January 6, 2026 • 33 mins
Mark continues talking Steelers, takes calls and is joined by Pierre
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
As Tom and I were talking about, maybe Joey Porter
Junior covers Nico Collins, the number one wide out, who
is very good, and takes him out of the game.
Here's hoping because he can do it. Joey Porter Junior
has become a star. But in terms of how they
win this game, I don't know. I bet it's a
rock fight between two defensive minded coaches who don't mind.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
A rock fight, and maybe the Steelers win. That seems like.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
A decent bet that the Steelers have a good chance
to win this game for a mad team, which is
what they are. The worst bet is that Houston's edge
rushers kill Aaron Rodgers cill kill my landlord. I saw
somebody say that that Houston isn't ready and that CJ.
(00:49):
Stradi's too young, But the Texans won playoff games and
each of the last two years with CJ. Strod at quarterback.
Houston's defensive line it ain't good. Maybe the Steelers kill CJ. Stroud,
Maybe TJ. Watt no sacks. Got that deflected pick, but
(01:10):
no sacks against Baltimore. Yo, you're making forty one million
Jim teachers, step up, walk the aisle, do something. The
Steelers Z line is good, but that Houston defense is better.
Number one defense in the league, well, number one for yards,
number two for scoring. So I think the games would
toss up, honestly, wouldn't surprise, may be either team one.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So let's have fun. Let's hope the kickers keep missing.
That was exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
People seem to think this holy water thing was funny, Father,
Maximilian or whoever do it again? Father, The power of
Christ compels you.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
The power of Christ compels you.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I'm holding up across and Tom seems scared across the
console here. Penguins don't play till Thursday. Like I said,
we got Eric Carlston on the show tomorrow. That's gonna
be interesting. He's this crazy spaghetti with ketchup on it
for a pregame meal and Sweden in the Olympics, and
carl is having his best season as a Penguin. Don't
know why. Maybe it's to get pumped up for Sweden.
(02:11):
But he's doing good. Hat like two weeks where he sucked,
but the last games during this winning streak, he's gotten
back to business, played really well, very economical set up
Crosby in overtime, and the fact that they've gone on
a winning streak. I mean, how a hockey team does
often reflects how their best players do, and I think
(02:32):
Eric Carlson and how he's played recently is reflected in
that five game winning streak. By the way, Crosby got
the second Star of the Week in the NHL. I
don't know who got first, but he's not as good
as Crosby. Cam Hayward said something kind of dumb after
he played so well against the Baltimorens. He said, the
(02:53):
Steelers are quote unquote playing with house money now unquote.
Well again, that's him trying to get us to buy
into them having won a fake playoff game. But that's
the general attitude around here with a lot of people.
Hey Entire radio stations in this time spew populous nonsense.
(03:13):
Why can't Cam Heyward? But a lot of people just
think the year is a success now for the Steelers
because a rookie kicker missed a field goal for the
other team in a regular season game.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
And boy, that poor guy. I gotta give that guy.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Maybe Father Max or whatever the freak his name is,
maybe he can give that that Loop kid, the kicker
for Baltimore, the rookie some absolution because he absorbed wait
hold on Coverhill page Absolution Blues, great song. That loop
guy's absorbed a ton of really vicious abuse on social media.
(03:52):
That kid's classy faced the media at length after he
missed a kick. But Baltimore can't bring him back. He
can't kick for Baltimore again. That miss won't ever be forgotten.
You know, people talk about how the church and religion
do good for people.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I disagree. Here's the proof.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
That holy Water made a young guy Wollkie kick her
miss and now his life is ruined. Where is your
God now, Priest, that's organized religion for you. I'm surprised,
Father Maximilian and passed the collection plate because that's all
religions about.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
M O N E Y.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
By the way, that Benstonium guy, who's been kind of quiet,
like for a couple of years now, he used to
post a lot of really funny stuff videos and whatnot.
I haven't noticed lately, but he posted on Twitter a
bottle of Steelers holy Water with a logo, and I said, boy,
the runies won't be happy about that. Religious as they
(04:53):
protect I mean are and I didn't notice it was Benstonium,
and he got me. He got me.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I thought it was real.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Anyway, the number to call is eight three three four
one two WXDX for calls on the fifteens, which has
proven to be a very popular segment, albeit not yet sponsored.
But that speaks more about somebody else's failure. Uh, not mine. Boy,
Now I sound like who do I sound like? Sloughing?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Blame off? My show stinks? Nobody listens don't buy advertising.
Uh here's a Penguin note.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Because as listeners to this program note, Well, I'm a
Penguin fan. Uh, tried and true, born and bred since
I was six years old. But I don't like how
this has become a veterany team lately, like the fourth
line and what they contributed, how much they play, it's
(05:52):
become a big deal. Not that those guys with the
chari centering are performing very well. And by the way,
the reason that fourth line's good is because of a
chari okay, period, you know, he's like leto Lizotte. No,
Lizot's really they need both them for good fourth line.
They need both them. But anyway, if the playoffs are
(06:12):
the number one priority and not rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Then okay, okay, go all in call up Morishoff from Wilkes.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Now he's been pulled a couple times lately at Wilkes,
but Morishoff is the best goaltender in the system.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Everyone with the Penguins knows that.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
We'll say that off the record, and it's pretty obvious
that shilloffs, ain't it.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So if you are indeed.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Committed to making the playoffs for your fans and for
the locker room and for Sid's agent, then commit to
making the playoffs and call up your best goaltender. Don't
save this one little corner of your plan for development
and otherwise want to make the playoffs. Don't leave Morishoff
(06:57):
and Wilkes and play do or and scratch McGroarty because
that's nothing to do with rebuilding. That got me pissed,
But I know I'm ac groarty on the fourth line either,
And like I said, Muse loves that fourth line, and
full credit to all three of them guys, But nothing
will take the emphasis off rebuilding like a coach love
(07:18):
and a fourth line composed of veterans, because before you
know it, the coach makes that third that fourth line,
your third line.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Calls on the.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Fifteens up next. If you want to sponsor it. You know,
here's what we'll do. You call me, well, I'll pick
some money on the side. That violates FCC regulations. But
I can live with that. I can live with that.
And if you violate FCC regulations, you don't go to jail.
You just, I don't know, get chewed out. I've been
chewed out before. Five nine the x G.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It's time out for calls on the fifteens.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
If we get more calls. We got one and we'll
get the night in the second. But calling now you
can get in a three three four one two wxdx.
That's a three three four one two wxdx. I'm not
sure when I'm going to play that SoundBite with with
the podcast James Harrison and Joe Hayden where they talk
about Joe Burrow hates the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Joe Burrow has played six years.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
He's played in the Super Bowl, He's played in an
additional conference championship game, won two division championships. He's done
better than the Steelers during those six years. Why would
he hate the Steelers? He certainly wouldn't be jealous. We
think the whole football world revolves around Pittsburgh. It did
in the seventies, and it did a little bit during
(08:45):
the prime of Ben's tenure.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Right now, the Steelers are just enhancement talent. Their job. Guys,
pin me pay me.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I had somebody give me crap on Twitter because I said,
I assume why like they said, I don't care about
my community.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I guess because I just said I would.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I would rather interview Paul McCartney for five minutes than
see the Steelers win the Super Bowl this year. I
don't care about the community. No, you don't understand what
the community is. You think the community just revolves around
Akroscher effing Stadium and that hypo psychoid logo. It doesn't
don't care about the community. I do a scholarship fund
(09:27):
for kids at North Hills High School. I run a
deck hockey tournament every year to raise money for the
Mary Lemoeux Foundation. All the money from my cameo and
my fifty years no cups fly or T shirt sales
go to charity. I do a bunch of stuff you
don't even know about. And I'm gonna get involved with
animal rescue too. You don't even understand what the community is.
(09:50):
You think it revolves around football and if your community
revolves solely are on football. Words cannot express how pathetic
you are. But let's take some calls. Let's go to
Nate your own double m mark.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Good to hear from you. Always a pleasure to hear
about your charitable giving.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Right because I willed it like a club. What do
you got?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Uh? The yab hit is on ESPN and we're talking
about how great of a coaching candidate Kevin.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Is think is I think he is?
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Do you where do you think he would be best
served in the NFL in in his next venture?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Tom and I were talking about that. I think Atlanta
has a good base with Bijon. I think Vegas Pete
Carroll just turned out to be too old. I'm sure
those guys didn't take him seriously and probably barely remembered
who he was. So I would say the jobs open
right now Atlanta and Vegas. I definitely wouldn't go to
New York, definitely want to go to Arizona, and I
(10:49):
might wait to see what other jobs might open up.
I think if Baltimore opens up and they fire Harborm,
I think Stefanski would be an attractive candidate they are
due to his familiarity with the vision in his offensive mindset.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That might make even more out of Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Like most things in Cleveland, they don't know what they
have till it's gone. Well.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, the ownership screwed the Browns up, not Kevin Stefanski.
And I'm very serious when I say I would fire
Tomlin as soon as they lose in the playoffs and
hire Kevin Stefanski. I saw some people saying thank you
for the call. I saw some people saying they should
hire Stefanski is the offensive coordinator and have him be
the coaching waiting for Tomlin. Why would Stefanski want to
(11:32):
do that? And why would Tomlin want to do that? Although,
like I said earlier, I've been told by somebody who
would know heard it last night confronted with somebody else,
there's a better chance Tomlin doesn't coach next year than
I think, whatever that means. I still think he's going
to coach next year, but I've been told there is
a chance he wants.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Let's go to Eric. Eric, you're on with Mark.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Double big big can right on? Hey, who of the
three Pittsburgh sports teams do you think has the best
chance of winning the next playoff game or series.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
The Steelers because they play Monday.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Do you think they got a chance.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, I think they will win.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think Houston is not the worst matchup possible and
Monday night at home.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I don't know. Just see.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I hate to buy into a storybook narrative, and this
is kind of the anti storybook for Steeler fans.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I think it would figure if the Steelers won.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
What Tom wind coach ten more years, brought Rogers back
next year and didn't come close to winning a Super
Bowl for another decade. Let's go to Tom. Tom you're
all with Mark? Good day, Mark, I said, good day? Uh,
just one of the well full disclosure.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I've been a loyal listener for a while, but my
schedule changed and I haven't been able to suit in
for a little over a year. And I am shocked.
You on the knowes, Oh.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You got to say?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
How positive? Go ahead on the Steelers?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You are?
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I just wondered what it was.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
On the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
I think they're gonna be Houston. That's as far as
I'll go. No, they're an organization that's clueless. They have
a forty two year old quarterback they're gonna bring back.
They have a coach that didn't want a playoff game
in eight years they're gonna bring back. I mean, I
think they might be Houston, but I don't think that
translates to optimism. I think the organization never looks past
the next game, and I think that's added up to
biting them in the backside.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
This is the Mark Madden I know and love of
saying no.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
No, The mark man you know in law is objective
and tells the truth. I'm not a populist homer like
almost everybody else in the sports media in this time.
This is the only place you can go to get
the truth. There's no question about that. The only place
you can go to get the truth. Let's go to Maddie. Maddie,
what's up?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
What up?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Big SUSI what up? So?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I just want to first start off by saying, I
find your criticism the Steelers very refreshing.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I find it very accurate.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
I do as well. I work with a lot of
zers and they're just in the clouds.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
So I did some quick math and.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Basically, what makes five point eight six million per sack?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Would you would you say that's worth the money?
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I knew he wouldn't be the money he's making now
is for what he's done in the past. They never
should have extended his contract. They should have made him
play out his current contract and then you should have
franchised him as his play dictates, which it it doesn't really,
but but yeah, I said this would happen, and it did,
and nobody wants to hear that. They didn't want to
hear it. Then let's go to Jeff. Jeff, you're on
(14:46):
with Double M.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Hey, Mark, how are you?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I'm great?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
This morning I was listening to one of the other
talk radio shows.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
How dare you?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I know, while you weren't on, So they were defending
DK Metcalf's actions and says, you should have never gone.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
To Of course they do that other station and they're
being successful, but they are just populous homers. It's yay Steelers, Yay,
except they don't talk about the Penguins at all. They
just talk about the Steelers twenty four to seven Steelers.
They throw a bone to Pitt in the Pirates once
in a while this time of year because they're the flagship.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
But yeah, they're they're populous homers.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
What was sterritating? They were comparedness of Lamar Jackson with
the fans hit him on the head walking back to
the locker room.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
This is old news. I'm tired of it.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Up next, we're gonna talk hockey with Peer Maguire one
O five to nine.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
This is former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Here's what's
trending from the iHeart Sports Network, presented by Austin Steelers.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Wide out TK metcalf is back with the team after
we served that two game suspension. It's forgetting set to
houst Houston in the playoffs on Monday Night. College basketball,
it rolls on tonight with West Virginia hosting Cincinnati, while
Penn State looks to upset top rank Michigan and the
blockbuster trades on the horizon in the NBA with the
Hawks and four time All Star guard Trey Young working
(16:03):
on ad all to get him out of Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
How's Scott David said? Wish you could save on home
insurance with all? Have a good time, Toe got told
got the exit.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
One O five nine.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
It's time now for the best hockey talk anywhere with
a guest who's done everything there is to do in
the greatest game.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
He is Pierre Maguire. Pierre.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Five wins in a row for the Penguins. What's propelling
them and what has changed if anything.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Oh, I just think there's a whole lot of useful energy.
There was some emergency mark and one of the biggest
thing is there's some stability and goal right now. I
love the way Saint Ivany and Shay have come together
as a tandem. I really like the acquisition of Kulak
coming over from Edmonton. He's been the perfect calming effect
for chrys Latang and so I think the defense is
(16:51):
starting a round in the forum. You know, obviously they
missed a guinea Knlkin, but you can see getting Blake
lazattack is really giving them a lot of depth, and
he and Connor Dudall and Norah Chari have made a
big difference for that team. So I think it's organizational depth.
I think it's really good chemistry on the back end,
some very good depth and goal and it looks to
me like they're having fun playing hockey.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Pierre.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I don't want to look at gift towards them off
because I'm excited by this five game winning streak, But
are they becoming to veterany You talk about that line
a Charie Deer and was that they're playing good, but
is it at the expense of the kids getting ice time?
I just have mixed emotions about the way the talent's
being deployed.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Well, here's the one thing I'd say. The one kid
that's probably in out of the lineup is record Majroorty.
I don't see him as being a depth player in
the National Hockey League. I don't see Ben Kindall being
a depth player in the National Hockey League. The acquisition
of China Kopp was to get points, not to be
a depth player. So I don't see any of those
guys being in the role of Connor Duer or Blake
(17:55):
Zott or Noela Chari. They all got a lot of
gray in their beard. They all been around the league
a long time, but they all accept their role as
depth players. Nol Charitie scores a huge goal against Columbus
the other day to queue the comeback. But I would
tell you this is that the kids that you have there,
that's not going to be their long term jobs. So
I don't really know if you're punishing the kids right now.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Not punishing, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
I mean, what's gonna bother me is when Tommy Novak's
in the lineup in McGroarty or even Cloyvenen aren't because
Novak is the kind of player that the kids are
trying to be, but he has no upside and the
kids do.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
That's so that one's fair and I would see do that,
and I would see more of Tommy Novak is a
winger rather than a center iceman. But I think because
of the injury to Malcolm he is there right now.
But no, that's that is a very fair point, and
I could totally see you that you win that side
of the argument.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
What's your early returns on?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Chinakov got a nice gool with Detroit, great pass from Kendall.
Sometimes that's new guy energy. But then again, he's getting
opportunity with Pittsburgh he just wasn't going to get in.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Columbus, and he's trying to TPW prove people wrong. And
that's the biggest thing with him right now because the
guy that drafted him in Columbus arm Pika Lion, and
he's the general manager of the Buffalo Sabers right now,
So all his internal infrastructure of guys who believed in him,
they're no longer there in Columbus, So this is his
(19:18):
next best opportunity and hopefully he takes advantage of it.
The biggest thing with him is you gotta find the
offense with consistency. If he's not a consistent offensive player,
I don't know how he makes your team better, and
that's going to be the biggest test for him.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
The Penguin survived, albeit barely, with him getting Malkin out
of the lineup. It looks like he's going to return
for Thursday night's game. Pierre, how much of a boost
will he give them? And in retrospect, I mean, you
don't want him to miss games hurt, But him getting
that time off and them getting arrest during the Olympic
break too, is that going to give him more in
the tank come the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Oh yes, I think those are really valid points. And
the biggest thing about playing against New Jersey on Thursday,
you get Malcolm back, then you get the big body
presence of malk and Math and Brazil, and then Crosby,
Ruff and Rituel can go to work and that creates
more of that death that you want better slotting for
your team, and then maybe you don't see it Tommy
(20:15):
nomach Er, maybe Tommy Novak goes Indieger in the lineup.
I don't know. But to me, the biggest thing is
Gino was playing as well as I've seen him playing
in the last few years. You could see he's got
more pace in his game, he's got more urgency, and
he was having a ton of fun playing with Math
and Brazil. There's no question he was.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I'm sure they will.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
But would you pop Malkin right back between Mantha and
Brazil one hundred percent?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
That's why I brought it up. I wouldn't even waste
time if he was a kid and Neil pit was
just learning that the NHL, Like Ben Kndall, I probably
wouldn't do that with a player like Geno malk And
he's not going to be overwhelmed by any situation, especially
with the way he was playing. I haven't seen him
train obviously in the last little while, just because of
the injury. But if he's back and playing the same
(20:58):
way he was before he got hurt, that's really good
news for the Payouns.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Pierre, you said earlier the goaltending is stabilized, and I
agree with that for the most part. But is it
Morishoff the best goalie in the system. If they're making
the playoffs of a priority, shouldn't he be called up
at some point?
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Oh, at some point, I think you will. I think
you will. I just think right now, they're trying to
stabilize all situations in the organization, stabilize the goaltending position,
and to stabilize your defense. Get Wolf straight back winning
with consistency. I know they've had some problems doing that
the last a little while, So no, I think obviously
they're definitely working towards having that long term mark. And
(21:37):
you know this better than anybody. Long term, he's going
to be the goalie at Pittsburgh Panals.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah, I'd just like to see it maybe in the
short term.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
We're talking to Pierre Maguire, brought to us by always
Say Flagging and traffic Control. Pierre, I love the wins
at Detroit and Columbus because they were so opposite ends
of the spectrum. Big defensive effort at Detroit, then big
comeback at Columbus.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Oh, the thing de Troit is unbelievable. I've been watching
Detroit and coaching against Detroit for a long time. I've
never seen him held the twelve shots on goal like
Pittsburgh did. That was mind shattering. That was phenomenal. And
then to do what they did in Columbus with the
come from behind them and they're getting it from all sorts.
I mean, Tommy Novak can talk about him on the
power play with the one timer, Noela Charity with a
(22:20):
big goal off of Columbus turnover, he's in alone, you know,
Sidney Crowby, I don't know if that was on purpose
or not, that line change where they caught Charlie Coyle
out of position, but it was a thing of beauty
to win an overtime. There was a lot going on
in that game from Pittsburgh and they had to show
a lot of resolve and they did do that. So
I was really impressed by that. But beating Detroit, you know,
(22:41):
on that home and home series, Mark I think has
really helped set this team up in terms of confidence.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
No, No, I think so too.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
And I think that defensive effort at Detroit as well,
because now they know they can do it. Pierre, like,
from your coach's standpoint, put your coaches hat on. What
did they do with Detroit to limit the Red Wings?
The twelve shots? Was there anything different or was it
just execution of what they usually do.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I think the neutral zone was a lot better one
of the things when you played Detroit, and I saw
that last night when they were playing in Ottawa. When
they get their quick countercam going and they dominated with
the speed and the temple of the game. They're a
hard team to play against because then they can accelerate
the pace from the back end with most Sider or
San dene Pellica. But if you stabilize the neutrals on
and forced them to play a shooting in a retrieval game,
(23:26):
they're not nearly as good at that. And I thought
Pittsburgh did a really good job of doing that against
Detroit the other night.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
We're gonna have Eric Carlson on the program tomorrow. Pierre,
I think this has been the best of his three
seasons in Pittsburgh, and he had a rough couple of weeks,
but he's done much better the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
What has made this season better for.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Him here Parker Waterston. Parker's been so good for him
because Parker doesn't need to get points. He's just gonna
play home. Eric knows you've got a steady partner Eric's
gonna get the puck and transported. I think the power
play presence from Eric knowing that he's the number one guy.
He's been very important for him And what I like
(24:05):
the most the other night when they wanted Columbus on
the comeback, watched the reaction of Carlson and Crosby after
the goal. We weren't seeing that the first two years
because the team wasn't playing well, they weren't relevant, and
I think there was a whole lot of frustration. Now
all of a sudden, everybody's coming together. And I think
one of the most motivating things for Eric Carlson this
(24:27):
year being a member of the Swedish Olympic team, and
he knew he was not a led pipe since to
make it unless he had a good start to the
year and was a good teammate and a good organization man.
And I think he's done all those things and you
could see Crosby respects that and his teammates respect that.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You know where else he's been a big help and
it showed on that goal. Pier on a team, to
be very honest, it doesn't really get how to play
three on three.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
He's a master at it. Isn't he.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
He always has been And that such a good call
by you, because that's absolutely true. The big Eric car
he's a right hand shot. He's probably better playing on
the left than he is on the right, by the way,
because he likes to He's a lot like Paul Coffee.
He likes to cross over right over left when he's
skating with the buck, not left over right. And if
you ever watch him play on the right side, especially
(25:14):
when he was starting in Ottawa, he had such a
hard time defending because he couldn't pivot and turn. He's
a guy that you have to put him in situations
where he's really comfortable. If you ever get a chance, Mark,
or your viewers or your listeners get a chance, go
watch some of the gold medal game between Sweden and
Canada from the twenty fourteen Winner Olympics in Sochie. Crosby's
(25:36):
playing for Canada and it's a great Canadian team and
Carlson's playing for Sweden. The best player for Sweden in
that tournament and in that game in particular, was Eric
Carlson s He was dominant, He was absolutely dominant, but
they didn't have enough and Canada was just overpoweringly good.
But I think back to those times and I remember
just how great he was, and you know, it looks
(25:57):
like he's got He's real kindled a lot of that
enthusiasmic that he had back then when from about twenty
eleven to about twenty fifteen, he was a dominant player in.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
The league in that main Pierre and I'm a big fan,
and I know you are to have everybody involved with
assembling the US Olympic team, but I'm disappointed with the roster.
No Hudson, no Robertson, and they left off a lot
of scoring in speed I thought to be big and heavy.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I'm disappointed in no Lane Hudson. I'm really disappointed in
no Jason Robertson. And I won't even pretend I think
Cole Coffield is vastly underrated. If you need to go,
look at what Montreal has done with him. Cole Coffee
and Lane Hudson and Nick Suzuki. That's why the Canadians
aren't where they are in the standings right now. If
they don't have those three guys, they're not even relevant.
(26:43):
They're not a playoff team. Those guys make that big
a difference. So I was really surprised on Lane, really
really surprised. And you know, I don't want to ever
usurp would be rude to any of the players that
have made the team. So I'm not going to drop
names with their two defense on that roster that Lane
Husson's a better player than and I just I don't
(27:04):
understand that part of it. And Robertson probably merits being
on there too. Here's I'll give you one name though, Mark,
I'm telling you you know it, but most of the
fans don't. This Matt Boldie is something else.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Yeah, he's amazing and very quietly so, but amazing.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
And I'm telling you right now, he's probably gonna play
we Loston Matthews at the tournament to start anyway, and
I would expect, well everybody's expecting the to Chucks and
and uh Jack Eichel to be dominant. I think Austin
Matthews maybe with Kyle Connor and Matt Bowley could end
up being the best line for the United States. We'll see,
We'll see how it goes. But this Matt Boldie is
(27:43):
something else. He's really a special player.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Who's the favorite I would say Canada except for the goaltending,
but I also understand that Bennington can wind it up
in big games.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
I think the dark horse team to win is Swedens.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Me too, Me too.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
We just saw the within the World Junior and there
are a lot of people with Hockey Canadon, a lot
of people in the USA Hockey not too pleased about that.
But the Sreeds were really good. They were full value.
They deserve a lot of credit, and I would not
be surprised. The last time the Olympics were in Italy
two thousand and six, I broadcast a gold medal game
with the great and legendary Doc Emrick and John Davidson,
(28:21):
and the Swedes beat the Finns in the gold medal game.
And the Swedes were full value. They had a great
goalie and Henrik Lundquist, they had autome defense led by
Nick Lidstrom, and they had amazing offensive firepower. But the
guy that took the games over was Matt Sundeen. And
I see a lot of the same kind of stuff
going on with this Swedes team now and it's in Italy.
(28:41):
Maybe they like the pasta, maybe they win the goal.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Pierre. I agree.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
In fact, if you made me pick a final, I
would pick Canada and Sweden. And Sweden as in the
World Juniors, their adept at sneaking in when other teams
are getting all the attention is favorites, aren't they. And
I also think Sweden has deceptively good goaltending.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
They're so good at what you just said. They're absolutely
awesome at that. They are the masters of being under
the radar and taking advantage of it. They're underspoken, but
they always over delivers. It's amazing. So I'm a big fan.
I spent a lot of time in Sweden over the
course of my career, and I do some consulting work
(29:21):
for a company over there right now, at Hockey Company.
And I got to tell you, Mark, they're a factor.
You know. They used to say Penn State was linebacker.
You well, I can tell you this. It's becoming defenceman country.
Is Sweden's coming from Sweden, It's unbelievable. I'll give their defention.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
R Pier.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I do want to talk a bit about World Juniors,
the US and Canada. I don't want to say they
disappointed because in a single elimination tournament where all the
teams are pretty good, especially in the playoffs, anything can happen,
but I was surprised that neither made the final.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
I was really disappointed team Canada. It was their behavior
wasn't very good. They were undisciplined. Their best game that
they played the whole tournament was the last game. You
got to win to get the bronze medals, you got
to lose to get the silver. So I'll give them
full value for that. And if you look at their
team picture, you can see even though they played probably
(30:17):
their best game in the tournament in their last game,
they weren't happy with the bronze. So I totally understand
that and I respect that element to it. But they
started the tournament with I think really bad discipline, yes,
and I didn't like it, and I think it set
the tone for them. So I'm not surprising. Terms of
the US, I did not have them being a medal
(30:38):
winning team this year. I did not, and so they
this is one of those weird years where it's just
it's sicklical. They'll be back and ready to play for
gold next year.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
And you're right about Canada, because some junior tournaments and
these are you know, teenagers for the most part, we
should remember that. But Canada shows up to be the
swashbuckling bad guys and they lose the plot. And I thought,
like you said, it happened early in that tournament. They
never got the plot back, did they.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
No, they did not. They had one great game and
it was against Denmark. But outside of that, they weren't
a great team. They really and they know it too,
like they're going to do a mass. The one thing
I'll say about Hockey Canada, and I've been around it
since nineteen eighty nine, they do an amazing debrief whether
they win or lose. At every tournament internationally, they do
really at depth debriefs, and they'll find out from this
(31:28):
team in particular, which I think grossly underachieved, they just
weren't ready to play. I don't think their pre tournament
preparation was good. They did not have an intense enough
pre camp, which they usually do, but they did not
this year for whatever reason, and I think they made
it too easy on their players, and that's why we
saw some kids are acting like they were too cool
for school, and because of that, they didn't win Pierre.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Before we wrap up, as you mentioned, the Penguins host
New Jersey on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
That's their next game. What do you think of the
Devil so far?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
I know they've had some injury problems with Jack Hughes
having been out. He's back now, but they still don't
look like they've kicked in the gear do that. I
expected better, and I think the standings reflect that they
should be disappointed right.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Now, very disappointed. They and the New York Ranger are
two of the bigger disappointments in the Eastern Conference. There's
no question about it. The Devils went out, they spent money,
and they went out and signed players. They obviously were
really excited that Hughton Hesher is a one two punch
down the middle like Pittsburgh had for years with Malcolm
and Crosby. They thought they were really adding to their
(32:32):
defense and making it better. They've had some issues with
their goaltending, some of its injuries, some of us just
been haphazard play. And Sheldon Keith still really hasn't proven
that he's you know, winning NHL coach, So there's a
lot there. I would say this, the Devils don't make
the playoffs, that's going to be a big problem internally
(32:52):
and puts in New Jersey because they missed last year too.
And I don't know if they dealnership will be very
pleased if they missed a second year.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Pierre, you are the man.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
You know we should do You and me should We
should get our own country and have our own Olympic team.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I bet would do good.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
I would love to do that. Are you kidding me?
I would love to do that. Look at they had
a box sled team from Jamaica. Those guys were a
ton of fun. They made lots of money with the movie.
We could do something like that. I think it'd be good.
I'm all in. I'm all in.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Pier, you are the best. We'll do it again next week.
Enjoy the hockey.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I can't wait. Mark, thanks a lot, Have a great night, everybody.
Take care.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
That's Pierre Maguire. That's the best hockey talk anywhere. And
by the way, Eric Carlson tomorrow will be our tenth
Penguins player on the show this year. We're only at
the halfway point. We might get the whole roster. Great
hockey talk on this station. They ignore it everywhere else
in Pittsburgh. We do it the best by default, I suppose.
When I put it that way, Pierre brought to us
by always saying
As Tom and I were talking about, maybe Joey Porter
Junior covers Nico Collins, the number one wide out, who
is very good, and takes him out of the game.
Here's hoping because he can do it. Joey Porter Junior
has become a star. But in terms of how they
win this game, I don't know. I bet it's a
rock fight between two defensive minded coaches who don't mind.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
A rock fight, and maybe the Steelers win. That seems like.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
A decent bet that the Steelers have a good chance
to win this game for a mad team, which is
what they are. The worst bet is that Houston's edge
rushers kill Aaron Rodgers cill kill my landlord. I saw
somebody say that that Houston isn't ready and that CJ.
(00:49):
Stradi's too young, But the Texans won playoff games and
each of the last two years with CJ. Strod at quarterback.
Houston's defensive line it ain't good. Maybe the Steelers kill CJ. Stroud,
Maybe TJ. Watt no sacks. Got that deflected pick, but
(01:10):
no sacks against Baltimore. Yo, you're making forty one million
Jim teachers, step up, walk the aisle, do something. The
Steelers Z line is good, but that Houston defense is better.
Number one defense in the league, well, number one for yards,
number two for scoring. So I think the games would
toss up, honestly, wouldn't surprise, may be either team one.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So let's have fun. Let's hope the kickers keep missing.
That was exciting.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
People seem to think this holy water thing was funny, Father,
Maximilian or whoever do it again? Father, The power of
Christ compels you.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
The power of Christ compels you.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
I'm holding up across and Tom seems scared across the
console here. Penguins don't play till Thursday. Like I said,
we got Eric Carlston on the show tomorrow. That's gonna
be interesting. He's this crazy spaghetti with ketchup on it
for a pregame meal and Sweden in the Olympics, and
carl is having his best season as a Penguin. Don't
know why. Maybe it's to get pumped up for Sweden.
(02:11):
But he's doing good. Hat like two weeks where he sucked,
but the last games during this winning streak, he's gotten
back to business, played really well, very economical set up
Crosby in overtime, and the fact that they've gone on
a winning streak. I mean, how a hockey team does
often reflects how their best players do, and I think
(02:32):
Eric Carlson and how he's played recently is reflected in
that five game winning streak. By the way, Crosby got
the second Star of the Week in the NHL. I
don't know who got first, but he's not as good
as Crosby. Cam Hayward said something kind of dumb after
he played so well against the Baltimorens. He said, the
(02:53):
Steelers are quote unquote playing with house money now unquote.
Well again, that's him trying to get us to buy
into them having won a fake playoff game. But that's
the general attitude around here with a lot of people.
Hey Entire radio stations in this time spew populous nonsense.
(03:13):
Why can't Cam Heyward? But a lot of people just
think the year is a success now for the Steelers
because a rookie kicker missed a field goal for the
other team in a regular season game.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
And boy, that poor guy. I gotta give that guy.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Maybe Father Max or whatever the freak his name is,
maybe he can give that that Loop kid, the kicker
for Baltimore, the rookie some absolution because he absorbed wait
hold on Coverhill page Absolution Blues, great song. That loop
guy's absorbed a ton of really vicious abuse on social media.
(03:52):
That kid's classy faced the media at length after he
missed a kick. But Baltimore can't bring him back. He
can't kick for Baltimore again. That miss won't ever be forgotten.
You know, people talk about how the church and religion
do good for people.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I disagree. Here's the proof.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
That holy Water made a young guy Wollkie kick her
miss and now his life is ruined. Where is your
God now, Priest, that's organized religion for you. I'm surprised,
Father Maximilian and passed the collection plate because that's all
religions about.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
M O N E Y.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
By the way, that Benstonium guy, who's been kind of quiet,
like for a couple of years now, he used to
post a lot of really funny stuff videos and whatnot.
I haven't noticed lately, but he posted on Twitter a
bottle of Steelers holy Water with a logo, and I said, boy,
the runies won't be happy about that. Religious as they
(04:53):
protect I mean are and I didn't notice it was Benstonium,
and he got me. He got me.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I thought it was real.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Anyway, the number to call is eight three three four
one two WXDX for calls on the fifteens, which has
proven to be a very popular segment, albeit not yet sponsored.
But that speaks more about somebody else's failure. Uh, not mine. Boy,
Now I sound like who do I sound like? Sloughing?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Blame off? My show stinks? Nobody listens don't buy advertising.
Uh here's a Penguin note.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Because as listeners to this program note, Well, I'm a
Penguin fan. Uh, tried and true, born and bred since
I was six years old. But I don't like how
this has become a veterany team lately, like the fourth
line and what they contributed, how much they play, it's
(05:52):
become a big deal. Not that those guys with the
chari centering are performing very well. And by the way,
the reason that fourth line's good is because of a
chari okay, period, you know, he's like leto Lizotte. No,
Lizot's really they need both them for good fourth line.
They need both them. But anyway, if the playoffs are
(06:12):
the number one priority and not rebuilding.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Then okay, okay, go all in call up Morishoff from Wilkes.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Now he's been pulled a couple times lately at Wilkes,
but Morishoff is the best goaltender in the system.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Everyone with the Penguins knows that.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
We'll say that off the record, and it's pretty obvious
that shilloffs, ain't it.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
So if you are indeed.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Committed to making the playoffs for your fans and for
the locker room and for Sid's agent, then commit to
making the playoffs and call up your best goaltender. Don't
save this one little corner of your plan for development
and otherwise want to make the playoffs. Don't leave Morishoff
(06:57):
and Wilkes and play do or and scratch McGroarty because
that's nothing to do with rebuilding. That got me pissed,
But I know I'm ac groarty on the fourth line either,
And like I said, Muse loves that fourth line, and
full credit to all three of them guys, But nothing
will take the emphasis off rebuilding like a coach love
(07:18):
and a fourth line composed of veterans, because before you
know it, the coach makes that third that fourth line,
your third line.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Calls on the.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Fifteens up next. If you want to sponsor it. You know,
here's what we'll do. You call me, well, I'll pick
some money on the side. That violates FCC regulations. But
I can live with that. I can live with that.
And if you violate FCC regulations, you don't go to jail.
You just, I don't know, get chewed out. I've been
chewed out before. Five nine the x G.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
It's time out for calls on the fifteens.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
If we get more calls. We got one and we'll
get the night in the second. But calling now you
can get in a three three four one two wxdx.
That's a three three four one two wxdx. I'm not
sure when I'm going to play that SoundBite with with
the podcast James Harrison and Joe Hayden where they talk
about Joe Burrow hates the Steelers.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Joe Burrow has played six years.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
He's played in the Super Bowl, He's played in an
additional conference championship game, won two division championships. He's done
better than the Steelers during those six years. Why would
he hate the Steelers? He certainly wouldn't be jealous. We
think the whole football world revolves around Pittsburgh. It did
in the seventies, and it did a little bit during
(08:45):
the prime of Ben's tenure.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Right now, the Steelers are just enhancement talent. Their job. Guys,
pin me pay me.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I had somebody give me crap on Twitter because I said,
I assume why like they said, I don't care about
my community.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I guess because I just said I would.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I would rather interview Paul McCartney for five minutes than
see the Steelers win the Super Bowl this year. I
don't care about the community. No, you don't understand what
the community is. You think the community just revolves around
Akroscher effing Stadium and that hypo psychoid logo. It doesn't
don't care about the community. I do a scholarship fund
(09:27):
for kids at North Hills High School. I run a
deck hockey tournament every year to raise money for the
Mary Lemoeux Foundation. All the money from my cameo and
my fifty years no cups fly or T shirt sales
go to charity. I do a bunch of stuff you
don't even know about. And I'm gonna get involved with
animal rescue too. You don't even understand what the community is.
(09:50):
You think it revolves around football and if your community
revolves solely are on football. Words cannot express how pathetic
you are. But let's take some calls. Let's go to
Nate your own double m mark.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Good to hear from you. Always a pleasure to hear
about your charitable giving.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Right because I willed it like a club. What do
you got?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Uh? The yab hit is on ESPN and we're talking
about how great of a coaching candidate Kevin.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Is think is I think he is?
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Do you where do you think he would be best
served in the NFL in in his next venture?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Tom and I were talking about that. I think Atlanta
has a good base with Bijon. I think Vegas Pete
Carroll just turned out to be too old. I'm sure
those guys didn't take him seriously and probably barely remembered
who he was. So I would say the jobs open
right now Atlanta and Vegas. I definitely wouldn't go to
New York, definitely want to go to Arizona, and I
(10:49):
might wait to see what other jobs might open up.
I think if Baltimore opens up and they fire Harborm,
I think Stefanski would be an attractive candidate they are
due to his familiarity with the vision in his offensive mindset.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
That might make even more out of Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Like most things in Cleveland, they don't know what they
have till it's gone. Well.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, the ownership screwed the Browns up, not Kevin Stefanski.
And I'm very serious when I say I would fire
Tomlin as soon as they lose in the playoffs and
hire Kevin Stefanski. I saw some people saying thank you
for the call. I saw some people saying they should
hire Stefanski is the offensive coordinator and have him be
the coaching waiting for Tomlin. Why would Stefanski want to
(11:32):
do that? And why would Tomlin want to do that? Although,
like I said earlier, I've been told by somebody who
would know heard it last night confronted with somebody else,
there's a better chance Tomlin doesn't coach next year than
I think, whatever that means. I still think he's going
to coach next year, but I've been told there is
a chance he wants.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Let's go to Eric. Eric, you're on with Mark.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Double big big can right on? Hey, who of the
three Pittsburgh sports teams do you think has the best
chance of winning the next playoff game or series.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
The Steelers because they play Monday.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Do you think they got a chance.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, I think they will win.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think Houston is not the worst matchup possible and
Monday night at home.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I don't know. Just see.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
I hate to buy into a storybook narrative, and this
is kind of the anti storybook for Steeler fans.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I think it would figure if the Steelers won.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
What Tom wind coach ten more years, brought Rogers back
next year and didn't come close to winning a Super
Bowl for another decade. Let's go to Tom. Tom you're
all with Mark? Good day, Mark, I said, good day? Uh,
just one of the well full disclosure.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I've been a loyal listener for a while, but my
schedule changed and I haven't been able to suit in
for a little over a year. And I am shocked.
You on the knowes, Oh.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
You got to say?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
How positive? Go ahead on the Steelers?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
You are?
Speaker 3 (13:04):
I just wondered what it was.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
On the Steelers.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
I think they're gonna be Houston. That's as far as
I'll go. No, they're an organization that's clueless. They have
a forty two year old quarterback they're gonna bring back.
They have a coach that didn't want a playoff game
in eight years they're gonna bring back. I mean, I
think they might be Houston, but I don't think that
translates to optimism. I think the organization never looks past
the next game, and I think that's added up to
biting them in the backside.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
This is the Mark Madden I know and love of
saying no.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
No, The mark man you know in law is objective
and tells the truth. I'm not a populist homer like
almost everybody else in the sports media in this time.
This is the only place you can go to get
the truth. There's no question about that. The only place
you can go to get the truth. Let's go to Maddie. Maddie,
what's up?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
What up?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Big SUSI what up? So?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
I just want to first start off by saying, I
find your criticism the Steelers very refreshing.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I find it very accurate.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
I do as well. I work with a lot of
zers and they're just in the clouds.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
So I did some quick math and.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Basically, what makes five point eight six million per sack?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Would you would you say that's worth the money?
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (14:25):
I knew he wouldn't be the money he's making now
is for what he's done in the past. They never
should have extended his contract. They should have made him
play out his current contract and then you should have
franchised him as his play dictates, which it it doesn't really,
but but yeah, I said this would happen, and it did,
and nobody wants to hear that. They didn't want to
hear it. Then let's go to Jeff. Jeff, you're on
(14:46):
with Double M.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Hey, Mark, how are you?
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I'm great?
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
This morning I was listening to one of the other
talk radio shows.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
How dare you?
Speaker 3 (14:57):
I know, while you weren't on, So they were defending
DK Metcalf's actions and says, you should have never gone.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
To Of course they do that other station and they're
being successful, but they are just populous homers. It's yay Steelers, Yay,
except they don't talk about the Penguins at all. They
just talk about the Steelers twenty four to seven Steelers.
They throw a bone to Pitt in the Pirates once
in a while this time of year because they're the flagship.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
But yeah, they're they're populous homers.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
What was sterritating? They were comparedness of Lamar Jackson with
the fans hit him on the head walking back to
the locker room.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
This is old news. I'm tired of it.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Up next, we're gonna talk hockey with Peer Maguire one
O five to nine.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
This is former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn. Here's what's
trending from the iHeart Sports Network, presented by Austin Steelers.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Wide out TK metcalf is back with the team after
we served that two game suspension. It's forgetting set to
houst Houston in the playoffs on Monday Night. College basketball,
it rolls on tonight with West Virginia hosting Cincinnati, while
Penn State looks to upset top rank Michigan and the
blockbuster trades on the horizon in the NBA with the
Hawks and four time All Star guard Trey Young working
(16:03):
on ad all to get him out of Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
How's Scott David said? Wish you could save on home
insurance with all? Have a good time, Toe got told
got the exit.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
One O five nine.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
It's time now for the best hockey talk anywhere with
a guest who's done everything there is to do in
the greatest game.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
He is Pierre Maguire. Pierre.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Five wins in a row for the Penguins. What's propelling
them and what has changed if anything.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Oh, I just think there's a whole lot of useful energy.
There was some emergency mark and one of the biggest
thing is there's some stability and goal right now. I
love the way Saint Ivany and Shay have come together
as a tandem. I really like the acquisition of Kulak
coming over from Edmonton. He's been the perfect calming effect
for chrys Latang and so I think the defense is
(16:51):
starting a round in the forum. You know, obviously they
missed a guinea Knlkin, but you can see getting Blake
lazattack is really giving them a lot of depth, and
he and Connor Dudall and Norah Chari have made a
big difference for that team. So I think it's organizational depth.
I think it's really good chemistry on the back end,
some very good depth and goal and it looks to
me like they're having fun playing hockey.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Pierre.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I don't want to look at gift towards them off
because I'm excited by this five game winning streak, But
are they becoming to veterany You talk about that line
a Charie Deer and was that they're playing good, but
is it at the expense of the kids getting ice time?
I just have mixed emotions about the way the talent's
being deployed.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Well, here's the one thing I'd say. The one kid
that's probably in out of the lineup is record Majroorty.
I don't see him as being a depth player in
the National Hockey League. I don't see Ben Kindall being
a depth player in the National Hockey League. The acquisition
of China Kopp was to get points, not to be
a depth player. So I don't see any of those
guys being in the role of Connor Duer or Blake
(17:55):
Zott or Noela Chari. They all got a lot of
gray in their beard. They all been around the league
a long time, but they all accept their role as
depth players. Nol Charitie scores a huge goal against Columbus
the other day to queue the comeback. But I would
tell you this is that the kids that you have there,
that's not going to be their long term jobs. So
I don't really know if you're punishing the kids right now.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Not punishing, but I don't know.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
I mean, what's gonna bother me is when Tommy Novak's
in the lineup in McGroarty or even Cloyvenen aren't because
Novak is the kind of player that the kids are
trying to be, but he has no upside and the
kids do.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
That's so that one's fair and I would see do that,
and I would see more of Tommy Novak is a
winger rather than a center iceman. But I think because
of the injury to Malcolm he is there right now.
But no, that's that is a very fair point, and
I could totally see you that you win that side
of the argument.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
What's your early returns on?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Chinakov got a nice gool with Detroit, great pass from Kendall.
Sometimes that's new guy energy. But then again, he's getting
opportunity with Pittsburgh he just wasn't going to get in.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Columbus, and he's trying to TPW prove people wrong. And
that's the biggest thing with him right now because the
guy that drafted him in Columbus arm Pika Lion, and
he's the general manager of the Buffalo Sabers right now,
So all his internal infrastructure of guys who believed in him,
they're no longer there in Columbus, So this is his
(19:18):
next best opportunity and hopefully he takes advantage of it.
The biggest thing with him is you gotta find the
offense with consistency. If he's not a consistent offensive player,
I don't know how he makes your team better, and
that's going to be the biggest test for him.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
The Penguin survived, albeit barely, with him getting Malkin out
of the lineup. It looks like he's going to return
for Thursday night's game. Pierre, how much of a boost
will he give them? And in retrospect, I mean, you
don't want him to miss games hurt, But him getting
that time off and them getting arrest during the Olympic
break too, is that going to give him more in
the tank come the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
Oh yes, I think those are really valid points. And
the biggest thing about playing against New Jersey on Thursday,
you get Malcolm back, then you get the big body
presence of malk and Math and Brazil, and then Crosby,
Ruff and Rituel can go to work and that creates
more of that death that you want better slotting for
your team, and then maybe you don't see it Tommy
(20:15):
nomach Er, maybe Tommy Novak goes Indieger in the lineup.
I don't know. But to me, the biggest thing is
Gino was playing as well as I've seen him playing
in the last few years. You could see he's got
more pace in his game, he's got more urgency, and
he was having a ton of fun playing with Math
and Brazil. There's no question he was.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I'm sure they will.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
But would you pop Malkin right back between Mantha and
Brazil one hundred percent?
Speaker 3 (20:36):
That's why I brought it up. I wouldn't even waste
time if he was a kid and Neil pit was
just learning that the NHL, Like Ben Kndall, I probably
wouldn't do that with a player like Geno malk And
he's not going to be overwhelmed by any situation, especially
with the way he was playing. I haven't seen him
train obviously in the last little while, just because of
the injury. But if he's back and playing the same
(20:58):
way he was before he got hurt, that's really good
news for the Payouns.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Pierre, you said earlier the goaltending is stabilized, and I
agree with that for the most part. But is it
Morishoff the best goalie in the system. If they're making
the playoffs of a priority, shouldn't he be called up
at some point?
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Oh, at some point, I think you will. I think
you will. I just think right now, they're trying to
stabilize all situations in the organization, stabilize the goaltending position,
and to stabilize your defense. Get Wolf straight back winning
with consistency. I know they've had some problems doing that
the last a little while, So no, I think obviously
they're definitely working towards having that long term mark. And
(21:37):
you know this better than anybody. Long term, he's going
to be the goalie at Pittsburgh Panals.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Yeah, I'd just like to see it maybe in the
short term.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
We're talking to Pierre Maguire, brought to us by always
Say Flagging and traffic Control. Pierre, I love the wins
at Detroit and Columbus because they were so opposite ends
of the spectrum. Big defensive effort at Detroit, then big
comeback at Columbus.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Oh, the thing de Troit is unbelievable. I've been watching
Detroit and coaching against Detroit for a long time. I've
never seen him held the twelve shots on goal like
Pittsburgh did. That was mind shattering. That was phenomenal. And
then to do what they did in Columbus with the
come from behind them and they're getting it from all sorts.
I mean, Tommy Novak can talk about him on the
power play with the one timer, Noela Charity with a
(22:20):
big goal off of Columbus turnover, he's in alone, you know,
Sidney Crowby, I don't know if that was on purpose
or not, that line change where they caught Charlie Coyle
out of position, but it was a thing of beauty
to win an overtime. There was a lot going on
in that game from Pittsburgh and they had to show
a lot of resolve and they did do that. So
I was really impressed by that. But beating Detroit, you know,
(22:41):
on that home and home series, Mark I think has
really helped set this team up in terms of confidence.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
No, No, I think so too.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
And I think that defensive effort at Detroit as well,
because now they know they can do it. Pierre, like,
from your coach's standpoint, put your coaches hat on. What
did they do with Detroit to limit the Red Wings?
The twelve shots? Was there anything different or was it
just execution of what they usually do.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I think the neutral zone was a lot better one
of the things when you played Detroit, and I saw
that last night when they were playing in Ottawa. When
they get their quick countercam going and they dominated with
the speed and the temple of the game. They're a
hard team to play against because then they can accelerate
the pace from the back end with most Sider or
San dene Pellica. But if you stabilize the neutrals on
and forced them to play a shooting in a retrieval game,
(23:26):
they're not nearly as good at that. And I thought
Pittsburgh did a really good job of doing that against
Detroit the other night.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
We're gonna have Eric Carlson on the program tomorrow. Pierre,
I think this has been the best of his three
seasons in Pittsburgh, and he had a rough couple of weeks,
but he's done much better the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
What has made this season better for.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
Him here Parker Waterston. Parker's been so good for him
because Parker doesn't need to get points. He's just gonna
play home. Eric knows you've got a steady partner Eric's
gonna get the puck and transported. I think the power
play presence from Eric knowing that he's the number one guy.
He's been very important for him And what I like
(24:05):
the most the other night when they wanted Columbus on
the comeback, watched the reaction of Carlson and Crosby after
the goal. We weren't seeing that the first two years
because the team wasn't playing well, they weren't relevant, and
I think there was a whole lot of frustration. Now
all of a sudden, everybody's coming together. And I think
one of the most motivating things for Eric Carlson this
(24:27):
year being a member of the Swedish Olympic team, and
he knew he was not a led pipe since to
make it unless he had a good start to the
year and was a good teammate and a good organization man.
And I think he's done all those things and you
could see Crosby respects that and his teammates respect that.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
You know where else he's been a big help and
it showed on that goal. Pier on a team, to
be very honest, it doesn't really get how to play
three on three.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
He's a master at it. Isn't he.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
He always has been And that such a good call
by you, because that's absolutely true. The big Eric car
he's a right hand shot. He's probably better playing on
the left than he is on the right, by the way,
because he likes to He's a lot like Paul Coffee.
He likes to cross over right over left when he's
skating with the buck, not left over right. And if
you ever watch him play on the right side, especially
(25:14):
when he was starting in Ottawa, he had such a
hard time defending because he couldn't pivot and turn. He's
a guy that you have to put him in situations
where he's really comfortable. If you ever get a chance, Mark,
or your viewers or your listeners get a chance, go
watch some of the gold medal game between Sweden and
Canada from the twenty fourteen Winner Olympics in Sochie. Crosby's
(25:36):
playing for Canada and it's a great Canadian team and
Carlson's playing for Sweden. The best player for Sweden in
that tournament and in that game in particular, was Eric
Carlson s He was dominant, He was absolutely dominant, but
they didn't have enough and Canada was just overpoweringly good.
But I think back to those times and I remember
just how great he was, and you know, it looks
(25:57):
like he's got He's real kindled a lot of that
enthusiasmic that he had back then when from about twenty
eleven to about twenty fifteen, he was a dominant player in.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
The league in that main Pierre and I'm a big fan,
and I know you are to have everybody involved with
assembling the US Olympic team, but I'm disappointed with the roster.
No Hudson, no Robertson, and they left off a lot
of scoring in speed I thought to be big and heavy.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I'm disappointed in no Lane Hudson. I'm really disappointed in
no Jason Robertson. And I won't even pretend I think
Cole Coffield is vastly underrated. If you need to go,
look at what Montreal has done with him. Cole Coffee
and Lane Hudson and Nick Suzuki. That's why the Canadians
aren't where they are in the standings right now. If
they don't have those three guys, they're not even relevant.
(26:43):
They're not a playoff team. Those guys make that big
a difference. So I was really surprised on Lane, really
really surprised. And you know, I don't want to ever
usurp would be rude to any of the players that
have made the team. So I'm not going to drop
names with their two defense on that roster that Lane
Husson's a better player than and I just I don't
(27:04):
understand that part of it. And Robertson probably merits being
on there too. Here's I'll give you one name though, Mark,
I'm telling you you know it, but most of the
fans don't. This Matt Boldie is something else.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Yeah, he's amazing and very quietly so, but amazing.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
And I'm telling you right now, he's probably gonna play
we Loston Matthews at the tournament to start anyway, and
I would expect, well everybody's expecting the to Chucks and
and uh Jack Eichel to be dominant. I think Austin
Matthews maybe with Kyle Connor and Matt Bowley could end
up being the best line for the United States. We'll see,
We'll see how it goes. But this Matt Boldie is
(27:43):
something else. He's really a special player.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Who's the favorite I would say Canada except for the goaltending,
but I also understand that Bennington can wind it up
in big games.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
I think the dark horse team to win is Swedens.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Me too, Me too.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
We just saw the within the World Junior and there
are a lot of people with Hockey Canadon, a lot
of people in the USA Hockey not too pleased about that.
But the Sreeds were really good. They were full value.
They deserve a lot of credit, and I would not
be surprised. The last time the Olympics were in Italy
two thousand and six, I broadcast a gold medal game
with the great and legendary Doc Emrick and John Davidson,
(28:21):
and the Swedes beat the Finns in the gold medal game.
And the Swedes were full value. They had a great
goalie and Henrik Lundquist, they had autome defense led by
Nick Lidstrom, and they had amazing offensive firepower. But the
guy that took the games over was Matt Sundeen. And
I see a lot of the same kind of stuff
going on with this Swedes team now and it's in Italy.
(28:41):
Maybe they like the pasta, maybe they win the goal.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Pierre. I agree.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
In fact, if you made me pick a final, I
would pick Canada and Sweden. And Sweden as in the
World Juniors, their adept at sneaking in when other teams
are getting all the attention is favorites, aren't they. And
I also think Sweden has deceptively good goaltending.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
They're so good at what you just said. They're absolutely
awesome at that. They are the masters of being under
the radar and taking advantage of it. They're underspoken, but
they always over delivers. It's amazing. So I'm a big fan.
I spent a lot of time in Sweden over the
course of my career, and I do some consulting work
(29:21):
for a company over there right now, at Hockey Company.
And I got to tell you, Mark, they're a factor.
You know. They used to say Penn State was linebacker.
You well, I can tell you this. It's becoming defenceman country.
Is Sweden's coming from Sweden, It's unbelievable. I'll give their defention.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
R Pier.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I do want to talk a bit about World Juniors,
the US and Canada. I don't want to say they
disappointed because in a single elimination tournament where all the
teams are pretty good, especially in the playoffs, anything can happen,
but I was surprised that neither made the final.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
I was really disappointed team Canada. It was their behavior
wasn't very good. They were undisciplined. Their best game that
they played the whole tournament was the last game. You
got to win to get the bronze medals, you got
to lose to get the silver. So I'll give them
full value for that. And if you look at their
team picture, you can see even though they played probably
(30:17):
their best game in the tournament in their last game,
they weren't happy with the bronze. So I totally understand
that and I respect that element to it. But they
started the tournament with I think really bad discipline, yes,
and I didn't like it, and I think it set
the tone for them. So I'm not surprising. Terms of
the US, I did not have them being a medal
(30:38):
winning team this year. I did not, and so they
this is one of those weird years where it's just
it's sicklical. They'll be back and ready to play for
gold next year.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
And you're right about Canada, because some junior tournaments and
these are you know, teenagers for the most part, we
should remember that. But Canada shows up to be the
swashbuckling bad guys and they lose the plot. And I thought,
like you said, it happened early in that tournament. They
never got the plot back, did they.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
No, they did not. They had one great game and
it was against Denmark. But outside of that, they weren't
a great team. They really and they know it too,
like they're going to do a mass. The one thing
I'll say about Hockey Canada, and I've been around it
since nineteen eighty nine, they do an amazing debrief whether
they win or lose. At every tournament internationally, they do
really at depth debriefs, and they'll find out from this
(31:28):
team in particular, which I think grossly underachieved, they just
weren't ready to play. I don't think their pre tournament
preparation was good. They did not have an intense enough
pre camp, which they usually do, but they did not
this year for whatever reason, and I think they made
it too easy on their players, and that's why we
saw some kids are acting like they were too cool
for school, and because of that, they didn't win Pierre.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Before we wrap up, as you mentioned, the Penguins host
New Jersey on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
That's their next game. What do you think of the
Devil so far?
Speaker 1 (31:58):
I know they've had some injury problems with Jack Hughes
having been out. He's back now, but they still don't
look like they've kicked in the gear do that. I
expected better, and I think the standings reflect that they
should be disappointed right.
Speaker 3 (32:10):
Now, very disappointed. They and the New York Ranger are
two of the bigger disappointments in the Eastern Conference. There's
no question about it. The Devils went out, they spent money,
and they went out and signed players. They obviously were
really excited that Hughton Hesher is a one two punch
down the middle like Pittsburgh had for years with Malcolm
and Crosby. They thought they were really adding to their
(32:32):
defense and making it better. They've had some issues with
their goaltending, some of its injuries, some of us just
been haphazard play. And Sheldon Keith still really hasn't proven
that he's you know, winning NHL coach, So there's a
lot there. I would say this, the Devils don't make
the playoffs, that's going to be a big problem internally
(32:52):
and puts in New Jersey because they missed last year too.
And I don't know if they dealnership will be very
pleased if they missed a second year.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Pierre, you are the man.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
You know we should do You and me should We
should get our own country and have our own Olympic team.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I bet would do good.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
I would love to do that. Are you kidding me?
I would love to do that. Look at they had
a box sled team from Jamaica. Those guys were a
ton of fun. They made lots of money with the movie.
We could do something like that. I think it'd be good.
I'm all in. I'm all in.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Pier, you are the best. We'll do it again next week.
Enjoy the hockey.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I can't wait. Mark, thanks a lot, Have a great night, everybody.
Take care.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
That's Pierre Maguire. That's the best hockey talk anywhere. And
by the way, Eric Carlson tomorrow will be our tenth
Penguins player on the show this year. We're only at
the halfway point. We might get the whole roster. Great
hockey talk on this station. They ignore it everywhere else
in Pittsburgh. We do it the best by default, I suppose.
When I put it that way, Pierre brought to us
by always saying
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