April 4, 2023
The Porch is LIVE - Pens Playoff Hopes and The Pirates Start
Will the Pens miss the playoffs? The Pirates are off to a... well... typical start. The Steelers... bring in Joey Porter Jr. and more... hop up on the porch!
Season 3
NHL Pittsburgh Pengunins
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins
Hockey
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Sports
NFL News
Will the Pens miss the playoffs? The Pirates are off to a... well... typical start. The Steelers... bring in Joey Porter Jr. and more... hop up on the porch!
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Transcript
Whoo. That's it, man. We are on. We are live on The Porch. Let's go. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Uh can anybody hear me? Can anybody hear me? Can anybody hear me? Yeah. I can hear you. Okay. Alright. Good morning live. I'm checking the settings because I am the technical director. Thanks for being here guys. We really appreciate it. You could see our website down below me. The Porch is Live. com. The Porch is Live. com. The Porch is Live. com. That's right and you can always catch us on American Busker iHeartRadio. A 50 million registered users, 2000 devices, 260 platforms.
Thank you so much.
The Sports Sports Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, Spotify, and all those other podcast things. Podcast. Podcast.
Podcast. I'm taking a night off.
I love it. Look, if you guys only. Look, if you had a small snippet of what goes on here verbally before the every show, pretty much, right? Uh we would not be on the air. You know. Did I say that? That was that's very close to what my ten-year-old niece says, instead of saying Bitmoji, she says bit emoji. Bit emoji emoji. Bit emoji. I bid emoji. Podcast. Podcast. She could be the technical director for the show. Podcast.
I think we should bring her in. Okay, listen. I got some some news here. The next four Sundays in a row, that is yes, starting Easter Sunday. Daddy. So, you're going to have to delay dinner or eat dinner early for those of you who, you know, celebrate Easter. Uh we are going to be on American Busker iHeartRadio, 4 PM, a double shot. Not sure what the second show's going to be. It's definitely going to be the Sports Porch. Ooh. Uh we'll talk about that after the show but we'll put that out on social media.
Four o'clock. That's a tough time. People are going to be sitting down to their ham. I mean, you know. That should have been pre-shows. Well, it's a great time to introduce the sports sports to your families. That's right. You know, you're sitting down to your Easter dinner and you turn on the sports. That's right. Let's face it. How many conversations at Easter dinner would you rather escape from, right? Yeah. Sportsports can help you. That's right. Sportsports will help you.
Yeah. With those awkward moments. Yeah. At the dinner table.
Yes. When you're sitting down to your ham, you can listen to the sports porch. You don't really want to know what's going on with Aunt Franny's corns on her feet, right? Right. No. No. Definitely not at the dinner table. No. We have dinner table talk. I I could tell that Mark sat down to a lot of Easter dinners in his life because I have.
Probably more than you. Yeah. It's true.
Alright. Alright. I digress. Okay. Look. We promised everybody we would talk a little bit more about the Pirates this year I I would say it's all they're mathematically eliminated which will be sometime next week so it's not going to be that bad so we're going to talk a little bit a little bit about the Pirates obviously the Pens are rolling into the playoffs hopefully hopefully right DG is in the house as always DG thank you David and if there's you know we can we can pontificate a little bit about any changes in the Steelers drafting I mean it's you know I was saying before the show we're going into the dead zone yes they're the NBA season hockey baseball but you know the the big the big sport here in in Pittsburgh football there's not a lot to talk about so let's just start with the Pirates right away let's get into the Pirates let's jump right into the well as we sit here right now the Pirates got a losing series behind them we should talk about as we sit here right now the Pirates are playing the Boston Red Sox and a Looks like it's already three to three after the first inning so.
Nice. Yeah. Those are the kind of games I would watch. Yeah. Right. Right. Scoring. I mean entertainment. O'Neal Cruz you know crushed that ball in the first game. Um Brian Reynolds. I and again look they're one and two. They won an opening day. They lost the next two. Um and obviously it's it's a long season and we have absolutely no idea what's going to happen this year. I mean a lot of teams you can kind of try to predict.
Which we have a pretty good I think we have a general idea of what's going to happen.
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh. I'm trying to stay on the positive side of things. Clearly guys. But there's but there's positive and then there's you know Pirates. False hope. False. False hope. I don't have what you just presented like to our viewers a false flag. I did not. I don't do that. I think I I think Mark is speaking more of the truth with this than you have. Okay. Look I've been I've been called everything in the book tonight. Alright.
So okay so that's where we're going to leave it with the Pirates because I know that you know Steve wants to get on to some much more important sports stuff right now. Hey I'm happy to talk about the Pirates losing. We can talk about their finances. You know we can talk about whatever you want with the Pirates for the next 25 seconds. Yeah. So you know I mean opening day at the ballparks coming up this weekend. That'll be fun.
Friday night. A lot of people down there. The the yeah absolutely. Yeah it'll be good.
That's pretty good DG chimes in he says he's afraid it's going to be the same old Pirates three in the first and after Boston's first three batters tied at three to three yeah let's let's talk about that real quick the the one thing about the Pirates this year that I believe is that they do have the makings of a decent lineup okay and and that's about where we'll stop you know Reynolds is a solid player Cruz has the makings of the superstar their defense is is not sub par you know it's it's at the tops of the league but what they really lack is pitching and and I know you're going to you're going to there's going to be there's there's you know old Pirates fans of those stalwart Pirates fans ah Mitch Keller's going to be better look no I I I totally disagree that that they lack pitching completely trust me I'm a Baltimore Orioles fan I totally understand what it means to lack pitching because the Orioles lack pitching again this year even though they have a better team than the Pirates on paper and yeah it's going to be a long I think it's actually going to be a long year.
Uh we'll see. I would just say that David don't be afraid of it. Embrace the suck. Embrace the say that again. Could you say that one more? Embrace the suck. Alright. Right. Here we go. This is what you have to do with the Pirates because if it's if you don't embrace the suck then you're going to be disappointed series after series after series.
Right. Really what you won them to do is like to win one out of every three to just have some consistency and then hopefully by mid season maybe they're winning two out of three you know in in your occasional you know they're going to go oh and three every now and then but you know maybe they get three oh I love once or twice before before the all I love this comment from DG he's watching the game doesn't look like that sorry about that defensive comment there you go IG right go back to the comment that I said embrace the stop Yeah.
Just laugh at it. Enjoy it. It should be that that should be your enjoyment. You've turned it on to watch a little league team play Major League Baseball. Ah there you go. Good one. Good one. Okay. Let's let's move on. Let's move on. Uh let's get the let's let's move on to the Steelers real quick. There there's really nothing going on with the Steelers right now.
Well you know the big news is that you know Peezy's kid came in the Pittsburgh. Right. Is at the facility. He's at the facility. Oh my god. Everybody I think they had four or five red carpets out and everybody was just excited about that beyond belief. Myself I'm not that excited about it. I don't know who else they brought in but he was the one who got all the press.
So clearly everybody knows who the press and the people want Tomlin to pick. Yeah and we really have no idea. We don't. We don't know. I mean but you know every time he moves it's like oh Tomlin met with him. Right. You know and I don't know. I I you don't know. There was an article about the that Ohio State offensive lineman that everybody was like he's going to be great.
So you know is this the guy that you were talking not not Skironski yeah there's there's a good left tackle from Ohio State in the draft who they think could last to the teens early 20s possibly yeah yeah right yeah so I think you know maybe he's in the mix but Dupree yeah he visited he visited but you know what if they were going to sign him they would have probably yeah I think so yeah yeah I mean I think they're just waiting him out to see how cheap he can get right maybe yeah Right.
And maybe even wait till after the draft to see. I noticed maybe they're going to do something stupid and actually draft another edge rusher in the first couple rounds. I think that would be dumb but they would definitely wouldn't need him then. Yeah I don't think much has changed on on the Steelers draft board. I I think this is going to be one of those years where because we have that you know con and the wide all influence and some glaring needs at at line we could be surprised though you never know I mean look they they they bring these guys in for a reason and who knows if it was scheduling or what whatever the issue was but they did bring in that offensive line in that center you know first well what scares me about what they've done already is that they've already they've already gotten somebody in the secondary and they've also gotten people on the offensive line so my fear is that they have decided that those positions are now okay let's look somewhere else like wide receiver or edge rush or linebacker even potentially.
Yeah. Although they did address the linebacker position already. They did. With two people. They totally revamped that linebacker. So so that only really leaves like wide receiver and edge rusher. You know if you think about maybe even defensive line. Yeah. Which once again I don't know. That scares me. That's what scares me. I think they still need to think about offensive line and you know definitely a tackle and you know a quarterback for the future.
Patrick Peterson is not the quarterback for the future. No. Well Wedel does the Eagles philosophy then you might get your wish. Yeah. You know they might they might go align. And that's the thing about this year's draft. That's why you can't really predict because it's a brand new set of private drafting so. Yep. Yeah. This is the the basically the baseline for what could happen in the future but you don't know what's going to happen this year.
Yeah. Yeah. Well and and that that the whole idea of that Lamar Jackson fiasco. I thought about that more and more. Uh And I I it is a fiasco. I know and and you know you know the Ravens would never trade him to this. What's going on now? Nothing. No nothing. It's been absolutely nothing. They're at a total. Actually I think from the last time we talked basically Lamar Jackson said I don't care what I get as long as I get at least $1 more of what Deshaun Watson gets in guaranteed money.
Yeah. So $250 million and one dollar? Yeah. 2 50 million and one dollar and I guess you could sign him for like 35 years and he would be happy with that. As long as he was guaranteed over 35 years. Meanwhile, I've I've seen things where it's crazy. It shows you like how much money he's lost compared to Josh Allen who came out the same year he did.
Yeah. It's like ridiculous. It's like Josh Allen's made, I don't know, 88 million or something and he's made like 25 million or something like that. Yeah. Well, and I think the other side of that argument is, hey, he's rich anyway. Like, at what point are you not rich enough? Yeah I mean that is. Well I I just think it's the false comparisons that drive me crazy about the fiasco that you call it which I agree.
Yeah. It's it's come on. Nobody everybody agrees that that contract's ridiculous. Right. And I know it's there to compare but nobody agrees with it. Yeah. Right. Yeah. If somebody did he'd be signed. I yeah. Exactly. If somebody did he'd be signed. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's going to be real interesting to watch that and as Steelers as Steelers fans you know you just hope never plays again.
I mean, as far as I'm concerned right now, he's kind of talking himself out of playing.
Whatever, we'll find out. Yeah. That's in the future though. Let's talk about the present. Yes, let's do that and hopefully, the well, let's let's let's move on to college basketball. There is a big game tonight. Let's do that. Big game, San Diego State, the Aztecs. Did I do that right? Yukon or SDSU. SDSU San Diego State University. The Aztecs. And we just want to we just want to blue blood.
We want to state that that the Grand Squabini has lost the final four rounds and he will have to try and consume two blooming onions. Let me tell you Schwabber, we had a blooming onion last night. Mm hmm. And look, it's going to be hard for you to finish one. Trust me. How big is it? Usually. We we said it was this big. Is that true? Yeah, it it's about that big.
Yeah. Yeah. It's just a big onion. Alright. Good luck to you. And we will bring that live on the sports board. Schwabber will go to Outback and hopefully we'll get some. I have a feeling we're going to be eating some leftover bloom and onions. Oh no doubt. No doubt. No doubt. Well actually we need to offer him a a reward if he actually does it.
Uh I'm serious. I know we didn't offer you a reward. Well we we can give him a pass in the next one. Like if he ends up I get a buy for that. Yeah that's right. Like if he ends up at last in the next challenge then he he's already fulfilled. Yeah yeah. Yeah you'll definitely yeah you know. If he gets them both.
After after watching that after seeing the bloom and and being reminded of it yesterday and how great I felt after eating like a third of one. Um okay. Okay. Alright so. Listen. Sorry about that Andy. Yeah. Does this does this does this you know does this NC double A championship game? Does does this mark the end of an era and the beginning of a new one? No I think it's one off tournament where a lot of upsets happened.
I I fully expect that next year you'll see two or three top seeds back in it. I just think it was just one of those One of those seasons that it just happened. It it happens about every 12 to 15. Yeah but the transfer portal is I don't think so. I disagree. I I think it's you're going to see more kind of like of the middle level teams.
Uh you know showing up. Like you know like you know whoever it is. I mean these middle teams could be anybody. Like you know you could have you know like Mississippi State is like a seven seed and you could have you know North Carolina State as a seven seed and you know. I don't know. Iowa State as a nine seed. I mean it just could be anybody.
Well we'll find out next year. I just don't I don't think I think the transfer portal is is is a niche now. It's kind of catchy for for for athletes to do. I think they'll get bored of it honestly. I think they'll get bored of it. Well you know what? That that that's an interesting that's an interesting tape that you you have on it by saying that.
I really haven't thought about it that way but I I thought Okay. So, the transfer portal to simplify it, you basically, you don't want to play for college, a team sucks. You just, you you decide or you don't like them or whatever. You don't like to say, I'm leaving and you put yourself in the transfer portal. Okay, that's not how free agency works but imagine if that's how free agency worked, okay? How would that change professional sports? I I I'm I'm saying, I think this is the start of a brand-new era of college.
Well, think about it. Think about it like this. Um you look at maybe not the best comparison but look at the at the women's side right where LSU just beat Iowa to win the national championship right now granted they have one of the best coaches of all time right who's won four championships but LSU is not LSU for women's basketball or men's basketball they've never won anything so they're like a middling program so two years ago they had six wins okay then last year they made the tournament and made it in the second round then this year they used the transfer portal to bring in nine new players.
There you go. And they won the tournament. Yeah. But my point is you're not going to get nine new players every year. Oh you're definitely not. No but you can. But you can. But you can. You couldn't do that before. I mean that I guess that's that that's I look at it and say college basketball as we know it is is I don't want to say it's done but but yeah it it's I mean those teams that you could count on every year you know whether you liked it or not that had the the legendary coaches the legendary recruiting the legendary classes you know that the blue bloods of college basketball are no more I that's that's the way I see it I totally disagree I think you'll see it come back next year okay maybe maybe I'll have to table it well well we we'll next year okay and well and and for the first couple years though you you still have a draw I mean you know transfer you know Kansas still has a draw Duke still has a draw North Carolina still has a draw but you know as time goes by and they start to fade you know so okay who's going to win tonight toss up I think Ukon's got it yeah I already picked UConn so I gotta stick with it I think they won every game by 13 points or something like that I mean they're an average they're playing really good basketball they they were the number one team at one point this year and then they went into a little bit of a funk yeah right but they're obviously out of out of it at this point I mean look San Diego State does play tough and they certainly got guys who can hit shots at the end of the game but you know who knows they'll hit a shot at the end of the game and they'll lose by 14 there you go maybe not alright so we're all picking Ukon we'll see what happens let's move on to our next segment.
If I pick San Diego State and they win, do I only have to eat one blooming onion? Mm.
Yes, but then you don't get a buy. That's right. Okay. Exactly. That would be. Let's go Aztecs. Alright.
Alright, here we go. Alright, next stop. Let's just move straight into the important part of the show tonight which is yes, do we have the sound effect? Hockey Jesus. Welcome to the program, our hockey genius. Whoo.
Right. Now you're a hockey genius. Hockey genius. Hockey genius. I said Jesus. No you said hockey genius. I did not. You can roll back the tape. You will be wrong in your announcement. There you go. But that's okay. I like being a genius Jesus. How about that? Yeah. A Jesus genius. A hockey Jesus genius. Yeah and look. I did not say that three times straight.
If we're not careful too. We'll talk about this for the next 20 minutes. Uh so that's true. That's true. Well the hockey season is fast approaching its end. It has already reached its end for some people like the Philadelphia Flyers. How about the Flyers with a nice last night though. I didn't think it was actually that great of an effort. I think it was just the Penguins tanking in the third period and.
Which is a Flyers didn't post instead of scoring. Would you say that the the slap shot against the glass that went off the goalie's back was kind of fluky. That was great. Would you say that was that was definitely the hockey god saying. Yeah. Here have a goal. Yeah so I mean it was two two. Two two. What the funny part about it is so we were sitting on that side of the rank and like like you could see like the way Raquel hit it.
It was boom. It was going to hit off pretty hard. I didn't think it would bounce straight back but the goalie kind of turned back the look and it's like he saw it and he just didn't know how to react. He like saw it too late. Yeah and it was just like oh maybe I should go backwards and by the time he said I should go backwards to prevent it from getting off my back and in.
It was already on his back. He knocked it right into the net. That was that yeah that definitely was a flukey goal. Look you need some as it's called puck luck. You need some puck luck. You do. To win games. You do. Whether you're in the playoffs, you're fighting for the playoffs or you're looking to eliminate somebody from the playoffs. Puck luck is a terrible thing.
And and it you can't explain it. Like you there's no way to explain it. Not even the hockey Jesus can explain why puck luck happens to some teams and it doesn't to others. Some people say it's because one you shoot the puck so it's going towards the net. Two other people are like well you get enough bodies in front of it. It's just you're going to by default it's going to bang off to somebody hit off to somebody else and go in the net.
Right. I don't know about that but it it is true like getting traffic in front of net definitely increases your ability to have some pop up. Like I was watching the game with Amy last night and when they scored their second goal and the power play the tip in. Yeah. Amy said to me she's like that's just total luck right? And I said well not really no.
I said I said not really. I said here I said here's the thing. Certain players better eye hand coordination. Yeah. They're trying to get that blade you know or that stick on the puck. Now granted did he know it was going to know exactly where it got to? No. But certain players are much better than others. Like for example Sidney Crosby is fantastic at it. Right.
Right? Yeah. Right. So so you know it's there's a little bit of luck but it that still takes skill to do that. Uh huh. Uh we have we have to pause this hockey Jesus segment to do some accolades here. Yeah. Rob Congratulations. Yes. Yes. Rob. You you are officially the winner after tonight. Yes. So you know shoot shoot shoot me a text and let me know what size shirt you want.
You can have a mug. It's completely up to you which one you want. You can either you can respond online right now or you can shoot me a text and let me know. I'm curious. How many teams did Rob have in the final four? None. None. Nobody did. No. So. This was he killed it though. He done.
He killed he killed it though in the sweet sixteenth. Yeah I think he did. He had like twelve teens. Only the four that he didn't have. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Others. Yeah. And he's he's watching on YouTube. So listen. Uh subscribe to us on YouTube buddy and throw this out at all your friends. Uh and we thank you. Oh yeah and post a picture of the girl Max went out with last night on there if if you haven't already seen her.
Is there is that Max had a girlfriend? Oh no he's he's he's in the field right? Is he? Yeah. He's out there. Oh yeah. But we don't. But anyway so let's go back to the hockey. But let's go back to the hockey Jesus. Congratulations Rob and we'll send you your goods soon. Um so as far as the Penguins go I mean yeah that was it was a good game. Actually it was a very strange game because actually I thought the Flyers came out and took it to the Penguins for like the first 5 minutes.
Yeah. And then like and then the Penguins the the Penguins basically took over the game and then tried to give it away in the third period but it was just too big of a deficit. Three nothing is is is too big of a deficit. I'll tell you what, I thought that the Smith played a fantastic. He did. So, on on on the hockey Jesus schedule that I have. I I write down the goals.
I write down the final score. I write down their record at the end of the game. By the way, the Penguins are 38 and 39. Still have a losing record because we don't count loser points here at the Hockey Jesus World but my MVP for last night was Casey DeSmith. Now I've got a question for you Hockey Jesus.
You have been saying for the longest time that you think Smith should be the goalie because Jari has been just so out of sorts. Now granted since we talked last Jari had a very nice shout out.
Now I listened to your your monologue last night. Yes. And you you're going back to Jari. Yes. So please explain. So here's the thing. DeSmith had a chance to take it over and when he did and he was the guy he pretty much sucked at it that's the problem like he did get a chance to do it like he that was his chance to shine and I he lost two really important games in that stretch one was the Montreal you you can't do that like if you're going to be the starting goalie you have to beat the **** **** teams and then you gotta play okay enough in against the good teams to give your scores a chance to get three or four goals you know and and that's that's Casey Desmith he's just not able to do it what he is able to do is he's able to come in for a game maybe a game every like say three or four games and play really well that's what he does that's what he's very good at but anytime he's gotta play two or three games in a row you're going to get one really good game one eh okay game and depending on how the the scoring is going that game you might win it and then a game where he'll give up too many goals in a game they should have won and and that's the problem with Des Smith as as the goalie and then he proved that and that's why I'm going back.
Okay. To saying the Smith should be the backup goalie because that's where that's what he does. I will take your word for it but I will tell you, I thought the Smith played the best game I've seen him play last night. Yeah, I agree. Actually, he played he played well his last time out too. Yeah. He played really well his last time out and that was in kind of a backup situation where he didn't have to play the night before.
He didn't have to play the game After. Mm hmm. That's that's his sweet spot. Yeah. And I think I think if the if he has to play in the playoffs, let's say, let's say they do make the playoffs like I and I said, I said this in my in my podcast. I said this on speaker. I said this online that I think Jarry should play the rest of the games because there's enough rest in between the games the rest of the time out where Jari should be well rested provided he's not injured.
If he's injured, I don't even have to talk about that everybody knows how I feel about Jari and the injuries this year but if he's not injured then Jari's gotta be the guy you gotta pick a goal he's gotta and he's gotta be ready to go for the playoffs and that's how we and that's how you do it unless you're Boston you got Linus Olmark and Jeremy Swayman who both have like 920 save percentages and are just incredible yeah so I want to I want to take a quick second in here before we get to these comments and and questions and thank everybody listening of course on American Busker iHeartRadio and remind you that the Hockey Jesus preaches after every single damn Penguins game.
Mm hmm. On the iHeartRadio app or anywhere you get your podcast. There's only five left to get. I mean, this is dedication. Hey, sports. He has it and let's go Pens. So, just remember, subscribe to the to the Sports Sports Podcast on the iHeartRadio. I'm glad you guys are catching on. And and you can hear the hockey Jesus after every game now first I want to get DG's comment in here because it it pertains directly to the game last night that DeSmith had a few phenomenal saves but sometimes he seems to miss when he squared up with clear vision the shot maybe like that last flyer goal and Rob says would you rather have to play Boston Carolina or New Jersey well let's talk about the Smith I I I just think that's just DeSmith not being a great goalie like he he has times where he just Doesn't see the puck.
Look and that happened that happened actually to Swayman if you saw in the in the game against Boston like he went he went over and you know the the the coach the **** coach for the the Bruins said you know Sid Stick was in in in the goalie's head which is why he challenged it but that was such **** but he he lost everybody lose sight of that puck it moves so fast sometimes and if you have enough traffic in front that's how you beat a good goalie right and That's what happened to the Smith.
He was actually shielded by like two two Flyers in front. When you can't see the puck, you can't stop. You just have to hope it hits you. Right. And if it's a good shot, it's not going to hit you. So, so yeah. So, that's what happened to the Smith. As far as who would I rather play in the playoffs? So, there are two teams that I I I consider a no go.
You cannot play against them. If you play against them, it's a guaranteed loss in the first round. Can I guess who? Yeah, go ahead.
I'm going to guess the Boston Bruins. Boston Bruins is absolutely one. And the second one I'm going to guess is sort of a little bit of a surprise. I'm going to say the Rangers. No that's absolutely right. The Rangers and and Boston I think are the two best teams in the league. And for different reasons. Boston's got it going on both with both with the goalie and they've just played solid all year and they're going to get better.
They're going to get Taylor Hall back. They're going to get Filio back. Who's a two bet third fourth line guy but he's a really good third fourth line guy I mean he used to play on the first or second line for Columbus when he played for them and he actually kills the Penguins I hate that guy so so they're going to get better and as far as the Rangers go I mean well they figured out they figured out Tarasenko where to play him and Kane and they've got that power play going crazy so and of course you got who I think is the best goalie besides Vasileski but did you see what Vasilevski did this week he had I think he played in three games he gave up one goal on 100 shots wow he had two shutouts wow this week I mean he's just ramping it up again he's just an incredible goalie I can't even think like if the Penguins had a goalie like him like what they could do so Boston Boston the first president's trophy or the rare president's trophy winner that maybe take home the cup well I don't want to go that far but as far as who would who would I rather play Rob I think you're right I think I would be okay with playing Carolina or New Jersey I think for different reasons though Carolina because you know I can't say the guy's name Schweshnikov got injured he's out and he's actually he's basically one of their superstars and New Jersey just because I don't know we don't have much luck against New Jersey in the playoffs so I I wouldn't want to play that.
They're they're unproven though. But they're young. Yeah. And I I think they're going to have goalie problems in in the playoffs. I and and I don't think their structure is set so that they can tighten it up. So I think the Penguins would try and skate with them and they might outskate them some nights. It would be a really fun series by the way. The Penguins in New Jersey.
That would just be back in the seven to six games. As opposed to the Carolina series. It would be terrible. It would be like one nothing.
One games and it just would be a sludge fest trying to get through through the middle zone but I think they could do it I think they could probably outscore Carolina but that would be dependent upon Jari playing really well so for different reasons I I would be okay with playing Carolina or New Jersey in the first round but dude if you gotta play Boston forget it it's it's over there's no I don't see any way where we could beat them four games in a seven game series no I hate to be a downer here but can you comment on Ifkenny Malkin and his undisciplined play? Well have you have you seen Malkin play the last 17 years? I have.
Okay. So explain to me. Last night I thought was his his his worst of all time. Well. I think he got two he got three two minute penalties maybe within 7 minutes? 6 minutes and and got himself thrown out of the game. Well that way it happened That happened in the third period. Right. That happened in the third period. Love that. So so Gino loves to play with an edge.
And he he he gets an edge because he gets himself all hopped up over stupid stuff, right? Yeah. And usually his stupid stuff is if he gets hit with an errand stick or he he gets pulled down and there's not a penalty called against him and then of course he goes and does something stupid and then a penalty is called against him. Right. That just sets him off, right? What was interesting is in the first period before he went on his rampage there was a time when somebody actually kind of run into him somebody did it to him first going second well well no even before that in the first period you didn't see this but on the ice like some he was near the goal and there was some pushing going on and then he pushed somebody and then he somebody pushed him and then he just skated away and then as he was skating away I think it was maybe it wasn't Faraby I think was Connect Me maybe.
Okay. Just kind of you know how they you know how they skate. Yeah. They they kind of skate. Yeah. They kind of run into him. Yeah. And and then Gino just walked away from that and I was like wow that was really mature of him. Like normally if he did that that would be it man. He he would've he would've ran him or sticked him or anything right? And then and then he got those three penalties in a row and I think the I think what happened in the third period he just had enough.
Like I think something snapped in him like you you called a penalty on me and this guy's been sticking me and and cross checking me. He can't do that. Okay. First of all he can't do that. Cuz the the problem as I see it is look I mean I guess it's debatable but I I guess we could call him the second best player on the team. He is. If not third I mean you you gotta figure's good because it makes him good.
Right. Gino makes hit makes Zooker good.
So I I would say by default that means Gino's probably higher on the pecking one. I mean maybe LaTang. I might actually put La Tang before him. But different position. It's different. But my point is if they're playing anybody but the Flyers last night they maybe lose the game because of him.
Possibly. Yeah. I agree with that. And last night it didn't make a difference but you're right. They needed him out there because if you if you were there and if you could watch it online and knew where you were looking at Grandland had no freaking clue how they centered that second line. He he the guy is just clueless on the ice to begin with.
Second of all, he actually looks smaller in person when you watch the Penguins live, Mikhail Gramlin does. So, he should never be on the second line like they should put Paling on the second line before they put him. I would put Jeff Carter on the second line as terrible as he's been before I would put Michael Gramlin on that second line but you're right.
That that that pulls a big hole and it was interesting that you say that because I was thinking like happens if Sid or Gino get hurt like either this year or for the playoffs or anything like that or god forbid next year they get a major injury they would maybe be one of the worst teams in the league I think if one of those two guys got hurt because they don't have anybody to fill that position they can't bring anybody up to fill that position and they have nobody on the ice now to be able to do that they they don't really have a third line center right now and I was thinking about I was thinking about post season and after the Stanley Cups over they may have to think about going to get a third line center at at the end of the season because they don't have one and that causes problems because you want to sign Sooker and you've got cap problems Mikhail Granlin's expensive and it's a it's a mess I I I happen to have a feeling that that no matter what the outcome of this season is I I I don't think Exfault's going to be around yeah I think there could be a cleaning of the the office for sure.
Yeah. I don't think Sully will end up being a victim of this. I think I think FSG will probably say look we kind of gave you a false mandate in rebuilding the team and keeping the superstars but as it turns out keeping the superstars made sense. The the the top 6 guys. The guys they kept. Right. Have played great. It's just the other guys they replaced them with sucked.
So so and when they had a chance to get rid of somebody like Kaepenan and they did they brought in Michael Brandon who maybe is even worse and they have him for two more years. So it's like that's why he needs to go because not because of the signing of the veterans. He can't fill in those other positions. That's why he needs to go.
Right. Right. That that's absolutely why he needs to go. But look the Pens are in a playoff position now and I actually think they're in pretty good shape. Well they have the easiest remaining schedule right? Between them the Panthers and the Islanders. They do. So the Islanders play against Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, the Capitals, and Montreal. So they actually don't have a terrible schedule. I mean playing against Tampa is is is tough sledding.
But Florida plays against Buffalo who's hot right now. The Senators who are playing well. They both they both play against Capital City. Playing against Capitals. But they finish the season. Florida finishes the season versus Toronto and versus Carolina. Yeah. So that's a tough ending. So don't be surprised if Florida goes on a little bit of a run here if I actually think if Florida loses the Buffalo then I think as long as the Pens either get one point they get two points in the next two games either against New Jersey or Minnesota I think they're in I think they're in because I don't I don't believe for a second they're going to not get four or five points out of the last six versus Detroit Chicago and and Columbus I just don't see anyway where that's not going to happen yeah they should those are three pretty there's no reason why I mean Chicago and Columbus are two of the absolute worst teams in the NHL.
You would think like worst case scenario get a point in all three. A point in all three won't be enough. But you don't think? But you could you could lose in Detroit if you won against Minnesota and got a game against the you got a point against the Devils. A loser point. Yeah yeah. You know that's that's where they are. I predicted that they would actually lose tomorrow against the Devils gain a point against Minnesota only a point against Detroit and then win out against Chicago and Columbus I don't know if that's that's definitely not enough to get them out of the Boston seating I think in order to get out of the Boston seating they need to probably win they need to win all but one of the games.
And how about any comments on Letang's one thousandth game? It it was a it was a just little ceremony. Look the the one thing the Penguins organization does. They do those things really well. Actually I think the last one I was at the Billy Garen 1001 and it was very similar but because Garen's family was there. Um he didn't have his kid out on the ice like Chris LaTang did.
I thought that was that was a nice tribute to bring his his son in because clearly he's very close with his son. Um so I that way. It it was just it was just cool to be at. You know there were people saying there wasn't a dry eye in the in the house. That was little little hyperbole. There there were people that weren't crying at the game.
You you weren't you weren't crying? I was not crying. No it was you would cry for it Steve.
No. No. Like I'll cry at Sidney Crosby's last game. I promise you that. Really? Yes. Can we be there for that? Um I'll videotape it if you really. By the way do you think that maybe after Malcolm's hockey career ends that he'll finally take a class on how to speak English? But Dude he's Russian. He doesn't care about English. Yeah. He doesn't.
He doesn't. Most of the Russians don't. Like like you you don't they don't know a Russian who speaks like great English. Yeah. Right? They just don't care about English because they just go back to the motherland and and that's what they do. To the motherland. Well and I happen to not know an American who speaks great Russian either. So I don't think any of us care about you know any of that.
No. No. But no I thought it was a great tribute. That's what you expect from that's why they brought these guys back to do these tributes. I kind of I don't really feel too bad for Brian Russ but I mean you know 500 is a pretty big is a pretty big milestone in an NHL career and he just got steamrolled because it was also his 500th game, but you gotta figure that's I don't think 500 is that big a deal I mean that's I mean that's six seasons right without being injured right without being injured so seven seasons yeah it's it's not a big deal but for somebody like Brian Russell for somebody like Brian Russell is and he played them all with the Penguins yeah DG wants to what what you thought about the inadvertent horn.
That was bizarre. What do you think was going on? I still don't even know what happened. You know what was funny before that. They dropped all the drop a hot dog on the at the the where where the referees come over to to that to that booth? Mm hmm. The door was open for the longest time and Susie even pointed out.
She was like, are they going to close that door? And I was like, yeah, are they going to because everybody was lining up for the face off and the door was still open. This right before the horn blew right huh and the reason I think they had the door open was because they have a red light that shows you when the when the commercials are done and they can drop the puck so the red light was still on so I think he had the door open because they can't start play if that's like that okay and then it looked like the light went off and then he shut the door so I think that's why it was open but literally 10 seconds after that they're playing and then the horn just blows and I'm like what the hell was that and the other thing that happened too was I think Malkin got his when Malkin got kicked out in the third period like the Flyers went on a power play.
Yeah. But they blew the whistle after a flyer had the puck. Yeah. I kind of noticed that. What the hell? Like I was like okay they're even up again you know. There was a lot of that even up **** that happened. It doesn't really happen a lot. And and it was like oh no just Malkin's getting the penalty. I was like well then why did they stop playing? Yeah.
Like there were some weird things that went on in that game. Yeah. No I I can't explain that in Burdenhorn. They didn't announce anything at the game. They just like okay everybody change lines and let's play again. It's so weird. Like the the the rest didn't even go over there and have a discussion. They just kind of like looked at him like what the hell are you doing? And then they're like okay let's play hockey.
Alright guys well listen once again you can catch the Hockey Jesus Podcast after every Penguins game on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, Apple Podcast anywhere you get your podcast. It is the Sports Porch. Give us a follow. Write a review.
And you can visit us on The Porches Live. com. Um are we going to get a playoffs spectacular? Yep. I I I got it started right there. Alright. Give me just a little preview. I just. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. I'm not going to ruin anything. I'm going to there you go. Just a little. I just yeah. I just I mean yeah. Yeah. And and then you got you got I I mean this is dedication.
I mean I think we have to come up with a some sort of prize for Steve. You know just I mean this guy every single you can go the last two months or on the pages of on the next on the yeah I mean this is this is this is insane even though it's upside down it doesn't matter you know I mean here you know I take notes that's that's that's it's how it's how I figure out maybe we'll buy you a why the Penguins are going to do the things they're going.
We'll buy you a notebook for next year. So no but yes a playoff preview will be forthcoming once we know who's actually in. It's looking by it's looking good that although Calgary is really surged they still have a chance overtaking Winnipeg I I think Seattle's definitely in in the west Nashville's out the cracking looks like we're getting a little that preview right now no no I'm just talking about teams are on the bubble we know what's going on we know what's going on in the East Florida it's between Florida Pittsburgh and the Rangers Buffalo's still hanging around but that's why it'll be interesting to see if Buffalo can beat can beat Florida because if Buffalo be floor they might just take each other out.
I'll tell you what. The way it went for the Knights and for the Kraken. I almost feel like it's better to just you know dump your whole team and start over. Yeah really. With an expansion draft. You know. Maybe that's a that's something the Flyers should consider. Well we'll send an email we'll read. Alright. Hey it's only been 48 years since the Flyers have won the cup.
Yeah that's all. Yeah so hope prevails. Next next week on Monday are you in town? Uh next Monday I am. It's the day after Easter. Easter Monday. I am still good to go. How about you Schwabber you got any big Easter plans? Well I'll be you know picking up those Easter eggs that the kids didn't pick up. There you go. Right. But hopefully they got a little cash you know.
But outside of that I will make myself available. Alright that sounds good. So alright guys want to thank you as always for watching us for listening on American Busker iHeartRadio. A 50 million registered users. 2000 devices. Two hundred and six platforms and or fifty I don't know. I get that wrong. 6 million. 6 trillion platforms. And Anybody has a computer has a platform. Remember you can always catch us on The Porch is Live.
com. The Porch is Live. com. The Porch is Live. com. And DG says great show. I'll catch you next time. Happy Passover Easter. Thank you DG right back at you and with that we will see you guys and I just want to give a shout out to my friend Jeff Pollis. I didn't get him in here but thanks for watching Jeff. Jeff. We will see guys next week on The Porch.
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