July 14, 2026 • 36 mins
The first hour contains the Bucco Roundup, listener calls, hockey talk with Pierre McGuire, and the Trifecta.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Okay, so we got France and Spain right now, World
Cup semifinal.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
To me, it's the two best teams remaining.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
We got the MLB All Star Game tonight, except too
many of the All Stars aren't playing. We had the
Home Run Derby last night, except it's boring and was
on Netflix, and I watched just enough to be reminded
that Will Ferrell isn't funny anymore. He was doing like,
I don't know, play by play commentary whatever, not funny anymore.
(00:40):
Jordan Walker of the Saint Louis Cardinals won it six
home runs in his last six swings, and Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Booed everybody but Schwarburn.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
And of course we can continue to debate what the
Pirates should do, as in, make a bold move and
trade crews, which is what I think they should do,
because a bold move is required to make the playoffs.
And then there's this a reporter at Philadelphia yesterday for
(01:15):
the All Star Game. He was interviewing Skeens and concluded
by calling him a future Yankee, out loud and on video.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Skeens was nonplussed, and it went viral.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Let's hear that SoundBite, future Yankee? Yeah, the reporter was
incredibly unprofessional, but probably will prove to not be a liar.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I bet Steen's ultimately is a Yankee.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Like I said, people go nuts about that sound bite. Uh,
this is the Mark Madden Show. I do more than
a sound bite. I do three hours every day on
the X, four hours starting after Labor Day when Steeler
fever kicks in.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I'm not sure what happened to Tommy Radio.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
He's not been here this week, not yesterday, not today,
so we don't have him to fill time. Call now
a three three four one two WXDX or follow me
on Twitter at Mark Madden X. But that reporter, you know,
the future Yankee thing being unprofessional, It's not like being
(02:43):
unprofessional is infrequent in today's sports media. Sports media has
absolutely become amateur. Hours become do it yourself. Look at
the crap that's popular. If a Kelsey brother would have
said that the skemes, you would lap it up. The
(03:05):
salary cap debate is going on.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
At the All Star Game.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
A guy from the union, the MLBPA said the salary
cap would be bad for the fans. Well, that's not
proven to be the case in every other major sports
I for one cannot wait till baseball misses all of
next season. I'll talk about that more later in the show,
and certainly between now and when they miss next season.
(03:37):
But the big news, and I do have big news,
it's my big switcheroo regarding the Steelers' quarterback position. This
is way out of left field, but I am jumping
on the Will Howard bandwagon. I don't believe he's the
long term answer, but I know for sure that Mason
(03:58):
Rudolph ain't the long term answer.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And I also believe.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That Mason Rudolph can't win enough. If Rogers gets hurt,
in the backup has to play, and so I would
have no problem with keeping Will Howard as the number two.
In fact, I now believe it's a good idea. So
there you go. It's the old switcheroo RKO out of nowhere,
(04:23):
and it's going to be exciting to finally see Howard
play in the exhibition games. What do you think the
old switcheroo? Eight three three four one two WXDX. Do
you get what I'm saying? If Rogers gets hurt for
significant period, the season is over, regardless of who plays
(04:44):
in his place, who deputizes the only scenario where Rudolph
would be preferable would be for like one game, maybe two,
or coming in cold during a game. But big picture,
I'm thinking big picture. I'm thinking you can finding out.
I'm picking the future. Big picture. You gotta go with
(05:06):
Will Howard. Your thoughts eight three, three four one two WSDX.
There's a big fuss among the NFL media because there
was a poll taken of the NFL players. It's not annually,
and they rate the NFL's top one hundred players. Lamar
(05:27):
Jackson dropped from number two last year to number sixty
nine this year.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Sixty nine. Yeah, and people are going nuts.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Oh lack of respect, this lack of respect that the
players don't take that voting seriously. But still that is
a precipitous drop and we will talk about that more
a little later. But getting back to the Will Howard thing,
I'm looking past this year. If Howard can be the guy, well,
(05:59):
I mean, how it's a long shot. But for the
long run, Mason Rudolf is a no shot. And I'm
a big McCarthy guy. I believe in the guy from Greenfield.
I want to see what McCarthy can do with both
Howard and Aller and staying with McCarthy. I keep telling you,
I keep telling you you were gonna marvel at the
(06:23):
coaching upgrade with these Steelers, from the top to the bottom,
from McCarthy the entire staff. It's going to be so
obvious the sloppiness that was tolerated by Tomlin.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Is going to dry up. And in that vein, Joe.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Hayden on his podcast said that Mike Tomlin had a
looseness of accountability. A looseness of accountability. Yeah, he really did.
In other words, model citizen zero discipline. Listen, by the
end of this year with McCarthy, remember write this down.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You heard it here.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
By the end of this year with McCarthy, you're gonna
realize that Tomlin was a fraud, an amateur, that Tomlin
never was a good coach. His boys can swim, but
that's about it. You're gonna realize that tom win won
with somebody else's players, with somebody else's leaders, and somebody
else's culture. And that should have been obvious to all
(07:25):
you marks the further we got away from Bill Cower coaching,
Cower would have won more had he stayed that streak
and o losing seasons really belongs to Ben Mike McCarthy
is a real coach. He hired a real staff. It's
not Buddy Buddy bs anymore. And you're gonna see it.
(07:46):
I guarantee it. Tomlin was a fraud A three three
four one two w XDX. I feel like the show
is off to a rousing start. You know what videos
out there again? It's but there's this video of Sidney
Crosby taking batting practice at PNC Park that was a
(08:08):
few years back, and sid was crushing the baseball, crushing
it and John Steigerwalld, the king of old school. He
said on Twitter, if sid got all of Henry Davis's
at bats, would sid be hitting better than Davis at
an average of one sixty six? And I have zero
(08:30):
doubt that Sid would hit better than one sixty six,
zero dots. Seriously, he wouldn't win the batting title, but
I bet he'd hit well. You know, he hit one
eighty seven and that's better than one sixty six. I
want your reaction to my will Howard Switcheroo and we
(08:51):
got the Bucko round up up next. Then at the
bottom of the hour, we're gonna talk baseball with Bob
balck Ain't nobody better to baseball with? And the Pirates
analyst it's Madden on the X. Brands Neil Spain nail.
In the sixteenth minute, we've got Bob Block talking baseball.
(09:12):
At the bottom of the hour, this is Madden on
the X. Okay, I want to know what you think
of my Howard switcheroo that I now think. Will Howard
simply the number two quarterback?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
How you like me?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I want your reaction at eight three three four one
two wxdx. And I considered this very deeply, and it
has just as much to do with my belief that
the Steelers that it's Rogers or bust. If he's hurt
for significant period, you're already looking the next year, and
you may as well have Howard and Aller step in,
(09:48):
get them better.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
And see what they got that.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Number again eight three three four one two wxdx. But
right now it's time for the Buco roundup, and it's
tough with nothing now to round up at the All
Star break, So let's review. Would you trade O'Neal cruise
if the return was right? How many arms would take
to fix the bullpen? I'd say two or three? Do
you trust Valdez to keep it up, to keep being
(10:14):
a mini Manny Ramirez, because that figures into the notion
of trading crews. Would you put Majinski in the rotation
in place of either Keller or Chandler. Would you make
Majinski the closer or the eighth inning guy. Because the
Pirates are close, They're very close to being a playoff team,
but bull moves are required, both in terms of acquisitions
(10:37):
and in terms of moves within the existing roster. As
is and as deployed, I believe the Pirates are not
quite a playoff team. We talked about this briefly yesterday.
Sophie Cunningham of the WNBA's Indiana Fever, she was a
ring card girl at UFC on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
He is athletically hot if.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
You get it, just like Livy Dunn, real athletic body.
I don't want to drool too much being an old man,
but you get what I mean. And of course Angel Reese,
who just can't.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Go the f away.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
She said, Well, UFC doesn't have black ring girls, except
they do. In fact, the black ring card girl worked
that very night. Angel Reese just needs to go away.
Let's go to Brian, Brian in the truck you're on with.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Mark good Day, I said, good day.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Hey, No, you're talking about like organically tanking putting Wohoward
and you think you think he actually has any chance
of playing well?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
No, I know I'm not talking about organically tanking, although
it could work out that way. I'm talking about finding out.
I think of Rogers gets hot, the season's over. I
don't think Mason Rudolph could save it. I think we'll
Howard you know who knows. But but I want to
find out. That's the point. I want to at last
think big picture. And Mason Rudolph's got nothing to do
(12:08):
with thinking big picture. Even is Aaron Rodgers for that matter.
But you know how that's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
You don't want to trip ten to Drew Howard first,
even getting the guy with a bill at least like
a fragment of ability.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
No, no, will Howard has a fragment of ability. I
would take Drew Aller's ability over him, to be sure.
But but Aler's the project. And Howard has been not
a McCarthy's system, admittedly, but he's been in the NFL,
however marginally due to injury for a year let's go
to Matt.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Matt, you're on with Double.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
M Matt, You're on the air.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Yeah, So I just wanted to touch on the tom
One thing that you said.
Speaker 6 (12:48):
Yeah, I've been.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Saying that for years and years and years. He rode
the coattails of Coward.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well so so have I not not for years and years.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
But I think again, the further we got away from
Coward's tenures, the more evident it was that Tomlin won
with somebody else's players and leaders and culture, and he
let all that go to hell. Again, the further away
we got from it. But I think McCarthy has assembled
such a good staff and is such a modern day
offensive mind that the difference will be obvious from the
(13:20):
get go to some people. It already is people that
are closer than I am.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
Yeah, well, I completely agree with that when it comes
to Howard and Howler. I mean, it would be one
thing if the sample size was small, but the sample
size right now with both of them is zero. So
that's my problem with just throwing them out there.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, I would like you're not just throwing them out there.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Rogers is the starter, but do you agree that a
Rudolph is not at all part of the long term
and b that he probably couldn't save the season although
he did in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
One thousand percent.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
I completely agree with that. I do have a Mason
Rudolph Jersey because he saved the season in twenty twenty three,
but it was more of an aesthetic type deal. It's
not Hey, I think this guy's a long term answer
for the for the franchise, like he's definitely not. He's
shown his ceiling and I do think that if they's
an opportunity where either of these two guys could have
a higher ceiling than them, Yes, we absolutely had to
(14:17):
put him out there. It's just as of right now
that we just don't have a sample size right now.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I knew somebody bought that one. Mason Rudolph Jersey. Let's
go to Adam Adam real quick.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Yeah, Mark hit the nail on the head. I'm not
a big McCarthy's going to be compared to Tom Win.
I just feel like he did really did less with more.
You look at that window with pathetic one playoffs winning
like nine years with no.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Playoff wins in nine years, and he didn't win enough
with Belle Brown and Ben I mean a killer offensive
trio and for a defensive coach, his defense is under
achieved for how many years Tom? When Tom Win will
make the Hall of Fame, he will be the worst
coach in the Hall of Fame by far, the worst
coach ever to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Thank you for the call.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Up.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Next baseball talk with Bob Block.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
I'm Mark Madden on the X Spain leads one nil
on a penalty that game in the thirtieth minute. Had
trouble getting hold of Bob Block. But that's okay. We
jump Pierre McGuire up, so it's time to talk hockey.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Pierre.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
To me, the Jason Robertson deal seems dead. He's staying
in Dallas, I think, but the talk won't go away
about him potentially coming to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
What are you hearing right now?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
But the talk won't go away, and it's nice to
visit with you and your listeners. Mark. The fact that
his brothers now obviously come to Pittsburgh, I think it
creates a lot of that conversation too. The familiarity, I
think between the management team in Pittsburgh and the Robertson family,
I think is pretty massive because of the Ontario Hockey
(15:55):
League ties. So you look at it. You know, where
there's smoke, there's usually some fire, and I would say
there's probably something to it.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Here's what I can't figure. Robertson has leverage. He could
not quite pick where he wants to go, but he
has great influence. Why would he want to come to
an aging team like Pittsburgh at twenty six and in
his prime.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
You know, there's one thing that Pittsburgh has that nobody
else in the league has. It's Sydney Crosby. There's a
fascination around the hockey world. And it's not just you know,
with guys in North America, it's all around the hockey
world where people want to be around him. He's such
a winner. And it's not just that he's perceived as
a winner. He really is a winner. And so you
(16:42):
look at it, and I think that's a major part
of this. People think wherever SID is, they've got a
legitimate chance to compete, and it's a lot like and I,
you know, it's a different position, but Mark, I can
tell you right now whether it was coaching against them
or broadcasting their games, whenever Marty Brodure was playing. Everybody
in New Jersey thought they had a chance to win.
(17:03):
I think it's the same thing in Pittsburgh. They're not
a lot of players like that, but Crosby is one
of those players.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
What do the Penguins still need to get I'm thinking
of left handed defenseman.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
They just don't have numbers there.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
No.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So on the other side, you look at Montreal. Montreal
has a lot of right shot defensemen. You know, they're
they're the antithesis of what Pittsburgh is. It's desperately looking
now with Waterspoon and Shay moving on. Obviously Waterspoon out
west to Vegas and Shay out to Edmonton. Yet the
limited numbers, limited numbers on the left side for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Now we're hearing Connor Hellibuck maybe from Winnipeg to Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
That makes sense because.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
If Buffalo at Hellibuck, my heavens, the sky would be
the limit pier. But how can the Sabers make that
deal without damaging what they've built to date.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Because they've got so much internal depth, whether it's with
Yeri Kooliz, whether it's no Oastlan, whether it's Constant Hellanious.
They've got so many young forwards that they can afford
to lose one. They're not going to be able to
keep them all. The development and the long term signing
of Zach Benson really helped change the dynamic in Buffalo
as well. Their depth and defense is overwhelming, and you know,
(18:19):
you just add an elite and Connor Hellibuck, you can't
take it away from the Olympic goal. A big part
of that was because of Connor Hellibuck. I know he
hasn't had a lot of Stanley Cup playoff success, but
he's proven that he can win a big game now.
So you get him. That changes a balance of power
pretty significantly in an Eastern conference where I think you
would agree there has been a massive build up. Yes,
(18:42):
in terms of an orange race around the East. You
had him in the Buffalo. That changes a lot of
what's gone on.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
What's happening currently with Dylan markin and Detroit, and could
that situation intertwine with what happens to Robertson in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Big talk about that Mark You're onto something there. There's
a lot of talk that And got to remember too,
Jimmy Nell worked with Steve Eiserman in Detroit. They're friends,
they've known each other a long time. There is definitely
a relationship there in terms of communication between Dallas and Detroit.
Jimmy didn't leave Dallas and bad shit when he left
(19:20):
Storry to go to Dallas from Detroit. He did not
leave him on bad terms. He left on very good terms.
So there is some discussion there. I've heard this from
numerous people now that you know, there could be one
of those where it's Larkin for Robertson. If you look
at organizational need, clearly Detroit could still if they lose
(19:40):
Lark and they're going to need some help down the middle.
But Robertson's not that guy. But you look at Dallas,
they desperately need some help down the middle, and that's
where Larkin would help. So I think it's one of
those where it could work out for both teams. Just
betrayed will have a little bit more to do. It'd
be a good trade probably for both teams.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Long term, we're hearing Quinn Use, who's one of the
NHL's very best defenseman, is gonna get a monster extension
to Minnesota. Now Quinn's very deserving, But does that surprise you.
I figured it h'd eventually go to New Jersey to
play with his brothers.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Well, his brothers may end up coming to Minnesota. So
it's something to watch, there's no question about it. I'm
not saying that's happening tomorrow, but it's something to watch.
One of the things that's really apparent about Minnesota Billy Garrant,
the way they recruited Quinn, and they desperately recruited him,
There's no question about it. They flew a private plane
(20:36):
out there to pick him up, the way they put
him with Brock Faber, the Olympic chemistry with Faber and
obviously Boldy. You start looking at everything that's gone on
with that team in Minnesota. They haven't gotten out of
the second round since two thousand and three when they
got to the Western Conference final. That's the furthest they've
ever gone is in Minnesota wild, So it's been a
(20:58):
long time, and they they want to do that. They
think if they have Quinn Hughes there, they can do that. Organizationally,
they do have some young firepower that they could trade
to try to make a big deal with Jersey. We'll
see whether that happens or not, but I would imagine
he's gonna stay in Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
You mentioned Billy Garan obviously former Penguin player, Stanley Cup
winner here, a former executive here. I think he's become
one of the very best gms in hockey pier and
he showed that with the US Olympic team as well.
And I think part of it is there's not an
once a horseman or in Billy Garrn. He is playing spoken,
he doesn't beat around the bush, and he gets things done.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Oh well, he had one of the best teachers you
could ever have, Lou Lamorello, right all right, And one
of the other best teachers you could ever have is
Ray Shiro. He worked for both of those man He
played for Lou Lamorello and he worked with and for
Ray Shiro. And when Ray was out of work, when
New Jersey let him go, the first person Billy called
was Ray. And Ray helped straighten Billy out on a
(21:57):
couple player personnel matters in Minnesotada that really helped get
their organization going. You got to remember go looking when
Billy went to Minnesota and where they are now. It's
an Apple and an Orange, two totally different teams. Ray
helped him there. So yeah, no, Billy's had some great
mentors along the way. But he's always been like that.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
I'm going to date myself. When Billy was a sixteen
year old, I had him in hockey camp. When he
was seventeen years of age, he was playing for the
Springfield Olympics. I was coaching at Saint Lawrence University. We
brought the entire organization the Springfield Olympics. He a whole
team up on a bus which was not in the
recruiting violation. It was he and Scott la Chance and
(22:34):
another player by the name of Bob Kellogg. All three
of them were first, second or third round picks. We
tried to get all three of them to commit to
Saint Lawrence. Unfortunately I didn't get any of them, but
we tried. So I've known Billy a long time. You
don't mess around. Billy's no mess around guy.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Talking to Pierre maguire here on the ex the home
of the Penguins, Pierre up Anaheim matched the offer for
Leocarlson to do that. Where does that leave them salary
structure wise? And what do the Flyers do now?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
I can't speak to what the Flyers are gonna do now.
I'm still surprised that they try to make that offersheet.
I'm not mad at them. I don't think anybody, well
maybe Anaheim's mad at them. But you know, they didn't
They didn't break the rules. Let's put it that way.
They weren't doing anything nefarious. It's kind of been an
unwritten rule for a long time, and I'm not a
big fan of unwritten rules. It's either a rule or
it's not a rule. And clearly they didn't break any rules.
(23:30):
But this has changed the way business is going to
be done. Matt, Look, what's Macklin celebrating? Gonna get Mark?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Yeah, but he just said here, he'll take it.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Macklin just said in an interview he would take less
to help the team build a winner. And and I
don't know, maybe maybe that becomes a trend. Wemby just
did that in the NBA.
Speaker 6 (23:48):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I'd like to see that happen.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
I think a lot of people would, but I think
before it's all said and then, we'll see where Macklin
is on his contract. That being said, Leo's really good.
I think the next big test case is going to
be Adam Fantilly. We'll see how that plays out. In Columbus,
one guy went second, overall. Obviously, Carlson, the other guy
went third overall. Fantil he's in the same draft year,
(24:13):
so it's gonna be very interesting to see how that
works out. But you're right, I mean I never thought
doctor Samuel he would never match. I always thought doctor
Samuel he's probably the wealthiest owner in the National Hockey.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
You said that here, Pierre, the minute the offer sheet
got signed.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Yeah, And here here's the thing. People like doctor samuela
I think has seventy two or seventy three patents that
he owns. I mean, money is rolling. This is an
unbelievably wealthy family. Like that's not going to intimidate them.
I don't know why Philly did what they did. That's
you'd have to ask Danny Brier and Keith Killings that.
But anybody in the National Hockey League that didn't think
(24:51):
they were gonna match clearly doesn't know the internal wealth
of the Samuelli family.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Well, like you said, Fantilli potentially is the next test case.
Although I've not heard anything about him signing an offer
seat anywhere. I think Columbus really needs to keep him.
What about Badard, He's hurt had shoulder surgery, won't be
ready to start the season as a restricted free agent.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Did that drive his value done? I can't imagine it
really would.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
No, I don't think it drove his value down. But
I can tell you right now they got to be
holding their breath in Chicago, Mark, you know what as
well as I do. I mean, they built their whole
rebuild on Connor Bedard where he's going to be and
how he's going to play. And there have been some
option there have been some downs. But the one thing now,
this is his third major injury, and that's in a
(25:37):
short period of time. It's not only we're talking about
a ten year period of time here, we're talking about
a four year period of time. So that's something that's
got to be serious cause for concern. Obviously, this is
a little bit more substantial because it requires major shoulder
surgery and he's hurt the right shoulder, he's hurt the
left shoulder. I mean, he's had some pretty significant stuff
happened to him. I don't think, you know, for Chicago,
(26:03):
I'm not sure they're a playoff team this year. And
if they're not a playoff team this year, I just
don't know where they're going to turn it. I have
no directions, no idea what direction they're going to go.
I really mean that. I'm kind of shocked they made
the Crevier trade. I'm still really surprised at that deal
with Buffalo. I really really am.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I'm surprised that some unrestricted free agents aren't yet sign Pierre.
I mean, you got names like Patrick Caine, Anthony Manthew
had such a good season at Pittsburgh, Patrick Lyone who's
had injury problems, but his talent is undeniable to you.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Has the market been kind of slow?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Yeah, the markets is slow for those guys because they're older.
One guy's coming off a career year, Mantha. The other
guys coming off of very underwhelming last couple of years
in Detroit did not make the people forget this, by
the way, everybody takes it for granted. Patrick Kane did
not make the US Olympic team. You know, think about
that for one second. So a lot of people think
that maybe he's a diminishing asset around the league, and
(27:05):
I think, manthis demands have been far too high, just
way too high.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
And That's what I'm hearing too.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
And don't you think Pierre his invisible playoff drove his
value down.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yeah, for sure, that's all part of it, and the
fact that he had an unbelievable season. But where have
that been in the other years, you know, So that's
something to think about. And then in Lioney's case, I
think people are very worried about the temple to his game.
They're worried about the injury situation that he dealt with
this year. I'm saying I can tell you this right now.
I'm in northern Quebec right now. Training. You know, some
(27:38):
hockey players here, and you know, I'm around Montreal a lot,
and they do a lot of stuff from Montreal and
as radio, and all I can tell you is this
is that there's not the one negative thing set about
Patrick Lioney's behavior, which I don't think he would have
heard out of Winnipeg or out of Columbus. So he's
clearly become a change man in a good way, not
a bad way.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah me, part of me would like to see the
Penguins take a flyer on him if the price was right,
because he could be mant to part do here. You know,
he he has that goal scoring ability and he's money
on the power play, especially.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
He needs to this is and this is just unsolicited advice.
Take it for what it's worth. I think he's one
of those players that's gonna have to bet on himself
this year. Take a one year deal, take it way
under market value, bet on yourself, go and rip it up,
stay healthy, and next year hit the mother load. But
I I don't see him getting a huge contract this year.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Pierre, your name is on the Stanley Cup, and you
can approach this whimsically or or with outrage. But what's
your take on the entire Dundon family being on the Cup?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Really disappointed? I'm not gonna lie to you. Bobby Gorman,
who's not on the Cup, has been with that organization
Hartford slash Carolina.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Okay, so they did leave that guy off. Huh my god?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah yeah, the equipment.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
That's terrible.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
When I when I left, yeah, when I left Pittsburgh
to go to Hartford, I wasn't in an arrest to
do it, by the way, And you know I didn't
have to do it. I see it because it was
an unbelievable challenge and we'd already won two Stanley Cups
as an organization in Pittsburgh, and I was a young guy,
and I was up to the challenge. Bobby Gorman and
Skip Cunningham were are two trainers. Those guys were the
(29:22):
assault of the earth. They were phenomenal, phenomenal human beings.
I still respect them so much. When I heard Bobby's
name wasn't on there, I and then I saw the
names of the ownership groups on there, I was like,
you've gotta be kidding me, Like that's when trainers and
scouts are the most alienated and outpressed people in the
(29:42):
National Hockey League. The one thing that should never happen.
I bet you the players in Carolina are really not
happy about this. They should never be left off the cup.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Ever. Is there any way to fix it?
Speaker 3 (29:55):
That's up to Gary Bettman.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, but I mean like you'd have to re engrave
the whole ring for all the team. It seems like
just as bad as it is and and and it
just shouldn't have been allowed to happen.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Disappoint is the best word I can think of.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
So we we agree it's it's I was really when
I saw this at first, somebody called me and said
this happened. I'm like, no chance, there's no way. Hockey
operations in the NHL.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Saying with me, say with me, did.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
You say the same thing? Mark, I'm telling you.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
I heard it before it became like you know, all
over the place, and I said, that's a mistake.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
So so we're on the same we're on the same
problem with like there. But I'm just telling you, Elia,
I heard about him, Like, oh way, there's no way
Hockey Operation is going to let that happen because they
have to get the lift and approve the list that
goes on. And I'm like, Hockey Operations let that happen.
I can't believe that. And it did.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
It happened finally, Pierre and you alluded to this a
moment ago. Uh. I look at some of the things
going on, like Buffalo potentially getting Hella buck as some
of the deals.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
That have been made the Eastern Conference. I mean, you.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Always think that Stanley Cup champ can repeat, but it's
such a loaded conference.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I think it's totally up.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
For grabs, completely up for grabs, completely and utterly up
for grabs. And think about this. Carolina won. There's no
question they won, and they were the best team last playoffs,
There's no question about it. They did it without a
true superstar Jordan Stall, who is a friend of yours
and a friend of mine, who won the consum My Trophy.
(31:27):
But Jordan Stall is a star player in the league,
but he's not a superstar. He doesn't take games over.
He took a playoff series over in the final in particular.
But a lot of owners, and I can tell you
this Mark very confidently, a lot of owners around the
league are saying to their general managers, how did that
team win the Stanley Cup and they don't have any
(31:49):
players like what we have, How can that happen? How
did it happen? How do you make sure it never
happens again? And that's a lot of owners have had
these discussion that's with their managers about that.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Pierre has always great stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Thank you for stepping your time ahead to help me
out and we'll talk again next week.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Good stuff.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I will always be there for you, my man. Thank
you very much. Have a great rest of the week, everybody.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
That's the great Pierra Maguire. Hopefully we'll catch up with
Locke at the top of the hour. Nearing halftime, Spain
still leads one nil. This would be not a gratuitous
upset because I think these are the two best teams left.
But the way France has been putting the ball in
the back of the old onion bag, it definitely would
be an upset.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Get your calls in there. If you're just tuning in.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I want your thoughts on that reporter at the All
Star Game calling Paul Skeins a future Yankee on camera
that's gone viral. The home run Darby. If you saw
Will Ferrell just isn't funny anymore. I think Will Howard
should be the number two quarterback. I've done the old
switcher rue, So your thoughts on any or all of that.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Dial eight three three four one two w XDX Spain
won Franz nil.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
At the half, speaking half soccer purists, if you think
they hated the hydration breaks and I don't like them.
I just don't want my knickers permanently in a twist
over it. But there's a report the halftime show for
the final it's gonna be thirty minutes halftime for soccer match.
It's supposed to be fifteen minutes, but it's gonna be
(33:23):
thirty minutes because they're gonna do a Super Bowl style
halftime show with Madonna Shakira justin Bieber, etc. FIFA says
no more than twenty minutes, but I bet it's thirty
and the.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Teams won't like that. For sure. You get a certain routine.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I can't believe the Super Bowl halftime show goes as
long as it does. But right now it's time for
the trifecta with the All Star Game tonight. It's the
top three All Star Game moments in Pirates history. Number
one is undoubtedly Dave Parker throwing two runners out from
right field nineteen seventy nine at Seattle, one at home,
(34:04):
one at third, and the Cobra got All Star Game MVP.
Number two is Clemente. It's an All Star Game home
run in nineteen seventy one at Detroit Upper Deck at
the Old Tiger Stadium. Colmente was one of six Hall
of Famers did a home run in that game, and
it was Clemente's last All Star at bat. And number
(34:26):
three is the nineteen seventy four All Star Game at
Three Rivers Stadium. I was thirteen and I went and
got a million autographs and I loved it. A big memory,
a big part of my childhood attending that All Star Game.
The trifecta brought to us by Danny's Petron Hogies, located
(34:47):
on Route eighty eight in Bethel Park. Family owned and
operated since nineteen sixty. Check out Danny's because it is delicious.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
A three three four to one two WXDX number two.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
We played that SoundBite earlier that went viral where this
woman interviewed Paul Sken's and at the end of the
interview called him a future Yankee. Real fanboy stuff, real
unprofessional stuff. But then again, Pat McAfee is the most
popular media personality in the US. If it has said that,
people would have loved it. If A Kelsey would have
(35:21):
said that, people would have loved it. But I'm amused
by some of this stuff Paul Skeen's is saying about
the upcoming labor negotiations. Paul Skens wants to be Jimmy
Hoff and he's been in the league. This is just
his third year and he's actually part of an eight
man negotiated committee for the union, and he's talking about
missing games and missing seasons. He said all that again
(35:45):
in Philadelphia, and even though he's not participating in the
All Star Game, he's there because he got named to it.
And Skens also says he's pitching at a high level. Dude,
Jerry ras like three point five. I mean, you can
keep telling yourself you're pitching at a high level, but
(36:06):
it's not at the high level you had previously established. Now,
looking at that upcoming CBA negotiation, which does figure to
cost a baseball a lot of games, maybe even a season,
the owner's proposed cap is two hundred and forty five
mil and the flour is one hundred and seventy one mil.
And that is what that floor is, sixty five mil
(36:28):
higher than the Pirates current payroll.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
So I can't imagine Nutting wanting a flour.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Then again, the floor being that high as because MLB
has several rights deals coming up where each team is
going to get over one hundred million in that payday
up next, we did the old switcher route. Bob Locke
joins me to talk baseball here on the X
Okay, so we got France and Spain right now, World
Cup semifinal.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
To me, it's the two best teams remaining.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
We got the MLB All Star Game tonight, except too
many of the All Stars aren't playing. We had the
Home Run Derby last night, except it's boring and was
on Netflix, and I watched just enough to be reminded
that Will Ferrell isn't funny anymore. He was doing like,
I don't know, play by play commentary whatever, not funny anymore.
(00:40):
Jordan Walker of the Saint Louis Cardinals won it six
home runs in his last six swings, and Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Booed everybody but Schwarburn.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
And of course we can continue to debate what the
Pirates should do, as in, make a bold move and
trade crews, which is what I think they should do,
because a bold move is required to make the playoffs.
And then there's this a reporter at Philadelphia yesterday for
(01:15):
the All Star Game. He was interviewing Skeens and concluded
by calling him a future Yankee, out loud and on video.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Skeens was nonplussed, and it went viral.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Let's hear that SoundBite, future Yankee? Yeah, the reporter was
incredibly unprofessional, but probably will prove to not be a liar.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I bet Steen's ultimately is a Yankee.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Like I said, people go nuts about that sound bite. Uh,
this is the Mark Madden Show. I do more than
a sound bite. I do three hours every day on
the X, four hours starting after Labor Day when Steeler
fever kicks in.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I'm not sure what happened to Tommy Radio.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
He's not been here this week, not yesterday, not today,
so we don't have him to fill time. Call now
a three three four one two WXDX or follow me
on Twitter at Mark Madden X. But that reporter, you know,
the future Yankee thing being unprofessional, It's not like being
(02:43):
unprofessional is infrequent in today's sports media. Sports media has
absolutely become amateur. Hours become do it yourself. Look at
the crap that's popular. If a Kelsey brother would have
said that the skemes, you would lap it up. The
(03:05):
salary cap debate is going on.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
At the All Star Game.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
A guy from the union, the MLBPA said the salary
cap would be bad for the fans. Well, that's not
proven to be the case in every other major sports
I for one cannot wait till baseball misses all of
next season. I'll talk about that more later in the show,
and certainly between now and when they miss next season.
(03:37):
But the big news, and I do have big news,
it's my big switcheroo regarding the Steelers' quarterback position. This
is way out of left field, but I am jumping
on the Will Howard bandwagon. I don't believe he's the
long term answer, but I know for sure that Mason
(03:58):
Rudolph ain't the long term answer.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And I also believe.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That Mason Rudolph can't win enough. If Rogers gets hurt,
in the backup has to play, and so I would
have no problem with keeping Will Howard as the number two.
In fact, I now believe it's a good idea. So
there you go. It's the old switcheroo RKO out of nowhere,
(04:23):
and it's going to be exciting to finally see Howard
play in the exhibition games. What do you think the
old switcheroo? Eight three three four one two WXDX. Do
you get what I'm saying? If Rogers gets hurt for
significant period, the season is over, regardless of who plays
(04:44):
in his place, who deputizes the only scenario where Rudolph
would be preferable would be for like one game, maybe two,
or coming in cold during a game. But big picture,
I'm thinking big picture. I'm thinking you can finding out.
I'm picking the future. Big picture. You gotta go with
(05:06):
Will Howard. Your thoughts eight three, three four one two WSDX.
There's a big fuss among the NFL media because there
was a poll taken of the NFL players. It's not annually,
and they rate the NFL's top one hundred players. Lamar
(05:27):
Jackson dropped from number two last year to number sixty
nine this year.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Sixty nine. Yeah, and people are going nuts.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Oh lack of respect, this lack of respect that the
players don't take that voting seriously. But still that is
a precipitous drop and we will talk about that more
a little later. But getting back to the Will Howard thing,
I'm looking past this year. If Howard can be the guy, well,
(05:59):
I mean, how it's a long shot. But for the
long run, Mason Rudolf is a no shot. And I'm
a big McCarthy guy. I believe in the guy from Greenfield.
I want to see what McCarthy can do with both
Howard and Aller and staying with McCarthy. I keep telling you,
I keep telling you you were gonna marvel at the
(06:23):
coaching upgrade with these Steelers, from the top to the bottom,
from McCarthy the entire staff. It's going to be so
obvious the sloppiness that was tolerated by Tomlin.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Is going to dry up. And in that vein, Joe.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Hayden on his podcast said that Mike Tomlin had a
looseness of accountability. A looseness of accountability. Yeah, he really did.
In other words, model citizen zero discipline. Listen, by the
end of this year with McCarthy, remember write this down.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You heard it here.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
By the end of this year with McCarthy, you're gonna
realize that Tomlin was a fraud, an amateur, that Tomlin
never was a good coach. His boys can swim, but
that's about it. You're gonna realize that tom win won
with somebody else's players, with somebody else's leaders, and somebody
else's culture. And that should have been obvious to all
(07:25):
you marks the further we got away from Bill Cower coaching,
Cower would have won more had he stayed that streak
and o losing seasons really belongs to Ben Mike McCarthy
is a real coach. He hired a real staff. It's
not Buddy Buddy bs anymore. And you're gonna see it.
(07:46):
I guarantee it. Tomlin was a fraud A three three
four one two w XDX. I feel like the show
is off to a rousing start. You know what videos
out there again? It's but there's this video of Sidney
Crosby taking batting practice at PNC Park that was a
(08:08):
few years back, and sid was crushing the baseball, crushing
it and John Steigerwalld, the king of old school. He
said on Twitter, if sid got all of Henry Davis's
at bats, would sid be hitting better than Davis at
an average of one sixty six? And I have zero
(08:30):
doubt that Sid would hit better than one sixty six,
zero dots. Seriously, he wouldn't win the batting title, but
I bet he'd hit well. You know, he hit one
eighty seven and that's better than one sixty six. I
want your reaction to my will Howard Switcheroo and we
(08:51):
got the Bucko round up up next. Then at the
bottom of the hour, we're gonna talk baseball with Bob
balck Ain't nobody better to baseball with? And the Pirates
analyst it's Madden on the X. Brands Neil Spain nail.
In the sixteenth minute, we've got Bob Block talking baseball.
(09:12):
At the bottom of the hour, this is Madden on
the X. Okay, I want to know what you think
of my Howard switcheroo that I now think. Will Howard
simply the number two quarterback?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
How you like me?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I want your reaction at eight three three four one
two wxdx. And I considered this very deeply, and it
has just as much to do with my belief that
the Steelers that it's Rogers or bust. If he's hurt
for significant period, you're already looking the next year, and
you may as well have Howard and Aller step in,
(09:48):
get them better.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
And see what they got that.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Number again eight three three four one two wxdx. But
right now it's time for the Buco roundup, and it's
tough with nothing now to round up at the All
Star break, So let's review. Would you trade O'Neal cruise
if the return was right? How many arms would take
to fix the bullpen? I'd say two or three? Do
you trust Valdez to keep it up, to keep being
(10:14):
a mini Manny Ramirez, because that figures into the notion
of trading crews. Would you put Majinski in the rotation
in place of either Keller or Chandler. Would you make
Majinski the closer or the eighth inning guy. Because the
Pirates are close, They're very close to being a playoff team,
but bull moves are required, both in terms of acquisitions
(10:37):
and in terms of moves within the existing roster. As
is and as deployed, I believe the Pirates are not
quite a playoff team. We talked about this briefly yesterday.
Sophie Cunningham of the WNBA's Indiana Fever, she was a
ring card girl at UFC on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
He is athletically hot if.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
You get it, just like Livy Dunn, real athletic body.
I don't want to drool too much being an old man,
but you get what I mean. And of course Angel Reese,
who just can't.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Go the f away.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
She said, Well, UFC doesn't have black ring girls, except
they do. In fact, the black ring card girl worked
that very night. Angel Reese just needs to go away.
Let's go to Brian, Brian in the truck you're on with.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Mark good Day, I said, good day.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
Hey, No, you're talking about like organically tanking putting Wohoward
and you think you think he actually has any chance
of playing well?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
No, I know I'm not talking about organically tanking, although
it could work out that way. I'm talking about finding out.
I think of Rogers gets hot, the season's over. I
don't think Mason Rudolph could save it. I think we'll
Howard you know who knows. But but I want to
find out. That's the point. I want to at last
think big picture. And Mason Rudolph's got nothing to do
(12:08):
with thinking big picture. Even is Aaron Rodgers for that matter.
But you know how that's gonna go.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
You don't want to trip ten to Drew Howard first,
even getting the guy with a bill at least like
a fragment of ability.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
No, no, will Howard has a fragment of ability. I
would take Drew Aller's ability over him, to be sure.
But but Aler's the project. And Howard has been not
a McCarthy's system, admittedly, but he's been in the NFL,
however marginally due to injury for a year let's go
to Matt.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Matt, you're on with Double.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
M Matt, You're on the air.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Yeah, So I just wanted to touch on the tom
One thing that you said.
Speaker 6 (12:48):
Yeah, I've been.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Saying that for years and years and years. He rode
the coattails of Coward.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Well so so have I not not for years and years.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
But I think again, the further we got away from
Coward's tenures, the more evident it was that Tomlin won
with somebody else's players and leaders and culture, and he
let all that go to hell. Again, the further away
we got from it. But I think McCarthy has assembled
such a good staff and is such a modern day
offensive mind that the difference will be obvious from the
(13:20):
get go to some people. It already is people that
are closer than I am.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
Yeah, well, I completely agree with that when it comes
to Howard and Howler. I mean, it would be one
thing if the sample size was small, but the sample
size right now with both of them is zero. So
that's my problem with just throwing them out there.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, I would like you're not just throwing them out there.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Rogers is the starter, but do you agree that a
Rudolph is not at all part of the long term
and b that he probably couldn't save the season although
he did in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
One thousand percent.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
I completely agree with that. I do have a Mason
Rudolph Jersey because he saved the season in twenty twenty three,
but it was more of an aesthetic type deal. It's
not Hey, I think this guy's a long term answer
for the for the franchise, like he's definitely not. He's
shown his ceiling and I do think that if they's
an opportunity where either of these two guys could have
a higher ceiling than them, Yes, we absolutely had to
(14:17):
put him out there. It's just as of right now
that we just don't have a sample size right now.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I knew somebody bought that one. Mason Rudolph Jersey. Let's
go to Adam Adam real quick.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Yeah, Mark hit the nail on the head. I'm not
a big McCarthy's going to be compared to Tom Win.
I just feel like he did really did less with more.
You look at that window with pathetic one playoffs winning
like nine years with no.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Playoff wins in nine years, and he didn't win enough
with Belle Brown and Ben I mean a killer offensive
trio and for a defensive coach, his defense is under
achieved for how many years Tom? When Tom Win will
make the Hall of Fame, he will be the worst
coach in the Hall of Fame by far, the worst
coach ever to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Thank you for the call.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Up.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Next baseball talk with Bob Block.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
I'm Mark Madden on the X Spain leads one nil
on a penalty that game in the thirtieth minute. Had
trouble getting hold of Bob Block. But that's okay. We
jump Pierre McGuire up, so it's time to talk hockey.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Pierre.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
To me, the Jason Robertson deal seems dead. He's staying
in Dallas, I think, but the talk won't go away
about him potentially coming to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
What are you hearing right now?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
But the talk won't go away, and it's nice to
visit with you and your listeners. Mark. The fact that
his brothers now obviously come to Pittsburgh, I think it
creates a lot of that conversation too. The familiarity, I
think between the management team in Pittsburgh and the Robertson family,
I think is pretty massive because of the Ontario Hockey
(15:55):
League ties. So you look at it. You know, where
there's smoke, there's usually some fire, and I would say
there's probably something to it.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Here's what I can't figure. Robertson has leverage. He could
not quite pick where he wants to go, but he
has great influence. Why would he want to come to
an aging team like Pittsburgh at twenty six and in
his prime.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
You know, there's one thing that Pittsburgh has that nobody
else in the league has. It's Sydney Crosby. There's a
fascination around the hockey world. And it's not just you know,
with guys in North America, it's all around the hockey
world where people want to be around him. He's such
a winner. And it's not just that he's perceived as
a winner. He really is a winner. And so you
(16:42):
look at it, and I think that's a major part
of this. People think wherever SID is, they've got a
legitimate chance to compete, and it's a lot like and I,
you know, it's a different position, but Mark, I can
tell you right now whether it was coaching against them
or broadcasting their games, whenever Marty Brodure was playing. Everybody
in New Jersey thought they had a chance to win.
(17:03):
I think it's the same thing in Pittsburgh. They're not
a lot of players like that, but Crosby is one
of those players.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
What do the Penguins still need to get I'm thinking
of left handed defenseman.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
They just don't have numbers there.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
No.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So on the other side, you look at Montreal. Montreal
has a lot of right shot defensemen. You know, they're
they're the antithesis of what Pittsburgh is. It's desperately looking
now with Waterspoon and Shay moving on. Obviously Waterspoon out
west to Vegas and Shay out to Edmonton. Yet the
limited numbers, limited numbers on the left side for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Now we're hearing Connor Hellibuck maybe from Winnipeg to Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
That makes sense because.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
If Buffalo at Hellibuck, my heavens, the sky would be
the limit pier. But how can the Sabers make that
deal without damaging what they've built to date.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Because they've got so much internal depth, whether it's with
Yeri Kooliz, whether it's no Oastlan, whether it's Constant Hellanious.
They've got so many young forwards that they can afford
to lose one. They're not going to be able to
keep them all. The development and the long term signing
of Zach Benson really helped change the dynamic in Buffalo
as well. Their depth and defense is overwhelming, and you know,
(18:19):
you just add an elite and Connor Hellibuck, you can't
take it away from the Olympic goal. A big part
of that was because of Connor Hellibuck. I know he
hasn't had a lot of Stanley Cup playoff success, but
he's proven that he can win a big game now.
So you get him. That changes a balance of power
pretty significantly in an Eastern conference where I think you
would agree there has been a massive build up. Yes,
(18:42):
in terms of an orange race around the East. You
had him in the Buffalo. That changes a lot of
what's gone on.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
What's happening currently with Dylan markin and Detroit, and could
that situation intertwine with what happens to Robertson in Dallas.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Big talk about that Mark You're onto something there. There's
a lot of talk that And got to remember too,
Jimmy Nell worked with Steve Eiserman in Detroit. They're friends,
they've known each other a long time. There is definitely
a relationship there in terms of communication between Dallas and Detroit.
Jimmy didn't leave Dallas and bad shit when he left
(19:20):
Storry to go to Dallas from Detroit. He did not
leave him on bad terms. He left on very good terms.
So there is some discussion there. I've heard this from
numerous people now that you know, there could be one
of those where it's Larkin for Robertson. If you look
at organizational need, clearly Detroit could still if they lose
(19:40):
Lark and they're going to need some help down the middle.
But Robertson's not that guy. But you look at Dallas,
they desperately need some help down the middle, and that's
where Larkin would help. So I think it's one of
those where it could work out for both teams. Just
betrayed will have a little bit more to do. It'd
be a good trade probably for both teams.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Long term, we're hearing Quinn Use, who's one of the
NHL's very best defenseman, is gonna get a monster extension
to Minnesota. Now Quinn's very deserving, But does that surprise you.
I figured it h'd eventually go to New Jersey to
play with his brothers.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Well, his brothers may end up coming to Minnesota. So
it's something to watch, there's no question about it. I'm
not saying that's happening tomorrow, but it's something to watch.
One of the things that's really apparent about Minnesota Billy Garrant,
the way they recruited Quinn, and they desperately recruited him,
There's no question about it. They flew a private plane
(20:36):
out there to pick him up, the way they put
him with Brock Faber, the Olympic chemistry with Faber and
obviously Boldy. You start looking at everything that's gone on
with that team in Minnesota. They haven't gotten out of
the second round since two thousand and three when they
got to the Western Conference final. That's the furthest they've
ever gone is in Minnesota wild, So it's been a
(20:58):
long time, and they they want to do that. They
think if they have Quinn Hughes there, they can do that. Organizationally,
they do have some young firepower that they could trade
to try to make a big deal with Jersey. We'll
see whether that happens or not, but I would imagine
he's gonna stay in Minnesota.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
You mentioned Billy Garan obviously former Penguin player, Stanley Cup
winner here, a former executive here. I think he's become
one of the very best gms in hockey pier and
he showed that with the US Olympic team as well.
And I think part of it is there's not an
once a horseman or in Billy Garrn. He is playing spoken,
he doesn't beat around the bush, and he gets things done.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Oh well, he had one of the best teachers you
could ever have, Lou Lamorello, right all right, And one
of the other best teachers you could ever have is
Ray Shiro. He worked for both of those man He
played for Lou Lamorello and he worked with and for
Ray Shiro. And when Ray was out of work, when
New Jersey let him go, the first person Billy called
was Ray. And Ray helped straighten Billy out on a
(21:57):
couple player personnel matters in Minnesotada that really helped get
their organization going. You got to remember go looking when
Billy went to Minnesota and where they are now. It's
an Apple and an Orange, two totally different teams. Ray
helped him there. So yeah, no, Billy's had some great
mentors along the way. But he's always been like that.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
I'm going to date myself. When Billy was a sixteen
year old, I had him in hockey camp. When he
was seventeen years of age, he was playing for the
Springfield Olympics. I was coaching at Saint Lawrence University. We
brought the entire organization the Springfield Olympics. He a whole
team up on a bus which was not in the
recruiting violation. It was he and Scott la Chance and
(22:34):
another player by the name of Bob Kellogg. All three
of them were first, second or third round picks. We
tried to get all three of them to commit to
Saint Lawrence. Unfortunately I didn't get any of them, but
we tried. So I've known Billy a long time. You
don't mess around. Billy's no mess around guy.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Talking to Pierre maguire here on the ex the home
of the Penguins, Pierre up Anaheim matched the offer for
Leocarlson to do that. Where does that leave them salary
structure wise? And what do the Flyers do now?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
I can't speak to what the Flyers are gonna do now.
I'm still surprised that they try to make that offersheet.
I'm not mad at them. I don't think anybody, well
maybe Anaheim's mad at them. But you know, they didn't
They didn't break the rules. Let's put it that way.
They weren't doing anything nefarious. It's kind of been an
unwritten rule for a long time, and I'm not a
big fan of unwritten rules. It's either a rule or
it's not a rule. And clearly they didn't break any rules.
(23:30):
But this has changed the way business is going to
be done. Matt, Look, what's Macklin celebrating? Gonna get Mark?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Yeah, but he just said here, he'll take it.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Macklin just said in an interview he would take less
to help the team build a winner. And and I
don't know, maybe maybe that becomes a trend. Wemby just
did that in the NBA.
Speaker 6 (23:48):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
I'd like to see that happen.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
I think a lot of people would, but I think
before it's all said and then, we'll see where Macklin
is on his contract. That being said, Leo's really good.
I think the next big test case is going to
be Adam Fantilly. We'll see how that plays out. In Columbus,
one guy went second, overall. Obviously, Carlson, the other guy
went third overall. Fantil he's in the same draft year,
(24:13):
so it's gonna be very interesting to see how that
works out. But you're right, I mean I never thought
doctor Samuel he would never match. I always thought doctor
Samuel he's probably the wealthiest owner in the National Hockey.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
You said that here, Pierre, the minute the offer sheet
got signed.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Yeah, And here here's the thing. People like doctor samuela
I think has seventy two or seventy three patents that
he owns. I mean, money is rolling. This is an
unbelievably wealthy family. Like that's not going to intimidate them.
I don't know why Philly did what they did. That's
you'd have to ask Danny Brier and Keith Killings that.
But anybody in the National Hockey League that didn't think
(24:51):
they were gonna match clearly doesn't know the internal wealth
of the Samuelli family.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Well, like you said, Fantilli potentially is the next test case.
Although I've not heard anything about him signing an offer
seat anywhere. I think Columbus really needs to keep him.
What about Badard, He's hurt had shoulder surgery, won't be
ready to start the season as a restricted free agent.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Did that drive his value done? I can't imagine it
really would.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
No, I don't think it drove his value down. But
I can tell you right now they got to be
holding their breath in Chicago, Mark, you know what as
well as I do. I mean, they built their whole
rebuild on Connor Bedard where he's going to be and
how he's going to play. And there have been some
option there have been some downs. But the one thing now,
this is his third major injury, and that's in a
(25:37):
short period of time. It's not only we're talking about
a ten year period of time here, we're talking about
a four year period of time. So that's something that's
got to be serious cause for concern. Obviously, this is
a little bit more substantial because it requires major shoulder
surgery and he's hurt the right shoulder, he's hurt the
left shoulder. I mean, he's had some pretty significant stuff
happened to him. I don't think, you know, for Chicago,
(26:03):
I'm not sure they're a playoff team this year. And
if they're not a playoff team this year, I just
don't know where they're going to turn it. I have
no directions, no idea what direction they're going to go.
I really mean that. I'm kind of shocked they made
the Crevier trade. I'm still really surprised at that deal
with Buffalo. I really really am.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I'm surprised that some unrestricted free agents aren't yet sign Pierre.
I mean, you got names like Patrick Caine, Anthony Manthew
had such a good season at Pittsburgh, Patrick Lyone who's
had injury problems, but his talent is undeniable to you.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Has the market been kind of slow?
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Yeah, the markets is slow for those guys because they're older.
One guy's coming off a career year, Mantha. The other
guys coming off of very underwhelming last couple of years
in Detroit did not make the people forget this, by
the way, everybody takes it for granted. Patrick Kane did
not make the US Olympic team. You know, think about
that for one second. So a lot of people think
that maybe he's a diminishing asset around the league, and
(27:05):
I think, manthis demands have been far too high, just
way too high.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
And That's what I'm hearing too.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
And don't you think Pierre his invisible playoff drove his
value down.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yeah, for sure, that's all part of it, and the
fact that he had an unbelievable season. But where have
that been in the other years, you know, So that's
something to think about. And then in Lioney's case, I
think people are very worried about the temple to his game.
They're worried about the injury situation that he dealt with
this year. I'm saying I can tell you this right now.
I'm in northern Quebec right now. Training. You know, some
(27:38):
hockey players here, and you know, I'm around Montreal a lot,
and they do a lot of stuff from Montreal and
as radio, and all I can tell you is this
is that there's not the one negative thing set about
Patrick Lioney's behavior, which I don't think he would have
heard out of Winnipeg or out of Columbus. So he's
clearly become a change man in a good way, not
a bad way.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah me, part of me would like to see the
Penguins take a flyer on him if the price was right,
because he could be mant to part do here. You know,
he he has that goal scoring ability and he's money
on the power play, especially.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
He needs to this is and this is just unsolicited advice.
Take it for what it's worth. I think he's one
of those players that's gonna have to bet on himself
this year. Take a one year deal, take it way
under market value, bet on yourself, go and rip it up,
stay healthy, and next year hit the mother load. But
I I don't see him getting a huge contract this year.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Pierre, your name is on the Stanley Cup, and you
can approach this whimsically or or with outrage. But what's
your take on the entire Dundon family being on the Cup?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Really disappointed? I'm not gonna lie to you. Bobby Gorman,
who's not on the Cup, has been with that organization
Hartford slash Carolina.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Okay, so they did leave that guy off. Huh my god?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Yeah yeah, the equipment.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
That's terrible.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
When I when I left, yeah, when I left Pittsburgh
to go to Hartford, I wasn't in an arrest to
do it, by the way, And you know I didn't
have to do it. I see it because it was
an unbelievable challenge and we'd already won two Stanley Cups
as an organization in Pittsburgh, and I was a young guy,
and I was up to the challenge. Bobby Gorman and
Skip Cunningham were are two trainers. Those guys were the
(29:22):
assault of the earth. They were phenomenal, phenomenal human beings.
I still respect them so much. When I heard Bobby's
name wasn't on there, I and then I saw the
names of the ownership groups on there, I was like,
you've gotta be kidding me, Like that's when trainers and
scouts are the most alienated and outpressed people in the
(29:42):
National Hockey League. The one thing that should never happen.
I bet you the players in Carolina are really not
happy about this. They should never be left off the cup.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Ever. Is there any way to fix it?
Speaker 3 (29:55):
That's up to Gary Bettman.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, but I mean like you'd have to re engrave
the whole ring for all the team. It seems like
just as bad as it is and and and it
just shouldn't have been allowed to happen.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Disappoint is the best word I can think of.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
So we we agree it's it's I was really when
I saw this at first, somebody called me and said
this happened. I'm like, no chance, there's no way. Hockey
operations in the NHL.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Saying with me, say with me, did.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
You say the same thing? Mark, I'm telling you.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
I heard it before it became like you know, all
over the place, and I said, that's a mistake.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
So so we're on the same we're on the same
problem with like there. But I'm just telling you, Elia,
I heard about him, Like, oh way, there's no way
Hockey Operation is going to let that happen because they
have to get the lift and approve the list that
goes on. And I'm like, Hockey Operations let that happen.
I can't believe that. And it did.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
It happened finally, Pierre and you alluded to this a
moment ago. Uh. I look at some of the things
going on, like Buffalo potentially getting Hella buck as some
of the deals.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
That have been made the Eastern Conference. I mean, you.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Always think that Stanley Cup champ can repeat, but it's
such a loaded conference.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I think it's totally up.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
For grabs, completely up for grabs, completely and utterly up
for grabs. And think about this. Carolina won. There's no
question they won, and they were the best team last playoffs,
There's no question about it. They did it without a
true superstar Jordan Stall, who is a friend of yours
and a friend of mine, who won the consum My Trophy.
(31:27):
But Jordan Stall is a star player in the league,
but he's not a superstar. He doesn't take games over.
He took a playoff series over in the final in particular.
But a lot of owners, and I can tell you
this Mark very confidently, a lot of owners around the
league are saying to their general managers, how did that
team win the Stanley Cup and they don't have any
(31:49):
players like what we have, How can that happen? How
did it happen? How do you make sure it never
happens again? And that's a lot of owners have had
these discussion that's with their managers about that.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Pierre has always great stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Thank you for stepping your time ahead to help me
out and we'll talk again next week.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Good stuff.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I will always be there for you, my man. Thank
you very much. Have a great rest of the week, everybody.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
That's the great Pierra Maguire. Hopefully we'll catch up with
Locke at the top of the hour. Nearing halftime, Spain
still leads one nil. This would be not a gratuitous
upset because I think these are the two best teams left.
But the way France has been putting the ball in
the back of the old onion bag, it definitely would
be an upset.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Get your calls in there. If you're just tuning in.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I want your thoughts on that reporter at the All
Star Game calling Paul Skeins a future Yankee on camera
that's gone viral. The home run Darby. If you saw
Will Ferrell just isn't funny anymore. I think Will Howard
should be the number two quarterback. I've done the old
switcher rue, So your thoughts on any or all of that.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Dial eight three three four one two w XDX Spain
won Franz nil.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
At the half, speaking half soccer purists, if you think
they hated the hydration breaks and I don't like them.
I just don't want my knickers permanently in a twist
over it. But there's a report the halftime show for
the final it's gonna be thirty minutes halftime for soccer match.
It's supposed to be fifteen minutes, but it's gonna be
(33:23):
thirty minutes because they're gonna do a Super Bowl style
halftime show with Madonna Shakira justin Bieber, etc. FIFA says
no more than twenty minutes, but I bet it's thirty
and the.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Teams won't like that. For sure. You get a certain routine.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
I can't believe the Super Bowl halftime show goes as
long as it does. But right now it's time for
the trifecta with the All Star Game tonight. It's the
top three All Star Game moments in Pirates history. Number
one is undoubtedly Dave Parker throwing two runners out from
right field nineteen seventy nine at Seattle, one at home,
(34:04):
one at third, and the Cobra got All Star Game MVP.
Number two is Clemente. It's an All Star Game home
run in nineteen seventy one at Detroit Upper Deck at
the Old Tiger Stadium. Colmente was one of six Hall
of Famers did a home run in that game, and
it was Clemente's last All Star at bat. And number
(34:26):
three is the nineteen seventy four All Star Game at
Three Rivers Stadium. I was thirteen and I went and
got a million autographs and I loved it. A big memory,
a big part of my childhood attending that All Star Game.
The trifecta brought to us by Danny's Petron Hogies, located
(34:47):
on Route eighty eight in Bethel Park. Family owned and
operated since nineteen sixty. Check out Danny's because it is delicious.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
A three three four to one two WXDX number two.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
We played that SoundBite earlier that went viral where this
woman interviewed Paul Sken's and at the end of the
interview called him a future Yankee. Real fanboy stuff, real
unprofessional stuff. But then again, Pat McAfee is the most
popular media personality in the US. If it has said that,
people would have loved it. If A Kelsey would have
(35:21):
said that, people would have loved it. But I'm amused
by some of this stuff Paul Skeen's is saying about
the upcoming labor negotiations. Paul Skens wants to be Jimmy
Hoff and he's been in the league. This is just
his third year and he's actually part of an eight
man negotiated committee for the union, and he's talking about
missing games and missing seasons. He said all that again
(35:45):
in Philadelphia, and even though he's not participating in the
All Star Game, he's there because he got named to it.
And Skens also says he's pitching at a high level. Dude,
Jerry ras like three point five. I mean, you can
keep telling yourself you're pitching at a high level, but
(36:06):
it's not at the high level you had previously established. Now,
looking at that upcoming CBA negotiation, which does figure to
cost a baseball a lot of games, maybe even a season,
the owner's proposed cap is two hundred and forty five
mil and the flour is one hundred and seventy one mil.
And that is what that floor is, sixty five mil
(36:28):
higher than the Pirates current payroll.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
So I can't imagine Nutting wanting a flour.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Then again, the floor being that high as because MLB
has several rights deals coming up where each team is
going to get over one hundred million in that payday
up next, we did the old switcher route. Bob Locke
joins me to talk baseball here on the X
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