Alive Again?

[00:00:06] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils And you're listening to The Uncle Puckers NJD Podcast Let's go Devils! Can you guys hear me okay? Yes Okay, alright, just checking, just checking because my thing got a little wonky a little bit But yeah, so welcome everybody, whoever, thank you for joining on the live stream

[00:00:36] We are The Uncle Puckers, Tim, Bob, and Chris Lots to kind of talk about right now This is a fun time to discuss the Devils because they're actually looking like a halfway decent hockey team But before we start, how's everybody doing? I mean, other than the shitty news that Bobby just got and the fact that, you know, our hearts hurt for him Other than that Other than that, we have to be high, right? Yeah

[00:01:05] I got the staples out of my head today Yeah, we see your hair again, that's nice, you It's not a lot of hair, so it's always nice to see people with hair I was able to shampoo and condition fully as a very wonderful experience Just having like shower water flow over your head You don't realize what you've had until it's gone So that's like a Cinderella song right there I don't know what you've had until it's gone How bad were the, to get the staples out? Was it painful?

[00:01:35] No, no, not at all Not at all No? It wasn't as bad? No, not as bad Oh, it would be equally as bad I asked a question and, you know, recycled my joke about the doctor shaming me into not using Novocaine And another very attractive You act like a man Yeah, basically I'm a man Another pretty hot doctor too, by the way Yeah, what was his name? Yeah, what was his name? God damn it, man You fucking do just share a brain

[00:02:04] Yeah, basically We've been told that before Yeah So this is interesting, Tim That you just sent this And I didn't read it yet Other than the first paragraph It's pretty fucked up Oh yeah It's from some random Reddit post But I don't know It kind of Sounds Authentic You know I have a pretty good bullshit detector And that kind of sounds like something that Well, I heard on One of the XM shows I think it was Steve Coolyst

[00:02:33] He was talking about the Rangers He mentioned Miller And then he talked about Pedersen He goes And we know there was bullying going on We don't know the extent of it And he just got off the show And I was like Hmm I didn't hear anything like that So Is that apparently it? That Miller's just an ignorant douche? Is this Yeah A closed-minded ass? Is this what we're That sounds Sounds Sounds like it You know Again You know I don't want to spread rumors or anything But

[00:03:02] It kind of tracks Spreading rumors Tim It's Reckless speculation Reckless speculation Yes It sounds like Pretty plausible story That Yeah That he just bullied the shit Out of Pedersen Called him a faggot In a public setting And A lot of the team Got pissed at him And he had to go take Sensitivity training Which then Was his leave of absence So it all kind of lines up With that story

[00:03:31] And then After the fact Basically Quinn and a couple guys Were like You need to get this fuck out of here And Aquilina Or Aquilina Whatever his name is The owner Basically trying to get rid of him Since then So It's good to see the organization Kind of stand up for For Pedersen that way Yep But you know The Rangers did another piece of shit Yeah I mean It says here What happened was After the game Where Miller was benched Miller crashed out And started tearing up Petey Yelling at him

[00:04:01] And calling him a Faggot Oh and we're only saying that And you know To read this verbatim Yes Six or seven times Bashing into him For being a weak minded baby Quinn Jake And others Stepped in And told Miller To shut the fuck up Quinn was extremely pissed At JT for this And told the management What happened Management And Aquilina Had a meeting with JT And pretty much told him He was suspended And needed to take Sensitivity training

[00:04:31] That's That's That's intense I mean Why is I mean I get it Hockey is filled with A bunch of Especially Eastern Europeans They Frown upon Homosexuality In every way In some of their countries It's actually illegal And then you add This Yeah Talking about The JT Miller One Mike To Petey So But why is hockey So Bucking Still in the dark ages When it comes to Any kind

[00:05:00] Of social progress Like I Especially this Like If EP40 Is gay Who gives a shit Like Seriously Does that bother you That much JT Miller That you Can't be on the Same team With somebody That You know Loves another Guy Or whatever I mean It's just It's ridiculous I'm tired of it I'm sick and tired Of these players Not wanting to Play on days That are Gay pride nights And all this other shit Yeah

[00:05:31] Yeah But you know And it's the same It's the same crowd Itching and moaning About pride nights That are then At the devil's game Against Edmonton Booing the Canadian anthem Right The Venn diagram Of those people Is a circle And It's just It's fucking Unbelievable It's like Let's Grow up And move on It's 2025 Like Just Just be an adult It's just this Childish Machismo

[00:06:01] That That Permeates Every kind of Major Sport That is predicated On violence And Yeah Hockey is predicated On violence But You don't need To Carry that Into Into Kind of Your social sphere It's just stupid It's just Fucking stupid Just stop Stop it I would I would love To actually have Mike on One day To tell the story You live in Vancouver Mike And he's right in here It was bad up here Miller's a shit bag Miller hated the fans

[00:06:30] He would be out with his family And get ripped apart I would love to hear Stories about that I would love to have been A fly on the wall To watch JT Miller Get fucking ripped apart And he gets traded To One of the most Progressive cities If not The most progressive City In the country Where this Kind of shit Just doesn't Fly You know I mean It's just It's bullshit It's not like You're playing In fucking Nashville Or wherever Where the people I'm not saying The team But I'm saying The people Might be a little Bit more

[00:06:59] You know Conservative I guess Is the right way To put it In their thinking But like I don't know man I'm just glad That none of that Shit Is going on With the devils Yeah Yeah You know And Yes And there's Something to be said For The culture That Comes from Fitz You know About building A family And a good Progressive culture And I've been You know He's He's embraced That philosophy Up and down The lineup So

[00:07:29] He's done a good Job with that Yes Yes I agree with you I was laughing At Mike's comment About Canucks Twitter Every Every Twitter group Has its share Of Interesting Personalities Yeah I mean Now Now I saw Like this Whole big Thing About how The devils Need to trade Jack Hughes Because We apparently We won Three games So Apparently It's all Jack's fault That You know

[00:07:58] And look I think There is Something Not to trading Jack Hughes Or anything Like that I'm not Saying it But there Is something To be said With how This team Is playing Now As opposed To when It's playing When Jack Hughes Is on the Team It's very Simple You don't Have The guy On the Ice Anymore That you Feed The puck To 24-7 Every single Time It's get The puck To Jack Get The puck To Jack Right Now Guys Are playing A lot More I think Freer Worrying About Themselves A little Bit more Within Themselves

[00:08:28] And it Is turning Out to be In at Least The last Three games My confidence Is what This team Is still A little Bit shaky I mean We won Let me See real Quick So last Time they Won three In a row Were 77 Days ago Yeah It was The Biden Administration It was The Biden Administration And on December 21st Of last Year They beat Pittsburgh They beat Pittsburgh Three

[00:08:57] Nothing And man Can we Yeah Can we Just go Back To the Biden Administration And then They beat The Rangers On the 23rd Five Nothing And then They beat The Canes Four to Two On the 27 That's The last Time That this Team Won Three In a Row So I'm Not Gonna I don't I'm Not 100% Bought In Yet But With That Being Said I Have Two And One Kind of Comes From The Other So

[00:09:27] It Was Actually Interesting This Guy Tyler Bliszynski Posted This Clip Of Knoblox Press Conference After The Devils Game And It's Kind of An Interesting Insight Into The Oilers Have A Similar Problem With McDavid And Dreisaitl Right Like The Players That Play On Those Lines And This Is Why He Sometimes Stacks The Lines Sometimes You Think It's

[00:10:19] To So Distributing Those Puck Touches That Jack Usually Gets Across The Lineup So Timo Gets A Little Bit More Brack Gets A

[00:10:51] To Multiple Puck Puck Dominant And They're Getting Their Chances So It's It's Kind of Two Different Things Happening At Once But Giving Guys More Opportunity Stepping Up In

[00:11:51] sort of the little pockets of what he needed to do. But then once you start just doing that and not really contributing anything else, then the rest of your game starts to suffer. So his games really suffered. And he fucking whiffs on a goddamn empty night opportunity that left my- Palat gives us palittle. Anyway, there is a way to fix this problem. Were you were you workshopping that one all day? No, it just popped in my head. There is a way to fix this problem. We've all played pinball, right?

[00:12:20] Multi-ball? Terrible with that, too. Multi-puck. If you do something like kill a penalty, and then all of a sudden the ref just drops three more pucks down, and it's a fucking free-for-all, that would be awesome. That would be awesome. Yeah, I did fucking come to play, man. Game play. Let's try that. I try that in the play. ECHL. Yeah. So the multi-puck. At lower levels sometimes, like, you know, warm-ups,

[00:12:48] pucks will get stuck in the net, and, like, you know, the ref won't do a good job cleaning them out. So I was playing, like, I remember once specifically it was a Pee-wee, a second puck just popped out, and, like, we were playing with one puck, and the other team was playing with the other, and we were just, what the fuck's happening? And it went on for, like, maybe 10, 15 seconds for the refs. We were like, what is happening right now? So hold on. Okay, wait. Before we move on, you said Pee-wee, and now I forgot about a story I had to tell you from the kids' last playoff game, and this is why our sport is so special.

[00:13:17] It was right after the first intermission. We're a minute into the second, and our team gets a power play, but all of a sudden there's a timeout on the ice. I look over at the other kid's goalie, and he's, like, he's, like, tapping his chest or something. I'm like, oh, what's the matter? Does this kid take a puck in the chest? Is he having a hard time breathing? Like, what's going on? He's got his mask off, and then with that, just chunk. Throws up everywhere. Throws up everywhere, right? I'm looking around. I'm like, they don't have another goalie. I'm like, are they going to forfeit? What's going to happen here? In any other sport today, if a kid pukes, it's like protocol.

[00:13:46] Get him out. Move him on. What do they do? Get that fucking Zamboni out here. Scrape that shit right up. Dude rallies for the 4-0 shutout against my boys. It was an absolute stud. That is diesel shit for a freaking 10-year-old man. He yaks on the ice, moves over, lets it get Zamboni, and then pitches a shutout. Hockey. I have a similar story. It's slightly grosser, but nowhere near as tough as this. Okay? So when I was little, growing up, my mother was a dance instructor.

[00:14:15] My oldest sister was always in plays and everything. So when I was real little, like six, seven, eight years old, my mother, every summer, would take me and my other sister, and we'd have to be in these other plays, right? Singing stupid songs and fucking whatever, right? I hated it, hated it, hated it. But because... Can you sing a song? I could sing you lots of Broadway tunes. I can't stand them. But again, growing up, I couldn't say no.

[00:14:42] So we were doing this showcase, and I was like six years old. And it was at Intermediate East, and they were doing some song. I can't remember what the song was. And there was a horse mentioned in the song, right? I think it was something from Guys and Dolls. I can't remember, though. So one of the people in the play decided, well, I have a horse. I mean, why don't we bring the horse on the stage and we can do... And everybody thought this was a good idea.

[00:15:12] So the night of the performance, the whole place is packed. And out comes this horse. And now there's probably about 300 people in there. The horse gets scared shitless. The tail goes up, and this horse explodes diarrhea everywhere. There was this guy, and I remember it like fucking yesterday. His name was Jerry Rich, and he was the orchestra guy. And he's there playing the fucking piano, right? And you always hear those songs, right? Those stories, right?

[00:15:41] Where like barroom brawls break out and the band keeps playing, you know, and all that. This motherfucker kept playing the piano, got covered in shit. It was like the most disgusting Gallagher show in the history of fucking man. Horse shit everywhere. Needless to say, we did have to stop and clean up. People left because they were getting sick in the front row. I mean, it's horse shit everywhere. It was fantastic.

[00:16:09] I was asking my sisters actually last Christmas. I said, you got to get the video of that. Like somebody somewhere has the video of the horse shitting everywhere. Like you got to load that on something. It does sound like a Monty Python skit, but it fucking happened. And so that's, that's fucking like, that is. Oh God, it was awesome. It was awesome, man. Going to, going to like grade school in the eighties. There's just like, there are no fucking rules, man.

[00:16:37] Like your, your school is just like, Hey, we're going to bring a horse on stage. And everybody's like, yeah, sure. Fuck it. Why not? Like the rusted out playground equipment I used to play on. You know, you're 20 feet up on that. On that. You know, did you have one of those cages with like the triangle, like bar, you know, like one of the, and like, it was awful. Like the metal slides. Yeah. That you jump on in the summertime and they'd be a 250 degrees and you burn the shit out of the back of your legs. And then get stuck high. Yeah, man. Skin.

[00:17:07] Skin. You want no eight foot slide. You're way up there. And here's the best thing. Like my kids can be like, I remember having this conversation with them and they couldn't wrap their head around it. I'm like, you don't understand. Like our playground equipment was on asphalt. Like we didn't have these squishy wood chips everywhere and stuff like that. Like if you fell off a fucking slide, like you were breaking something. Like there was no, I mean, every kid had a cast at one point or another from some stupid playground accident. It was great. It was great. It was the best.

[00:17:34] Do you guys play butts up or, or like wall ball? Come on. Stop, Bob. Wall ball. Sure. No, basically, you know, there's a wall tennis ball. You throw a tennis ball against the wall. We played wall ball all the time. And the person, Jesus Christ. And the person bobbles it. They have to run and touch the wall. And you're like, we called it butts up. And if you hit them, they had to stand at the wall like this. And everybody got a free shot at them.

[00:18:02] I remember there was a huge scandal about this game in my town. I mean, my town was pretty small. Cranberry is pretty small. Is that where you grew up? Cranberry? Yeah. My parents, my parents came home from a PTA meeting that was specifically about butts up. And they were like, they sat me down. They were like, my dad was like, do you play a game called butts up? I was like, yeah, it's fun. You know, get outside, you know, do stuff. He's like, are you good at it?

[00:18:32] I was like, yeah, actually I'm pretty good at that. Like I have a good arm. Accurate. You see me, bitch. He's like, all right, good. And that was it. That was the end of the PTA meeting. What was the problem? The parents didn't want the kids playing it? Yeah, because it was violent. There was this store across the street from Bobby's house on the other side of the highway. It was called McCrory. And it was like a little five and dime. So we used to go in and, you know, the little pink super fucking bouncy balls.

[00:18:59] Like we would pocket that, you know, and walk out and then go behind the store and play wall ball. We stole. Yeah, we stole. We didn't have any money. And then the other thing we used to do. You remember the other game we used to play back there? The shopping cart derby. We used to take the shopping carts. And we'd ram them into each other and shit. We used to do that too. Fucking crazy, man.

[00:19:29] We spent an unusual amount of time behind buildings. Yeah. Jerry's pizza. Well, we would eat pizza and then go. Sit behind. We found a couch out there. We found a couch in the garbage. Like how disgusting is that? We would lounge out on this couch. And, you know, then we would. There was a Cumberland Farms next to us. Yeah. And they used to every month throw out all their penthouse and playboys. And we'd go through the dumpster and grab the penthouse and playboys. Sit on our wet couch. Yeah. Sit on our wet couch. It was so close to my dad's house.

[00:19:59] To like the back of this building. You can almost see the front of my dad's house where I was living at the time. So one day we went out there with a jar of salt to kind of see what it does to snails. Yes. Remember that? Chris. My dad yelled at us from across the street. Like, you should fuck up. Whatever we were doing, we were just burning snails. That's what you could do back then, man. We didn't get in trouble. We didn't get in trouble. Read what TJ just wrote. That's awesome.

[00:20:29] Yeah. So, I mean, our generation, we were fucked up. So, anyway. Doubles have won three in a row. It's pretty good. Now, the last time they've won more than three in a row was a five-game winning streak that they put together from January 7, 2023 to January 16, 2023. So, it's been over two years since this team has put together. And that was a five-game winning streak. That was the last time that this team won more than three in a row.

[00:20:59] So, tomorrow's big. Pittsburgh's now decided that they want to try and play hockey again. This fucking team, it's like every time with 20 games left, it's like, oh, we better shit now. And they fucking start playing. Yeah. Crosby's just like grabbing a ball at the back of the collar, like an angry dad at the beach. We're leaving. It's like we're fucking trying to make it. So, this is going to be interesting tomorrow. Like I said, I'm not quite there yet.

[00:21:27] But, I have to say, the way that they've played these last three games, I love it. I absolutely love the way that they've played these last three games. And if they can keep it up, I'll be honest. Look out. And everybody and their mother from the national stage on down has the Devils dead to rights. I mean, even on XM this morning, it wasn't the Devils big win against the Oilers. It was, what's wrong with Edmonton?

[00:21:54] It was, one of the guys on the morning skate today said, with Dougie and Jack out, if the Devils make it to the playoffs, I would consider that a win for Sheldon Keefe and the Devils. We've been firmly in a playoff spot since the season started. Firmly. And now, we have taken from Tuesday, which was four points above Columbus, to now eight

[00:22:20] points above Columbus, and four points behind the Canes. I mean, they were winning when they last I checked. Yeah, they did one. Okay. So, six points behind the Canes. But you can still catch them. That can go quick. And that's where our sights should be. But, yeah. I mean, and that's great. I want everybody to count us out. So, I want to be just that, flipping the radar that nobody sees coming. Because this is where I want to start with my first question to you guys.

[00:22:49] And I'll ask you guys on the chat, too. And be honest. So, we know Jack, Dougie, they're gone. We don't know whether or not Siegenthaler will be back for the playoffs. Looks like he will be. But Jack and Dougie are the two main guys. How far do you think this team can go in the playoffs without those guys as constructed right now, Tim, and then Bob, and then I'll go. How far do you think that they can realistically go?

[00:23:19] I think they can make the Eastern Conference Finals. I don't think Carolina is as good as people think they are. They're smaller in their forward core. Their D core is older. Their goaltending is iffy. I honestly think we can give them a good... And I'm not putting on rose-colored glass here. I really think we can give them a run for their money. Like, you know, they do play the good, burned a more solid structural system. Yeah, sure.

[00:23:46] But the reason we got blown out in the series two years ago was because their forward core were just fucking assholes and just pounded the shit out of our defense. And I don't see their forward core really being able to do that anymore. They don't have any major superstars like Ajo and Sebestnikov are kind of their best players. You know, they traded a 6'3", 220-pound beast in Rantanen for a 5'8", Stankovan. So they're getting smaller. You know, they may be quick.

[00:24:13] But I think we still have the horses. Like, Nico's one of the most valuable... Like, I sent you guys this stat. Hang on. I'll pull it up. Nico's, like, based on expected goals above replacement. Nico, I think, is the third most valuable forward in the league. Behind... Yeah. So, on expected goals above replacement, Nico Heischer, 23.1. He's the third most valuable skater in the NHL. Behind only Quinn Hughes at 24.8.

[00:24:42] And Leon Drysaddle, 38.5. It's a different company to keep... Yeah, Jack was fourth. So losing Jack is still big. But like we were talking about before, they could kind of distribute his ability across the lineup. Get scoring from other places. Cody Glass has stepped in and has looked really good. And the early returns on him have been very good. But he seems like just like a smart, capable player. 200-foot player that can win faceoffs. He's got decent size. You know, he can throw his body around a little bit.

[00:25:12] You know, we're going to get strong in the lineup. But these guys start getting hot and start feeling themselves. I don't see why we can't. Like, you know, everybody says it every year about the playoffs. Just get in. You know, and anything can happen. And I kind of agree with Mike. Like, you look at some of Washington's underlying numbers. And I know they've maintained this pace the whole year. But their underlying numbers are fucking trash. Like, you know, their spectacles, four relative to the other teams.

[00:25:39] Their shooting percentages are all through the charts. Like, Alexey Protos is shooting like 20-something percent. Like, that's just not a sustainable rate. So it's got to come crashing down. It has to. I hope. So it's going to be interesting. But I think we can get by the canes. And then we've given Washington some good matchups this year. I think we can take Washington, too. And I think we can get to the Eastern Conference Finals, where we run into, like, Florida, probably, and get just fucking bullied out of the building.

[00:26:10] How about you, Bob? Well, I mean, all honesty right now, I don't see this team as a Stanley Cup winning team. I am concerned about Carolina. I've been saying that all year. I'm jaded by history with that team. They scare the shit out of me. But I do think that this year, with the defensive core that we have, our structure, our goaltending, everything, that this is the year that we can move past them. I don't think they're as much of a threat as they were in previous years.

[00:26:41] I'd probably say we're a good second-round team. I don't know if we get through the second round, but, you know, definitely a round one and depends on the matchup on the second round. Okay. Right now. Right now. I mean, there's a lot of hockey. There's almost 25% of the season left. I know it's like, you know, 19, 20 games, whatever it is, but there's only 82 games in the season, so it's close to a quarter of the season. We've actually played better than just this three-game winning streak. We've kind of touched on it before. I mean, you can go back to the win against Utah,

[00:27:10] three to one, and then those two losses, what was it? But Vegas and Dallas were kind of unique losses in themselves and how good of a team they were. Winnipeg was the only one where we looked completely out of our league. At that moment, that night, I remember thinking, we're not in a league with contenders, and we had just played like three of them. But we were starting to emerge a little bit, and now you look at that. Winning against the Flyers was huge because of the way they play us. The way we came back, we haven't talked about the Blue Jackets yet and how we just dominated the start of that game

[00:27:38] and had a little bit of adversity that we need to get through to finish that game off and then on to Edmonton yesterday. You look at that, and then if you parlay, we don't know what's going to happen with Pittsburgh coming up and with Columbus. But in general, we've got an ease of schedule finally. We've got a lot of home games do us. This could be a very fortuitous kind of last 15, 16, 18 games where my opinion might change completely because what I'm seeing from the foundation of this team

[00:28:08] is the ability to play the right way and the ability to play any way and beat good teams again. So it's going to be very exciting down the stretch to see how we do with that. Yeah, I mean, like I said, I'm getting very close. I know that we can hang with any team. I mean, we've seen it all year. They've done it, and they seem to just this consistency thing, right? It's all of a sudden they forget how to fucking play hockey, and everybody's missing it.

[00:28:35] And it's like it doesn't just go from, ah, they didn't play that great. It goes from like, wow, they look terrible. Like when they play bad, they play really, really bad. But if you look at these three games, and like you said, and I texted you guys, if they go on a run, remember that Timo goal against the Blue Jackets. This team a month ago would have folded with Columbus coming back, even though they were in the lead.

[00:29:04] They would have played on their heels, and Columbus would have come back. They kept pressing forward, and Timo gets the huge goal, and they never look back. Again, last night against Edmonton. And you're down in the third period against the Western Conference final. I mean, the Western Conference champs team guys came one goal away from raising the Stanley Cup. You kept Connor McDavid completely was a non-factor in that game. I mean, Dry Saddle got his, but it was nowhere near their usual dominant effort.

[00:29:32] And I think when it comes, yes, Carolina's a very good team. But if the Devils continue to play this way, and they start stacking wins this way with defense and just smart play in all three zones, strong goaltending, every shift these guys were sticks in the lanes and trying to block shots and winning board battles and doing all the quote-unquote little things you need to do.

[00:30:00] And, DJ, 100%, last night, Niko Heischer, to me, first star all around. I mean, what he did last night was just – he's the best defensive forward in the league. I mean, he really is right now. I would take him over pretty much anybody. I'll take him over Alex Barkov right now. But I would. I love Niko. I wouldn't go that far. He's my goddamn captain. Yeah, I know. I know. Niko's a fucking stud.

[00:30:29] I'd jerk off to his poster tonight. But I'll say this. Everybody seems to be kind of with – What? We can beat Carolina second round. The judgment here, dude. Maybe the Eastern Conference final. If they continue playing like this, they can win the East. They can be playing for a Stanley Cup. And just – it's a full team effort. And everybody's buying in. And I'm just – I'm a big fan of it. Now, it can come crashing down and we can lose 5-2 against Pittsburgh tomorrow.

[00:30:59] But for some reason, I'll be honest with you, I don't see it happening. I see these guys figuring it out saying, okay, wait a second. We know the system. We know what we have to do. And when we play that way, it's really hard to beat us. Oh, and by the way, when we have the breakouts, we have fucking goaltending. I think these last three games are more representative of the team that we have now, so to speak. When we went through that run of two times against Dallas and Vegas and Winnipeg,

[00:31:27] that was – we were decimated by injuries and kind of having a slapstick lineup put together. Now we have all the new guys in. We're getting them in kind of rotations. And, you know, this competition, you know, the Fitz's line, bullshit line about competition is working. Like he's – Keefe has changed the lineup every single game. Coaches rarely change a winning lineup but getting different guys opportunities. And I'm going to stop questioning his decision.

[00:31:57] And he said he's going to do it not based on performance, just to get people in and kind of keep the train moving. And we need these guys to step up and they are – Nico has taken it to a whole new level. Like he had McDavid in his back pocket so much that they had to put McDavid and Drysdale together. It was kind of ugly in the third after that, but, you know, that's bizarre. But Jacques Lemire used to do that.

[00:32:23] I mean, he would always have – he'd have guys in and out of the lineup just to get them – keep them fresh. You know, oh, Tommy Albelin's playing today and Mike Dowd's playing – or Jim Dowd's playing, you know, this day and this and that. And it was never based on – because every time they were out there, no matter who was out there, the team was playing good. So it didn't matter, but it was just to get the guys touches. I like that. I'm super excited about that glass-sprung brat line that is supposedly going to be together tomorrow. I like that line.

[00:32:51] And, yeah, we're all big glass holes here. I think that the – I mean, I shit all over that when it happened, when that move happened. Whoop-dee-doo, Cody Glass. He's our fucking savior. Great. I'm doing backflips. No, man. He might be. He might be. He's played great. No, look, you know, he's having a new guy bump. I think long-term, there's a home for him. He was a first-round pick. I think he was sixth overall. You know, that kind of fits his favorite toy to bring in, like Lazar.

[00:33:20] You know, the former first overall pick that didn't really materialize. I feel like you're going to get value for it. Yeah, but this kid's – he's 25. He still has – he hasn't really gotten much of a chance. You know, Mike Ruff mentioned that in his junior year – I don't know what he means about his junior year. I guess his junior year in college. You know, he really stepped up. And just looking at how smart of a player he is, like if you watch – and there I go freezing again.

[00:33:46] If you watch, like, his zone entries, he – like, Bratt is all gas pedal on his zone entry. Same with Timo. Glass has a different kind of change of pace to it where he sort of slithers through the zone. And I mentioned this in my recap. It's kind of kucharovish where he kind of pulls the puck in, finds space. And he created two goals against the Flyers doing that. I'm going to refresh really quickly. I'll be right back. Go ahead. Yeah, Bobby, what were you about to say something?

[00:34:15] I was going to say, I don't know how he was used in his previous teams, but I'm wondering how much of it is his role now. And I don't know if he felt like he had to be the man on a previous team because of, you know, where he was drafted and all that. And he comes here and he's like, I'm just going to try to fit in, be my third-line guy and drive. Like, I don't know what it is about his particular play now, but it seems to me this is a guy that has a lot of talent that maybe was mismanaged or at least in a situation that wasn't too comfortable with him.

[00:34:45] Mike's saying that now. He was never given a chance. Okay, perfect. I mean, he could be our replacement for McGangbang, you know? Well, I mean, so far I really like what I've seen. And, Mike, I'm completely with you on this. I've said it before. Like, I'm not fully on board. I'm not fully saying that this team is ready to go. But, you know, give me the next two games in a row. Win five in a row. Gobble up ten points in a little over a week.

[00:35:12] Separate from the bullshit teams behind you. And focus on, we're going to get second in the Metro. And maybe people will start taking notice. And that's what I want to see. And I think they're capable of doing it. I did not think after a week ago today when we did our trade deadline show. And we were all ready to fucking seriously, where does Fitz live? Because I'm going to go egg his house and, you know, that kind of shit. So, you know. Eggs are too expensive though, man. You've got to find something else.

[00:35:41] Well, bring a horse there. Start playing some Broadway tunes. And let him shit all over the place. And that really pissed me off. Like this week, you know, 32 Thoughts, Empty Netter, Spitting Chicklets, DFO Rundown, every kind of major podcast. Ray and Dregs, every single major podcast, national podcast I listen to. Even the PDO cast. And those guys fucking love the Devils. Everybody's like, man, Devils are done without Dougie and Jack.

[00:36:10] And I do appreciate that a lot of them indicated that Siegenthaler was actually. I think that is probably one of the more underrated losses. If not, probably one of the major losses that we have. Might be. I'm like the biggest Dougie stand on the planet. Losing Siegenthaler might be more of an issue than Dougie. But Dumoulin stepped in and been kind of a good little C's light kind of replacement. And everybody has said, from what I've heard, is that Siegenthaler will be back for round one. So, okay.

[00:36:40] We're getting them back. Oh, yeah. You know, yeah. I keep Dumoulin in over Dylan at this point. Sexy Dylan? Come on, man. No, no, no, no. He brings that physical element that I really like. Brendan Dillon is just, yeah, I'm not taking him out of the lineup. So does McDermott. He's dead. You know, Dillon has a lot more skill than McDermott. But, yeah, I think Dumoulin's played great.

[00:37:08] You know, maybe – and look, I'm not going to sit here and say that, you know, maybe Fitz did a great job on the trade deadline. Because even in that interview, he didn't do good. Like, you knew it. Like, he was – he's so grateful that right now this team is playing well. Because he's like, whoo, that would have been my ass. And the fact that we had to fucking find out about the injury updates about Dougie and Seigs from a fucking Kraken and Canucks podcast that he's on for some reason. Like, I have no idea why.

[00:37:38] I realize it's probably a national media member, I think, like Jim Windsor or whatever his name is. But then the Devils had to release a press release after that fact because he revealed it in a press conference. There's the same fucking thing that happened with Luke's injury when someone on Twitter spotted him in the background of, like, a barstool video. It was like, why is Luke wearing a sling? And then the Devils were like, ah, shit, they got us. Right. That's one thing I don't really like about management with our team. I don't understand why it's got to be so quiet all the time.

[00:38:07] I don't understand why you can't just simply come out, full disclosure, here's what's going on. I know you don't want to say exactly what an injury is or something like that, but just have a press conference once in a while. You know, a little update. You know, it's not a big deal. Five minutes. Yeah. It is ridiculous. Lower body injuries. Six to eight weeks. Don't let us get out. Not all freaking mysterious. Just let us know what's going on, you know? I agree. I agree. I agree. Okay. But, yeah, you know, I like the direction this team's going. I'm with you, Chris. You know, like, this could all come crashing down tomorrow.

[00:38:36] We could. St. Louis Blues could win that Stanley Cup. Exactly. Anything can happen. Cup runs on. And you know what we have? We have a secret weapon. We have a cookie. No, we have a cookie. So, real quick, are we now going to get to a point? Because we can't keep having Mrs. Fields win the race every single time now. Because then it's just going to. Maybe when we get a goal. Well, they only do one race a game, right? So, you can't. Pick your spots.

[00:39:06] You can't. Right. You can do that. You can pick your spots. Only the biggest games. You know, things like that. Or do we just kind of run with the Mrs. Fields thing and not worry about the race anymore? But after first goal, we all throw cookies on the ice. I'm thinking we should do that. I'm thinking. I think everybody should wear cookie costumes. I think we should throw cookies. I think the race to a whole new level. I'm thinking you run the race if the Devils are down in a big game. And Mrs. Fields clearly is going to lose.

[00:39:36] And she just starts checking motherfuckers out of the race. Okay. That shit would get everybody pumped up. She starts winning. And then, like, she's just suddenly she pulls out, like, she has, like, a pipe. And she just, like, I think she should, like, kick over the shake, shak, shake, and then drink them. And then just fucking, like, kick them down the fucking track. And who else is racing? That's right. I drank you, motherfucker. Yeah, right. I mean, it's obviously so silly.

[00:40:00] But, like, the guys themselves said, like, the crowd pops when Mrs. Fields wins gets them so juiced. Like, they scored two goals on two shots after she won the last game. On the national broadcast. I forget who the woman is that was doing it last night. She, they talked about the Mrs. Fields cookie for, like, ten full minutes. And that's when I, like, texted you guys. I was like, I'm kind of over this cookie thing already. Yeah. And Bobby and I were just like, shut the fuck up. Yeah. So, I think. It's all the Grimace power. Let's go with the cookie.

[00:40:31] Okay. I'm not a baseball guy. Someone needs to explain the Grimace thing. I keep hearing it all everywhere. What happened with the Mets and Grimace? Grimace threw out the first pitch. Now, Grimace is the purple Grimace from McDonald's. The purple McDonald's thing. Okay. I didn't even see that. I didn't care about that. I didn't even realize it was a thing until about probably two weeks later. But, apparently, after he threw out the first pitch and, you know, mid-suck of summer, the Mets just took off. And it just became kind of their thing. Grimace. And then there were people in the stands wearing Grimace costumes.

[00:41:00] Like, credits to these people that can actually go out and buy this shit and wear it. Like, I'm never going to be that guy. That one guy dressed like the cookie behind a glass. He got so much fucking air time. It's never going to be me. I'm certainly not wearing a Grimace costume in New York City in August. You know what I mean? So, these guys are diehard fans. Okay. So, that's the Grimace. It's the same kind of concept. That's the Grimace. Stupid little good luck charm. It is funny. I mean, look. I mean, go back to 1996, right?

[00:41:28] The Florida Panthers made it to the cup final. And the whole thing with the rats being thrown on the ice. There was a rat in the locker room. Scott Mellenby hit it with his fucking hockey stick and killed it. And then they ended up going on a run. And from that point on, the rat was their good luck charm. Yeah. You know? Double's legend Andrew Hammond when he went on his hamburger run. Yeah. Yeah. That's what made Curtis Lazar famous for picking up a burger off the ice and eating it. That's right. I think they should throw cookies on the ice. I think it would be.

[00:41:57] Occupy on the ice in Detroit. No, the problem is cookies would be a mess to clean up. Yeah, probably. You know? I mean, they break everywhere and all that other stuff. You don't want to get that in your skates. That team in 96, the Florida team. Let me try and think, DJ. Who was what? Was it Pavel Burry on that team? Not sure if Burry. It was Van Beesbrook. Van Beesbrook was in goal. You had Scott Mellenby, Tom Fitzgerald. Wasn't Tom Fitzgerald on that team? He might have been, yeah. I'm trying to think.

[00:42:26] I think Pavel Burry was on that team, Bobby. Pretty sure. Who was the big defensive? Ed Jovanowski was on that team. Oh, shit. That's a long time ago. And they lost to... They got swept by the Avalanche the first year in Colorado. Poor Quebec. Poor fans in Quebec. Yeah. Yeah. Jovo. Scott Mellenby. Rob Niedermeyer. Brian Scroedland was the captain. Niedermeyer was on that team. Ray Shepard. Martin. Martin Straka.

[00:42:57] Martin Straka. John Van Beesbrook. Radek Dvorak. I don't even remember who these motherfuckers are. Stu Barnes. I've got to remember Stu. I love Stu. Yeah. Stewie. Was Fitz on that team? Jody Hall. Fitz was on the team. Wait. Wait. Mark Fitzpatrick. Oh, not Tom Fitzgerald. He was in Nashville. Tom Fitzgerald. Tom Fitzgerald. He was on the team. Okay. Okay. Rob, 34 points for Tommy Fitz. Nice, DJ.

[00:43:27] You know, he got it, too. I mean, he got his cup in Anaheim with Scotty. I mean, Scott had to come and bail his ass out. The whole thing was backwards. Rob should have came here. He showed up. Rob played pretty good here. Marty got robbed of the consmith. Scott? You're saying Scott Niedermeyer got robbed of the consmith or Rob Niedermeyer? Marty did. Marty in 2003. He had to be a goalie. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[00:43:55] Yeah, that was a goddamn brutal. That was brutal. So, yeah. So, Pittsburgh, you know, they are in the process. I think they're going to try to go. So, like, everybody's now, you know, there used to be, you know, build your team up, go for it, go for it, go for it, come crashing down, and then rebuild. And now everybody's kind of looking at the Capitals who had been written off and like, oh, you can retool on the fly.

[00:44:21] So, now we're going to get, you know, a dozen teams that are going to try to retool on the fly, and 11 of them are going to fail at it. And we're going to wind up like a whole shitload of mediocre teams. Can't wait to watch Wonder Boy Kyle Dubas try to figure this out. Did you see, you know, like I said I was going to do, I've softened on the fire fits thing a little bit. Yeah. Good. Thank you. I saw what Pittsburgh was asking for Ricard Raquel. Yeah.

[00:44:51] Did you see that? That was ridiculous. Yeah, with like 15 first round picks. And you're first born. And you're first born. And, you know, the kind of Jesus Christ is buried. All right. I will do a quick little ad read for DraftKings. And I have another question for you. Bobby, you have your game tonight? I do. Awesome. All right. This NHL season has been as predictable as a puck rolling on its edge. No one knows where it's going.

[00:45:15] But that just means there's time for your favorite team to figure things out and games left for you to get in on the action at DraftKings. An official sports betting partner of the NHL. And if you're new to DraftKings, listen up. New customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now and use code THPN. That's code THPN. For new customers, get $150 in bonus bets instantly when you bet just $5 only on DraftKings. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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[00:46:11] NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams. NHL 2025, all rights reserved. DraftKings sportsbook with code THPN. The crown is yours. All right. Good job. Good reading. Good reading comprehension. Thank you, buddy. New Jersey Public Schools, everyone. That's right. All right. Nice.

[00:46:40] Mike just said you're a better ad read than Paul Bissonnette. I can read, though. I don't think Paul can. He's a better hockey player than me. All right. I don't know. Well, yeah, he is. Probably better fire. I wouldn't expect. Here's my next question. All right. All right. The Ottawa Senators right now are playing some fantastic hockey. They're firmly set in wild card one with 75 points.

[00:47:07] I'm willing to say they absolutely take wild card one. Is anybody want to fight me on that? No. Okay. So Ottawa's in the playoffs. Yeah, I think so. Now that leaves one spot. Columbus. And there are legitimately five teams that have a dog in this fight. So the question is, I'll tell you who they are, tell you how many games they've played and where their points are. You tell me who's going to be that last team. Okay.

[00:47:34] Montreal Canadians have 65, played 65 games and they have 69 points. Now, Detroit, they just played. They just played. So I'll actually say they've played 66 games and they have 68 points. You said they lost, right? They lost the Canes. Yeah, they lost the Canes. Boston also has 68 points in 67 games. The Blue Jackets have 70 points and have played 65 games. I'm sorry. Is that right?

[00:48:04] Yeah. 65. Wow. They only played 65 games. Yeah. And the Rangers have played 66 games and they have 70 points. So 70 points for Columbus and the Rangers with Columbus having, you know, two games in hand on Boston, a game in hand on everybody else, except Montreal. Montreal still got 65 played. Who is going to take that second wild card, Bob? Montreal, Boston, Rangers, Detroit, or Columbus?

[00:48:33] And why are they going to take it? It's the Columbus Blue Jackets because fuck the Rangers, not letting them in anyway. I think they're playing the best hockey of the three and they have, what, a couple games in hand? I don't care about Montreal because they're not going to be worried about them anyway. So yeah, Columbus. When I was doing my notes, I write the number of games next and then I write GP. For everyone, I wrote 67, 65.

[00:49:01] For the Rangers, subconsciously, I wrote six, instead of 66, I put 666 GP. Like I automatically in my head made them the devil, but we're the devils, but I mean evil and hated. Yeah. They're the bad guys. All right. So Columbus. Okay. So the next question out of those teams, who do you want to make it? Columbus. Okay. All right. I like, I like the feel good story. I didn't think they'd be anywhere near this, this year.

[00:49:31] I got nothing for Montreal, Detroit, Boston. I'm tired of them being in there and fuck the Rangers. Okay. Yeah. They're all good reasons. Timothy. I mean, I don't think I could have said that any better than Bob just did. So you're like Columbus, though? I mean, yeah. I think it's going to be Columbus. Like, I think that they hold on the one. I heard this the other day and I'm not sure how true it is, but I believe the Rangers actually

[00:50:00] hold all the tiebreakers with Columbus. But they play tomorrow. Fuck the Rangers. They're going to fall apart. Hate the Rangers. No, thank you. Underneath that. Like, I don't know what Boston's doing. They sold everything off and just decided to start winning again. Like, that's like, what are they doing? Stop that. You're not supposed to be doing that. And honestly, like, I wouldn't mind seeing Detroit make it. I like some of their players. I like Larkin. I like Dabrinkat.

[00:50:29] And I just having Detroit back in the playoffs again, I think is good for the league. Same with Montreal, though. I think, you know, they're kind of a fun, young, exciting team. Like, the big Cole Caulfield guy, I love Caulfield. You know, 5'4", Bobby Orr. You know, he'll be fun to watch in the playoffs. Suzuki, I think, is having a sneaky, unbelievable season. So, I think Detroit and Montreal kind of lump together and guys are like, oh, cool, they made the playoffs.

[00:51:00] But I think the league would go fucking nuts for that. But it's got to be Columbus, man. That's just such a fucking hands down, like, would be the best story, I think, in sports this year. It's like Disney movie type of shit. Detroit was my pick preseason to make it in. But, you know, things change throughout a whole year. Just, you know, if we have to play them, I will hate being the bad guy. But fine, I'll be the bad guy. I'm okay with that. I can separate that kind of emotion. Yeah, like, they making it, you know, we play them in the second round.

[00:51:29] Like, that's cool. That's the end of the Disney movie where they kind of have their set. I mean, where they hit the post and then the game movie ends, but they get a good handshake line. And there's a piece. I might have told. I'm sorry. No, go ahead. I might have told Chris on this. I think we might have discussed it on the air like a couple years ago or whatever. But one time I was at one of my cousin's house and her boyfriend at the time was a Ranger fan. She had a good friend that was also a Ranger fan. We're just having some beers, you know, chilling in the backyard. And it was, you know, getting near the playoffs.

[00:51:59] I forget what year it was. But this guy, like, comes up to me with this sob story about, like, his buddy that had passed in the year. Which, of course, upsetting. Like, great. But that he was a Ranger fan. You know, for that, like, the Rangers have to win the cup. And he's like, you got to feel that way. Right? I'm like, no. No, I can't. I mean, this shit happens. I still want my team to win. Like, no offense. I'm going to go talk to somebody else now. And we've lost a couple of newer cops, too.

[00:52:31] So Mike brings up Remtard. So I wanted to read a Larry Brooks tweet, which this guy is just. I don't know, man. He's up there with Valaket and just the fucking absolute crocodile tears. His fucking pussy is crying. Well, it's just about the interference fucking call. A scandal of the NHL's own making. The league, Stephen Walkham, and the entire officiating department had acted out of bias against Remt for more than a year. Oh, my lord.

[00:53:01] Two outrageous calls in consecutive games. Each cost the Rangers a goal. Mickey Mouse League. Okay. My god, man. Like, these guys are so mentally soft that they're saying it's a scandal. Do you know what a scandal is? It's when your fucking video guy is trying to rape your players in Chicago. That's a scandal. A scandal isn't two missed calls, Larry Brooks. Shut the fuck up, you pussy. No. And one of them really wasn't a missed call.

[00:53:30] That goal center interference. I mean, look, goal center interference has been going that way all year long. Shit happens. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I'm not going to say a bad call. The interference call, I mean, he bumped you a little bit and you acted like you got shot in the face. I mean, all right, whatever. But they are a bunch. That was a terrible call last night. No, they're a bunch of fucking snowflakes, though. They really are a bunch of snowflakes. So that is why the Rangers are not going to make the playoffs.

[00:53:58] And Columbus is now there's a couple of teams like I know a couple to me. I want to see either Columbus in that spot or Montreal in that spot. I don't give a shit about Detroit and Boston. Not that I have any ill feelings towards Boston, but I'm exactly like Bobby. Like enough. OK, enough. How many times can you get in and do fucking nothing? How about you just stay home this time and let Ottawa go in there because they're not going to do nothing. Ottawa is dangerous.

[00:54:27] So I like I think Columbus is going to take it. But I would also be totally cool if it's Canadian because the same reason that top line. I love watching them. I really like Marty St. Louis. Always have. And we've been there, man. We've talked about Montreal so many times. Like it's just a great city filled with great people. And I mean, maybe Mike doesn't think so. I don't know if Vancouver likes Montreal or not. But, you know, for this little American guy in New Jersey. Mike doesn't even like Vancouver.

[00:54:56] Who went up there after 9-11 and just everybody was just awesome to us. I mean, we really had a great time. So, yeah, their fans were nuts. They were a ton of fun, though. So, all right. So we all think Columbus is going to do it. But I have one more question. But let's do Bobby's game first. Well, I wanted to wrap it up. I want to wrap one quick thing that I totally fucking just remembered based on like the Rampic call. But did you see last night?

[00:55:26] I think it was Tatar gave Drysaddle a little shove in the corner. And he acted like he got shot in the back. Was it Drysaddle or McDavid? It was Drysaddle. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. And like dove in the corner. Yeah. And even the Rampic, like, look, there's nothing there. I was like, that was – Yeah. That was great. I mean, that should have been a penalty for embellishment. By the way, that was – I just want to bring it up. If it wasn't Drysaddle, it would have been. But he –

[00:55:55] You know, that's why the Rampic was just like, all right, get the fuck up. He's just kind of a dirty scumbag. Yeah. I don't like Edmonton. I don't like Drysaddle. I thought that was funny. I don't like Drysaddle. I don't like McDavid. I love watching McDavid, but I hope he never wins a cup. But that's a whole different podcast we can start on. So, Bobby, what are you naming your game? You came up with a good name. Do you want to go with that one? What was it? Yeah, I think that's good. It was Year of the Devil. Year of the Devil. Okay. All right.

[00:56:26] Year of the Devil is slightly different than our Devil You Know game. In this game, I'm going to read off 10 clues. I'm going to read them all. It does not matter how quickly you have the answer. People in the chat, you write the answer as soon as you are comfortable doing it. You have to know that if you put in your answer for a particular year, you might get off somebody else as to what part of the year we are in.

[00:56:54] It's going to be eight general questions, two that make it fairly easy. First one to get it right in the chat wins. We're going to put your name off to the side. We'll raffle off at the end of the year. So, I'm going to have some. DJ won last time, right? DJ did win. DJ's our only winner. Puckers, if you win, it's still going to default to anybody else out there. Okay. So, it's guest season. And we end one in. You only get one guest. You only get one. One guest. So, you're out. One guest. Decide on when you want to put in. It's the season as in the season's end. The Devil's won the cup in 1995.

[00:57:23] The clues can be from 94 to 95, but we're going to call the season 1995. And since I'm always going to use as an example, I'm never going to use 1995 as this game. Okay, we ready? All right. Yes. In this season, the New Jersey Devils had 79 points. And no Googling. No cheating. Am I right? No. No, you're not right. You're out of the game.

[00:57:52] That was your guess. What was the first clue? I'm sorry. They had 79 points. It was a 79-point season. Pay attention. Pay attention. They had a back-to-back situation where they had a 5-5 overtime against both Philly and the Islanders. They scored five or more goals 18 times this season. And the most they scored was nine against Vancouver. Jesus.

[00:58:21] We had a defenseman with 249 penalty minutes. The 79 points were six ahead of the old whale. Hartford Whalers for any of the young people who don't know what I'm talking about. I had my answer queued up. My guess queued up. But I'm waiting still. Clue number six. This was the first time the team qualified for the playoffs in back-to-back years.

[00:58:50] God damn it. I should have waited until you were answered the question. Son of a bitch. So you're ready. They lost to the Penguins in game seven of the first round for nothing. I think we just both just guessed wrong. See, that's the joy of this game. You don't know when to put your answer in. Well, I should have at least waited until you finished the question. Yeah, this year's actually got a lot. Eight is actually. We both answered about the first time they qualified for the playoffs. We both.

[00:59:20] I'm right. You're wrong. The leading scorer. DJ gave a guess. I think DJ would be right. Okay, you're wrong, DJ. I'm not saying that. I'm going to read all of those. Oh, okay. Oh, okay. That's the point of this game. We don't have to stop. We get the hero. Oh, all right. All right. We got to let Mike Google the answer. I got a fucking get some part of the attention. We got 45 goals that year, and now the layup. It was the last season without Scott Stevens,

[00:59:51] and it was the season in the beginning half of the calendar year that we drafted Martin Brodeur. It's 1991. It is the 90-91 season. Oh, no winners. So DJ wins again. DJ wins again. Hey, Mike even guessed it wrong when he gave the answer. There is no winner. Mike was close because he knows when we drafted Brodeur in 1990,

[01:00:20] but it's the 91 season. Are we going to give that to Mike? So him and DJ can fight to the death. I think Mike gets it because of Price is Right rules. Well, actually, Mike does get it for the closest. Yeah, without going over. Closest without going over. Price is Right rules. All right. Mike, good job, buddy. If we add an applause button, we press it. We're going to work on that. And today is the 14th. Mike, you get a box of Omaha Steaks. We'll figure out a wrap. Nice parting gift for you, DJ.

[01:00:50] You get a sticker. You get a sticker. So one question, and then we'll wrap this thing up for the evening. And just – I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but just – we can still – like, okay, trade deadline's over, but you can still sign a dude off the street, right? As long as you make a roster spot. Right now? Yeah. Yeah, they just can't play in the playoffs.

[01:01:15] They – so if you sign somebody today who has not played all year long, they cannot play for you in the playoffs? Correct. Oh. Yeah, they just – they just signed – What would be the sense of getting somebody there? Well, wait, no, sorry. I think you can sign somebody. You can't trade for somebody. Like – Well, Mike just said you can still make trades. You can still make trades. They just can't play in the playoffs. Like, the Devils made a trade yesterday for some fucking ECHL defenseman or something. Right. They're right away. He wouldn't be able to play in the playoffs. But – But you can sign someone, like Gritzuk.

[01:01:45] So if you sign – but not just Gritzuk, but anybody who has not played in the NHL is eligible to play in the playoffs. Yes. So, like, Luke – remember Luke? Yeah. And in his Michigan season, signed his ELC, came over, played one game, right? And then started in the playoffs. Is Chris going after Kovacic? Kovacic again. I'm not going after Kovacic. I don't ever want to see that man again. I'm just going to bring up one guy. I've mentioned him before. And there's talk – There's talk that he wants to get back in the league.

[01:02:15] And could Jonathan Tabes be a fourth-line center for this team moving forward? I brought up the Blackhawks scandal before. No. He was the captain of that team at the time. He knew exactly what was going on. He didn't get in trouble for it or anything like that. The name wasn't really involved. But he knew exactly what the fuck those guys were doing in that locker room. Is that – is that like you really – is that fact? I do not know that for a fact. But I firmly believe it.

[01:02:43] Because knowing how tight these guys are in their locker rooms, he absolutely had to know what was going on. I just can't believe they got a win. I will take your word for it then that he knew. He's also – he's like almost 40 years old and hasn't played in the league. And look, I'm saying fourth-line center. We – you know, right now I'm actually okay with it. I would not do it. Last week? Maybe. Two weeks ago? Definitely. Right now? No.

[01:03:08] Because I think with the Cody Glass addition and with how well Mercer has been playing in the middle, I don't – I think down the middle is better than okay right now. So I'm okay with that. I'm more – I'm like – I've no idea what he looks like, where he's skating, if he's even in shape. But I think the other stuff – And he wants to come back. I think the other stuff supersedes that a little bit. Like we just – we can't do that again as an organization either. We already have – we've already had that one cloud from a cloud.

[01:03:39] Yeah, no, right? If we knew about it, then no. And now Bastion was on that Mississauga team that is now under investigation as well. This is true. So like we just can't – you know, I – and look, we're – the NFL is the clear leaders in the clubhouse in terms of having fucking scumbag players. Like I just don't want – I have a hard time rooting for a team that has real scandal-ridden scumbag players on it.

[01:04:06] Like I just – we have enough of that shit in the world. Like not on my team. Bob? Yeah, no interest at this point. I don't even know what the fuck he's doing. So no. I'd rather run with the team we have now. Do the Rangers sign him? I mean, he's a shiny new object. He's a first line center. Yeah. Yeah, I mean the Corey Crawford thing. Okay. I mean I was so excited when we signed him.

[01:04:32] I was so fucking excited that we finally got Corey Crawford. Is he calling it – is that a way to say slowpoke or is that slop hawk? Slop hawk, I think. It's a black hawk. He's calling him slop hawk. But like – and then I think the meds wore off a little bit and he was like, wait, I'm where? I'm in fucking New Jersey. What the hell did you do to me? No, no, I'd rather just go home and watch Wheel of Fortune. Sorry, guys. I'm retired. Like that, too.

[01:05:00] Yeah, that was – but – all right. Anything else you guys want to chat about tonight? No. Go Devils. I don't think I'm going to be able to watch the game live. My nephew has a lacrosse game tomorrow. They lost 26-4 today to the third-ranked team in the nation. So it was pretty close. Not good. That's what you're saying. I have a technical question. Yeah. How are the guys in the chat right with us with the videos two minutes behind? If they're live, aren't they watching our video that's also two minutes behind?

[01:05:30] Well, because we're being – we're being broadcast on YouTube. We're on StreamYard doing the show. Everyone's seeing like a – I guess a feed of the show on YouTube. So I guess there's a two-minute delay. Okay. That's why Mike answered 1990, I guess. I don't know. We gave the answer already. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just saying most of their chats are within a couple seconds more or less of what we're saying.

[01:05:56] But I look back at the video every now and then and I see something – like you're doing the ad read. I'm like, shit, it was like 20 minutes ago. So I'm just kidding. No, that's an exaggeration. So if you click on the YouTube screen and you see the little red bar at the bottom, just drag it to the right. It'll get live. For whatever reason, my YouTube video is – The longer on, the more it delays. Yeah, it kind of lags a little bit. Gotcha. That's all. I just didn't understand that. Sorry. A little behind the scenes of Pucker Nation here, boys and girls.

[01:06:27] There's me looking all up. All right. Love that shit. All right. We're going to wrap this thing up before we leave. Final score first. Goal score. Go ahead, Tim. Timo Meyers is going to score first. He's going to – I think he's falling into an every other goal pattern. I'm going to bet my kid's college tuition on that. And then I think we win pretty handily, 5-1. Okay. Bobby. I'm going to go with the hot hand. Mike, Adrian. Brad.

[01:06:56] I'm going to go with Brad first. And I think – I love the matchup against Pittsburgh. Another 3-0 shutout. All right. I was going to go 4-0 shutout, but I'll change it because you've got the shutout. So, I'm going to say 4-1. And who did you say for first goal? Brad. Brad. I'm going captain. So, Nico gets the first goal. And how awesome – like, when he put together Brad, Timo, and Nico last night, I was – They're awesome. This is a fucking line, man.

[01:07:23] You got to start – I love that we have that in our back pocket. I love the sprong pick, DJ. I hope he does score. Yeah, I want to see sprong get on the board. Sprong for sprong. And Chris, you mentioned before, but that glass sprong brat line, I think that's going to be good. That's going to be fun. Yeah, I think that – I mean, look, Tristan Jari's been playing good. That's not going to last. No. Tomorrow, just keep doing what you're doing, boys.

[01:07:49] And wherever you're listening to us, they like a five-star review, positive comment. Helps a little podcast act good. Anyone watching on YouTube, please subscribe, like, thumbs up, whatever other buttons there are to press on that thing. Press them. For Tim and Bob, I'm Chris. We're the Uncle Puckers. We'll see you when we see you. Lick my ass, Valaket. That's so dirty. I thought it was directed to Chris. No. I'll do it.

[01:08:21] It's over, Johnny. It's over. And Valaket can have my fucking dirty, sloppy –