, he was actually pretty good. You put up a save percentage of better than 900 for about six weeks playing behind that team. You were playing pretty high-level goal, and that's actually what he did at the end. And I know a lot of people will say,

well, those games didn't matter. That's why. to which I will say they mattered to him because if he came up again in those last six weeks and laid another egg, I don't know when we would see him in the NHL again. I really believe that. And as it is now,

I bet you he's their opening night starter on October 7th in New York. If I had to guess, I think there's a real chance anyway. So he did rebound, but when he was at his worst, just the lack of mental focus, which is always the thing with him, I mean, it was just gone.

It just wasn't there. And as for the other goal to, like I think the Dalkevich, he's just a backup. It's what he is. Yep. And Blumquist, I'm not sure how good he really is. He might be an okay NHL backup. That might be his ceiling.

I wouldn't get too excited about him. But in Jari's case, Sean, Jari has real talent physically. You don't go to two All-Star games without having any talent. He has it. He just cries out for a guy who needs a change of scenery. And it's been that way for about two years, but I don't know who's going to give him the change at the money he makes.

Yeah. What's so what's do we have any kind of status update on that? Because you look at, I mean, there, there are teams, you know, as we elbow the Edmonton Oilers that don't, that don't have, you know, maybe the, the, the number of options that they'd like in net. But he does, you know, he's, he did, he's two years into a to a big money extension that he signed, you know, in Dubas's, uh, in Dubus's, uh, in Dubus's first off season. He does make a ton of money. There is that lack of consistency in those pretty, pretty clear. pretty clear problems, you know, that we've seen from him over the years. But is it, how realistic is it that he, here's probably the better way to put it. What are the odds that he's on their roster at the start of the season? Is there any chance that there's, that there's some kind of offseason move or, or preseason move that, you know, ends up with him getting moved? There's always a chance.

I would still say there's probably 75 to 80% chance he's on this team on opening night. they're certainly willing to move him clearly. I'm sure Kyle wouldn't be asking for a whole lot back. I think we know that. But the fact is he still has three years left on his deal owing around $16 million in those three years. Yeah, the cap went up, but it didn't go up that much where teams are necessarily eager to go get him.

I haven't heard of any teams being interested. Edmondon's the one that makes sense for obvious reasons, but also he won the Memorial Cup with the Oil Kings a decade ago in Edmonton. He lives there in the off-season. He trains there. They know who he is. They're very familiar with him.

If anywhere makes sense, I guess it would be there, but they've got their cap issues too. So, yeah, the Penguins would love to unload him. Kyle Dubas will pretty much tell you that, yeah, I made a mistake a couple of years ago on July 1st when I, you know, when I gave Jari that money and Ryan Graves that money. I think since then, Kyle Dubus has done a good job,

by and large. I really do it. Man, he screwed up bad on. that day. I agree with you, man. It was a bad, it was a bad 36 hours or bad 48 hours that kind of set the tone for how things have gone. And Jari, by the way, Cap hit 5.375 million. He's 30 years old, you know, made a couple of All-Star teams, but also hasn't. You know, even in those years, it would be tough to say that he put together a true full season of above the, of above board, goaltending, honestly. Yeah, Sean, he's at, you look at his, even in the All-Star seasons.

Look at his splits in the first half and the second dramatically different. He was not good down the stretch in either of those seasons. But, you know, they were voting on the All-Star game in January. So that really helped his cause, I would say. He's a guy that's really, that's really capable of playing well for, you know, three-month stretches. We know that.

Yeah. We also know the other side of the coin. And I think saw a fair bit of that last year. All right. Let's talk about the forwards a little bit. I mean, we know that we know that Sydney Crosby is, is not. is not any sort of problem. But last year, man, I think you saw some out behind him and Raquel and Brian Russ,

who are primary linemates for most of the season for him, not a lot of production. And I would imagine that's kind of, that was a fundamental issue for Pittsburgh last season, right? Yeah. Listen, I've got any Malkins at the end of the road. I think we all know it. And I have the utmost respect for, for Gino.

I was actually talking with old pal Paul Staggerwald last last. night and Staggy made a great point. He's like, that's for those who don't know, former Peguant's broadcaster, he said, you know, there were nights like in 2008, 2009, 2010. Me and Bob Erie would be talking between periods and would be like, is Malkin better than Crosby?

Yeah. And it wasn't a knock on Sid. Malkin was that great. He really was. He still will put up some numbers. He'll score you a 15 or 20 goals. But just in terms of the eye test, Sean, when you watch him play, it's almost like, all right,

you know, that's one more year, for fun and that's it because nobody wants to see a Hall of Famer you know with the game completely passing him by and we're not far from that point with him he's just not what he was

the Penguins bottom six was terrible it probably will be again when you've got the likes of Kevin and Hayes and Nolachari leading the way they were just slow plotting not a lot of offense and even Crosby for all of his greatness he had a bad start last season

for his standard I was trying to gently I was trying to gently walk you up to that point. At some point, there were, there were stretches for him last year, I think.

He didn't look himself. They actually put Malkin on his line for a few games to jumpstart him, and it actually worked. And then they decided, we're going to give you rest and Raquel. And then all of a sudden, you know,

Crosby, it was especially around the Four Nations, right after the Four Nations, when he had to be exhausted, he knew he had nothing to play for the rest of the season, and he was not 100%. Then all of a sudden, he went on this tear.

Like, it was, you know, Crosby of old, he always does this like three years in a row. In February and March, it's just absurd with how great he still is. So listen, he's still Crosby, he's great. The thing is, their top six actually might not be bad. Like Anthony Mantha never really reached his potential, but he's not awful.

I could see him on Sid's left wing putting up some numbers. The real question, I think, obviously, becomes Rustin Raquel. And are they even on this team when October 7th rolls around? and I'm not so sure they will be. I think there's a real chance, Sean, at least one of them has gone before then. I just think that's the plan. Kyle Dubus knows this team's not going to be anything for a couple of years. And by the time they're ready to compete for a championship,

Russ and Rick Keller at the end of their careers, and they are the two guys other than Crosby who can bring you the most back in a trade, and everybody knows it. So I think there's a real chance at least one of those guys has gone before October. Let's talk more about Russ and Raquel and the Josh Yoey master plan to get things back on track after the break. All right, we're back. Gentile with Josh Yoey here.

Josh, you alluded to this at the end of the last segment. The Penguins still have Brian Rust and Ricard Rakell in the fray. I think we all, you leading the way, thought that, you know, at this point in the offseason, that one of them would be playing elsewhere. how much of it is that part is that is that is that step one in in the how to fix the penguins master plan is to start the process of uh of saying goodbye to one or both of them before the games actually start well i think step one to be honest with you was trading jake gensel 18 months ago but i think i think if we're really ripping the bandaid off it's these two and especially brian rust um i think i think I think anybody who knows anything about the penguins knows that Sidney Crosby doesn't want these guys to go. He loves playing with Brian Ross. He's a creature of habit.

And Sid, like, I guarantee you when training camp rolls around, Sid's going to have himself convinced that they can be good and that they can be a playoff team. That's how he's wired and that's how most players are wired. That's okay. But the fact is, when you trade those two, that's really letting everyone know, like, yeah, this actually is a rebuild.

It's not like a mini rebuild, like the Capitals or the C. No, it's a real rebuild. Yeah. That's like we're not keeping guys around to help things look better to, you know, put lipstick on the pig. Like this is a team that now is officially designed to lose as many games as possible if those guys are playing elsewhere. And management's never going to come out and say that's what it wants, but I kind of think it is. I really do. And if ever there were a draft year where it makes sense, it is this one.

And if that means you got to play before, you know, 12,000 fans on some nights because the fan base is irritated and they don't want to watch a bad hockey team. Okay. But I get the sense that Kyle Dubus is very much committed to a rebuild of that nature. And if it takes a while, so be it. And I think trading Rustin Raquel, those. will be big moments in that rebuild. You can get a lot for those two guys.

You do save a lot of money for what it's worth. You also probably don't make your captain very happy. But at some point, you got to say, Sid, hey, man, three years in a row, we haven't made the playoffs with a bunch of veterans. We've got to do something different. He'll come around, I'm sure. He'll be on board. And that's, but Russ especially will be the tough one.

I think for the fan base, I think people have a real affection for him. And the way he plays the game, He's a lifelong penguin. He's the only guy other than Crosby, Malkin, and Latang to be still here from the Stanley Cup years of 16 and 17. That'll be a bitter pill for the fan base to swallow. I have no doubt. But I think at some point, as much as I have the most respect in the world for that guy, both as a player and as a person. His value is never going to be higher.

He works so hard. He works so hard to still. Like, he's just always, he's always out there. He's always. He's a self-made NHL player. He's not that talent. It's like, you know. He just will.

himself to become a really good player. I think he should have been on the Four Nations team. I was shocked Mike Sullivan didn't take him to the Four Nations last year. I said this. I said this whenever there was, whenever there was still a chance that they were going to go to the 22 Olympics, that there was, you know,

some amount of possibility that the NHL was going to end up there. I sincerely thought that Russ had a chance of making, of making that roster. And if you look at the U.S. roster, there's like for that actually made it to four nations there there there are guys there that are like of a type with brian russ like i i because god knows how much mike sullivan you know likes and respects brian russ i really think if if there was a 22 olympic team he'd be on it oh hey there is a 26 olympic team you never know i mean it wouldn't completely shock me but but that'll

be tough um i wonder what you can get in return for both of those two that was kind of my question i I know you've reported, you know, plenty of times that obviously in a perfect world for Kyle Dubas, he'd end up getting NHL-ready prospect. I mean, listen, Kyle wants NHL-ready players more than anything. He makes that very clear. Yeah. Draft picks are nice. Prospects are nice. What he wants are like 22-year-old guys who can play right now.

Yeah. And that's what everybody wants. And those are also really hard to get. I also think you're going to run into a case where if this draft is as good as we've heard that it is, these are not going to want to give up their first round picks the way they have in the past, and some already have. That could be a tough thing, so maybe they are more willing to part with a young player or a really good blue chip prospect. You're not giving up Ruster Raquel for peanuts. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to strike up some kind of a bidding war for those two.

But my only concern, if you're dubus, Brian Russ, God love him. He gets hurt a lot. You're taking a chance if you go to January or February and you haven't traded because he's a separated shoulder waiting. I was just about to say if he's if he's on his, you know, pretty standard two or three week break for a for an upper body injury, then, you know, it could mess with a value there for sure. Do you have any sense like, do you have any sense how the organization? views the the prospect pool for the next draft outside of mckenna like are there do i i know that's a that's probably a tough question it's good or so early in the process but like have you heard anything about how they feel about prospects you know two through five in the group like there are they are they

well regarded by by folks in the org yes from what i've heard mckenna obviously yeah is probably the most hype prospect since macdavid right so and i i know people in the organization I've already told me he's the real thing. Like, we can't wait to drive to state college to see this dude play next year. But I've also heard just the top 10 in this draft compared to the previous season. They do think it's better.

They just think, especially the top five or six guys, this is a really, really good draft in their review. And that's why if you're the Penguins, like, okay, you want McKenna. Even if you get the worst record in the league, you only have a 25% chance. There are no guarantees. But if you can at least get a top five

prospect, something they haven't had, since what Jordan Stahl, literally. If you can do that, that's the kind of building block. They clearly need at this point. They're thirsting for it. So it's a tough thing. You got a new coach and you got Sidney Crosby. Hey, guys, we're going to suck this year, probably.

Sorry. So there's an awkward dynamic to it all. But yes, in terms of the team building process, there's no, of course Kyle wants that. Of course he knows they need them in the big picture. In terms of the younger players and the prospects that are in the mix, at the top of the mix already, we're talking about Russ from McGority in Ville,

Coivinen, and I know you've written plenty about Harrison Brinicki, and how much the org likes him comes through in the stuff you've written. Where are they at on that? Who are some guys who are reasonable to expect to be contributors next season? And what's like just best case scenario for the mix of guys they have, potentially knocking on the door? with the NHL team over the next field.

I mean, McGority and Coivinan are going to make the team. I'm sure they'll start the season somewhere in the top nine. I'd be shocked if they didn't, even though we saw a very small sample size of those two at the end of last season, but boy, they didn't look out of place. They were pretty impressive, quite honestly. Yeah, the organization is really high in both of them. The real name probably to monitor over the next year, I guess,

is Sergey Miroshov. We talk about Coltending a lot. He's the guy in the organization with the highest ceiling of all. Now, he's 21 years old. And he was a fourth round pick. So you hear that and you say, eh, all right, fourth round pick. How good could he be?

Well, there was a little war that are just, you know, broken out between Russia and Ukraine, which I think rages on, if I'm not mistaken. And that particular year. I've seen a thing or two about that in the news. That particular year, teams really didn't want to draft Russians. really concerned about, you know, if they could get them over here, whatever, he should have been drafted before the fourth round, and he's really blossomed since

them. He's just an athletic freak. I suspect he will play in Wilkesbury most of this season. They just kind of want him to be the guy there for a year, and we've seen that over the year, Sean, whether it be Matt Murray, Braden Holpey, John Gibson, a lot of goalies. He's given that full year in the American Hockey League, it's really good for them. He's 21. They don't really want him playing behind this blue line anyway.

the NHL and I don't blame them. Let him develop, let him marinate. In a year from now, he might be ready to take off and be the guy. They're really excited about him. But, you know, everyone else in the system that they like, you know, all these first round picks this year, those guys are a couple of years away. That's just the way it is. But they finally have some people who can actually play.

Even guys like Emil Pian, I can't say his name, Pian, Nemi, whatever, you know the one. It's pretty close. Yeah, you get him close. He gave me a high five at the draft. He was so happy. That's really funny. I interviewed him a high five. I'm like,

I like this kid. Thanks, buddy. Yeah, great. Guys like him, Finn Harding, like these are defensemen in their system, like who can actually play. And I think in a year or two are actually going to be NH already. So they have people that they're excited about,

which is something we haven't been able to say for years. But it's still a ways off before most of them make a real impact. Mm-hmm. How is Owen Pickering? is a fairly recent first round pick. Is he his left side defenseman, you know, not the highest ceiling. I think that's fair to say. But is it reasonable to expect him to be part of the mix on the blue line for them?

Yeah. Oh, he's making the team. Yeah. Is he making the team is probably the better way to phrase that. Barring, I would say barring a horrible training camp. I'm sure he makes the team because the left side of their blue line. Disaster. Ryan Shea might be their best left side defenseman right now.

I'm not kidding. That's incredible. Brother Carlson and LaTang, you know, the whole arena notices when they make mistakes. At least they obviously have Hall of Fame pedigrees on the right side. And Matt Dumbo, who they brought in, another right side. You know, on paper, that's not a bad sounding right side, at least. Those are guys who have done some things from the league. Definitely wouldn't have been a bad sounding defense or right side, you know, five years ago or seven years ago for sure.

Exactly. You're psyched if Matt Dumas is your third right B in 20. 19. On the left side, however, especially after the Marcus Pedersen trade in January, they got nothing. So Owen Pickering is going to play. He was okay last year

when he came up. He didn't hurt them. I don't see a whole lot of upside offensively with him. I just don't know that there's ever going to be much there. I think the ceiling for him might be like a really good number four or five defenseman at the NHL level. That's okay. Like he was a first round pick, so you always want

more. But if he's going to have a long career and, you know, be a good third pairing defenseman. That's not the end of the world. I don't think that makes you a bust. And I, when I see him play, that's just what I see. He's not the greatest skater. He doesn't have the greatest hands. But he's big, you know, you know, he's big.

He's pretty good defensively. That's just who he is. Like Wheeler did his 2022 redraft a couple days ago, you know, Pickering showed up as an honorable mention in the first round. So, like, whatever, whatever anybody might think of the way his development, has gone, like, you take that. If you're three years out from a draft and the player you took in that spot is still, you know, on track to be,

like I said, decent second, pretty good third pair guy. I think you, I think you take that 10 times out of 10. No, I agree. He's also a wonderful kid for what it's worth,

really good luck. Seems like a good. So, you know, he'll be okay. He didn't hurt himself at the NHL level last season, but I, just because he was a first round pick, if you think that means he's going to be a star in a couple of years,

I would, I would temper those expectations a little bit. Is there some other factor that you and I haven't talked about yet that, you know, is in play that could, like, what's the single biggest thing that could work out correctly for them? Like,

whether it does or doesn't is, is a whole other thing. But what's the, what's the, what's the variable here for, for them this season? I mean, in terms of them,

like, not suck. this season? No, no, just in terms of them getting the cart fully back on the road. If that means losing as many games as possible, if that means, you know, having some player level up in development, like, what's the

single biggest variable that we haven't that we haven't talked about? What would they be most excited to see happen this year? I think they would be most excited if at some point, whether it be in training camp or whenever, that Sergey Mirochov and Harrison Brunick

were so damn good that they just said, come on up and they become instant stars and they they might they have the talent i think to to be just that um because kyle dubus is building a foundation with all these prospects and picks like they're going to have depth they're going to have some guys who can play the problem moving forward for them is where do you find the star power like that that doesn't come easily you know you don't get it on july first quite frankly and if you win the you listen if the ping pong ball bounces their way next spring, boy, that changes everything. And the city of Pittsburgh would be very familiar with that.

And that would be great for the penguins. But you got to find star power somewhere. They have real prospects now. A couple of them, frankly, show that they have a ceiling that's higher than they realize. That's probably the best thing that can happen. Like, I can tell you, well, if Sidney Crosby's good again, that's great because that gives you hope that maybe he's still a legit star a couple of years from now when they get really good again.

yeah, that's a big deal too. But you can't count on Sid forever. That's not really the future. So some of these young guys showing that maybe their ceilings higher than people realize, that's the single biggest thing you can hope for, I think. And also, I know nothing about the new head coach. Maybe Dan Mus is really good. We haven't even mentioned Dan Muses.

We literally haven't said his name until just now. Maybe he makes a difference. I have all the respect in the world for Sullivan. But maybe he had really grown stale for a few years. and he just wasn't the right guy anymore. It may be a fresh set of eyeballs really does make a difference because for all the respect I have for Sullivan,

you can't say they look like a well-coached team in the last two or three years. They most certainly did not. Absolutely. All right, we'll be back to finish up with Yowing in a second here. All right, we're back finishing up with Josh Yowy. The Pittsburgh Penguins are the topic today on our how do we fix dot, dot, dot, summer series

about some of the league's bottom feeders. Very interesting that we're talking about the penguins in those terms. Still very strange. Josh, give us three things that we're going to be saying about this team. Let's place it at the holiday break. Once Christmas time rolls around, what do you think three big talking points about the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be? I think one talking point will be, for all that he's done it in 20 straight years, will Sidney Crosby be able to average a point per game again this season?

If he loses Brian Ruster or Ricardo Rekyll, if they trade Eric Carlson, those all might be good things for the team's future. Those aren't good for the captain's point total. I know it's not the most important thing in the world, but we sure talk about it a lot. A lot of people do care about it. I probably see he does too. There's not going to be many cheap points for him this season. So I think it's worth gauging. I think this team could be really bad, Sean. I think there's a real chance where we're saying, man, is this like a, is this a bottom five team? Is this one of the three worst teams in the league? Yeah. Like, I think especially if, you know,

know the sharks maybe take a jump this year or the black hawks i don't know if they will but i mean we could be in a spot where the penguins are that bad i think they're probably the worst team in the division um so i think those are two things and i also think even though it's not official this is a faginny malcon's farewell tour and he is not only one of the great players of his generation but he is without question one of the most popular penguins ever this is a really beloved guy in this city and uh i i think it's probably going to be a year long by to Gino. It's going to be a long season in Pittsburgh.

We're about to watch some bad hockey, brother. You ready for it? Hey, it's better than being in the middle. This can be fun to write about. I'm all right with it. You know, me and you weren't around. We weren't working for the X-generation penguins. But we're about to get our professional taste of it.

Yes, we are. We were just kids then, but we knew. We've heard stories about Rico. Fresh-faced youths and all the, all the stories we've heard from a more briseled counterpoints. We get a terrible team to cover that's all our own. It's just our time.

It's just our time. All right, brother. Enjoy the rest of your summer. I'm sure we'll touch base again soon. You got a shot anytime. And thank you fine folks for listening to the Athletic Cocky show. Mac and Doe and Max Bullwinner Tass with fixing their red wings on the next episode. So tune into that and stay cool out there.