PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan)- "Good to be back on in the Burgh."
That's how former Penguins head coach, cancer survivor, and NHL on NBC analyst Eddie Olczyk opened his hit with The Fan Morning Show Wednesday morning. Edzo joined Colin Dunlap and Chris Mack to talk about the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs, the unique circumstances at play and the Penguins' chances at getting past Montreal and beyond.
"I think the league did everything the right way. Now, you can argue on the playoff format, you can poke holes at a lot of different things, but I think they got it pretty damn close to being perfect. Most importantly, again, is the health of everybody involved if we can pull this thing off. You just don't know. The virus is going to dictate, really. We don't have any control over this thing and we just don't know if we can keep everybody safe and healthy but it sure looks like it's off the ground and we're going to give it a try and I'm looking forward to being a part of it on the broadcast side."
Speaking of the broadcast side, Olczyk said that the details of how NBC Sports will cover the games is still to be determined, as he could be on the call of games from a studio or from a hub city of Toronto or Edmonton.
When play does begin, he thinks the Penguins have a lot going their way for potential success on the ice.
"I find it interesting that when I'm on the World Wide Web and I'm seeing articles and people are bringing out the analytics and the numbers that oh wow, the Penguins, their Corsi numbers, their puck control numbers against Montreal just don't add up to what they do. Look, whatever happened four months ago is irrelevant to what is going to take place in two weeks. We don't know. Anybody could go on a heater, anybody.
You're going to need depth. You can't be a one-line team, I don't think you can be a two-line team. I don't want to say Game 1 is a must for teams that are in that play-in. But it's a m-u-s and I'm almost crossing the t. To me, it's almost mandatory to win that first game with the unknown.
Montreal is not a great team. They're an OK team. They're 12th place in the Eastern Conference, they don't have a lot of depth at center ice. Yes, they've got Carey Price, they've got some good players. But, they're not a great team. If the Penguins play the way I'd expect them to play, the Penguins should advance in Round 1."
You can hear the entire interview with Eddie Olczyk from The Fan Morning Show, including more details on the bubble and the broadcasts as well as what he learned from his battle with cancer, below.
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