December 3, 2025 • 36 mins
Tim Benz is in for Mark. Paul Zeise joins the show Tyler Kennedy talks Penguins
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
This segment brought to us by eighty four lumber Dynasty
partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Paul 'sis from the PG
joining me right now and Paul. Before we get into
Steelers conversation, Tom and I were speaking in the first
hour of the show about how this year, with the
state of college football transfer portals, kids not sticking to
their commitments, how little National Signing Day means now as
(00:27):
opposed to what it did, say ten, fifteen, twenty years ago.
And it got me thinking, were you one of the
poor SAPs who like me, had to go out for
the Terrell Prior thing a long time ago in a
galaxy far far away.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
No, because I was covering pitt at the time, so
I had to do the dog and Pony show that
that was down a pit at Heinz Field that day.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I don't miss what National Signing Do is at all.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I do not miss that day in terms of coverage
one I owe, and I'm guessing you don't either.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
No, I don't say. I don't know how anybody can.
I mean, first of all, I was trying to think
of who the other guy was that I actually had
to go. Oh, I remember, so do you remember uh boy,
I forget his name, but he had a commitment party
at a restaurant down on the South Side and he
showed up in a bright pink suit and everybody thought
(01:25):
he was going to Pin and he committed to Miami.
It was a big ordeal. What was the name of
that restaurant, It's no longer there.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Paparazzi's I think, Oh, I remember paparazzis. I don't remember
the player though.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yes, it came from North Hills. What was his name?
Oh my goodness, he was running back. I could see
his face. But he So he has this big ordeal
where he shows up at this party or whatever it was,
in a pink suit, and of course, you know, most
of the people down there are expecting him to sign
with PIT or whatever, commit the PIT, and he commits
to Miami. And it went really well for because he
(02:00):
finished his career like Kent or Akron or something. But
either way, yeah, I always hated signing day. I always
hated going through the you know, the the we we
all we knew pretty much who their commitments were, but
you know, we had to act like you know this
that they had just signed. You know, the greatest class ever, Oh, I.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Just I just remember the Tarrell Prior thing and then
you know he doesn't make his decision in Treill Prior
Day turned into Tarrell Prior Week and we had to
try to get sound bites through Charlie Batch speaking on
his behalf.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It was just it was like, didn't it go like
two weeks or something?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
I thought it was at least a week, at least
a week, And I remember like, didn't ESPN have satellite
trucks and Jeanette like ready to stream the announcement live
and it just never happened. And they had of it
was Herbie or they had like some major college football
guy or two out there ready to lead Sports Center
with it, and it never happened.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I just I remember that fiasco.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I remember Anthony Morelli and his comment, I'm so happy
that this day has gotten diluted. If there's one positive
residue about how college football is going gone astray here
from what the way we remember it, the fact that
National Signing Day is much smaller, like by ninety five
percent smaller than what it used to be.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I'm thrilled about that.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Well, and I think one of the big big things
I'll tell you that you know that everybody is going
on and on it because you know, Penn State only
had like four guys or something today because of what's
going on with their coaching staff. I mean, it really
doesn't matter. I mean, it matters, but it doesn't matter
anymore like it used to. Like you said, it used
to matter more, but now, I mean, you know, as
(03:39):
long as they hire a guy in the next you know,
three weeks, there's that window in January where they're gonna
go get the real players anyway, because they're all portal kids.
So you know, that just goes to show you how
little signing Day actually really means these days, because you know,
it's great that you get these freshman guys incoming freshmen. Boy,
(04:00):
how many of them are going to be on your
team in two years, you know what I mean, that's
the that's the thing about it, and that's why it
is so deluded. And the other part of it is
all of these guys are now trying to build their
programs by going and get transferred guys so you can
do it, you know, I mean, obviously you want to
try and get the best players you can to come
into your your program, but there's no guarantee there staying
(04:22):
for more than a year or two or whatever, So
it means a heck of a lot less to your point.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Well, is it gonna be great when Mike Tomlin heads
out to State College and fixes everything with Penn State?
As Ben Roethlisberger suggested, Well, you remember a couple.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Of years ago when he took exception to his name
being connected with.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Well, I remember, I asked the question, yes, I remember, yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
He said something about, you know, go ask Andy Reid
about college jobs or something like, well.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
No, he said, there is There isn't a booster with
a check big enough. And then he got really indignant
about it and said, why doesn't anybody ask Andy Reid?
And I can't remember who well he cited, but oh,
Sean Payton. I think it was right. I do remember
that everybody he cited did at one point or another
get asked about college jobs during their NFL tenure. I
(05:14):
found articles, I found quotes linking Andy Reid to BYU.
Sean Payton was asked while he was the Saints coach
if he'd be interested in LSU. Bill Cower was asked
about NC State and there was another coach that might have.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Been Pete Carroll. Now because Pete Carroll did go back
and forth.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
There was another coach he mentioned that did get asked
about a college job.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
So it happens. It happens to every coach.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
And that's the only thing that took me back about
his response that I knew he kind of used me
as a prop to get his point across because I
asked the question. But other coaches have been asked, and Ben,
I think was just kind of spitballing when he said that.
But now it's taken wing and everybody's talking about it.
It's on the front page of ESPN dot com, right right.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I mean again, I think that's what happens, though, you know,
I mean, you know, it's it's kind of funny if
you think about it. Ben Roethlisberger's podcast, I mean, it's
I don't know, forty five minutes or whatever it is.
You know, there's a lot of stuff in it that
I could live without. You know, they tell you and
they start talking about deer and everything else and all
(06:22):
this other stuff. But he's always good for one or
two of these.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Things that goes viral, isn't he Yes, he is.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And that's no different than when he played. Really, if
you think about it, it's no different than when he
played because when he played, he was really good at
doing that as well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
The other thing that I'm seizing on and I'm letting
everybody else sees on when again, he kin kind of
said this is a transition to get a greater point across,
just like he did with the Penn State thing.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
But when he said build him a.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Statue or whatever, like, I don't think he literally meant
he needs a statue. But the greater talking point though,
is Paul, why does it have to come down to now?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
The newest to what are the Steelers going to do
with Tomlin?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Is?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Most people seem to be on board with the notion
that it's time to move on now, But it's how
do you do it? How do you do it in
a civil manner? How do you do it where Mike's
gonna be okay with it?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Who cares?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
If he's gonna lose his job and he deserves to
lose his job in the eyes of the owner, then
the owner should just feel free to fire him.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
It's his team. It doesn't have to be a neat
and tidy right.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, that's the point. The point to me is it's
it's absolutely you know, I've taken the nickname teflon Tomlin
because you know, nothing is his fault at all. And
this idea that somehow his won Super Bowl seventeen years ago,
(07:47):
that somehow, you know, qualifies him for a contract for
life and he gets to be treated with kid gloves
for the rest of his life. That's absolutely silly to me.
I mean, guys, I mean put it this way. In
New England they fired the best guy ever and it
was it was pretty ugly actually, you know, and to
(08:07):
the point where the guy is now a college coach
and won't let New England come counts players. I mean,
what are we talking about here. That's the way it is.
That's the cutthroat business.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
The thing about it.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
And I got into this and Mike de coursi earlier
it's a bad year to advance the Well, who else
are you going to get argument for Tomlin? When there
are numerous first time or brand new with their team
coaches in playoff position right now? Who else you to
get I don't know, somebody who gets you back to
the playoffs and maybe gets you a home game and
you win a game for a change. That's who you know,
(08:40):
it was who else you're gonna get with cowor it
was who else were you to get with Tomlin? And
it's two guys over forty years, so they'll get somebody else.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
That's who.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I mean exactly. I mean, that's what I think is
one of the things that I'll never ever understand is
the idea that, well, you can't replace the guy. And
you know what, my answer to that to him is
always It's always the same answer in my in my
mind at least, and that is Okay. When someone says, well,
who are you going to replace him with? I say,
(09:11):
how about how about the next Mike Tomlins? Well, what
do you mean? Well, uh, let's just say this. When
Bill Kauer said that he was leaving or was retiring, Right,
if I gave a thousand Steeler fans a list and
said give me your top twenty candidates, which means we
had add twenty thousand names, would Mike Commin's name have
(09:32):
been in any of those one He wouldn't have. No
one who was No nobody knew who he was, nobody
cared who he was. And at the end of the day,
you know what he turned out to do a pretty
good job. And you know, I'm not gonna sit here
and say he hasn't done a good job. But you know,
there's a difference between doing a good job and there's
you know, getting to a point where maybe it's time.
(09:52):
And I think that's where we probably are here with
respect to him.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I wrote a column yesterday or said that there were
sixty eight eighty six people at Akroscher Stadium that heard
the fire Tom win Chance, and then I walked it
back and I said, well, actually it's only sixty eight
thousand and sixty seven because Artwordy the second didn't hear him.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Am I right about that? Or am I wrong? Do
you think he did hear?
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Do you think he will pay attention or is this
just something that is white noise to him as is
normally the case.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
No, I think that he probably he might have heard,
but he'll never acknowledge that he heard. Do you know
what I mean. That's just one of those things where
I just say, you know, he's never going to acknowledge
that ever. And I think that he is. It's just
his sort of the way that he goes about doing
(10:45):
his things. He likes it always buttoned up. I mean
He's a lawyer, isn't He's a lawyer. So at the
end of the day, that's what he wants, and he
wants a nice, big, happy family. And so if you
asked him, he would say, well, oh, no, you know
I didn't or that. I mean, I, you know, get
things in my inbox from time to time. But I
think generally people are you know, you know, just like us.
(11:07):
We'd like it to be better, but we know it
could be worse. That's going to be the talking.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Paul before we go.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
How do they fix this after what happened against Buffalo
between now and when they play Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I guess the answer is they don't.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
They can't fix what happened against Buffalo against the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
How do they work around it? How do they overcome it?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Can they or do they just hope that the Ravens
stub their toe as the Steelers have done to themselves
six times over and twelve tries.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Well, I mean, I think they have to play. They
really have to figure out that they're not going to
be this great defensive team that they think they are
and maybe just maybe see if they can allow the
offense to play a little bit differently, right, because at
the end of the day, I don't think they're going
to be able to shut down the Ravens, just like
(12:04):
they couldn't really shut down the running game of the
you know, the the Bills. So to me, how about
allow your offense to do more than just try and
you run up the middle and run about three or
four plays and then chuck one.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Up for hope.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Right, how about that? How about actually be a little
bit more aggressive and sort of let your quarterback maybe
dictate some things on the field and see what happens.
Because I think they got us score points in order
to win this game, and well, from what I've seen,
their offense is absolutely awful.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
All right, Paul, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
We'll do it again soon, all right, my man. He
we'll talk Paul's Ice.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
From the Post Gazette with Mark Badden every Wednesday at
four pm, brought to us by eighty four Lumber Dynasty,
partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I want to investigate this Bills versus Ravens.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Thing and how the Steelers are going to combat it
a little bit more in depth.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
We'll do that next.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
You can call into what Ben Roethlisberger said about Penn State.
I think he was just saying it in passing, spitballing extemporaneously.
He might have meant it, but I don't think he
meant it like Mike Tomlin's gonna take the Penn State shop.
I'd love to hear from Penn State fans what you
thought when you heard that eight three, three, four one
two ninety nine thirty nine. We had a lot of
(13:20):
calls in the previous hour about Tomlin, the Steelers, the
state of their coaching situation, et cetera. I really didn't
get a Penn State fan to get a first hand view,
a Penn State view of what Roethlisberger said. There got
a lot of people talking about the statue thing. No,
Mike Tomlin isn't really getting a statue again. I think
(13:41):
that was a transitional thought to get him to a
bigger point from Roethlisberger. But the bigger point is one
I'm not concerned about. I don't care about Mike Tomlin's feelings.
If I'm the coach of a team that's six and
eleven in its last seventeen games and the owner wants
to fire me, if aren't Rudy the same. I can, ever,
gets to the point that he actually wants to fire Tomlin.
(14:03):
He shouldn't have to build him a statue first. He
shouldn't have to come to a mutual agreement with them.
He shouldn't have to work out a trade with the
Giants unless they benefit from him and they do get
like the number three overall pick.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
If they can, great, But if Rooney.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Feels like it's time to move on, there should be
no obligation to make it go smoothly.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
What do you think again?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Eight three, three, four, one two nine thirty nine, And
I'll get it to the Ravens game, specifically when we
come back one oh five nine.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
The x K yeah, fark, welcome Shotott Well, Oney Pitating,
Dusty Road, Tomican dream, so be it baby the.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Ex at one oh five nine. The Pittsburgh Steelers run
defense stinks.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Many times this year that statement has been proven true,
like over the first three weeks the season, when it
allowed four hundred and eighteen yards to the New York Jets,
the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots, or when Chase
Brown of the Bengals raced out to one hundred and
eight and ninety nine yards in his two games against
(15:11):
the Steelers, his top two totals of the year, by
the way through ten weeks, Or when Camani Vidal put
up ninety five yards in Los Angeles without the team's
top three tackles available, or when the Buffalo Bills gashed
the Steelers for two hundred and forty nine yards at
Akroshur Stadium last week, that's enough evidence to make a
(15:34):
strong case to defend the thesis statement the Steelers run
defense sucks. Then again, this is the same unit that
held Jonathan Taylor to forty five yards and the vaunted
Bears rushing attack to ninety nine yards when the average
one fifty three. So at times, the Steelers rush defense
(15:57):
has proven capable. And Mike Tomlin went through a litany
of reasons why things have been up and down for
the Steelers talking about player availability on Tuesday, talking about
the schematics of the teams that they play against, the
game plans set forth by those teams on those given weeks, etc.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Etc.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
And now few of those variables that he referenced are
in play Sunday when the Steelers play the Ravens. Derek
Harmon is out again with a knee ailment, and he
appeared to be a big reason why the run defense
got better after his first game in Week three, and
he has been on the field, granted for some of
those poor outings that I just referenced, but he's also
(16:43):
been instrumental in the good ones and was noticeable by
his absence Sunday versus the Bills. Another X factor has
been the opponent, like Tomlin said, so he's right about
that too. This week with Baltimore coming up, that's a
massive variable because it was Baltimore that expedited the steel
(17:07):
Steelers spiral into this rush defense identity crisis that they're
currently in when they posted six hundred forty three yards
over three.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Games against him last year.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And it's true that the Ravens rush attack has been
slowed by Lamar Jackson's injury concerns a quarterback. He hasn't
been over seventy five rushing yards since let me take
that back, he hasn't been over seventy this year. Henry
hasn't exceeded seventy five since Halloween. But the Ravens ground
(17:44):
game is still very much a threat to the Steelers,
and they're up and down rush defense, especially since it
operates in an inverse way to what the Steelers just
played against Buffalo. And when I say that, it's like
what Tomlin said on Tuesday. The Steelers got raked over
the coals because James Cook provided the outside threat while
(18:09):
Josh Allen posed an inside threat between the tackles. So
the running back was the outside guy, the quarterback was
the inside guy.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
And as Tomlins sort of.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Alluded to this week, it flips because when Jackson is right,
he's the perimeter running threat, and then Henry is the
between the tackles guy who can get not only between
the tackles, but to your secondary before you know it.
And regardless of how the Ravens try to do it,
the Steelers are going to have to adjust. And that's
(18:40):
something that has not been a strong suit of Theirs
at all, as noted by TJ. Watt, who said that
the Bills kept running the same play over and over
again and the Steelers couldn't stop it, as noted by
Peyton Wilson when he said that they knew what plays
were coming for Buffalo and they could and stop them.
(19:01):
But Tomlin insisted the Steelers have learned from last year's
defensive failures on the ground against Baltimore, and he talked
a lot about how to defend Apex players. He talked
about the corridor of the defense and the perimeter. It's
a lot of football he jargon, like the secondary rotation
and so forth. But if he thinks that they've solved
(19:23):
the Rubik's quber, great, do something about it. Confidence in
why things may turn around. I'm glad that Tomlin has it.
I don't because I couldn't see them turn around anything
when they knew what was coming against Buffalo and they
couldn't stop it. They knew what was coming against Baltimore
(19:45):
the second time around in that playoff game after they
got ripped in December a few weeks prior, and they
couldn't stop it. I'm gonna have to see it before
I believe it.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Tyler Kennedy Next one to five nine The X.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Tomorrow the Pens face the Lightning. Game time is seven.
Our coverage starts at six here every game and the
best coverage right here on your home of the Pens.
One five nine The X.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Is this season.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
When you're in the mood for holiday, Mark Madden her doing.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
My solutions, give me my cake and eat meat, eat
the X at.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
One time to talk hockey right now with Tyler Kennedy,
former Pittsburgh Penguin, now of course analyst on Sportsnet Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Tyler, great to catch up with you. How are you.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I'm doing great?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Uh? Getting ready for the holidays.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Well, listen, Tyler, I want to talk about the Pens
a lot, but I do want to throw something at
you that I wasn't aware of until I was doing
some reading here in the past day or two about
the extent, specifically as it was written today at ESPN
dot com about the concerns that are existing about the
side of the Olympic rink that apparently it's a couple
(21:04):
of meters shorter than what is normally the case for
an NHL rink let alone and Olympic or international size rink.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
How big of a deal is that?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
And from what you know, understand or can remember about
playing on both sheets of ice, how different is it
really for the players?
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Well, I definitely think it's going to be different, especially
if it's a couple feet shorter.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah, it looks like it's about three feet shorter, shorter
in length, not with but it's going to be NHL
with which is smaller than International with and then three
feet shorter on top of that.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
I think it'll affect. It all depends where the blue
line and red line are, how much zone time they are.
I always feel when you shorten the ice, it doesn't
give guys that are those high skill guys that extra
second to make that play. I think it turns into
more of a grinding game, more of a say Western
(22:03):
style play where you probably want more heavy, bigger guys
because there's not enough room where you can get your
hands on those those false guild guys and kind of
really just push them out of the way or you know,
slow them down. So I do think it is going
to be different when you go to the Olympic guys,
(22:24):
I always felt there was just so much more time
to make plays. You had that couple more seconds in
the corner if you had if you were a better skater,
you just made better plays. You can skate into that
open ice. And I think it exposes guys that don't
(22:44):
have mobility. Guy defensive players that don't have mobility. Number
one is I find checking goes down right, the hooking
and grabbing, the checking because there's more space. Guys have
more space to elude a big check. So well, it
definitely changes.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
One thing that I remember going back to when was
it If it was the Vancouver Olympics, I think it was.
I kept hearing that while the surface was supposed to
be bigger, the players kept playing to what they remember
from the NHL anyway, Like maybe it wasn't Vancouver that
his last time, it was overseas that the players out
(23:23):
of habit and out of being conservative because every goal
was so big, they sort of shrunk the ice on
their own anyway. Is that often a dynamic that happens
in the Olympics too, because of what is at stake there?
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yeah, I think the coaching staff they keep the systems
pretty similar, right. They don't want to change it up
too much. They don't want to be thrown too much
at those guys, so they're overthinking when they're thinking about
the player they have to make or the system they're running.
I don't think it does mean that big of a difference,
(23:58):
to be honest, like it really it really doesn't change
that much from what I remember.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Tyler, as far as what the Penguins are doing right now.
I was really intrigued watching that Philadelphia game I saw
you guys at intermission, and I really enjoyed watching that
as I enjoyed watching the first one. I'm not gonna
say that Flyers Penguins is back, but I am going
to say it feels familiar and right now for me,
that's enough. I've really liked the first two editions of
(24:30):
that rivalry this year.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
How about you, yeah, I want I love how Philadelphia
is playing, right, They're kind of laying an egg when
we play them, especially last time they played. I didn't
think Philadelphia looked good at all. I thought they looked slow,
they didn't have a physicality to their game. But you
can see some of the some of those other guys,
(24:51):
you know, maybe not so much the tough guys on
the team, but some of the other little kind of
rattier guys that connect me, some of those hat away.
They're starting to stir it up after the whistle, started
to do some stuff, and it's so nice to see
a little bit of that hatred, a little bit of
that despise the other guy across the way.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
So did I love watching it last game? I did.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
I love the way the Penguins played, I love how
flat the Philly came out and just seeing some of
that other stuff made it very interesting, and I think
a big one that I think calmed a lot of
people down. And I'm surprised just happened when they called
Bonco up. I thought Delaurier and I'm surprised he was
(25:39):
not in the lineup because when Delorier is out of
the lineup for Philadelphia, it's a completely different game because
I think when the Penguins get up three to one
and they throw Delaurier out there, I think he's fighting
someone and it's probably going to be Bonco and that
changes the dynamic of the Philadelphia So that's very surprising
(26:01):
that they didn't play him. And when you have a
guy that gets called up that is an enforcer, he's
like the sheriff folk there. He keeps everyone else under
control because he's a head hauncho.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Right.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Not too many guys were running around and taking liberties
at our stars. Everyone seemed like it was a very
well contain game through the policing of you know, Bonco
and some other guys on the Penguins.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I thought he was going to score late in the
game there. He had a really good look and missed.
That was a gorgeous chance from the score. But you
use the word that ConnectNY used and that was flat.
And I can't believe Philadelphia is that they came out
flat for that one, particularly how the last game ended.
That was a little disappointing to hear from their point
of view. But the Penguins certainly did take advantage of it,
(26:57):
that's for sure.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Yeah, from being a former player, and yes, they came
out flat, right, I thought they were gonna come out
and it was gonna be a different game. But it
really does depend if Delorea is in the lineup. Philadelphia
grows a foot when he's in the lineup because he's
(27:23):
the well known tough guy in the league, the guy
that'll take on anyone. And I think when we we
we we put our tough guy, We called our tough
guy up to play, and they took theirs out. I
think it affected the Philadelphia line up, their emotion, their
(27:45):
willingness to battle, their willingness to maybe turn it into
more of a scrummy game, more of a if we're
not going to be on the scoreboard, we're gonna you know,
we're gonna make it ugly out here. I think it changes,
and I think I think the reason why they were
flat because that reason and that reason only, and it's
because Bulk goes in the lineup and they didn't. They
(28:09):
didn't dress their tough guy.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Delaureer teller Kennedy with us, as you remember what was
Sid like on game nights in Philly? What was his
personality like? Did it change? Was it tangible? Did he
say anything or what? Did it just kind of manifest
because he said, what do you remember?
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Well? When I was playing with Sid, it was like
the heydays of when they could not stand Sidney Crosby.
We would come out to warm ups and you couldn't
see through the glass because there were so many signs
about Sidney Crosby about all like everything you can imagine.
And Sid's demeanor was a quiet demeanor, but you can
(28:55):
tell he wanted to play and he wanted the show
it up them. You know, he did not like the
way they treated him, the way you know everything that
went on, especially how even how the players played against them.
But I think Sid it fires sit up in a
(29:16):
quiet demeanor where he was excited to quiet that crowd
in Philadelphia, and they still are getting him going. They
still don't understand that the more they hate him, the
more they don't want him to do well, the better
he does. And you see last game, like he's got eight.
(29:37):
He now has eighteen goals on the year and it
is remarkable and what a way to keep going, scoring
two against Philly.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
On the football side, Tyler, I often hear x Steelers
say that the nasty, dirty rivalry between the Steelers and Ravens,
for as intense as it was for the fans, it
wasn't intense for the players playing wise, but the dirty
stuff was the Bengals. Was there any element of that
for you guys and the Flyers too, or was it
(30:09):
as intense and dirty on both sides with Philadelphia because
I know, you know, you had the Islanders where things
really got dirty a couple of times, you had hatred
with the Caps. But was it always encapsulated with the Flyers?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
First, Yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Think we've always had that competition with them. And when
you think of our rivalry in my heyday, when I
looked at the Philadelphia Flyers, their top six line, their
top six right were good players, the Jeff Carter's, the
you know, the Mike Richards, And then you talk about
(30:45):
some of the guys, the other guys. They had the
heart and alls who loved to stir it up. And
then you talk about their bottom six, they had Dan Carcillo,
they had ash Them, they.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Had Upstraw, you're about.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Riley Coat, Upshall, h Riley Cote like. They had an
extremely tough team. And that was a team that you
didn't sleep well the night before because you know, it
can go both ways, and Philadelphia was not shy to
mix it up a lot. And on the flip side,
(31:23):
I always felt comfortable because of Ray Schiro. Ray Shiro
always made sure we had the guys to line up
against Philadelphia. We had the Eric Odds, we had the
George la Rox, we had the Craig Adams, we had
the Max Talbot's, the tks you know we had. We
had the same toughness when we played them. And when
(31:45):
you have that, it turned to a real competitive game.
And sometimes when the game is going south for one team,
usually the Philadelphia Flyers would muck it up or the
Pittsburgh Penguins, and that's either by a big hit for
Matt Cook or heart no being heartne And that's what
made those games so intense, so fun to play in
(32:08):
but again, when you're getting on that plane flying to Philadelphia,
believe me, you are thinking about that game the next
day and not dinner.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
When you guys lost to them four to two in
that opening round series in twenty twelve, you know, everybody
remembers that series for as much of a Gong show
as it was. Was there any time in the locker
room during that series, or anytime on the ice, even
between the two teams were at any point wasn't said,
let's just play hockey.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
This is insane, let's just play hockey.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Did that ever manifest in a conversation?
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Yeah, so this is a great story. So like it
was getting out of control, and that was when Katore
was like kind of the young guy, but he was
he was all over Sid and he was just being
that shutdown like guy that you just hated to play against,
you know. And I was obviously kind of my role
was all right, we got to do something here, you know.
(33:05):
And I was taking a shower in Philadelphia, and I
had all my plans were to try to fight Sean KATORI.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
I was gonna go.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
I was gonna as soon as a scrum happened, I
was gonna drop my gloves and just start throwing. And
I'm taking a shower. I'm thinking about what I'm gonna do,
and Dan Bofman comes in the shower. He goes, hey,
we're gonna try to play hockey tonight. I don't want
you to do anything. And I was like what. He goes, No, no,
we need we need to beat them. We don't need
(33:35):
to like fight them or whatever. And in my mind,
I'm like, dude, that's feeding Like Dan, that's feeding into
what they want. And I wanted to be like, no,
if you guys want to do that, like this is
when I can step in and like help the team,
and like that would probably make me look good, right
if there's a scrum when I grabbed their top defensive
(33:55):
player and try to beat the wheels off them. But
I was so shocked that Dan said do not fight anyone.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Was that when you lost game six?
Speaker 4 (34:07):
That was when we lost in game six, and I
was I could not even after the game. I was
like I was, I was like, I should not have
listened to Dan. I should have just because he was
playing that rat role and he was playing so good
defensively and he was like he was getting in some
of our top guys like heads a little bit, you know,
and I thought one of us could have probably changed
(34:31):
the outlook of that because he was doing, honestly a
pretty good job at keeping Sid and Gino and those
guys under control. So that was a very very interesting
conversation in that shower while you're you know, while you're
thinking about the game.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
You know.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
I usually had a shower, tried to warm up, a
little stretching, little meditation, and the next thing I look
behind me is Dan and he wants to talk about
the game, you know.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
But yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
It was a very very interesting because again they were
getting the best of us, and he was keeping the
reins on us to calm down instead of getting Hey,
let's try to figure out if we can rough them
up a bit and try to win on other terms.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
TK thirty seconds here and then I got to fly,
but real quick out of the Penguins survive this stretch
against the Lightning Stars and Ducks, how well tested will
they be against those three teams?
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Well, I think at won it's got to come down
to their defensive play, starting with their goalie, right, I
think I'd be keeping Jari in the whole time. He's
playing really well. He's got a calmness about him, he's
got that confidence, and I think the team feels real
comfortable right now with him in the net. That's one
big one. I think keeping their power play hot is
(35:47):
another one. The power play and the penalty kill. There's
so much momentum and so much momentum throughout a game.
When you can score, or when you can keep that
momentum for longer than the other team, you use win.
So some of those things, I think if they can
control that and stay out of the box, I think
they have really good chances because they are playing well
(36:10):
right now. I know Philly didn't play well, but the
Penguins look like they're on their toes. Even their third
line of the young guys, look fast, look like they're
making play. So they're coming into two tough games with
a ton of confidence. And how you keep that is
making sure you stay out of the box and you
(36:30):
get on that power play.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
TK thanks a bunch, appreciate it. We'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Okay, all right, man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Toler Kennedy, former Pittsburgh Penguin. Now and listen sports at
Pittsburgh here and you're home for the Pens one oh
five ninety x.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
Every weekday at ten am, it's Travis starting your workday
commercial free one nine x.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
No more waiting your goals, start now this Cyber Monday,
This segment brought to us by eighty four lumber Dynasty
partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Paul 'sis from the PG
joining me right now and Paul. Before we get into
Steelers conversation, Tom and I were speaking in the first
hour of the show about how this year, with the
state of college football transfer portals, kids not sticking to
their commitments, how little National Signing Day means now as
(00:27):
opposed to what it did, say ten, fifteen, twenty years ago.
And it got me thinking, were you one of the
poor SAPs who like me, had to go out for
the Terrell Prior thing a long time ago in a
galaxy far far away.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
No, because I was covering pitt at the time, so
I had to do the dog and Pony show that
that was down a pit at Heinz Field that day.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I don't miss what National Signing Do is at all.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I do not miss that day in terms of coverage
one I owe, and I'm guessing you don't either.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
No, I don't say. I don't know how anybody can.
I mean, first of all, I was trying to think
of who the other guy was that I actually had
to go. Oh, I remember, so do you remember uh boy,
I forget his name, but he had a commitment party
at a restaurant down on the South Side and he
showed up in a bright pink suit and everybody thought
(01:25):
he was going to Pin and he committed to Miami.
It was a big ordeal. What was the name of
that restaurant, It's no longer there.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Paparazzi's I think, Oh, I remember paparazzis. I don't remember
the player though.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yes, it came from North Hills. What was his name?
Oh my goodness, he was running back. I could see
his face. But he So he has this big ordeal
where he shows up at this party or whatever it was,
in a pink suit, and of course, you know, most
of the people down there are expecting him to sign
with PIT or whatever, commit the PIT, and he commits
to Miami. And it went really well for because he
(02:00):
finished his career like Kent or Akron or something. But
either way, yeah, I always hated signing day. I always
hated going through the you know, the the we we
all we knew pretty much who their commitments were, but
you know, we had to act like you know this
that they had just signed. You know, the greatest class ever, Oh, I.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Just I just remember the Tarrell Prior thing and then
you know he doesn't make his decision in Treill Prior
Day turned into Tarrell Prior Week and we had to
try to get sound bites through Charlie Batch speaking on
his behalf.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It was just it was like, didn't it go like
two weeks or something?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
I thought it was at least a week, at least
a week, And I remember like, didn't ESPN have satellite
trucks and Jeanette like ready to stream the announcement live
and it just never happened. And they had of it
was Herbie or they had like some major college football
guy or two out there ready to lead Sports Center
with it, and it never happened.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I just I remember that fiasco.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
I remember Anthony Morelli and his comment, I'm so happy
that this day has gotten diluted. If there's one positive
residue about how college football is going gone astray here
from what the way we remember it, the fact that
National Signing Day is much smaller, like by ninety five
percent smaller than what it used to be.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I'm thrilled about that.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Well, and I think one of the big big things
I'll tell you that you know that everybody is going
on and on it because you know, Penn State only
had like four guys or something today because of what's
going on with their coaching staff. I mean, it really
doesn't matter. I mean, it matters, but it doesn't matter
anymore like it used to. Like you said, it used
to matter more, but now, I mean, you know, as
(03:39):
long as they hire a guy in the next you know,
three weeks, there's that window in January where they're gonna
go get the real players anyway, because they're all portal kids.
So you know, that just goes to show you how
little signing Day actually really means these days, because you know,
it's great that you get these freshman guys incoming freshmen. Boy,
(04:00):
how many of them are going to be on your
team in two years, you know what I mean, that's
the that's the thing about it, and that's why it
is so deluded. And the other part of it is
all of these guys are now trying to build their
programs by going and get transferred guys so you can
do it, you know, I mean, obviously you want to
try and get the best players you can to come
into your your program, but there's no guarantee there staying
(04:22):
for more than a year or two or whatever, So
it means a heck of a lot less to your point.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Well, is it gonna be great when Mike Tomlin heads
out to State College and fixes everything with Penn State?
As Ben Roethlisberger suggested, Well, you remember a couple.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Of years ago when he took exception to his name
being connected with.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Well, I remember, I asked the question, yes, I remember, yeah, and.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
He said something about, you know, go ask Andy Reid
about college jobs or something like, well.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
No, he said, there is There isn't a booster with
a check big enough. And then he got really indignant
about it and said, why doesn't anybody ask Andy Reid?
And I can't remember who well he cited, but oh,
Sean Payton. I think it was right. I do remember
that everybody he cited did at one point or another
get asked about college jobs during their NFL tenure. I
(05:14):
found articles, I found quotes linking Andy Reid to BYU.
Sean Payton was asked while he was the Saints coach
if he'd be interested in LSU. Bill Cower was asked
about NC State and there was another coach that might have.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Been Pete Carroll. Now because Pete Carroll did go back
and forth.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
There was another coach he mentioned that did get asked
about a college job.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
So it happens. It happens to every coach.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
And that's the only thing that took me back about
his response that I knew he kind of used me
as a prop to get his point across because I
asked the question. But other coaches have been asked, and Ben,
I think was just kind of spitballing when he said that.
But now it's taken wing and everybody's talking about it.
It's on the front page of ESPN dot com, right right.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I mean again, I think that's what happens, though, you know,
I mean, you know, it's it's kind of funny if
you think about it. Ben Roethlisberger's podcast, I mean, it's
I don't know, forty five minutes or whatever it is.
You know, there's a lot of stuff in it that
I could live without. You know, they tell you and
they start talking about deer and everything else and all
(06:22):
this other stuff. But he's always good for one or
two of these.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Things that goes viral, isn't he Yes, he is.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And that's no different than when he played. Really, if
you think about it, it's no different than when he
played because when he played, he was really good at
doing that as well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
The other thing that I'm seizing on and I'm letting
everybody else sees on when again, he kin kind of
said this is a transition to get a greater point across,
just like he did with the Penn State thing.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
But when he said build him a.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Statue or whatever, like, I don't think he literally meant
he needs a statue. But the greater talking point though,
is Paul, why does it have to come down to now?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
The newest to what are the Steelers going to do
with Tomlin?
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Is?
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Most people seem to be on board with the notion
that it's time to move on now, But it's how
do you do it? How do you do it in
a civil manner? How do you do it where Mike's
gonna be okay with it?
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Who cares?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
If he's gonna lose his job and he deserves to
lose his job in the eyes of the owner, then
the owner should just feel free to fire him.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
It's his team. It doesn't have to be a neat
and tidy right.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, that's the point. The point to me is it's
it's absolutely you know, I've taken the nickname teflon Tomlin
because you know, nothing is his fault at all. And
this idea that somehow his won Super Bowl seventeen years ago,
(07:47):
that somehow, you know, qualifies him for a contract for
life and he gets to be treated with kid gloves
for the rest of his life. That's absolutely silly to me.
I mean, guys, I mean put it this way. In
New England they fired the best guy ever and it
was it was pretty ugly actually, you know, and to
(08:07):
the point where the guy is now a college coach
and won't let New England come counts players. I mean,
what are we talking about here. That's the way it is.
That's the cutthroat business.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
The thing about it.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
And I got into this and Mike de coursi earlier
it's a bad year to advance the Well, who else
are you going to get argument for Tomlin? When there
are numerous first time or brand new with their team
coaches in playoff position right now? Who else you to
get I don't know, somebody who gets you back to
the playoffs and maybe gets you a home game and
you win a game for a change. That's who you know,
(08:40):
it was who else you're gonna get with cowor it
was who else were you to get with Tomlin? And
it's two guys over forty years, so they'll get somebody else.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
That's who.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I mean exactly. I mean, that's what I think is
one of the things that I'll never ever understand is
the idea that, well, you can't replace the guy. And
you know what, my answer to that to him is
always It's always the same answer in my in my
mind at least, and that is Okay. When someone says, well,
who are you going to replace him with? I say,
(09:11):
how about how about the next Mike Tomlins? Well, what
do you mean? Well, uh, let's just say this. When
Bill Kauer said that he was leaving or was retiring, Right,
if I gave a thousand Steeler fans a list and
said give me your top twenty candidates, which means we
had add twenty thousand names, would Mike Commin's name have
(09:32):
been in any of those one He wouldn't have. No
one who was No nobody knew who he was, nobody
cared who he was. And at the end of the day,
you know what he turned out to do a pretty
good job. And you know, I'm not gonna sit here
and say he hasn't done a good job. But you know,
there's a difference between doing a good job and there's
you know, getting to a point where maybe it's time.
(09:52):
And I think that's where we probably are here with
respect to him.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I wrote a column yesterday or said that there were
sixty eight eighty six people at Akroscher Stadium that heard
the fire Tom win Chance, and then I walked it
back and I said, well, actually it's only sixty eight
thousand and sixty seven because Artwordy the second didn't hear him.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Am I right about that? Or am I wrong? Do
you think he did hear?
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Do you think he will pay attention or is this
just something that is white noise to him as is
normally the case.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
No, I think that he probably he might have heard,
but he'll never acknowledge that he heard. Do you know
what I mean. That's just one of those things where
I just say, you know, he's never going to acknowledge
that ever. And I think that he is. It's just
his sort of the way that he goes about doing
(10:45):
his things. He likes it always buttoned up. I mean
He's a lawyer, isn't He's a lawyer. So at the
end of the day, that's what he wants, and he
wants a nice, big, happy family. And so if you
asked him, he would say, well, oh, no, you know
I didn't or that. I mean, I, you know, get
things in my inbox from time to time. But I
think generally people are you know, you know, just like us.
(11:07):
We'd like it to be better, but we know it
could be worse. That's going to be the talking.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Paul before we go.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
How do they fix this after what happened against Buffalo
between now and when they play Baltimore.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I guess the answer is they don't.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
They can't fix what happened against Buffalo against the Ravens.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
How do they work around it? How do they overcome it?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Can they or do they just hope that the Ravens
stub their toe as the Steelers have done to themselves
six times over and twelve tries.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Well, I mean, I think they have to play. They
really have to figure out that they're not going to
be this great defensive team that they think they are
and maybe just maybe see if they can allow the
offense to play a little bit differently, right, because at
the end of the day, I don't think they're going
to be able to shut down the Ravens, just like
(12:04):
they couldn't really shut down the running game of the
you know, the the Bills. So to me, how about
allow your offense to do more than just try and
you run up the middle and run about three or
four plays and then chuck one.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Up for hope.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Right, how about that? How about actually be a little
bit more aggressive and sort of let your quarterback maybe
dictate some things on the field and see what happens.
Because I think they got us score points in order
to win this game, and well, from what I've seen,
their offense is absolutely awful.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
All right, Paul, appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
We'll do it again soon, all right, my man. He
we'll talk Paul's Ice.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
From the Post Gazette with Mark Badden every Wednesday at
four pm, brought to us by eighty four Lumber Dynasty,
partner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I want to investigate this Bills versus Ravens.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Thing and how the Steelers are going to combat it
a little bit more in depth.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
We'll do that next.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
You can call into what Ben Roethlisberger said about Penn State.
I think he was just saying it in passing, spitballing extemporaneously.
He might have meant it, but I don't think he
meant it like Mike Tomlin's gonna take the Penn State shop.
I'd love to hear from Penn State fans what you
thought when you heard that eight three, three, four one
two ninety nine thirty nine. We had a lot of
(13:20):
calls in the previous hour about Tomlin, the Steelers, the
state of their coaching situation, et cetera. I really didn't
get a Penn State fan to get a first hand view,
a Penn State view of what Roethlisberger said. There got
a lot of people talking about the statue thing. No,
Mike Tomlin isn't really getting a statue again. I think
(13:41):
that was a transitional thought to get him to a
bigger point from Roethlisberger. But the bigger point is one
I'm not concerned about. I don't care about Mike Tomlin's feelings.
If I'm the coach of a team that's six and
eleven in its last seventeen games and the owner wants
to fire me, if aren't Rudy the same. I can, ever,
gets to the point that he actually wants to fire Tomlin.
(14:03):
He shouldn't have to build him a statue first. He
shouldn't have to come to a mutual agreement with them.
He shouldn't have to work out a trade with the
Giants unless they benefit from him and they do get
like the number three overall pick.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
If they can, great, But if Rooney.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Feels like it's time to move on, there should be
no obligation to make it go smoothly.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
What do you think again?
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Eight three, three, four, one two nine thirty nine, And
I'll get it to the Ravens game, specifically when we
come back one oh five nine.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
The x K yeah, fark, welcome Shotott Well, Oney Pitating,
Dusty Road, Tomican dream, so be it baby the.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Ex at one oh five nine. The Pittsburgh Steelers run
defense stinks.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Many times this year that statement has been proven true,
like over the first three weeks the season, when it
allowed four hundred and eighteen yards to the New York Jets,
the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots, or when Chase
Brown of the Bengals raced out to one hundred and
eight and ninety nine yards in his two games against
(15:11):
the Steelers, his top two totals of the year, by
the way through ten weeks, Or when Camani Vidal put
up ninety five yards in Los Angeles without the team's
top three tackles available, or when the Buffalo Bills gashed
the Steelers for two hundred and forty nine yards at
Akroshur Stadium last week, that's enough evidence to make a
(15:34):
strong case to defend the thesis statement the Steelers run
defense sucks. Then again, this is the same unit that
held Jonathan Taylor to forty five yards and the vaunted
Bears rushing attack to ninety nine yards when the average
one fifty three. So at times, the Steelers rush defense
(15:57):
has proven capable. And Mike Tomlin went through a litany
of reasons why things have been up and down for
the Steelers talking about player availability on Tuesday, talking about
the schematics of the teams that they play against, the
game plans set forth by those teams on those given weeks, etc.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Etc.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
And now few of those variables that he referenced are
in play Sunday when the Steelers play the Ravens. Derek
Harmon is out again with a knee ailment, and he
appeared to be a big reason why the run defense
got better after his first game in Week three, and
he has been on the field, granted for some of
those poor outings that I just referenced, but he's also
(16:43):
been instrumental in the good ones and was noticeable by
his absence Sunday versus the Bills. Another X factor has
been the opponent, like Tomlin said, so he's right about
that too. This week with Baltimore coming up, that's a
massive variable because it was Baltimore that expedited the steel
(17:07):
Steelers spiral into this rush defense identity crisis that they're
currently in when they posted six hundred forty three yards
over three.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Games against him last year.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And it's true that the Ravens rush attack has been
slowed by Lamar Jackson's injury concerns a quarterback. He hasn't
been over seventy five rushing yards since let me take
that back, he hasn't been over seventy this year. Henry
hasn't exceeded seventy five since Halloween. But the Ravens ground
(17:44):
game is still very much a threat to the Steelers,
and they're up and down rush defense, especially since it
operates in an inverse way to what the Steelers just
played against Buffalo. And when I say that, it's like
what Tomlin said on Tuesday. The Steelers got raked over
the coals because James Cook provided the outside threat while
(18:09):
Josh Allen posed an inside threat between the tackles. So
the running back was the outside guy, the quarterback was
the inside guy.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
And as Tomlins sort of.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Alluded to this week, it flips because when Jackson is right,
he's the perimeter running threat, and then Henry is the
between the tackles guy who can get not only between
the tackles, but to your secondary before you know it.
And regardless of how the Ravens try to do it,
the Steelers are going to have to adjust. And that's
(18:40):
something that has not been a strong suit of Theirs
at all, as noted by TJ. Watt, who said that
the Bills kept running the same play over and over
again and the Steelers couldn't stop it, as noted by
Peyton Wilson when he said that they knew what plays
were coming for Buffalo and they could and stop them.
(19:01):
But Tomlin insisted the Steelers have learned from last year's
defensive failures on the ground against Baltimore, and he talked
a lot about how to defend Apex players. He talked
about the corridor of the defense and the perimeter. It's
a lot of football he jargon, like the secondary rotation
and so forth. But if he thinks that they've solved
(19:23):
the Rubik's quber, great, do something about it. Confidence in
why things may turn around. I'm glad that Tomlin has it.
I don't because I couldn't see them turn around anything
when they knew what was coming against Buffalo and they
couldn't stop it. They knew what was coming against Baltimore
(19:45):
the second time around in that playoff game after they
got ripped in December a few weeks prior, and they
couldn't stop it. I'm gonna have to see it before
I believe it.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Tyler Kennedy Next one to five nine The X.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Tomorrow the Pens face the Lightning. Game time is seven.
Our coverage starts at six here every game and the
best coverage right here on your home of the Pens.
One five nine The X.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Is this season.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
When you're in the mood for holiday, Mark Madden her doing.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
My solutions, give me my cake and eat meat, eat
the X at.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
One time to talk hockey right now with Tyler Kennedy,
former Pittsburgh Penguin, now of course analyst on Sportsnet Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
Tyler, great to catch up with you. How are you.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I'm doing great?
Speaker 4 (20:41):
Uh? Getting ready for the holidays.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Well, listen, Tyler, I want to talk about the Pens
a lot, but I do want to throw something at
you that I wasn't aware of until I was doing
some reading here in the past day or two about
the extent, specifically as it was written today at ESPN
dot com about the concerns that are existing about the
side of the Olympic rink that apparently it's a couple
(21:04):
of meters shorter than what is normally the case for
an NHL rink let alone and Olympic or international size rink.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
How big of a deal is that?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
And from what you know, understand or can remember about
playing on both sheets of ice, how different is it
really for the players?
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Well, I definitely think it's going to be different, especially
if it's a couple feet shorter.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yeah, it looks like it's about three feet shorter, shorter
in length, not with but it's going to be NHL
with which is smaller than International with and then three
feet shorter on top of that.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
I think it'll affect. It all depends where the blue
line and red line are, how much zone time they are.
I always feel when you shorten the ice, it doesn't
give guys that are those high skill guys that extra
second to make that play. I think it turns into
more of a grinding game, more of a say Western
(22:03):
style play where you probably want more heavy, bigger guys
because there's not enough room where you can get your
hands on those those false guild guys and kind of
really just push them out of the way or you know,
slow them down. So I do think it is going
to be different when you go to the Olympic guys,
(22:24):
I always felt there was just so much more time
to make plays. You had that couple more seconds in
the corner if you had if you were a better skater,
you just made better plays. You can skate into that
open ice. And I think it exposes guys that don't
(22:44):
have mobility. Guy defensive players that don't have mobility. Number
one is I find checking goes down right, the hooking
and grabbing, the checking because there's more space. Guys have
more space to elude a big check. So well, it
definitely changes.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
One thing that I remember going back to when was
it If it was the Vancouver Olympics, I think it was.
I kept hearing that while the surface was supposed to
be bigger, the players kept playing to what they remember
from the NHL anyway, Like maybe it wasn't Vancouver that
his last time, it was overseas that the players out
(23:23):
of habit and out of being conservative because every goal
was so big, they sort of shrunk the ice on
their own anyway. Is that often a dynamic that happens
in the Olympics too, because of what is at stake there?
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yeah, I think the coaching staff they keep the systems
pretty similar, right. They don't want to change it up
too much. They don't want to be thrown too much
at those guys, so they're overthinking when they're thinking about
the player they have to make or the system they're running.
I don't think it does mean that big of a difference,
(23:58):
to be honest, like it really it really doesn't change
that much from what I remember.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Tyler, as far as what the Penguins are doing right now.
I was really intrigued watching that Philadelphia game I saw
you guys at intermission, and I really enjoyed watching that
as I enjoyed watching the first one. I'm not gonna
say that Flyers Penguins is back, but I am going
to say it feels familiar and right now for me,
that's enough. I've really liked the first two editions of
(24:30):
that rivalry this year.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
How about you, yeah, I want I love how Philadelphia
is playing, right, They're kind of laying an egg when
we play them, especially last time they played. I didn't
think Philadelphia looked good at all. I thought they looked slow,
they didn't have a physicality to their game. But you
can see some of the some of those other guys,
(24:51):
you know, maybe not so much the tough guys on
the team, but some of the other little kind of
rattier guys that connect me, some of those hat away.
They're starting to stir it up after the whistle, started
to do some stuff, and it's so nice to see
a little bit of that hatred, a little bit of
that despise the other guy across the way.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
So did I love watching it last game? I did.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
I love the way the Penguins played, I love how
flat the Philly came out and just seeing some of
that other stuff made it very interesting, and I think
a big one that I think calmed a lot of
people down. And I'm surprised just happened when they called
Bonco up. I thought Delaurier and I'm surprised he was
(25:39):
not in the lineup because when Delorier is out of
the lineup for Philadelphia, it's a completely different game because
I think when the Penguins get up three to one
and they throw Delaurier out there, I think he's fighting
someone and it's probably going to be Bonco and that
changes the dynamic of the Philadelphia So that's very surprising
(26:01):
that they didn't play him. And when you have a
guy that gets called up that is an enforcer, he's
like the sheriff folk there. He keeps everyone else under
control because he's a head hauncho.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Right.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Not too many guys were running around and taking liberties
at our stars. Everyone seemed like it was a very
well contain game through the policing of you know, Bonco
and some other guys on the Penguins.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I thought he was going to score late in the
game there. He had a really good look and missed.
That was a gorgeous chance from the score. But you
use the word that ConnectNY used and that was flat.
And I can't believe Philadelphia is that they came out
flat for that one, particularly how the last game ended.
That was a little disappointing to hear from their point
of view. But the Penguins certainly did take advantage of it,
(26:57):
that's for sure.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
Yeah, from being a former player, and yes, they came
out flat, right, I thought they were gonna come out
and it was gonna be a different game. But it
really does depend if Delorea is in the lineup. Philadelphia
grows a foot when he's in the lineup because he's
(27:23):
the well known tough guy in the league, the guy
that'll take on anyone. And I think when we we
we we put our tough guy, We called our tough
guy up to play, and they took theirs out. I
think it affected the Philadelphia line up, their emotion, their
(27:45):
willingness to battle, their willingness to maybe turn it into
more of a scrummy game, more of a if we're
not going to be on the scoreboard, we're gonna you know,
we're gonna make it ugly out here. I think it changes,
and I think I think the reason why they were
flat because that reason and that reason only, and it's
because Bulk goes in the lineup and they didn't. They
(28:09):
didn't dress their tough guy.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Delaureer teller Kennedy with us, as you remember what was
Sid like on game nights in Philly? What was his
personality like? Did it change? Was it tangible? Did he
say anything or what? Did it just kind of manifest
because he said, what do you remember?
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Well? When I was playing with Sid, it was like
the heydays of when they could not stand Sidney Crosby.
We would come out to warm ups and you couldn't
see through the glass because there were so many signs
about Sidney Crosby about all like everything you can imagine.
And Sid's demeanor was a quiet demeanor, but you can
(28:55):
tell he wanted to play and he wanted the show
it up them. You know, he did not like the
way they treated him, the way you know everything that
went on, especially how even how the players played against them.
But I think Sid it fires sit up in a
(29:16):
quiet demeanor where he was excited to quiet that crowd
in Philadelphia, and they still are getting him going. They
still don't understand that the more they hate him, the
more they don't want him to do well, the better
he does. And you see last game, like he's got eight.
(29:37):
He now has eighteen goals on the year and it
is remarkable and what a way to keep going, scoring
two against Philly.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
On the football side, Tyler, I often hear x Steelers
say that the nasty, dirty rivalry between the Steelers and Ravens,
for as intense as it was for the fans, it
wasn't intense for the players playing wise, but the dirty
stuff was the Bengals. Was there any element of that
for you guys and the Flyers too, or was it
(30:09):
as intense and dirty on both sides with Philadelphia because
I know, you know, you had the Islanders where things
really got dirty a couple of times, you had hatred
with the Caps. But was it always encapsulated with the Flyers?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
First, Yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Think we've always had that competition with them. And when
you think of our rivalry in my heyday, when I
looked at the Philadelphia Flyers, their top six line, their
top six right were good players, the Jeff Carter's, the
you know, the Mike Richards, And then you talk about
(30:45):
some of the guys, the other guys. They had the
heart and alls who loved to stir it up. And
then you talk about their bottom six, they had Dan Carcillo,
they had ash Them, they.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Had Upstraw, you're about.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Riley Coat, Upshall, h Riley Cote like. They had an
extremely tough team. And that was a team that you
didn't sleep well the night before because you know, it
can go both ways, and Philadelphia was not shy to
mix it up a lot. And on the flip side,
(31:23):
I always felt comfortable because of Ray Schiro. Ray Shiro
always made sure we had the guys to line up
against Philadelphia. We had the Eric Odds, we had the
George la Rox, we had the Craig Adams, we had
the Max Talbot's, the tks you know we had. We
had the same toughness when we played them. And when
(31:45):
you have that, it turned to a real competitive game.
And sometimes when the game is going south for one team,
usually the Philadelphia Flyers would muck it up or the
Pittsburgh Penguins, and that's either by a big hit for
Matt Cook or heart no being heartne And that's what
made those games so intense, so fun to play in
(32:08):
but again, when you're getting on that plane flying to Philadelphia,
believe me, you are thinking about that game the next
day and not dinner.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
When you guys lost to them four to two in
that opening round series in twenty twelve, you know, everybody
remembers that series for as much of a Gong show
as it was. Was there any time in the locker
room during that series, or anytime on the ice, even
between the two teams were at any point wasn't said,
let's just play hockey.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
This is insane, let's just play hockey.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Did that ever manifest in a conversation?
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Yeah, so this is a great story. So like it
was getting out of control, and that was when Katore
was like kind of the young guy, but he was
he was all over Sid and he was just being
that shutdown like guy that you just hated to play against,
you know. And I was obviously kind of my role
was all right, we got to do something here, you know.
(33:05):
And I was taking a shower in Philadelphia, and I
had all my plans were to try to fight Sean KATORI.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
I was gonna go.
Speaker 4 (33:12):
I was gonna as soon as a scrum happened, I
was gonna drop my gloves and just start throwing. And
I'm taking a shower. I'm thinking about what I'm gonna do,
and Dan Bofman comes in the shower. He goes, hey,
we're gonna try to play hockey tonight. I don't want
you to do anything. And I was like what. He goes, No, no,
we need we need to beat them. We don't need
(33:35):
to like fight them or whatever. And in my mind,
I'm like, dude, that's feeding Like Dan, that's feeding into
what they want. And I wanted to be like, no,
if you guys want to do that, like this is
when I can step in and like help the team,
and like that would probably make me look good, right
if there's a scrum when I grabbed their top defensive
(33:55):
player and try to beat the wheels off them. But
I was so shocked that Dan said do not fight anyone.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Was that when you lost game six?
Speaker 4 (34:07):
That was when we lost in game six, and I
was I could not even after the game. I was
like I was, I was like, I should not have
listened to Dan. I should have just because he was
playing that rat role and he was playing so good
defensively and he was like he was getting in some
of our top guys like heads a little bit, you know,
and I thought one of us could have probably changed
(34:31):
the outlook of that because he was doing, honestly a
pretty good job at keeping Sid and Gino and those
guys under control. So that was a very very interesting
conversation in that shower while you're you know, while you're
thinking about the game.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
You know.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
I usually had a shower, tried to warm up, a
little stretching, little meditation, and the next thing I look
behind me is Dan and he wants to talk about
the game, you know.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
But yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
It was a very very interesting because again they were
getting the best of us, and he was keeping the
reins on us to calm down instead of getting Hey,
let's try to figure out if we can rough them
up a bit and try to win on other terms.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
TK thirty seconds here and then I got to fly,
but real quick out of the Penguins survive this stretch
against the Lightning Stars and Ducks, how well tested will
they be against those three teams?
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Well, I think at won it's got to come down
to their defensive play, starting with their goalie, right, I
think I'd be keeping Jari in the whole time. He's
playing really well. He's got a calmness about him, he's
got that confidence, and I think the team feels real
comfortable right now with him in the net. That's one
big one. I think keeping their power play hot is
(35:47):
another one. The power play and the penalty kill. There's
so much momentum and so much momentum throughout a game.
When you can score, or when you can keep that
momentum for longer than the other team, you use win.
So some of those things, I think if they can
control that and stay out of the box, I think
they have really good chances because they are playing well
(36:10):
right now. I know Philly didn't play well, but the
Penguins look like they're on their toes. Even their third
line of the young guys, look fast, look like they're
making play. So they're coming into two tough games with
a ton of confidence. And how you keep that is
making sure you stay out of the box and you
(36:30):
get on that power play.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
TK thanks a bunch, appreciate it. We'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Okay, all right, man, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Toler Kennedy, former Pittsburgh Penguin. Now and listen sports at
Pittsburgh here and you're home for the Pens one oh
five ninety x.
Speaker 4 (36:43):
Every weekday at ten am, it's Travis starting your workday
commercial free one nine x.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
No more waiting your goals, start now this Cyber Monday,
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.