Yeah

... it's just not my...

Like, I feel like the weirdest thing when you finish playing ... is going into the locker room as, like, now, like, a media guy.

'Cause it's, like, their area and space.

And I know when I was in there, like, I never thought of that.

But, like, self-consciously I'm, like, psyching myself out that I'm a loser now.

[laughs]

He, he's wild.

What's he like to cover on a daily basis? Is he available? Is there access?

Yeah, he's great.

Like he's at the practice rink and they have their like little Eagles nest up there where they watch from.

And like, sometimes they go on back and forth sheet to sheet.

So he like comes up and sits in the stands.

They have like a little area roped off, but he's, he's right there.

Like you see them.

I was going to ask you about that, but go ahead.

You're the best

...

but I will say, yeah, Nick Robertson, good camp, good couple preseason games, for sure.

And an opportunity, I think the idea of it was great in Pittsburgh with potentially having Brian Rust move down to that third line, which would be, you know, I think big for, for the Penguins with their depth to add to that and kinda put 'em with Kindle, with Rust down there.

Now, they, their, their whole third line was gone to start the season with injuries, uh, and whatnot.

So, um, things kinda got flipped around.

Now Rust was back, uh, last game scoring a goal, and I, like, we just saw Robertson where it was a good start, and then there was some, like, their last two games haven't been, they haven't played that good.

That's such a player comment

Yeah.

I know they ...

You know, it was a close one against Montreal, but, um, generally played pretty organized and, and in sync in that game.

But, um, yeah, just too many missed passes, passes behind guys, timing off D driving into the zone.

Even when they're offensive zone, too, Metz, when, when they're, the D are activating and the play, uh, the forwards are, like, bumping it to the D along the boards and the D are going down the middle.

Like, it just looks, it looks a little bit out of sync right now.

So something's missing there.

Is there a poly market number for that? [laughs]

Remember when that happened?

Yeah, I know.

It's kind of crazy.

I do like Marchenko.

I really like him.

I think he's...

I don't think a lot of people, because he played in Columbus, I just don't think a lot of people really watched him closely or anything.

But do you worry about that at all? Is that an underrated or overrated question in terms of guys being able to coalesce when you don't have a long runway to figure it out before the real game starts? I just think

Like, this is really awesome, dude.

Yeah, I'm excited.

Like, I've, I've...

Honestly, it's been, it's been incredible, 'cause I've gotten to do a lot of different things in that, since those times.

You know?

Yep

...

the benches or calling games.

He could steal the net.

Yeah, 100%.

Now, Army, I gotta question Pittsburgh prospect-wise.

As an American, Rucker McGroarty was, uh, first-rounder with Winnipeg, and then he was a part of that trade with, uh- Mm-hmm ... who went over to Winnipeg, the one for one? Saskatoon kid.

Yeah, I think- Played Moose Jaw Warriors.

Um- ... young player, I can't think of his name.

Um, not great, but either way, he was so good.

And got 32 million.

Right

... right? And trying to keep up with it, and NCAA action, and what's going on now, and what other players are available that were handcuffed to wanting to go to NCAA, um, that are now available and in the pipeline, and what that could look like for their member teams and, and things going forward.

For me, my experience was awesome.

I had Brent Sutter and just down the road in Red Deer, and great place to play hockey, great community.

And, you know, what you get from the league of the schedule, the talent, the, um, night in, night out demands, uh, I think is of value.

Now working the draft stuff, it's pretty cool talking to scouts and other teams and how much they do value the Western Hockey League for the...

Yeah, the play on the ice, of course, but the, the, the guys that they, they make, you know, these, these kids that they develop and, and the men that they become.

... how you, you were in the heads of the other teams at the Memorial Cup in 2001 for me.

Mm-hmm

...

but he was so good at working, working with us young guys, taking me one-on-one after practice and, and, you know, walking me through how to beat a guy one-on-one and what to look for when I close on you in the corner as a defender.

Like it was, it was awesome.

And, and we had Gary Roberts in Pittsburgh.

We had Mark Recchi was awesome for me.

He's still a guy I hang out with and go golfing with in Pittsburgh, Hall of Famer and multiple Cup champion.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and-

and-You know, otherwise you wouldn't have a chance to really spend that time- Yeah ... and, and go deep, and he had a lot of good stories to tell.

So to your point, you know, for me it's the quintessential opposite- Yeah ... of morning commercial radio where you're just boom, boom, boom all the time, where you could just kind of chill and- Yeah.

We want our podcast on our side to be, like, an hour and 15 minutes- Yeah ... to, like, an hour and a half.

Yeah.

Like, I don't know, Chicklets is, like, three and a half hours sometimes.

They have multiple guests, uh, and they really get after it.

Oh, take that

Yeah

...

but just talking to them, they just talked about like the veteran group, how dialed they are, how professional.

Like, Kulak's like, "Man, they're so professional here." And I'm like, "Really?" It, it seems like a, like other than Nate, who has like the super serious approach, you know, look to him or, or rumor, talk about him, it seems like a pretty like fun group, right from, you know, Bednar all the way down.

[laughs] So it, it was, I was like, "Whoa." Like, I didn't expect it to be like as, uh, not that being dialed in is like bad, but like I, I thought it'd be a lot more loose, but it like, you know, you got Landy, you got these guys in there, and, and they know when to crank it up, when it matters.

And so I, I think we see EBR rule number five come into effect for game two for the Avs.

What do you, what do you expect? H- what's gonna be different in game two? What do you, how do you see the Avs coming out here?

I think we see a, um, a more calculated, to, to Johnny's point about getting in after pucks.

But man, Pavel Dorofeyev is so elite as a scorer.

Well, what, what he, I think he's like, I think he scores, like he's just been that guy that's been able to score if, I, probably if you look him up, like every league he's been in on his way to being in Vegas and being that guy.

I, I like, you know, f- like, for example, the goal he scored last night, right? Like, great pass by Marner, no question, knowing, like, where he's coming into that area, a guy on his back to make that pass.

But to cross body pop that shot and put it, like he just has a knack to put it where the goalie isn't, right? And, um, you know, that was a example.

Yeah, he has a shot and he can release it, and he can be on the flank and bombing them.

But, you know, to have those li- that little touch game in and around and, and know where to put it, like that's, that's what separates.

How many times have we seen like rebounds in around the net through the playoffs the first few rounds? It's just like ramming it into goalies' pads or like, you know, these goalies stretching out big down low.

Yeah

Eichel's just that good.

No. Yeah, I like, I love Leo K- I, I love a lot of their young guys, you know? Like, I, I think they're, they're in a good spot obviously, but it's, it's tough to go head-to-head against a monster like that, like what Eichel can do at both ends of the ice.

And, and I think Leo's in, in kind of that learning phase right now.

Like, they're, he's taking this all in, like, first time playoffs, first time head-to-head in a seven-game series against a, a weapon like Eichel.

Like, that's, that's a challenge, hey? Like, that-

[laughs]

I'm like, "Boy," I'm like, "Bugsy, I live here.

What the hell are you guys doing?" Just animals out here on the clubhouse.

Yeah

... uh, you get some love from that a little bit.

And, uh, they, they got ev- [clears throat] everybody kind of involved, and it's, it's, it's a fun team to watch, man.

At the end of the day, if you're a hockey fan in Canada, and you're watching playoff hockey, like, how do you not have fun? It reminds me of when I was playing junior hockey, and the Oilers had those young teams that were, you know, losing to Dallas all the time in the first round, but they were up and down the ice.

They were fun to watch regardless.

Like, easy team to root for, fun to watch.

Montreal's different with star power, but they're a fun team to watch.

Sure.

Yeah.

You know, he has pretty good hands.

Um, like, on that chance out front, he went to go, like, to his backhand quick, and it just, like, duffed it.

Like the, like the urgency to, like, score, like, pound it in, like, you know, to do that, he's just different that way.

He was like that all year, but he scored 33, but in the playoffs when it ramps up and it got a little tighter, um, it was hard.

It, same with Shirinkov.

Like, the Flyers were, were really good in the neutral zone early in that series.

Yeah

like he

just sees everything, like shot pass, shot pass, like where's it going? We don't know what he's doing.

Carlson has that too, like shot passes from the points in traffic, seam, laser beam on a guy's path, like.

How did he see that? How does he make this happen? Appears out of nowhere on the blue line.

Like, that goal he scored the other night, he keeps it in with his skate.

He should have probably backed out of that situation, but Carlson doesn't.

He thinks differently.

Like, is it, is it because he got a break with the Olympics? Like, or is it just, Hey, this is just an elite defenseman.

is-He's just, uh-

Exhibit number, exhibit number one of a guy that's just taking off.

Like, yeah, like every time he gets a, the puck in the ozone, I'm on the edge of my seat.

He's got a cannon shot and he's just found a great, great chemistry with, with Malkin and Tommy Novak on the second line.

But they're just having so many guys with career years.

Like Anthony Mantha, one-year deal, like ACL surgery.

How is that gonna go? Um, he's hunting down a career year.

[laughs]

That was my retirement party.

Yeah, you had a career we all admired, obviously, and then a retirement party to boot to go with it.

It was, it was pretty fitting, man.

Um, I loved it.

Thanks for having me.

You're the best, uh, Allen Walsh, call the Slump Dog.

They don't wanna share too much, and we, we also try to respect that as much as possible, but you know we love the tea.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

You know, Dan Muse would've been a perfect guy to start that next wave of the New York Rangers teams." Where right now we're kind of feeling stuck, and it seems like Muse is doing really well over there in Pittsburgh.

Yeah.

Like first of all, like I think he's just really good at being himself.

Um, you know, for a new guy, a young guy coming in, I, I think he's, he's, he's pretty comfortable just being himself, which is like a personable, um, people person and like very humble.

And he's not coming in and trying to like ram around and be something he's not.

And I'll, I'll say this too, and I, I don't know if it's necessarily like worked all the time on one side, but at the same time he seems to have a real pulse on his team and the s- and his personnel and the people they are, in positions he puts them in, at giving them shots and opportunities, at revamping lines at the key times, at taking a guy out and putting a guy in.

And um, you know, all those buttons have seemed, seem to hit, which, you know, allows them to ha- you know, those decisions, you know, make, you know, v- add value to the team and results.

... you're seeing from Stuart Skinner that's maybe changed or helped this team?

You know, Dan Muse would've been a perfect guy to start that next wave of the New York Rangers teams, where right now we're kind of feeling stuck, and it seems like Muse is doing really well over there in Pittsburgh.

Yeah.

Like first of all, like I think he's just really good at being himself.

Um, you know, for a new guy, a young guy coming in, I, I think he's, he's, he's pretty comfortable just being himself, which is like a personable, um, people person and like very humble, and he's not coming in and trying to like ram around and be something he's not.

And I'll, I'll say this too, and I, I don't know if it's necessarily like worked all the time on one side, but at the same time he seems to have a real pulse on his team and the s- and his personnel and the people they are, in positions he puts them in, at giving them shots and opportunities, at revamping lines at the key times, at taking a guy out and putting a guy in and, um, you know, all those buttons have seemed, seem to hit, which, you know, allows them to ha- you know, those decisions, you know, make, you know, v- add value to the team and results.

So, um, even, even in the, even in the like the tough time when they were in a little skid there before Christmas and through the, through the mid to end of December, um, um, you know, his decisions with the roster and with the players and, um, you know, his conversations in his press conferences are, were, you know, pretty honest.

And I think that's what you get from him and, and that's been kind of refreshing in a sense where he's just like comfortable just being himself in that regard.

Yeah

the only team that was selling, and now it's like ad, ad, ad.

i think we started the year with like a lot of crosby rumors that he was going to get traded and that was kind of how the year started and what was his team going to be and uh then all of a sudden like ben kindle makes the team out of camp harrison brunick makes team out of the camp has since gone back to kamloops after world juniors um you know rucker mcgrorty's here now there's some young guys in this lineup which we haven't seen in probably 10 years here in pittsburgh with some prospects.

He's haven't been in that position.

And then Sid is playing out of his mind.

Gino had a great start.

He just came back last night after missing 15 games with a shoulder injury.

And they've got some reclamation projects that are playing well, like Wotherspoon on the back end paired with Carlson.

look,

The question is, is it real?

Like, I don't know.

Like, I'll tell you this, going into every game, I'm kind of like, "What's gonna happen?" I, I'm kinda have that feeling.

I don't know what's gonna happen.

And I'll say, from my position, with Josh Getzof, my partner, calling the games and, um, you know, covering this team, it's been exciting.

It's been, like, wildly exciting to...

Games.

... you know, a long time with Sully.

Yeah.

Yeah, but you know what? I give them credit.

Like, they had some guys come in.

They had a lot of guys under contract and a lot of guys, like, where are you gonna fit them? Like, Matt Dumba hasn't played yet.

Um, they've got guys sitting in the weeds waiting to come in.

Hasey's banged up and out.

Hoping to get him back soon probably, but in the meantime, they've got this Harrison Brunick who's 19.

Malkin looks great.

... wherever they're from, "I got the fucking lineup against Joe Thornton." I brag about him playing in a preseason game ag- against them when he was playing for the Boston Bruins when I was a Penguin.

Great idea.

So those are, like, the 1%er guys that you can do that with, or, or, like, the 1%er guys that are, like, monumental to their organizations.

Yans, your guy, Muse, Dan Muse.

That was his, that was his first game behind the bench too at a, a home preseason game.

Like, he was ... (laughs) Like, can you imagine, like, making your, like, presence on the be- ...

Like, all the coaches were new too.

And you couldn't tell at all.

And I just don't know what the way out is for Edmonton here.

What Biz calls it, what, the Anaconda chokehold.

I think that's his line with the way that they can smother you.

They did that perfectly last game, right? McDavid threw open ice, nothing.

He's been quiet, no question.

And he's had his moments, but they've done a great job.

And on the flip side, Barkov criticizes he producing.

So do you think with the Pittsburgh Penguins, there's any kind of thought that comes over his head that after the Olympics this year that maybe, Maybe if they're moving on for some of my mainstays here that Crosby would consider moving on.