And So It Begins

Chris (00:04.117)
What's up there, fellow puckers? Bob and Dan? How you guys doing tonight?

Dan (00:08.718)
Good, what's going on guys? Mix. Yeah, now I get it. It's not a entirely great day.

Bobby (00:09.222)
Good. Mixed. Mixed. Mixed emotions today.

Chris (00:15.509)
Well, no it's not. We had some news. I guess we should start the show off with that. So brace yourself. This is triggering.

Chris (00:28.553)
The injury bug has come to New Jersey a little too soon.

Bobby (00:34.79)
Definitely too soon.

Chris (00:36.127)
Bob, you want to tell the audience exactly what I'm talking about?

Bobby (00:39.782)
Apparently Luke Hughes was trying to buff up for year two Did something wrong with his shoulder I don't know what but he's out six to eight weeks with a shoulder injury that does not require surgery So since he's a devil, let's assume that's eight weeks and That's roughly 15 to 17 games. So again since it's the devil's let's assume that's 17 games Which is pretty much exactly 20 % of the season we're talking

First or second week of November, possibly earlier if things go well. This is an off -season training thing. We haven't even met yet in Newark and we're going to be without Luke Hughes for basically a quarter of the season.

Dan (01:21.944)
So they're not telling us how it happened, is that right?

Bobby (01:24.154)
Just off -season training.

Chris (01:26.303)
mean, it's a Hughes, it doesn't matter, right? Their shoulders are apparently made out of glass, and this is what fucking happens.

Dan (01:32.266)
Who's that guy in Captain America movies like with the metal arms? Yeah, we need some winter soldier arms for both the Hughes boys. They have shoulder problems Yeah, I know

Chris (01:37.035)
Winter Soldier. when it's Bucky Barnes. This is ridiculous. I mean, this is seriously ridiculous. Like the same thing we said last year, right? The only thing that can really upend this season is injuries. And it was the one thing that completely upended the season. Probably. I mean, this dude played all 82 games last year. He was a really

Bobby (01:56.87)
You don't think Jack will get like sympathy pains for his little brother, do you?

Chris (02:06.463)
solid freshman in this system. And I was really looking forward to him getting back and let's just hope it's more towards the four weeks and not the eight weeks. But like at least there is silver lining, right? You know, we try and find a little bit of silver lining in any bad thing. We are much deeper on the blue line than we were last year. So who steps in? Is it Hataka? Is it?

What's his name? Kornasovic? Kornasovic? Kornasovic? Whatever. Probably him, right?

Bobby (02:37.19)
of a civic, yeah.

Bobby (02:42.832)
Seems likely. mean, either way, maybe it's by committee. You know, we got a few guys that could step in. I'd just be interested to see how the pairings really work because whatever it's going to be is going to be temporary. And we all kind of agreed on the basic format of, you know, those three defensive pairings. So this is definitely going to throw a wrinkle into it.

Chris (03:01.999)
big time. I mean, you're talking about an entire training camp of Pesci and Luke Hughes, you know, mending together, melding together, playing well together, learning each other's tendencies and stuff that that's gone now. And it sucks. It just sucks.

Dan (03:19.416)
Thanks.

Bobby (03:19.642)
Yeah, I think we should be able to overcome it. mean, thank God, you know, we got Dougie back. So we got that presence is still going to be there. Dougie arguably a better presence for the power play, you know, than Luke was at least for now, you can say, but the threat of having them both was, was, was just so awesome. So we'll just have to deal.

Chris (03:36.971)
Yeah, keep your head above water for the first 12 games or so and then...

Dan (03:40.876)
Yeah, I would say preseason we're going to see a lot of looks at who might pair with Hamilton. And my god, I like how talk is play a lot. I got to think about who's what side I'm trying to remember. But yeah.

Chris (03:56.127)
I mean, yeah, I like to talk to too. And I don't know much about the kid that we got from Montreal. So I'd be interested to see him. But yeah, this is it's too early for this shit. Like like you said, they haven't even put skates on yet. We've gotten to the point now that they're just getting injured, you know, doing their daily chores. Right. Our pets heads are falling off like it's a little bit like that. Right. Fuck. I'm so disappointed in this.

Dan (04:02.957)
Right.

Bobby (04:09.424)
You

Bobby (04:27.344)
Yeah, it's a tough one.

Chris (04:29.164)
boy, but what about the new chick? Let's talk about her.

Bobby (04:34.222)
Yeah, so we got our new booth girl, right? We got her name is Rachel Herzog. She

Chris (04:38.751)
What was wrong with Erica? Why is she better than Erica, Bob?

Bobby (04:41.656)
I don't know that she's better than Erica. This person is younger. She's a sports anchor and reporter from Fargo, North Dakota, New Jersey. Yeah, I hear you. Listen, she's got a mass communication degree from St. Cloud State University of Minnesota, where she also played four years.

Chris (04:49.685)
You know where Erica was from? Yeah, yeah, just saying.

Dan (04:54.83)
Perfect fit.

Chris (05:03.125)
St. Cloud State's the fucking Ocean County College of Minnesota, so I don't want to hear that bullshit. I'm talking St. Cloud State.

Bobby (05:09.144)
Well, listen, if it makes you feel any better, she has four years of Vision One hockey under her belt. She enjoys surfing, backgammon, and men who aren't afraid to cry. And she's a goddamn smoke show. So at least we got that going for us. She's still super hot.

Chris (05:19.757)
Long walks on the beach.

Dan (05:25.102)
Okay, you know, I still feel like it's a consolation prize, but I'm willing to give it a chance.

Bobby (05:29.956)
I'm willing to watch her.

Chris (05:31.845)
She's got to prove it. We talked about Mercer's prove it contract. This is her prove it deal. Because I miss Erika. Now Dan, you still having some trouble here? You are. You want to try it? Yeah, you want to bounce off and come right back? And hopefully we'll be okay. I don't know why he's lagging like that.

Bobby (05:36.204)
Indeed.

Dan (05:44.814)
Yeah, last about one second. Yeah, you wanna get a shot? Let's do it. All right, keep going. Yep.

Dan (05:54.274)
restart machine so it might be a minute.

Chris (05:56.349)
Alright, well we're not going anywhere. We'll be right here when you get back. So yeah, I just, you know, I'm only busting balls. I mean, I hope she does well. I hope she's good, but I just, don't understand. Like, was Erica just asking for like some like Igor Shostorkin type money? Like, I just, I don't...

Bobby (06:04.742)
course.

Bobby (06:16.996)
Yeah, I don't understand it. mean, it couldn't have been so astronomical that she wasn't worth it because all the viewers, you know, enjoy what she did. She was great at what she did. So it doesn't really make any sense. This is definitely, you know what this screams to me? It almost screams like corporate America where it's like, well, okay, you know, you were making X, we can get a younger person in to make Y and shave a couple of dollars. What it really feels like. Not that this person is completely qualified and again, know, smoke show. So we got that going for us.

Chris (06:40.853)
So you're trying to say this is a DIY hire, Bob? Is this what you're trying to go with here? You know, this is twice that you referred to this young woman as a smoke show. Right. Yeah, she's attractive. Erica was attractive, too. I just think it's a little bit demeaning to be calling them a smoke show. A little bit. You know. So, no, I'm just...

Bobby (06:44.452)
no, I'm not going that far. I'm saying more of a CFO hire.

Bobby (06:53.167)
Yeah, she's very attractive.

Bobby (06:58.502)
extremely.

Is it? I feel like it's a compliment. Just very attractive.

I didn't say smoke and mirrors, I smoke shop.

Chris (07:11.985)
You know, I hope she does good. She's got some hockey background, right? So, you know, that should be good. So we wish her well. we are seriously, mean, training camp starts in what? Next week. Yeah. So, I mean, this is a...

Bobby (07:17.776)
Yes.

Bobby (07:25.787)
Yeah.

Rookies are there, ICE is down.

Chris (07:31.467)
I haven't seen the ice. How's it? Do we anything different? No.

Bobby (07:33.006)
Yeah, it looks great, know. Not that I can tell. I didn't study it, but just a little hype video they put out, which was really great. it does make you wonder though, and we've talked about it pretty much every show, why we're not dealing with a Mercer contract yet.

Chris (07:52.095)
Do you have reasons to believe why we're not?

Bobby (07:52.164)
And so I don't have no, and that's exactly why I wanted to bring it up again, because we went into it at length a few times during the show and earlier shows. And I think it was sometime maybe last week or the week before I was at the gym. saw a little article pop up. I sent it to you and whoever they were, I don't remember, but they were hockey analysts. They were smart people. And they went on to say what is likely the type of contract that he would need.

And it was somewhere in the neighborhood of the two years at three, seven each. And then maybe a third year, sprinkle up a little top to like 4 million to make it look good before he comes out of that and is ready for his next big contract. Very similar to the contracts that we spoke of many times before that. Why I sent it to you was because of how similar it was that we talked about. And it wasn't because I'm suggesting, hey, we thought of this first. Quite the contrary.

Chris (08:45.118)
Right.

Bobby (08:50.488)
Also, it wasn't because it's like, we're geniuses. Look at this. Yeah, we said it too. Now, the reason I sent it to you is because it's like, you know it, I know it, those analysts know it, all the fans know it. This is the type of contract that makes sense and needs to get done. So now I'm really starting to get worried why it's not simply done. Give or take a few hundred thousand each way. Everybody knows this is where it needs to be, including his agent and him. So I'm getting more nervous as I think.

Chris (09:17.899)
Well, you got it. You know, I don't necessarily agree with about 99 % of what you just said. And this is what I don't agree with. You said it's a, it's a contract that that we all know is fair and is probably the best deal and Tom Fitzgerald and everybody there. But apparently Dawson Mercer doesn't. So apparently, cause I would think that if Dawson Mercer came up to Tom Fitzgerald's office today and said, you want to give me two years at 3 .7.

I'll sign on the dotted line right now, the deal would be done. Because I think that Fitzgerald would jump at that. It's a fair deal. So why is it not getting done? Because Dawson Mercer is looking for either more money or more term. And I would probably guess that term is the issue. Maybe he wants four. But this deal seems like a deal, if that's the reported deal, right? Two years, 3 .7.

and a little bit more on a third year at around four, that's what's projected. Right. So this is a projected deal. It's a fair deal. I mean, I don't understand why. If I was Mercer, I would jump at that because it's giving me two to three years before I can go and actually get a big payday if I prove it. So I don't know.

Bobby (10:16.644)
It was the, analyst's assumptive deal. Correct. Yeah.

Bobby (10:33.414)
And if I said one of the last shows, I don't feel like Mercer's the type of guy that would hold that. I feel like push comes to shove. Last minute he's gonna say, I wanna get in this, let's make it happen. So again, I'm wondering, is this an agent thing, playing that whole hold off a little bit longer, we're gonna make it work, and at what point do they make it work? It's just getting scary.

Chris (10:53.013)
Well...

I think you worry if training camp opens, even if it's just fitness, know, physicals and whatever opens and he's not there, then start to get worried. Okay, we have, what's today's date? The 12th? So actually we have like what, three days until they report? Is it maybe Sunday or Monday that they report for physicals? So if the deal's not done by over the weekend, I think it's time to worry. How do we seem to you now, Dan?

Bobby (11:14.352)
Yeah, it's something like that.

Dan (11:25.043)
better. Let's go with that. Yeah.

Chris (11:26.301)
Okay, better is good. So, you have any thoughts on the Mercer deal?

Dan (11:31.527)
Yeah, I know. I largely agree with what you're saying there. mean, the excuse, I'm hearing you, but you're not hearing me, huh? No good? okay. Yeah, I mean, at you guys aren't freezing up on me, but I don't know how clear I'm coming over. But, you know, I'll keep going until you tell me it's not working out. I would tell you that, like, the agent excuse only goes so far. You know, in the end, the agent's got to make the deal if he wants to. So we'll see. I mean, as far as...

Chris (11:34.655)
Maybe not better.

Bobby (11:36.664)
or he just doesn't have any thoughts.

Chris (11:40.819)
Now I am

Bobby (11:41.112)
Now we are loud and clear.

Chris (11:59.327)
And the agent works for Mercer, right? So, I mean, in the end, it's Mercer that makes the fucking decision.

Dan (12:01.511)
Right. Yeah, he ultimately it's up to him. Now we don't really know the terms that, you know, for real what's going on. You just get these reports. But, you know, if he wants longer term, I mean, he could get it. think Fitzgerald will give it, but probably not at the value he wants. You know, you can't give him that kind of value on the on the back end when you don't know it's there. So, I mean, definitely it's a bridge deal situation. He wants an extra long bridge.

fine, I don't think it would serve him either. So I do feel like in the end, it's about lump sum money even more than term. But we're just speculating as we do.

Chris (12:43.765)
Now we lost him. Damn it. yeah, you're gone, Dan. okay, now he's back.

Dan (12:46.813)
And you guys look good to me, I don't know. Just in and out? Alright, I might... What's different this time is you guys never go out on me. But I guess I'm going out on

Chris (12:59.835)
I think we're okay, we're gonna, be okay. I think we can make it through this. I have a quick question before we get into tonight's, tonight's stuff. Is there a devil player on this roster right now? Like, who do you think has an opportunity to really step up this year as kind of that unsung hero role, like, you know,

Dan (13:02.503)
Okay, let's give it a shot. Technology.

Chris (13:25.899)
is there anybody on this roster that you think and and also comparatively is there anybody on this roster that you maybe think is is playing for something like they're playing the stay here playing to keep their job playing the stay in the n .h .l .s are any one of those players you know i'm just curious so den you could start

Dan (13:44.927)
I would think, you know what, we might see that from some of the new acquisitions, you know? I'm thinking Cotter might turn out to be a guy like that, because he seems like that's his role. Yeah, Cotter. Man, on my end, everything sounds fine. You know what, I might just, you know, I don't know what else to do. I've done pulled all these tricks out. Cotter, I think because, yeah, I just think that he has that potential personality.

Chris (13:53.035)
I got caught her out of that. Shit, man. What is going on with this connection?

Chris (14:01.912)
I was just re - repeat what you were saying - just repeat what you were saying about Cotter.

Dan (14:12.187)
And his spot is definitely not solidified. So I'm looking at something like that, you know. You know, our top two lines, I think that, yeah, they can have big years, but I don't think they're like fighting to keep their jobs. You know, you might see some people who are fan favorites like Lazar come at much harder because he's actually got more competition. He's one of the few guys that was bringing grit. And now that we've had some more guys who do that, so he might have a better year. You know, I could see that.

Those are the top two that pop in my mind. There could be others, yeah.

Chris (14:43.253)
Fair enough. Bobby, how about you?

Bobby (14:46.726)
Well, it's funny because we just talked about the contract situation, but I still consider Mercer, you know, on this roster. And I think he's one of them. think that we're still hearing on all the talk shows, the devils look great. So excited to see them. The one thing they still didn't do was go out and get that last scoring winger. And I feel like that makes it something for Mercer to prove. Cause again, two years ago, we got 27 goals. I've been on record saying, I believe this guy's a 30 goal score right now. So we don't need to get somebody else. So there's him.

And I, again, my heart of hearts, he's going to be on the team. He'll be on the opening day roster. And the other one's known foot. think, he's got to push to make the team. And I think it's pretty important for him to show that he can stay with this team to avoid, maybe a transaction. Like it's either, know, cause at some point we're so full. If you're not kind of in the big picture, then you become an asset to move. And I think this is a guy we need to keep.

Dan (15:22.171)
Yeah, good call.

Dan (15:42.783)
Excellent, yeah.

Chris (15:42.987)
I agree. He's definitely going to have a very important training camp as far as his career goes and the trajectory of that career is training camp does mean a lot to him. I'm with Dan on the players that could end up surprising you with Curtis Lazar and we all know what Curtis Lazar brings, but now with the team depth and how it's laid out, he might be a guy that pops up 20 goals. You know, he could be that guy that just, you you go back and look at certain players like, you know,

John Madden kind of type. I mean he fits a lot of that role a lot of you know intangibles But the guy that's to me playing for his job to stay here is Nate Bastion I Think that Nate Bastion has a lot to prove especially you're talking about that fourth line where we have five or six guys That can come in and play down there just as well as Nate

Dan (16:14.9)
Right.

Dan (16:25.019)
good call,

Bobby (16:26.032)
Good call, yeah.

Bobby (16:35.108)
Right.

Chris (16:39.019)
I think he's the guy injury last year we didn't show a whole lot like this is a big year for bashing if he's gonna be part of the same moving forward

Bobby (16:41.573)
Mm -hmm.

Bobby (16:45.102)
Yeah, like how are you going to separate yourself from the pack? What's going to make your game that much more valuable than any of other four guys who are waiting to take your spot? That's a great call.

Dan (16:53.56)
Last person from the BMW line, you know now it's time to turn the page and show value elsewhere

Chris (16:53.631)
Yeah, I do.

Chris (16:59.401)
That's right. That was who was the other guy? Bastion Wood and who am I missing? Who is it? I forgot. Yeah. I, I completely seriously like forgot that he was fucking no, I wasn't. but yeah, I did. I did. It's just, yeah. I mean, look, I'm going to be honest when it comes to Michael McCloud, this team.

Bobby (17:04.964)
Face off guy. Yeah.

Dan (17:05.727)
We don't think about him anymore.

Bobby (17:09.551)
You did?

Dan (17:10.476)
I thought you were joking. Yeah.

Bobby (17:13.904)
blacked it out.

Dan (17:16.796)
was effective for a while.

Chris (17:26.021)
is perfect for him i mean if he if none of this shit went down he makes us a lot stronger this year having him use a half of a player a horrible fucking human being if all this shit is true but he was a heck of a player and we could separate the two you know i mean there's he's the only one they were talking about this actually on nhl radio like a week or so ago like been steadfast with his

Bobby (17:53.776)
Denial. Yeah.

Chris (17:54.483)
denial of this, that he is claiming innocent and he says, you know, when we go to court, you will see I did nothing wrong and he is steadfast in that. So.

Dan (18:03.953)
I would like nothing better than for him not to be involved with this, you know. We hear reports through media. We are not in the court and the court case hasn't happened. So you can pull for that. also think I don't blame the Devils for, you know, saying you're not playing under these circumstances. So, you know, were he to be vindicated and somehow become part of this team? I would love it. Yeah. Like you said, hell of a player. Nobody better on faceoffs could totally use him. But yeah, we'll see. Yeah.

Chris (18:18.577)
no, they had to.

Chris (18:31.595)
And that's huge. That was even a huge issue for the Devils in 2003. so how about we dive into a couple of the games from 2003 and then we will have a couple of articles. I'm curious. I want to get you guys.

Dan (18:38.259)
sit

Chris (18:52.171)
I what I was saying. A couple articles. Yes. May, we go back to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. May 31st, 2003, 8 p Attendance 17 ,174. The referees were Bill McCreary and Dan Morelli, Linesman Brad Lazarewicz and Mark Wheeler. Nobody cares about them then.

Dan (18:53.759)
21 years ago. Amazing, right? Isn't that incredible? 21 years ago.

Chris (19:20.563)
Nobody cares about them now. Bobby, this is all you, brother.

Bobby (19:26.342)
Yeah, so we're gonna go through three games today. So we're gonna do it a little more rapidly than we normally do, because there's a couple losses in here and we wanna end with a win. So coming into this game three in California, remember Brodor hadn't let up a goal yet. And he also didn't let up a goal all the way through the first period. It wasn't until 339 of the second period where Mark Chouinard, if I'm saying that right, he ended the streak.

Chris (19:47.787)
Mm -hmm.

Bobby (19:49.446)
It was a fourth line guy, of course, that did it, right? So, you know, you go at seven periods of hockey and it's a fourth line guy that does it, which is typical of the playoffs. Kind of a broken play, just kind of a routine save from Marty. He played it out. Somebody kept it in at the point, threw it back to the net, you know, bang, bang, and it's in. Nothing anybody did particularly wrong. You know, this team was eventually going to score anyway. It didn't last too long. 14 .02 of the second period, Elias got one from Lang and Bruner and

Pandalfo.

Chris (20:20.395)
Really? I got Rafalski on this. Yeah. You saw the goal, so I didn't see it. Yeah, 14 -02. Patrick Elias is fourth at the playoffs from Jamie Langenbruner and Brian Rafalski I have. But that's fine.

Bobby (20:22.778)
Do ya? This is goal number two? Yeah.

Dan (20:24.881)
Disputed assist.

Bobby (20:34.967)
Yeah, so this was just a lot of devil's pressure. Corner to corner, they were dealing with the puck. Basically, he came out, Langbroeder made a nice overpass to Ilias. Ilias kind of banked it off like he had to go down in one leg. It was a pretty play. It was right in the slot to score that. So that tied the game there.

Chris (20:53.493)
Did he roof it or?

Bobby (20:55.478)
No, I think it was on the ice. I it was like five hole. This, unfortunately, I couldn't find clips per game. I could only find kind of condensed games. And they weren't even doing like the replay where you can actually dissect it. Every play I literally had like the three seconds it took. So some of this, might have missed some of the detail. Let's see.

Chris (20:57.236)
Okay.

Chris (21:05.609)
Hmm.

Chris (21:16.043)
That tie though didn't last long, it?

Bobby (21:18.47)
No, that tie didn't last long. So San is at 1447, right from Jauguerre. Now this is the flub of the playoffs. So we're talking about Martan Brodor, probably the greatest goaltender to ever play. At least in our minds, he definitely is. This was simply a soft dump from the blue line. It wasn't even on the net. Brodor came out of the crease, oddly tried to put his stick down to kind of angle it, and he literally just dropped his stick so freakishly.

Chris (21:22.216)
Yeah.

Dan (21:41.555)
I remember this.

Bobby (21:46.881)
And the way that he dropped his stick, it was angled in the ice so that that puck literally banked off it and just trickled right in to the goal. The strangest goal I've ever seen by the best goaltender I've ever seen.

Chris (21:52.96)
Hmm.

Dan (21:56.751)
not only the best gold -tender, best stick handler, puck handler, gold -tender that ever played the game.

Bobby (22:00.48)
right and he wasn't it wasn't like he was going to stay out of what he was doing he cross himself up laying his stick down as opposed to kind of playing with the blade like you normally would.

Dan (22:07.411)
Yeah.

Chris (22:10.517)
Did he ever talk about that goal, you guys know? Is there ever any explanation?

Dan (22:13.607)
I don't remember that ever coming up. I'm sure, you know, if this went the other way, that would have haunted him forever.

Chris (22:17.525)
That's interesting.

Bobby (22:17.542)
Yeah.

Bobby (22:21.988)
Right, now thank God this guy recovers quickly, but this one bugged him. You can see it in his face. And I think you could tell at this time that this was not our game, because that was just so freakishly bad.

Chris (22:22.155)
40.

Chris (22:33.051)
Alright, let me throw a completely reckless, speculatory question your way.

Dan (22:38.281)
He had money on it.

Chris (22:40.081)
If Marty Brodeur doesn't flub that puck and have that awful goal, does he win the Kahn Smythe? Like, was that a bridge too far? Was that the thing that said, have these guys neck and neck through the entire series up to this game seven, these guys have been battling one guy one night, but what did Jaguer not do? He didn't flub the big fucking play and cause a goal.

Bobby (23:00.133)
You know.

Dan (23:06.153)
Maybe also got an assist on the play.

Bobby (23:06.628)
He didn't. Yeah. then, and remember we talked about, when they do this, you said it was after game six or at least once there was a Stanley Cup clinching scenario, right? So that would be game six. So. Prelude to the next game where Shigeru finally gets a shout out. We'll get to that. So you got the flub by Brodor, which arguably is maybe the reason they lost this game. And then the next game they get shut out by Jiggy. So that's fresh in your mind. I don't know. Maybe.

Chris (23:09.055)
That should have been an own goal.

Chris (23:17.034)
Right.

Chris (23:21.543)
Hahaha

Bobby (23:35.407)
I hate to think that because we still all agree that it was bullshit. Right. It couldn't have helped.

Dan (23:37.01)
It couldn't have helped.

Chris (23:38.611)
No, and this is the goal that the momentum firmly started switching to Anaheim.

Bobby (23:44.742)
But let's also be realistic. Every single person that would watch that would know this is an absolute fluke, non -brodur -like situation. It doesn't describe who he is as a goaltender. So it probably shouldn't have helped. But you know, it's in the back of their heads. Just throwing it out there.

Dan (23:51.464)
Yes.

Chris (23:51.498)
Right.

Chris (23:59.101)
Eh, just throwing it out there.

Dan (24:01.811)
Yeah, who knows? mean, honestly, it could have been a sweet series. You know, you get the mint mint going up three, nothing. It's a totally different series.

Bobby (24:05.286)
Yeah, yeah, got, yep, got, agreed. So we move on and Gomez gets on the board at 9 -11 from Elias and Marshall that tied it at two. Let's see, this was just another one of these tons of devil's pressure. There was a couple of rebounds and it wound up being a great tip by Gomez, very close, like very uptight. So it wasn't just kind of your normal wide open net. It was quite skilled. That got us two too and things are looking pretty good, but.

Chris (24:05.804)
Up to this point. Yeah.

Bobby (24:34.808)
It goes into overtime and in overtime it's is it Rusan Saleh? I believe that's how you say it, right? from oats. And this is really interesting. This is how hockey works, right? So the devils just had a glorious chance just before it was kind of a partial two on one, that didn't really connect. because basically I think it was Marshall or somebody was in way too deep to corral the puck. so he couldn't get a clean shot off after that, you know, Brodor winds up just.

Chris (24:39.988)
Yeah, that's him.

Bobby (25:03.618)
Stopping a routine puck save and it stops the play so there's a face -off in the zone and this was just a perfectly clean face -off win zone play Shoot score and there you go. Like overtime we're done. So at this point, it's two games to one and You can't help but say maybe if this gap doesn't happen Who knows maybe doesn't go to overtime and they're solace in saying we beat them twice handily and now we only lost in overtime but

Chris (25:22.89)
You're right.

Chris (25:30.859)
But it does go the other way. You have a three -nothing series lead. You know you're winning. And this game was New Jersey had 31 shots on Jaguerre. Anaheim had 33 on Brodeur. Face -offs, the New Jersey Devils were 37 % even and the Ducks were 63%, which we discussed. Adam Oates just, mean, on that goal, he was at that time unbeatable.

Dan (25:36.468)
yeah.

Bobby (25:58.426)
The Face Off Man. Yep.

Chris (25:58.603)
in face -offs. it's just the best in the world. yeah, so anything else for game three, bud? All right, let's do game four. Game four is June 2nd, 2003, back at the Honda Center, same attendance, 17 ,174 different referees and different linesmen, but we're not going to talk about, I'm sorry, nope, the linesmen are the same, the referees are different. All right, Pui, go for it.

Bobby (26:28.55)
Alright, so listen, there's actually not too much to talk about in this game. This was a defensive game. was shots were even 26 to 26. Yep, sure.

Chris (26:31.434)
for five periods.

Chris (26:36.971)
wait, hang on. Can I interrupt real quick? On game three, just the three stars of the game were Paulson, center from Anaheim, no goals, no assists, must have had a good game though. He was the third assist. Second assist is Marty Brodor, who had 30 saves with a 9 .09 save percentage. Emre Sancellet, of course, get the game winner goal from Anaheim. He was the first star.

Dan (27:01.759)
Is that somebody being cute because he kind of had an own goal? So they gave him an assist, a star rather.

Bobby (27:01.958)
That's funny.

Chris (27:08.779)
I mean, he had 30 saves.

Bobby (27:08.89)
Yeah, I'm wondering, can you be like a second and a third star? You'd be like a second star for Anaheim, a third star for the devil.

Dan (27:12.317)
Yeah.

right now he did have a lot of saves in that game and we had more shots more say so I'm not surprised all in all he had a good performance

Chris (27:14.933)
I don't know, it is kind of odd that he was a star. He had...

And you know maybe just I don't know Patrick Elias right he had two points that night and maybe the third star could have gone to him or somebody on the ducks usually always goes to a the winning team you know the always usually gets it but bro door got in the. Three stars as a loser I think a lot that's an interesting stat how many who has the most stars in the losing effort in games I'm gonna look that up in a minute all right buddy.

Dan (27:27.423)
Yeah, sure.

Bobby (27:39.664)
Yeah, that is.

Dan (27:39.729)
Right. It is interesting.

Dan (27:47.673)
mean goalies are frequently looked at when at the losing team because usually they're being outshot and they'll get a little attention for that.

Chris (27:55.443)
Right? But who has the most? That's what I want to know.

Dan (27:59.027)
Good question.

Bobby (27:59.526)
Yeah, that's an interesting stat. So, you know, game four, again, we've seen kind of two fairly dominant games by the Devils, the overtime loss that just happened, momentum coming back on the duck side, but it was a long defensive battle, two teams playing a similar style. Again, shots were 26 each and there was no goals through regulation. So at this point, you're looking at Brodor has got three, six, nine periods of no goals at least, a 10, because the first period of the last game.

10 periods of no goals going into game four. However, it only took the first overtime for Steve Thomas to get a goal. I don't recall it exactly. I think it was from the point. Maybe it was clear. Steve Thomas was only his third and he was actually brought there for a reason to help win, but it broke through. So at this point, there's not much more to go over in this game, but think about this, right? Like Danny kind of alluded to now.

Chris (28:46.324)
Nah.

Bobby (28:58.352)
We won the first two, we lost the second two in overtime, especially a one, like a one -nothing game. This could have gone either way. We very easily could have swept this series. We didn't. And it brings us to the fun of game five.

Chris (29:06.644)
No doubt.

Dan (29:07.015)
Yes, absolutely.

Chris (29:09.737)
No.

Chris (29:13.195)
Well, let's clean up game four first shots on goal New Jersey had 26 the Ducks had 26 even across the board faceoffs again The Ducks dominated at 62 and a half percent the Devils 37 and a half percent the three stars of that game were number third star Marty Brodor 25 saves and a 962 save percentage Jean -Sebastien Juguier the second star with 26 saves and a perfect save percentage and Steve Thomas gets the game winner

Those are your three stars of the game.

Bobby (29:43.98)
Actually, I did lie. did make detail of this goal because it was a pretty play by Thomas. Thomas was coming down the right wing boards fairly fast. He crosses over the blue line and did a real nice stop and start. Just kind of threw the play off balance. And then there wind up being like two passes. There was a pass through the slot. There was a shot saved by Boudoir. It a decent save, but the rebound was just a little bit too long. And that just gave Thomas enough time to come back right back to the middle of the slot.

and kind of buried over Bordeaux's right glove. So it was a very pretty play by a skilled guy. So it wasn't just a cheap old overtime goal.

Chris (30:22.059)
Very nice. Now, we just came off of, you know, a 1 -0 shutout over time win, right? Defensive, goaltender effort. Same in game three, right? It's a 3 -2 low scoring over time win. So you're expecting this throughout the playoffs, right? You're expecting this throughout the series. These goalies are just too good. And then game five happens. And that game was awesome. This is June 5th, 2003.

Bobby (30:45.192)
Mm

Chris (30:50.923)
at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Attendance is 19 ,040. Bobby, what do you got for game five?

Bobby (30:59.782)
So it's first period, you're the Devils, you definitely want to come out strong, you were up two, now you're even. You probably want to score the first goal. Well, Peter Secora had other ideas. Our old friend Peter Secora is coming in here trying to put all the doubt in our heads. He scores first from Oats in the first period, 42 seconds in. That's a little bit of a shocker. You gotta admit, I would love to pick the Devils brains on this one. Like, what are you thinking at that very moment? Don't give me the macho bullshit. Like, what are you literally thinking?

Chris (31:14.731)
42 seconds in.

Dan (31:17.66)
boy.

Bobby (31:28.422)
But they didn't have to wait too long because at 335, Pascal Riom, his first of the playoffs. And this guy was a pretty interesting part of the team that year. Kind of that role player guy. You weren't expecting a ton of goals, but he did other things for you, but you also weren't expecting no goals. Right? So for him to get on the board, this is extremely timely. It was from Stevenson and Breland. So that ties up the game. IZOD Center's going nuts.

Dan (31:40.937)
Right?

Chris (31:46.878)
You

Chris (31:55.731)
You notice real quick like Anaheim had done a really good job after the first two games with shutting Friesen down He has been extremely quiet in these last couple of games. So let's see where he ends up

Bobby (32:01.563)
Yes.

Dan (32:01.684)
Right.

Bobby (32:07.302)
So we wind up on the power play and at 7 .45 we're still in the first period. Ilias gets his fifth from Rafalski and Gomez. This was a clean break out of the zone. Marshall was having a great battle behind the net. He sets up Rafalski at the right point who makes a great pass to number 27. this is the one where it was actually the one need play.

Raphalski's all the way in the top right blue line and sends it through and Ilias was cutting across the ice kind of right into the funnel and he had to get down on a knee and deflect it. So that's the beauty one that made it 2 -1 and things were looking good at that point. At this point I remember this particular goal thinking we're back, momentum's on our side, we're the Devils, it's 2 -1, what could possibly change? Well a lot can change in this particular game because it was very weird because Ruchin from Anaheim makes it 2 -2.

Not too long later, I don't have the time of that goal if you do Chris. 12 .50. So, okay, there's a decent amount of time later. know, five, six minutes later.

Chris (33:01.611)
1250.

Bobby (33:10.022)
We head into the second period and Gianta gets on the board at 312 from Pandolfo and Niedermeyer to make it 3 -2. This was a really cool play. This is a Martin Brodor special. He made a

Chris (33:24.019)
That was his first goal of the season, of the playoffs too. Yeah. Yep.

Bobby (33:27.88)
I don't have that down. Was it his too? Yeah. Brodor made a blocker save pass. It was a simultaneous bump it with a blocker straight out to Niedermeyer. He drops it over the blue line to Gianta from the center and Madden was pinching up and it looked like it was going to be Madden's goal. Like he kind of just was shot to the crease and the leg just kind of bounced in and originally it was credited to Madden.

But no, it goes in from Gianta from like an off -angle shot from the corner But the whole play was started broke by bro door and you could see him tracking this puck He saw the shot coming in he knew if I blockered this just to the angle to Niedermeyer Niedermeyer was going 200 foot and that's exactly what happened. So

Chris (34:14.515)
Now, would you consider it as a bad goal by Jogair?

Bobby (34:18.842)
I don't think it was a bad goal because from what I could see in the limited replay I had was it was just sloppy bang like there was a lot of bodies up there. looked like, like I said, it looked like a tip to me. looked like a pass to Madden and it actually went off an Anaheim defender. So had it got to Madden would have gone, I don't know. I think it's probably went off a skate or something. I don't know that it was something that Joguerre could have stopped. At about three minutes later, Sam Poulsen of Anaheim ties it up for the Ducks and we've got a crazy game.

Chris (34:26.215)
Alright.

Chris (34:31.422)
Okay.

Bobby (34:48.708)
That's about it for the Ducks on this particular day. Jay Pandolfo. Look at that. lot of firsts. Jay Pandolfo. His fifth. So this Jay Pandolfo we've talked about in this show. Some of the things he's done. I know Chris, you alluded to this series and he was one of the leaders in points, right? In this particular, or maybe he was the last series, but the last series. But he's got five goals. The same as Patrick Ilias. Just let that sink in for a second. You know, that's, it's pretty impressive stuff. So.

Chris (34:51.263)
That was his first goal of the playoffs too.

Chris (35:07.615)
That was the last series. Yeah.

Chris (35:12.597)
Yeah.

Bobby (35:15.59)
Pendoffo at 9 -0 -2 to make it 4 -3. This was actually a reviewed goal and I believe it was the second goal reviewed of that game. Judging by the score, I do not believe the first one went our way, but this one did. He was trying to stop heading into the crease, buck bounces off escape, but it was 100 % not a kicking motion. This is not one of those goals where you can look back and say maybe, maybe it was absolutely just a hockey play. So now the Devils are up 4 -3. That's at the end of the second.

Chris (35:41.013)
Gotcha.

Bobby (35:44.858)
and we're going into the third. Normally you'd feel pretty comfortable at this, but at this point, you know, this is a wild game.

Dan (35:50.941)
Yeah, one, can happen.

Bobby (35:53.382)
Until 539 of the third period, where Langenbruner gets his tenth of the playoffs from Rupp and Niedermeyer. Now, Scott Niedermeyer, no surprise here, this is another 200 -foot play. Basically up the entire ice, shoots over a nice pass to Rupp. It was a point -to -point shot. It was deflected by the Ducks, bounced back behind the net, and then literally just comes right back out to Langenbruner, who was crossing the slot at the perfect time.

And he buries it. We're starting again to bedlam here. He wasn't done at 1252. He makes it six three, his 11th from Deontah. In this particular play, John Madden, he just, kept the puck in the zone twice. Langenbruner was off the left boards, jumped to the middle. He passed up to Madden to the middle. This was a great play because Madden was kind of fighting in front of the crease and it was kind of a light pass to Madden deeper into the slot.

Chris (36:25.791)
And he wasn't done.

Bobby (36:52.518)
All Madding can do was kind of lunge at it and dive and basically stop the puck from going to the other wall. He just barely tipped up like a Q shot and it reset right in the funnel. And that gave Langenbruner enough time to come back through directly behind the defender. And again, just clear it straight up through Juguier. Bad game for Juguier at this point for sure. Great game for the Devils. Huge win 6 -3.

Chris (37:01.418)
Right.

Chris (37:16.171)
They were considerably better in metrics as well. Like Anaheim only had 23 shots on goal. New Jersey had 37. So they got the shots. They actually won face -offs. This is the first time all series they were 50 .8%. The Ducks were 49 .2. And, don't tell me you don't have my three stars of the game. Hang on. they don't have the three stars for this one.

Dan (37:28.744)
wow, yeah.

Dan (37:40.543)
Well, who would you give it to?

Chris (37:42.219)
I will definitely give it to Jamie Langenberger. get the first star. Yeah, the game winner and a one for extra. Let me see.

Dan (37:45.801)
Yeah.

Dan (37:52.435)
Last game, both goaltenders were stars. That's not going to be my picks here.

Chris (37:57.525)
Brian Gianta had a three point night. Yeah, I would give him the second star and the third star I would give to... hmmm... Elias. That's what I would have done. So yeah, and that just... now we got the series again by the balls. All we gotta do is win on the road up in Anaheim, game six, and the cup is ours.

Bobby (38:00.624)
That's good.

Chris (38:24.469)
We don't want to come home again, and what we do, but with the Stanley Cup, not to play the Ducks. And we will get to game six, which, you all the shit I just said doesn't fucking happen. And we will do that at some other time.

Bobby (38:37.434)
Yeah. mean, listen, it was very recent history for the Devils where they could have closed out a series in six and didn't and lost the Stanley Cup. that's, that's a tough one to get over. So they definitely don't want to do that again. Every person at the time would tell you that Dan could be on there saying we're, you know, take another for granted. We're going to, we're going to do it, put it all on the table. Well, doesn't always mean you're going to win.

Chris (38:44.843)
Yeah? 2001? You're right.

Dan (38:49.726)
Yes.

Dan (39:00.339)
I think we were all feeling the Colorado series.

Chris (39:00.519)
yeah, that was definitely, but this game was so big. mean, it's two, two, you're going back home, you're either have control of the series or you're facing elimination. They played the best game. I mean, the first two games, yeah, they shutouts were fantastic. They played great. But this was their best, like overall game. You know, they beat them in faceoffs. They outscored, they got scored six on Jagair. None of these were empty netters. This was a great game.

Big win.

Bobby (39:30.598)
You know what to like I mean we've given them some credit but probably not enough for what lang and brunner did in this series it felt like. Every single time we actually needed a goal or when it was language and no disrespect the freezing got the game winner game seven Ottawa game winner and game seven this.

Chris (39:47.669)
Freeze and shine in the Eastern Conference Finals. And yes.

Bobby (39:50.182)
Specifically, yes. I'm sorry, Rupp got the game winner in game seven of this. It's freezing got two to back him up, but Langenbruner, don't know that I've seen, and no offense, Claude Lemieux, right? I don't know that I've seen a devil actually carry us more through the run because 2000, that's the whole A -line. I can't pick them apart who I would say did better. They just had mass points. This one, it was Langenbruner. So when we talk about Brodor getting burned for the Con Smythe, mean, Langenbruner might've been number two.

Dan (39:51.167)
True, yeah.

Dan (40:09.321)
Good point,

Chris (40:14.186)
Yeah?

Dan (40:20.329)
Good point.

Chris (40:21.419)
is a good point. everybody, NFL week one is here and a new season means new ways to get in on the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NHL. Score big with DraftKings Sportsbook, the best place to bet touchdowns. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code THPN. That's code THPN for new customers to get $250 in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks and get one month of NFL Plus premium on us only on DraftKings. Gambling problem? Call 1 -800 -GAMBLER in New York.

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Bobby (41:06.008)
Yeah, Rosino!

Dan (41:11.207)
some Blanzino too.

Bobby (41:13.414)
You

Chris (41:19.167)
Why aren't Oregon and New Hampshire being like this now? What's up with this shit?

Dan (41:22.395)
Those bastards. Let us have fun. Come on.

Dan (41:49.171)
know, Oregon, you do have mushrooms, so maybe they don't care.

Chris (41:52.585)
Well, yeah, cares enough, so why bother, They're all just tripping balls and microdosing themselves to happiness. No, Oregon, New Hampshire.

Dan (41:56.145)
Yeah, you

Bobby (41:56.368)
Makes sense.

Dan (42:00.927)
But what was the other one, Rhode Island?

Bobby (42:03.725)
Oregon and New Hampshire.

Dan (42:04.777)
New Hampshire. I don't know what their problem is.

Chris (42:07.285)
The granite state. The no -fund state, that's what I call it.

Bobby (42:10.886)
That's it. Speaking of happiness...

Dan (42:12.115)
Let free or die.

Bobby (42:17.612)
end of the day. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. And BetterHelp wants us to start thinking about all the things that maybe we want to do and learn, but we didn't. You do.

Chris (42:17.739)
Perfect.

Chris (42:26.933)
I got a new one. I thought about this. Yes, I want to learn how to fold a fitted sheet.

Bobby (42:33.356)
I don't know that there's actually a class for that. I don't know that anybody can truly teach that.

Dan (42:37.567)
Actually, Erica, she's really good at it. Yeah, she's got a method. You'll never guess who she learned it from. Her mother -in -law, her dad's chick, who's useless in every other way. She's got this magic way that she taught. And now when I watch it, it's like, how did that happen? And the fitted sheet comes out, and you would think it's like a top sheet, the way how flat it is. It's incredible.

Chris (42:40.287)
There's no way. It's impossible. It cannot be done.

Bobby (42:41.466)
Just roll it up.

Chris (42:48.255)
Martha Stewart.

Chris (43:05.013)
See, everybody has their gift. Everybody has something to give the world. This is the beautiful thing. Even her. Well, I need to know. I need to either, you know, need talk to somebody here that knows how to do this. Thank you. That's what I'm trying to say.

Dan (43:09.587)
Yeah, that's right.

Bobby (43:12.632)
Let me ask you Chris...

Dan (43:19.519)
I'll put you in touch with him.

Bobby (43:20.816)
Well, curious, did this curiosity start as a child and something you haven't gotten to or just just manifest lately?

Chris (43:26.899)
It's something I've tried, of course, many times to no avail. And I just end up rolling it basically into a fucking ball until I get home from the laundromat or get it upstairs. You know, when I was living by myself, I could never fricking do it. try now I just kind of give up trying to fold it. So, but the other day I was doing laundry and I was trying to fold it again and I couldn't do it. And I just came to the conclusion that it's not, it can't be done. It needs machines and a protractor.

Dan (43:52.48)
Yeah, it's cool to watch too. It looks like full -size origami. It's amazing the way, I can't really describe it. I'm gonna have to have someone teach you.

Bobby (44:00.336)
Very interesting. I'm not entirely sure that this is the type of help BetterHelp was talking about, but you do tend to lose your curiosity to learn new things as you get older. Some people just reside to rolling up the fitted sheet and not folding it at all. And that's wrong. Maybe you just need to speak to somebody.

Chris (44:00.371)
Yeah, I need to know.

Dan (44:04.54)
Okay.

Chris (44:15.467)
I want to be the best version of myself and that version includes somebody who knows how to fold a fitted sheet.

Bobby (44:19.608)
If you want to be the best version of yourself, sometimes therapy can help. You know, it's not just for the traumatic events in your life, Chris. Maybe it gets you over the hump as you can learn how to fold this fitted sheet. If you're ever thinking about therapy, never know, there could be some kind of block.

Chris (44:24.683)
That too.

Chris (44:31.531)
It was very possible. I didn't think it was mental, but it could be. That horrible dryer incident of 79.

Dan (44:36.009)
You might find out that you were almost killed by a fidget sheet once, once you sit down and do this therapy. Yeah, that's why you're so upset.

Bobby (44:44.698)
The cool thing about BetterHelp is that it's so convenient while you're so busy trying to figure out this fitted sheet. You can just simply go online, fill out a quick form, get matched with a licensed therapist, and that can help you get on your way to a better you. So rediscover your curiosity with BetterHelp.

Dan (44:59.709)
What can I help you with?

Well, we learned how to fold a fitted sheet, doc.

Bobby (45:06.697)
Visit betterhelp .com slash thpn today to get 10 % off your first month. That's betterhelp .com slash thpn.

Dan (45:17.695)
And they promise not to roll their eyes when you tell them this is the kind of better help you want.

Chris (45:22.027)
That's exactly it. I got something if no one else does I can bring to the bring to class

Bobby (45:23.014)
That's right, all things are on the table.

Dan (45:28.063)
Yeah. Yes.

Bobby (45:28.858)
Mmm. Let's go.

Chris (45:31.775)
I actually have two. Tell me which one you guys want to do. There two articles I found that were interesting, but you guys know I don't read these in advance. So, five New Jersey Devils storylines to watch heading into training camp, or five young NHL players who need a trade immediately. So one is just specifically on the Devils, and the other one is the league. Which one you want to do?

Dan (45:48.959)
I like the ladder.

Bobby (45:49.114)
code.

Dan (45:53.865)
What say, bud?

Bobby (45:55.014)
I'm thinking the first one first. I need some more upbeat stuff. My mind is now thinking about how terrible it is to fold a fitted sheet, so I need something happy.

Dan (45:56.563)
Okay, let's do that then.

Chris (45:56.565)
Did the devil one?

Chris (46:02.569)
Yeah, you who could not fold a fitted sheet at all for at least four to eight weeks? They really are made of glass, aren't they? That's what it probably is, right? It's only a matter of time until Quinn gets it, right?

Dan (46:03.731)
Maddening.

Bobby (46:06.308)
Luke Hughes.

Dan (46:10.271)
Imagine that's how he did it. That's how he hurt himself trying to hold it. Yeah, it's impossible and it snaps.

Bobby (46:12.972)
my god those shoulders

boy.

Dan (46:20.691)
They did it arm wrestling, the two Hughes brothers. Yeah.

Dan (46:29.958)
I know,

Bobby (46:30.095)
Yeah

Chris (46:30.921)
He's the only one that manages to stay healthy.

Bobby (46:33.136)
Seems hereditary.

Dan (46:33.543)
I want the biggest, safest shoulder pads on these fuckers that the NHL will allow.

Chris (46:36.875)
Look, I'm out. Looking like a 1978 linebacker, right? It's a way too big pad.

Bobby (46:37.05)
You

Dan (46:41.257)
Yeah, yeah. Or something like Love and Rockets were with big spikes on them.

Bobby (46:41.584)
Nice.

Chris (46:45.739)
It looked like Rudy or remember Lucas when he remember that movie it's a big football pads on

Bobby (46:48.685)
So

Bobby (46:54.496)
yeah.

Dan (46:54.515)
Yes.

We gotta do something to protect these Hughes boys.

Chris (47:00.037)
I'm telling you man, this is getting terrible. Five New Jersey Devil storylines to watch heading into training camp from Neil Villepiano. Let's see, New Jer... What? No, it's Neil.

Dan (47:10.218)
Isn't it Nick? Isn't it Nick Villepiano? Did I get the wrong? wow, I've been calling him by the wrong name. No wonder he doesn't call me back.

Chris (47:18.163)
Yeah, this is our boy. The New Jersey Devils come into this season with major aspirations. Training camp is the time to get ready for the long year ahead. Here are five storylines to keep an eye on as we welcome Devils hockey back into our lives. That's the first one. How does Keefe's system mesh with the team? Interesting. General manager Tom Fitzgerald got the offseason off and running by hiring Sheldon Keefe to replace now Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.

Bobby (47:19.664)
Devil state.

Dan (47:37.513)
Yes, that's a good point.

Chris (47:46.527)
The former Maple Leaf bench boss comes to New Jersey with a chip on his shoulder. He has plenty of regular season success with top guys putting up gaudy numbers. However, he failed at delivering a Stanley Cup to Toronto and made it out of the first round of the playoffs once. There are certainly questions whether or not Keefe has learned from his mistakes and will correct them with the Devils. The biggest thing I'm looking at with Keefe is how his system and coaching philosophy do with his new team.

From a forward perspective, I'm fairly confident that will continue his success with the top guys here as he did with Austin Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Chavars. The bigger question will be with defense and goaltending. With regards to the back end, this will no doubt be the most talented defensive court Keefe has ever had at his disposal. The same can be said for goaltending as well, given the new acquisition of Markstrom. Can Keefe devise a system that will allow the Devils defensemen to be more responsible in their own end?

Will he use Markstrom a lot or go more of a balanced tandem with Jake Allen? These are two big questions I have for the Devil's Headman. So I was actually thinking the same exact thing recently. Like this is not, not what's Keith going to do with them, but this is the best defensive court at this guy's scene and definitely the best goaltender he's had. I mean, I see what Neil is right in here. I think, you know, he try and do what he did in Toronto, just now he has better players that can do it better.

Dan (48:47.475)
Yeah.

Dan (49:05.053)
Yeah, and special teams too, you know, like we'll see how that shakes out if you're gonna have really high related, highly rated special.

Chris (49:09.237)
But I mean, I think he definitely will want to activate our defensemen a lot more. think he's, you know, he especially knowing that he has Markstrom back there. But I mean, I expect this team to be very responsible defensively. And the thing is, yeah, he's had a lot of high talent skill in Toronto. But if you go back to that Boston series this round, right, they were getting lit up early on in that series and Keith had them switch.

Dan (49:14.504)
Yes.

Chris (49:36.223)
to playing a more defensive style. In those last couple of games, Toronto didn't give Boston shit, so Keefe knows what he's doing defensively. So I think that it'll be a nice mix.

Bobby (49:47.267)
Yeah, and like we've talked about before, not only has he never had a defense like this, he's never had a defense capable of this either. I mean, if he wants to activate the D, there's literally a top activating defenseman on each pairing. So the other person can very easily take their stay at home role. It's not like we're going to be asking a defensive player to, you know, join the rush when that's not his game. We literally have that if it...

Dan (50:03.859)
That's it.

Bobby (50:14.882)
if that's how they decide to pair them, of course, which they should on each defensive pairing. So the balance will be there in that regard. I think he absolutely knows what to do with a forward group, especially a forward group this talented. And like I said, he's got a better goaltending unit, so I think he'll be fine.

Chris (50:18.463)
And they will.

Dan (50:29.693)
What about the goal? Do you think he's going to try to have a we got two 1A's? I don't think it's even close. He's going to give Markstrom the vast majority, right?

Chris (50:40.331)
I mean that...

Bobby (50:40.408)
What's the vast majority these days?

Dan (50:42.365)
Yeah, that's a good point, but I mean, he's not going to put up Marty numbers for games played, but nobody does. But you know, like I don't see like a one every three game appearance for Alan. Do you think it could be that kind of.

Chris (50:55.723)
I want to see Marksman play 60 games this year. I want to see him start 60.

Bobby (50:58.31)
60 was the number I was just gonna say. So to Dan's point, that's more like one in every four. Yeah, it's four, yeah. I think that makes sense unless he shows you that he shouldn't be doing that. I mean, that's why he's here.

Dan (50:58.419)
Yeah, that sounds about right.

Yeah, and that sounds about right in today's game, you know?

Dan (51:11.741)
Right, or is injured, cetera. Right?

Chris (51:14.091)
Well, then number two, how will Jacob Markstrom look in the preseason? Speaking of Markstrom, let's talk about the new main guys between the pipes. Fitzgerald proclaimed that he would go big game hunting this offseason and got his game when he acquired the 34 -year -old from the Calgary Flames for Kevin Ball in a 25 first round pick. Markstrom, along with Allen, give the Devils a tandem that, if all goes well, could be a major catalyst towards the Stanley Cup championship run.

There's no question that Markstrom will be the number one guy in the net for the Devils when the season gets going. What I'm curious about is to see what he looks like in the preseason. Granted, he won't play in every game, but he is certainly expected to get some minutes. Two to three of the seven games that the Devils will play before the October 4th opener. I want to see what the netminder looks like in his playing time and how he adapts to the team in front of him. It won't tell you much, but it should give everyone a little bit of an idea of how Markstrom plays and how he can affect the outcome of a game. Dan, you want to jump on that one?

Dan (52:07.132)
Yeah, I mean, that's all very good questions. I think the whole team, all the fans are eager to see how he fits in. And then that I think this is by far the biggest name since Marty. There's no really even a buddy close. know, Schneider was going to be the guy, but aside from a year or two of some good play, I think you've got to say that Jake's, Jake Markstrom is a much bigger name than we've had since all the way back then. there's

a lot of anticipation, I guess some degree of pressure. I mean, let's just wait for that to happen. And on a less serious note, I'm really curious what his mask is gonna look

Chris (52:46.643)
Yeah, so am I.

Bobby (52:48.784)
So normally, Neil kind of led with that, that the goalie doesn't tend to start right away, not the first couple games, and then they play a period or two. Do you think that he will want to do more than that kind of usual? Because there's only what, six or seven preseason games, and it's a new system, whole completely new team, a new conference, that he'll want a little bit more than normal? Or do you think that's just the workload that goalies need?

Chris (53:14.953)
I mean, personally, I would think it depends a lot too on how much practice are getting in in between games, know, how comfortable is he feeling, you know, I mean, you don't want to put him out there if he's, you know, doesn't need to be out there, you know, you don't want to God forbid the guy get hurt in a preseason game, you know.

Dan (53:28.127)
Right. Yeah, I don't see him playing, you know, four out of five games or, you know, even three out of four in preseason. There's no reason for it. And complete game.

Bobby (53:28.335)
Right.

Chris (53:35.413)
That and that goes back to like seven preseason games guys like what are we doing? What are we doing with preseason like four is plenty of preseason games? I mean if you want to run some kind of frigging camp to you know see get guys you know more time maybe you know like a rookie camp or you know guys that are trying to make the team I don't know you could do something but the main game should not be more than four our stars should not be out there for

Dan (53:41.107)
Yeah.

Bobby (53:45.839)
Yeah.

Dan (53:46.687)
Yeah, let's get to it.

Dan (54:01.023)
Sign him up for a beer league. Let him destroy some poppiists.

Chris (54:04.875)
You're talking an 82 game schedule ahead of them.

Bobby (54:07.728)
Well, we do know that our stars won't be right because didn't we say that there's preseason games when our guys are heading over seas so they're already going to get two less.

Chris (54:14.163)
Yeah, so I don't That's true Number three he has where will Brett Pesci and Brendan Dillon fit in on the D pairings Devils ended up signing these two guys and the defense Dylan and Pesci bring playoff experience physicality and a defensive minded approach each of them fit in well with guys like Hamilton Seigenthaler Hughes and Nemec I mentioned before Keith will have a lot of talent on the back end which leads to the question of where we see both these guys

Dan (54:14.962)
Right.

Chris (54:42.055)
One of them, Pesci, is a right -handed defenseman, the other's left. The top pairing will most likely be Hamilton, who's returning from his injury, and Seigenthaler. Pesci projects to be paired with Hughes to have a more offensive -defensive balance. As for Dylan, I expect him to be with Nemecs to make the defense -heavy pairing. It'll be fun to see how they mesh with the young guys and how it all comes together. I'm super excited to see these two dudes on this team.

Like this is a defense that's gonna look totally different and these guys, I can't wait to see them just hitting dudes and just making this defense finally tough, you know? That's what I want to have, yes.

Dan (55:16.403)
Yes.

Dan (55:21.075)
Yeah, clearing people out in front of the net. I mean, we have not had a lot of that. We have not had a strong presence in our defensive end and clear increases areas, stuff like that. So I expect a lot of that.

Bobby (55:31.02)
It's arguably the most exciting part about the season. I I wrote my own piece about all the lines, right? We went over and the defensive lines too and how exciting they are. And if you told me from the end of last year that all we did was a defensive side, I'd be marginally happy, not as happy as we are now because I know what else we have. But if we hadn't had that, I mean, I wouldn't be totally uncomfortable.

Chris (55:36.543)
Yeah.

Chris (55:51.337)
Hey, yeah, it goes to show just how an amazing offseason the Devils had. If they can just start a fucking game with everybody healthy, it'd be better. Number four, yeah, who owns, who earns that seventh D spot? Continuing with defense, another storyline is who ends up earning the seventh spot on defense. There are two guys, in my opinion, that looked to vie for that role. Sentiri Hataka. Hataka was part of the big package that highlighted the Timo Meyer deal.

Bobby (55:56.742)
Exactly.

Bobby (56:01.594)
Yes, too late.

Chris (56:19.051)
The young defenseman has had some experience playing in the NHL from the previous year, looked very comfortable in his time here. He's caught the eyes of the devil's brass and certainly will be given a good shot to make the team out of camp. The next guy is newly acquired Jonathan Kovacevic, who comes with a big frame, 6 '5", 223 pounds and is not afraid to rough it up. He just like Hataka is more of a defensive minded player who is very responsible on his end. He also is still young at 27 years old, so he still has time to grow. Blocking shots will be something big with.

that Corpus Covacevic needs to provide? That is a good question. We were just talking about it earlier, who's going to be the guy that's going to come in and take that spot that Luke's missing, and we named these two dudes. And now, right, now both of these dudes are probably making the team, at least for first 20 games or so.

Dan (57:02.621)
Yeah. That seventh spot is now one is nothing care for a while.

Bobby (57:03.174)
Yeah.

Dan (57:13.453)
Right.

Bobby (57:15.598)
Yeah. I mean, now thinking about it little more considering the player that's out, I would probably say it's not Kovacevic that would get it. And it would be either Hataka or DiSimone. If you want to keep kind of that similar style of play, because you're to have Pesci, maybe. If everything else stayed the same and you're replacing who plays with Pesci, then maybe you want like a DiSimone or a Hataka so you can get into how Pesci is going to continue to play for the team. You don't need that other big bruising defenseman, but

This might shake up everything from top to bottom, so we don't really know.

Chris (57:46.784)
Right?

Dan (57:46.953)
Yeah, interesting. I was going be very curious if, you know, we kind of thought that those pairings were pretty solid. Can it not mess up not just, you know, Hughes's partner, but everybody? You know, I don't know.

Chris (58:01.013)
Yeah, that's true too. You know, yeah, it's gonna be interesting. five, who fits in the top six wing spot? Well, hopefully it's Mercer. The top six is mostly set up, but there's still at least one spot that isn't guaranteed and one of the winger positions. The Devils acquired Tyro Tafoli a year ago and he was dealt with, was advertised, however, he was dealt with the deadline. They replaced him with Thomas Tatar in a one -year deal. However, Tatar will have some competition with Andre Pallott for his winger spot.

Dan (58:11.038)
Yeah.

Chris (58:30.187)
For Tatar, in 2022 -23, he alongside Nico Hescher and Dawson Mercer was one of the most impressive lines in all of hockey as the trio finished with a 64 .5 % expected goals for a percentage at 5 on 5, which was second best in the league that year. Tatar can provide scoring while also being somewhat responsible in the defensive zone, having him under contract for that low of a deal could be a major steal for the team. As for Pallott,

He comes into his third season with question marks. The game may have been slowly passing him by as he has struggled to stay healthy at times as well as not producing on the level that has been expected of him since he arrived. Not to mention the contract itself, three years left at six million, has not looked good at all while he does have the game -winning goal in game seven of the first round series versus the Rangers. That was two years ago and the one only big thing Pilate has done so far in New Jersey. This is the big year for number 18 and he, like so many of the other guys on the team, has a lot to

This is just the beginning of what could very well be a very exciting year for the State Devils team. Training camp is a week away and it won't be long before we see the boys in red and black back again on the ice. Good job Neil, that's a nice article.

Dan (59:33.971)
Yeah, it is a good article. makes me think about a lot and of all the doubles that you think, okay, we might have seen a kind of bust and who's most likely to fade and usefulness, you know, sadly before the deal is even close to ending. I guess I give it to him. Like we talked about guys who need to have a big year. None of us said plot and you know, I feel like on some level, a lot of doubles fans are not expecting it. Let's hope he surprises us.

Bobby (59:34.832)
Yeah, he's a writer.

Chris (59:53.673)
Yeah, I can't

No.

Chris (01:00:02.301)
Well, no, in my defense, I didn't say his name because I completely forgot he was on the team for a little while. Yeah.

Dan (01:00:07.133)
That's what I'm talking about. that's the problem. Neil's right to point that out. And maybe he surprises everybody. He has a great year. Right.

Bobby (01:00:14.246)
We did discuss back in August that this might be the perfect time for Pilat to just be identified as that third line guy, take a little bit more of the pressure off him for any other parts of his game where the expectations are and just play the type of game that he plays. And if he does that, this third line could be incredible and it could be a big part of our success, but he does still have to score. And I mean...

Dan (01:00:39.763)
Yeah, Neil was talking about him in context of the top two lines. I don't know. We're going to see him there. Yeah, I agree.

Bobby (01:00:42.746)
Right, I do not believe he goes there.

Chris (01:00:45.523)
No, I assume that that's Tatar's spot. My assumption on this whole thing with the top six is Mercer will be signed, it'll be done over the weekend, between now and over the weekend, and Thomas Tatar is going to be playing with Nico Hescher. That's what I assume is going to happen. I assume Palat on the third line. And listen, if this top six plays as well as we all think they're going to play, that's going to open so much more for Palat to do exactly what Bobby just said. Just get...

comfortable in that role, produce, you you're going to be asked to do a lot in that role and him and Hala and whoever else is on that line with them. Yeah, like they can have a lot of success. Like that's his role now. Is the contract bad? Yeah, it's a little bad or we get it, but he came here with expectations. This team didn't luckily didn't rest all our laurels on Andre Palat. Andre Palat was bait to get other guys interested in looking over at New Jersey.

Bobby (01:01:23.536)
Drive the plane north, play hard.

Chris (01:01:44.135)
and he had to make a big move, see his team was getting better, but we don't need Pilat to be what Pilat was in Tampa Bay anymore. We need Pilat to be something different. And that's a third liner that it contributes and has, you know, moderate success in the offensive production, but it contributes everywhere else. And as a team leader, that's what we need him for.

Dan (01:02:02.207)
team leader and he seems pretty hard nosed. So he seems like the kind of guy that will accept and even excel in that reduced importance role. So I hope that's the case.

Chris (01:02:08.821)
Right.

Bobby (01:02:10.81)
Yeah, well that's exactly the point and then beyond that. I still would not be surprised like if you ask me could plot be an unsung hero of a playoff run. Yes absolutely can especially now like we said third and fourth lines when you championships is a perfect guy to have a line that could just everybody else's key on the first two lines and then he does what he does which is you know start scoring the playoffs.

Chris (01:02:20.349)
Absolutely.

Dan (01:02:20.479)
Yes, I can see that, absolutely.

Chris (01:02:32.021)
Right. Like I said.

Dan (01:02:32.275)
Yes. They should have less checking forwards to play against, you know, playing on that third line.

Chris (01:02:37.119)
Yeah, and no one's talking about his contract if he does exactly that this year. And hopefully he'll be able to. But yeah, nobody's going to talk about his contract. The contract's a little bit high, but we have some of the best contracts in the league. That's fine. Pilat was an awesome player. And if he wins a cup here, and he's the only dude with I mean, well, we do have other cup winners, but do we? Who has won a cup with this team other than Pilat?

Dan (01:03:04.255)
Uhhh... Holla...

Chris (01:03:07.38)
No?

Bobby (01:03:07.782)
When he lost.

Dan (01:03:08.915)
Yeah.

Chris (01:03:10.985)
Is he seriously the only person on this team? We have to be forgetting somebody.

Dan (01:03:11.401)
Don't lock up on her.

don't have a lot of

Bobby (01:03:16.11)
No, I know, well, McDermott. We got him.

Chris (01:03:19.773)
yeah, was a Colorado. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right. I knew there had to be more, but he's definitely the biggest name one. You know, he's a guy that can really show this team, you know, lead this team down a deep playoff run. He's been there before and all right. Anything else you guys want to do tonight?

Dan (01:03:20.166)
Okay.

Bobby (01:03:25.816)
Yeah.

Dan (01:03:26.249)
Yeah, right. It was the biggest contributor in the playoffs.

Bobby (01:03:36.454)
So we've teased it a couple of times. I really wouldn't mind running quickly through this list of top 20 centers. We do not need to dissect it. I just want to read it off and get a few points because it's getting old. So rounding off, this is from the NHL. Rounding off at number 20 is our boy, Nico Heescher. Okay. He's number 19 is a bandaged. 18 is Robert Thomas from St. Louis blues.

Chris (01:03:41.853)
Okay, good.

Dan (01:03:42.768)
yeah, yeah, that's right, I almost forgot about that.

Chris (01:03:53.706)
Okay.

Bobby (01:04:01.958)
Tim Stutzel from Ottawa at 17, Nick Suzuki from the Canadians at 16, Dylan Larkin from the Red Wings at 15, Hines from Dallas at 14, Connor Bredard gets 13th in the NHL in year two, Sebastian Ajo 12th, the Carolina Hurricanes, JT Miller, Vancouver Canucks 11, Elias Peterson, number 10 from Vancouver.

Chris (01:04:17.099)
Okay.

Hehehehe

Chris (01:04:23.765)
Yeah.

Bobby (01:04:30.884)
Our boy Jack Hughes, number nine, from the devil.

Chris (01:04:35.051)
Okay, breaks to top 10.

Bobby (01:04:36.88)
Brexit stops in. Here's where it gets fun. Jack Eichel, number eight, Vegas Golden Knights. Braden Point, Tampa Bay, seventh. Sidney Crosby at sixth. Alexander Barkov at fifth from Panthers. Leon Dreisaitl, fourth, Oilers, of course. Austin Matthews, three. Nathan McKinnon, two. And of course, Connor Redard, one.

Chris (01:04:54.708)
Okay.

Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm. -hmm. Conor McDavid. No, Conor McDavid. Conor Badaar was 13.

Bobby (01:05:06.37)
My reaction to this, Connor McDavid. My reaction to this initially was, I feel like Jack should be higher. And then I looked at the people in front of him, I'm like, where exactly would I put him? I can maybe argue, honestly, can argue going over Eichel. He really blossomed last year, I get it.

Dan (01:05:09.203)
Wow, the yard's all over the place.

Dan (01:05:24.351)
full maybe? Yeah maybe. That's the best argument you got but I don't even know if we win that argument.

Bobby (01:05:30.798)
I know, and I'm saying is it right? Did they nail it? You disagree. You think?

Chris (01:05:33.683)
No, it's not. I think they nailed it. No, I seriously think they... Yeah.

Dan (01:05:36.863)
Especially considering last year's play and how much he was out, that's what hurt him. If he had the opportunity to play through his full potential last year, I think he is higher. I think he is more skilled than Eichel, but he hasn't proven it and he hasn't shown it in the score sheet.

Chris (01:05:45.362)
Jack Jack

Chris (01:05:50.163)
It but he's a couple years away but that those those lists will be dry saddle hughes matthews mcdavid like that's how good he is you know he'll be there but right now i think they got it right i mean i close gotta cup i mean.

Dan (01:05:57.981)
Yeah, absolutely.

Bobby (01:06:01.67)
That's exactly, I'm fighting to move them and I'm like, just don't know that anything's wrong with this list.

Chris (01:06:07.083)
This, yeah.

No, I think the list is damn good.

Dan (01:06:13.683)
Yeah, maybe you can argue that he sure could maybe bump one or two guys. I can't remember everybody you threw out there, but exactly.

Bobby (01:06:19.226)
Another victim of a bad year and an injured year. He missed a lot of time too. He was supposed to be defensive forward, be up for the award and you know, his plus minus was drastically different than the year before because the team was so shitty.

Chris (01:06:24.277)
But even his -

Dan (01:06:30.845)
Right, and you know they're not going to favor defensive play, you you kind of get it.

Chris (01:06:33.931)
But he's even being recognized. Him in the top 20, that's impressive.

Dan (01:06:38.143)
Honestly, I would not be surprised if the NHL does not put him in the top 20. You know, they favor more offensive play and he's got that, but he's also got a really great two -way game. A lot of those guys they mentioned are not two -way players. They're focusing on their offensive play.

Chris (01:06:42.899)
Yeah!

Bobby (01:06:56.294)
If I had to go on record, would say if we do this at this time next year, that Nico Hescher would move up like three spots and Jack would move up to maybe three spots himself. That's what I'm going on record looking at next year.

Chris (01:07:08.945)
Alright, we'll record it. We'll see. Alright. Alright, we'll see where we're at. And we're gonna wrap it up. getting a little late. Alright, thanks for checking us out and giving us a listen. We appreciate it. We got one week to go and we actually get some real hockey finally. cannot wait and we can stop reminiscing on the past. Look to the future. Which will be a cup -winning season without Luke Hughes, apparently.

Dan (01:07:09.257)
That's all.

Dan (01:07:23.486)
Woohoo!

Dan (01:07:33.001)
Well, at for a while.

Chris (01:07:33.717)
Whoever you're listening to, it's a like, a five star review, a positive comment, download, subscription. We're the Uncle Buckers, see you when we see you.

Dan (01:07:40.393)
What was that?

Bobby (01:07:41.008)
Bye -bye.