Can Devils Win Two In A Row?

[00:00:00] Saturday Night Live last night. What a goal! 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 New Jersey Devils Podcast. Let's go Devils! 7.30 in the morning on a Sunday. Welcome to my world.

[00:00:27] Yes, this is for you, Tony. What time is it by you, Tony? It is 2.30 in the afternoon. Wow, looks like there's suns out. Nice reasonable. He's already done stuff. Yeah, he's been up now for hours. Walked 10,000 steps, I'm good. Did you go to the gym already? We just bought a treadmill. We go to the gym too, but we just bought one of these nice treadmills in here. Very cool. How are you guys doing, man? Good, I ran two miles, scratched my nuts, fed the dogs, got some coffee.

[00:00:57] That was the scratching the nuts and feeding the dogs? Oh, okay. I was like... In real? You fucking ran two miles? No, I haven't run in fucking 10 years. I always use the line from Real Genius when people ask if I run. I say, only one being chased. No, I scratched my nuts, took a shit and came downstairs. Did you guys happen to see Saturday Night Live last night? No. Fucking wonderful. You guys have to see it. I saw a clip of the...

[00:01:25] They did a mock of the Zelensky-Trump meeting. Disgusting. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a prick. I'm not talking about Zelensky. So go ahead. What was Saturday Night Live? It was that. It was exactly what he said. It was perfect. Perfect. They had... You know... I mean, I think we're pretty good about not talking about that shit on the show usually, but God damn, what a mess. By all means, don't let's fucking talk about it. I just think of some names, right? I'll mention some names and tell me who you think of, okay? Benedict Arnold. Lando Calrissian.

[00:01:55] You know, Jafar from Aladdin. Scar from Lion King, you know? The Habanero Hitler. Oh, wait. You know? I don't know if I could put Lando Calrissian in with those guys. I don't know. Were you not pissed on Empire? Well, yes, but he made it right. I mean, he was really... He really only stabbed him in the back if you go by the movie about six and a half minutes. And then he let them all... And then he gave them all, you know, got them to their ship, got them out of there.

[00:02:24] And then ended up helping them blow up a Death Star. What about Cypher from The Matrix? Is that kind of... Cypher was a fucking traitor. Sold out all his people. Cypher was a flat-out traitor. Sold him all out. He was a flat-out traitor. I just can't put Lando in the category. Everybody else, bad guys and traitors, yes. I thought of Star Wars when I watched the other day, and I thought of you guys, because I felt like you had, like, Jabba the Hutt, Salvatious B. Crumb. You know, we have all the characters. You throw in... What was the guy from... What was the son from...

[00:02:54] Austin Powers. Dr. Eval. Scott Eval. You have the whole crew there. I mean, it's... Yeah, it's fucking unbelievable. That was disgusting the other day, man. That was absolutely... Who's Crumb? Is that J.B. Vance? Yeah, it would be Vance, right? I mean, he's tied to the fucking side, too. Augustine. And then he just fucking... Trump just bites his head off and eats him. Yeah, he was going... I heard Vance was going skiing last night over in Vermont, and he was greeted with a shitload of people to tell him to fuck off.

[00:03:24] I just don't see how... I just don't see how... It's becoming so clear that Trump answers to Putin. Like, I... You know, it... I mean, I'm not a big conspiracy theory guy, but like, the conspiracies that he's compromised somehow by Russia, it's really hard not to like, look at everything he's doing and be like, yeah, he's basically aligning himself exactly with Russia.

[00:03:50] Okay, but you said compromise, you know, that Russia... Like, I don't think Russia has anything on Trump. I think... Oh, he definitely... He definitely got peed on by a hooker. Well, yeah. I don't think he gives a shit. I mean, he would turn around and say, yes, like, let him fucking piss on me and, you know, whatever. I don't think... I don't think the man has any shame is my point. Maybe Russia agreed to buy some property at the Rivera. But I think this is... He's doing like a Mr. Roper. But I... Well, that's... That's how he got bailed.

[00:04:20] He got out when he was in bankruptcy in Russia, a bunch of oligarchs and billionaires bought up a lot of his properties and helped finance a lot of his properties in New York in the 80s, right? Well, like I was saying, I don't think Putin has anything on him. I just think he wants to be Putin. He wants America to be Russia. And that's it. He looks at Russia and goes, well, Putin can do whatever he wants. He has an answer to anybody.

[00:04:48] If there's any kind of unrest, civil unrest, he squashes it. Why can't I do that? That's what I should be able to... Because this is America. And in America, we have rights. And our citizens are the ones that are supposed to, you know, control the government. And it's supposed to be for us and by us. And it's... Unfortunately, things are changing. And I'm not happy about it. That's genocide, man. It's disgusting. You know, obviously, you know, I know we got to talk some hockey stuff, but I live in this... I live in a part of the world that's closer to this than anybody else that probably... Yeah, you do, dude.

[00:05:18] You're right next to Ukraine. Yeah. So, you know, we're over here, you know, and I tell you, it's crazy though, because a lot of people are like, oh, are you guys scared? It's actually the opposite. Everyone's really pissed off right now. And I feel like a lot of these European countries are realizing, which I felt like the minute that the presidency changed was, you couldn't count on this guy anyway, at the end of the day, you know? But now everyone realizes we got to stick together over here because... So, when I hear people, the thing is, you can believe whatever you want in life, but

[00:05:48] like when you justify genocide and you say you make it seem okay, what is that bandage? Or bad record? It just makes fucking sense. And it's just, it's disgusting. That's, I mean... I don't understand how people can twist themselves in the knots to try and defend things. Like, I criticize, you know, Biden all the time. I criticize Obama all the time. Like, it's just like... But Ukraine gave up their nuclear arsenal to, in exchange for assurances that, A, Russia

[00:06:17] wouldn't invade them and the U.S. would protect them. And we're now violating that treaty. What is it? Like the Budapest minimum or something like that. So, I get that NATO is expanding eastward. But, you know, maybe don't be a dictator and then that won't be much of a problem. You know, it's just like, you know, don't try to go back to some 1300s like this is our land type of shit. He already took Crimea and Obama didn't do shit about it.

[00:06:44] So, it's like now we're supposed to just give up part of a sovereign nation just because they invaded it and said it's ours now? Like, that's not how this shit works. And that was a setup, man. That was just... I think so too. Come on. I mean, you know. But that SNL scale was pretty funny with Mike Myers as Musk. Mike Myers as Musk with the chainsaw and he's like... He's dancing a lot. Now, could you imagine... Could you imagine when Biden was running... Like I said, I mean, I'll be...

[00:07:13] I wasn't a big Biden guy, but I sure wasn't the other side. But I will say this. Could you imagine if Biden had a sidekick like Musk running around the White House? Could you imagine how those people would have done fucking backflips and had heart attacks? They're still freaking out. I was watching something the other day on fucking Fox because at work they fucking keep that shit on, that propaganda garbage on. But it was like some congressperson going on about how...

[00:07:37] You know, all about going after Hunter Biden and this and that and the unlawful pardons. And laptops. Are you guys seriously... Like, how much money? You've had now control of Congress for, you know, what? Four years now? Yeah, James Comer. The oversight secretary. Right. And yeah, him. And I'm like sitting here and I'm like, for four years, you've spent millions of dollars investigating this dude's fucking laptop and showed us all pictures of his dick.

[00:08:06] More than we need to fucking know. It's a good looking dick, Hunter, by the way. Good job on that. And holy shit. And you're still... Now, this is where our priorities are. This is where our priorities are. We have grocery prices going through the fucking roof. We have home sales hitting an all-time low. People in federal jobs are being laid off by the thousands upon thousands. And what is our government doing? We're going to go after Hunter Biden. Right? Okay. All right. And I'm all for government efficiency.

[00:08:35] Like, we all know, like, it's a very inefficient, like, organization. Yes. But, like, the people there, they're laying off, like, park rangers. You don't... And then the nuclear security people. And then the people that were overseeing, like, Ebola research. All the USAID people are just left out to dry, like, in, you know, foreign countries with no way to get them back. I read about one pregnant woman that's, like, in some war-torn country that's like, fuck, I don't know what to do. I don't know how I'm going to get myself back to America.

[00:09:05] Like, it's fucked up. They should be taking a scalpel to something they're taking a chainsaw to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. But because I have to go to work soon, let's stop the political talk, because we probably pissed off half of our listeners. We did. Hey, listen, we're sorry, guys. You know, if you are supporters of, you know, the right and you think that we're just fucking crazy, you know, all right. There's nothing I can say to you.

[00:09:30] The biggest Trump supporters, I understand there are a lot of people that just like him, but I'm talking about his diehards, his fucking cult members. Like, it is your entire identity. So that's why I don't think many of them listen to us, because they don't follow hockey. They don't follow anything else. All they do is follow him. It's like their, you know, their entire identity is based on that one man. And that's kind of frightening. But anyway, we're going to talk. Curtis Lazar scored a goal yesterday. Number two. Number two this year.

[00:10:00] Number two. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. So I guess he's done for the year, right? He shouldn't. He's on pace to maybe score in the third round of the playoffs if we make it. But, yeah. Curtis Lazar with the big goal. I liked last night's game, man. I liked the way they played start to finish. I really don't have anything to bitch about on this. It was very tidy. You know, they controlled most of the play. They didn't get hemmed in too much. I thought that Dawes was great when he had to be.

[00:10:29] That fucking save he made. I don't even remember who it was on. It was in the third period. It was on Cooley. I think it was on Cooley, yeah. Cooley-O? Yeah. He was a gangster's paradise right there, Tim. Anyway. The second period was probably the worst period for the Devs. But they looked good, you know. Yeah. They kind of did this bend but don't break thing. You know, that was a fast game. Like, Utah's not a fucking joke. Like, that's going to be a really, really good team. I like that team.

[00:10:58] Probably next year they have some really good young players. I saw people saying, like, oh, they're out of the playoffs. Yes, I get it. Like, we have to beat the teams that are in front of us. Like, they're creeping up. They're now, what, 6-3 or something like that over their last time. We got on the board first. And that changes the entire complexity of the game. And they need to start doing that more. It allowed them to kind of settle into their defensive structure. Yeah, Tony was right. I think the second period was a little bit like, hold on to your butts.

[00:11:28] But at no point was I really ever all that concerned about this game. You know, I was like, yeah, but maybe can we get a goal here, guys? But the way Nico Dawes has been playing, like, the kid is, he's been unbelievable coming back. Like, I don't know how we can send this kid down. I mean, he's now, he's made 85 for 88 in the games that he's played. That's a 966 save percentage. What has he done, five games this year, Tim? I think five, yeah. Four or five.

[00:11:57] I forget. Three and O. I just don't know if he's done five. But, yeah, you know, and a lot of things happened that were well overdue. You know, Curtis Lazar scoring. You want to hear a terrifying stat? That was the first center not named Nico or Jack to score since November 30th. That's disgusting. Yeah. But, you know, it was good. You know, Nico the captain got on the board. Timo, it's March. That was great seeing Timo.

[00:12:27] It's Timo March. And Dylan, man, I got to mention Dylan. I mean, I love this guy. I mean, yeah, you know, maybe not the fight wasn't like some big hockey fight highlight. But you know what? What I thought was really cool is if you guys noticed when he was coming off the ice, Luke and Jack were pumped up. Luke was jazzed. I've never seen that kid more excited for something than that. That was really cool. That was a little scary last night. Yeah. Yeah, it was.

[00:12:55] I was watching it on delay. I was in like maybe five minutes or so and left in the second period. And the third period was just starting in real time. And I was texting Tim where I was at the game. And he's like, something bad happens. And I'm like, okay. I'm figuring an injury. And about two minutes after that, I see, you know, Luke leaving. And then he texts me right away like, oh, he's out on the ice for the third. So I was like, okay. I know. I didn't have to fucking freak out about it.

[00:13:23] You didn't have to deal with the misery that the rest of us did. No, I didn't. I was like, that's it. Season's over. We're fucking done. I mean, if Luke's out, like that's really fucking bad. But that's the third time he's done that. Remember, he did that against Philly where he got fucking annihilated last year and then went off after the second. And then would just magically appeared again in the third. And he did the same thing, I think, against Colorado when he got fucking pummeled by Ross Colton. Yes.

[00:13:52] He missed the rest of the second and then came back for the third. I was like, all right, Luke, can we stop being so dramatic here, man? Like the way he came off the ice with his arm dangling. I thought he ripped his pec like right off his bone. I'm like, this is a Dougie thing. Like he's not going to be back until Christmas, you know. This is bad. Yeah, it wasn't. But I do have a question. And Tim, you kind of just raised this and I'm curious what you guys think.

[00:14:16] Is there a world in any chance that Allen gets moved before Friday? There are some teams that are goalie needy. I mean, does the Edmonton Oilers say, you know what, we need a goalie. And does Tom Fitzgerald have the balls to send Jake Allen somewhere and leave Nico Dawson backing up Markstrom?

[00:14:39] That's, of course, if Markstrom's healthy, he's ready to go by before Friday and, you know, stuff like that, which I think he will be starting within the next two games, Markstrom. But is that a world where that could possibly happen? That is a very good question. I'm looking up something on Puckpedia. Give me a second. What do you think, Tony? I'll go, yeah. I don't think they'll move him. I know what you're saying.

[00:15:05] You know, it wouldn't be a bad – it actually wouldn't be a bad – there's a value in them. There wouldn't be bad. And I will say, like, one thing we haven't dealt with this year is the goaltending issues that we've dealt with in the past. Because even though there's been some, you know, issues this year, but I think Allen's been good for us for what we needed from him. Markstrom will be back against Winnipeg, I believe. I don't think he'll be back tonight, but I think it'll be against Winnipeg. They bring him. I just don't – it would make sense, Chris. But for some reason, I don't see them doing that. Now, it matters what other moves they're going to make.

[00:15:35] I mean, because, you know, last night was great. Last night felt good. The problem is what's tonight going to feel like? Because this is a very – That's the key, right? Because we can't put it together. Yeah. We can't put it together. We cannot put it together. You know, and Columbus is – I'm telling you, man. I didn't think – if you go back to when the season started, I had them buried. I mean, you know, and they are – they're making a – they're really believing in themselves right now. If you guys saw the game last night. Yeah. That's cool. That's a cool outdoor game. They did some really good things. Yeah. They didn't have good it at all.

[00:16:04] But I don't know if they're going to move them. It makes sense to do it. I mean, and, you know, I'm starting to wonder some of the – I was thinking about this this week is with the way some of these guys have played this year. We don't have as many trade chips as we had two months ago. And that's why I thought we should have made some moves earlier because I think there is some – like – I think Mercer is – his value is down right now. And I like Mercer. But I think two months ago you could have got a lot more, you know? Yeah. And then last night with Mercer, like suddenly – like he had probably his best game that I've seen him play in like three, four months.

[00:16:34] And it's because he played with Nico. And it's like this guy needs a play driving center. Like Nico, he sure looked amazing last night. He was like – Did he get his 400th point last night? Yeah. Yeah, he did. He did. It's crazy if you think about like – it seems like he's just drafted. I know, right? I was like, God, like it just makes my knees hurt just thinking about how he's aging. So Allen has a three-team no trade clause. So that's not extensive by any means. Imagine being one of those three teams. It's kind of fucked up.

[00:17:04] Yeah. It's probably teams he's been to already. Like I would bet it's like, you know, Montreal, St. Louis, and, you know, I don't know where else he's from. Yeah, and there's something about a time frame where you can't go back to Montreal. But I don't think that would be it. But, you know, the top six I think looked like it was designed to look. You know, with Jack Bratt, Palat.

[00:17:29] But that Nico, Timo, Mercer line looked really good last night. So now I'm like, well, shit. Like, you know, Mercer was our best trade ship. But I think he still is in terms of freeing up money. But with Jonas on long-term IR, we do have his contract on there. And one thing that Fitz did that was pretty smart, actually cap-wise, and I actually looked this up because long-term IR isn't as simple as I think people think it is.

[00:17:55] So the LTIR money you accrue is based on how much you were spending at that moment. So if you were under the cap $2 million, you kind of lose that $2 million, so to speak, because it's only that – because he makes $3.4. So it's only $3.4 over what you were spending. So that's why Fitz called everybody up. And that's why Casey's up and Nemitz is up and Dawes is up because now he's about as close to the cap as possible. So if he does make moves and sends those guys down, he has that extra money to play with.

[00:18:24] So he'll have about $6 million, I think, maybe a little bit under that, to use at the deadline. And then if Mercer is the one that gets moved out, suddenly that's $10. And that's like – that's two really good fucking players that you can bring in. You can bring for that. But now I think with that line together, I think – I don't think it's going to happen. The guy we two need to get rid of.

[00:18:52] And I saw your reaction is, Palat, man. Like, this fucking guy stinks. He really does stink. I mean, I hate to say it because he's, you know, had such a good career before coming to New Jersey. And he was so highly respected and did some great things. But this dude seriously cannot buy a fucking goal. He would have – if a competent person was in his position last night, they would have had two at least.

[00:19:21] I mean, plays just die on his stick. And, you know, it's a bad pass. It's, you know, can't get his stick loose and get to a loose puck in front. Can't, you know, outbattle a guy in front of the net. That was last night. And I understand he does things good. But whatever. I'm just saying, like, you have such a dynamic line with Jack and Brat. And then this fucking dog is on it. And it's like, come on, man. It's just – you know, he's dragging the whole line down. Sorry, go ahead, Tony. No, no.

[00:19:50] I like Palat, but I agree with you. Like – and also, I look back. Remember, I was in Tampa for a bunch of those years watching the games at the stadium. And he had a hell of a team built around him when you had, you know, from Kucharoff to Point to, like, you know, Drew in before. I mean, he had a team. So, I mean, you know, we're a little different maybe. I don't know. Like, I think if it's – if the contract wasn't like it is, I think it would be – we'd have a little more of a window for it. But, yeah, it's – you know, I can see it.

[00:20:19] It's $6 million that would be really coming handy right about now. Well, but, you know, earlier in the year he was doing, you know, these kind of little things to get – you know, he was pacing a guy along the boards to get a puck out of the zone to free Jack and Brad on a two-on-one. He was getting in on the four check first to free up the puck to get it to Jack or Brad behind the net so they could set something up. He's not doing that anymore. Like, I just don't see it anymore.

[00:20:48] Like, the puck's dying on a stick. Like, that one opportunity he had, like, I know I'm just like a fat beer league hero now. But, come on. I can lift the puck, man. Like – Yeah, when he just shot it right into his thigh. Yeah. He's like just jamming it. Like, I wish – you know, if Bobby was here, he'd tell you. Like, that's what probably his kids' games look like. It's just a bunch of little kids just jamming at the puck at the goalie's pads. Yeah. Like, come on, man. You just pull that out a second and just flip it up. Like, it's not hard to do. But, I completely agree.

[00:21:16] And, I mean, another guy I thought had a pretty bad game last night was Stephan Nason. But, I don't – I'm not going to shit all over Stephan Nason because he's – I like Nason. He had a bad game. Okay, big deal. We still won. But, again, because we do have to wrap this thing up kind of earlier today, I do want to ask you guys. Like, none of that matters what happened last night. As good as we are saying that we enjoyed how well they played and all that, none of it matters until tonight.

[00:21:43] If they go into Vegas tonight and get lit up like Vegas did to us at our barn, it's all for naught. Then it doesn't matter. Like, you have to start stringing this shit together. Like, yeah, Mercer looked great with Nico and Timo last night. Is he going to look great tonight? Is Allen going to play well tonight? I put fucking Dawes in, man. I would put Dawes in. I know they're not going to. It's not going to happen. But, I would put Dawes in. He only had, like, what, 22 or 23 shots on goal last night.

[00:22:13] They had some decent pressure and some good chances. So, he was pretty active. But, again, he's 23. Like, you should be able to handle. You know, like, 18-year-old kids go and play, like, three games in a day in tournaments. Like, you should be able to handle this. And these games are – we have 21 games left, I believe it is. It is so important now. You know? I mean, I know people are making moves. Panthers got Seth Jones yesterday. I don't know if you guys saw that. Yeah, they did. They got rid of – what's it, Knight? Yep. Knight and Furnal. I don't get that one.

[00:22:41] Why are you walking away from Spencer Knight? I like Spencer Knight. I thought he was going to be their answer after Bobrovsky left. I just – I don't know about that. It just seems odd that they got rid of him. Yeah, I mean, a couple things that I think is they needed probably to upgrade their decor a little bit. And I think, you know, Seth Jones gets a raft of shit. But, you know, most of that is because he makes so much money and is on a really terrible team. Like, he signed with Chicago thinking that they were going to kind of evolve.

[00:23:10] And then they tore it all down the second he wound up there. Like, they're a really bad team. And he was getting, you know, 25, 28 minutes a night just getting absolutely cooked because everybody else on his team fucking sucks. But he's actually a pretty good player. Like, he's aged a little bit. He's got some lateral movement issues. And usually it was rush chances that really kind of hurt him. But that's because the rest of his team sucks.

[00:23:37] You know, that's how you get kind of burned on rush chances. But I think playing in a lesser role on a really good structured team, I think, is really going to rejuvenate his career. They did the same thing with, what's his name, Oliver Ekman-Marsen in Florida. So I think it would be good for him. And the Blackhawks get their goalie of the future. You know, I liked Knight too. You know, and the Blackhawks retained 25% for five years. So it's $12.5 million, I think.

[00:24:07] Which is a lot to retain. And that's why it was Knight in the first. I don't understand why Florida's given up on their goaltending. But they must have something else in the pipeline. It was a fourth round, wasn't it? I don't think it was a first. It was a first. Oh, was it a first? Oh, okay. It was a first runner in 26. And this is a weird clause where it's like, unless it becomes the 27th. So Florida can basically say, you know what? Fuck you, Chicago. We decided to trade that first to someone else instead of giving it to you. So no more first come first serve if you get the 27th first. So.

[00:24:38] And that's. Sorry, Tim, go ahead. No, no, no, no. And that's kind of it. I guess the one thing is, you know, the Florida goaltending department is run by Luongo, who, you know, they must have some sort of plan in place. But, you know, we were saying that about Marnie for the past couple of years. And it wasn't looking good for us. So. I kind of wonder, you know, you look at that division, what they landed. You got Florida is up by what is a 70, 77, Toronto, 76, Tampa Bay, 74. So they make the move.

[00:25:08] And this is what we go back to New Jersey again with this. So if you look at our division now, you have Columbus moving up. Carolina is kind of fucking up right now. Right. Like, you kind of wonder who's going to flip flop there. This is why the devil. So the Florida just did Florida say to themselves, we're worried about this season right now only. We'll deal with the rest of the shit next season. Let's make the moves we have to make to make our team a better contender, because as we've said for months now, you got to make moves. Right. Yes. Mark. Actually, the market is much tighter than we think even.

[00:25:37] It's not going to be easy to make a lot of moves because everybody needs something. And there's not a lot of people going to be willing to give away a lot right now because you even have, like you said, teams that we didn't expect to even be in it are in it right now. Like, you know, I'm not going to be surprised if Washington pulls something off. I don't know if they have to even, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do a team like Boston. They did a couple of years ago and grant. Well, Boston grabbed like a bunch of dudes and it really screwed them up. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up playing fucking Columbus in the first round. Yeah. Which is scary, actually. Which is, yeah. Yeah.

[00:26:06] I mean, and Columbus, you know, they're going to go out and buy some pieces. They might be a sneaky home for renting. 68 points, man. Only that's crazy. Yeah. No, they're good, you know. And that's what's been kind of frustrating about this run that Devils have had the past couple months is like, thank God, Carolina's, you know, fumble fucking the puck too, because. Because we're still in striking distance of second. You know, that was one of my predictions over the past couple episodes is that we're actually going to pass them. Might be a little wild, but. Well. But.

[00:26:35] But now. It's right there. It's right there. We're tied with them. You know, they have one game in hand. But, you know, Tony's exactly right. It's, you know, there's. Vancouver, Calgary, St. Louis and Utah. Those are four teams fighting for the last wild card spot in the West. Anaheim's a little, a little down. So that's one, two, that's five teams in the West that should be selling. And in the East, you know, there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven teams within five points of the last wild card spot.

[00:27:04] You know, and that team that's at the bottom of that, the Islanders, like, you know, Lou's going to be like, we have a chance. And he's probably not going to sell. Sorokin had a goal last night, right? He did. That was a fun. That was a fun. Yeah. That was a fun game.

[00:27:51] Who else? Five players right in that one. Oh, Jimmy Vesey. Yeah. We're in a Vesey. Yeah. I like Vesey, but. I do too. I always like Vesey. Is this just, we were dumping expiring contracts and we just want to, you know, give ourselves more flexibility in the off season when we really put our chips in the middle and try and get this thing righted? Or is this them trying to make a run this year?

[00:28:19] I don't know if I understand this trade a whole lot. Does somebody want to explain it to me? Yeah. I mean, I think it's both. Like, I think it's, I think it's them like kind of saying, you know, waving a little bit of a white flag, like prepping for next year, but also saying like, hey, we're still actually in this a little bit. Like we can still stay competitive. Lindgren was like one of the most malign players in New York, man. Like that guy, that guy's sacrificed his body and soul for that team for the past couple of years.

[00:28:46] But, you know, it's kind of trash in, trash out, expiring contracts, teeing up something. And they have a ton of cap space too. I, you know, there are no position to go all in this, this year. I just don't see it. What do you think of that move tone? I'm sorry, Tim. No, no, no. That's I kind of rambled a little bit. And Jax is like all up in my business. Yeah. I think it was just to move around some people. Some kind. I think that's pretty much kind of agree with Tim on that. It's just, it was weird.

[00:29:16] You know, it's like listening to some Ranger fans and they were just going bananas. Like we fleeced them. Like we just completely fleeced the abs and we got them. And I don't know how much this moves the needle on that. I mean, and all right. The abs got a, like you said, the thing that I've noticed about like the, the Rangers and Chris Drury this year, he got rid of a lot of like those heart and soul type of pieces. You know, like you said, Lingren.

[00:29:45] I remember those couple of playoff runs that they made it to the conference final. Like this dude was a fucking warrior out there. That's a guy you want on your team. Yes. And, you know, that's the kind of dude you want to follow in the battle. And he's gone. And Trouba's gone. And even Veezy, who plays that kind of, you know, hard nose, pain in the ass game. You know, he's gone. I like Jimmy Veezy too. I mean, he would have been a guy that I, if he wasn't on the Rangers, maybe you can get him back from Colorado now.

[00:30:13] And at least that, you know, what I, I mean, I think that helps our fourth line better than anybody we have on our fourth line right now. I'll take Jimmy Veezy over him. But I don't know. I just, you know, listening to Ranger fans going on like this was, you know, the greatest trade ever. And I'm just, I couldn't figure it out. I'm like, this seems like more of just a contract dump and, you know, getting rid of some aging contracts. That's it. They hated, they all hated Lingren so much.

[00:30:38] Like they just, you know, they, you know, they're like, yeah, we appreciate what he did, but he was a shell of himself type of reaction. So. Yeah. Well, we've all been there. If you're the guy on your team, like look at Severson, right. You know, I mean, if you have a guy, sometimes when you watch a guy every night, the hatred comes in deep on some guys, you know, and like other people don't get it or understand it. But when you see them every day, you know, it, it can happen. Yeah. Columbus, Columbus fans are finding out real quick about our buddy.

[00:31:06] But shit, when we had, I will say with Severson, that last run we had, I mean, that last, you know, whatever it was, man, he actually was decent for us. The last season we had him was probably one of his better seasons with New Jersey. Yeah. You put him in the third pair, shelters minutes against worst competition and he can keep it together. He played great in the playoffs. I mean, he was one of our better defenders against the Rangers. I thought he did. He had a really good, nice playoff, but you know, he got his eight year deal. He got paid. So good for him.

[00:31:35] And now he's on a fucking team that, you know, not for nothing. Columbus has just as much of a shot in the East as anybody else. And I think anybody, if they take the blue jackets lately are going to do it at their own peril because that is a real team. They're fast. They have great goaltending. They have good defense. They're starting to get healthier now. That's a dangerous team right there. I'd rather play at this point. I think I'd rather play the canes than the jackets. Maybe. Maybe. I think that's a huge thing.

[00:32:04] You know, it's like we were just saying like 20 minutes ago. I'm just I don't want like I'm excited after last night. Hey, yeah, yeah. It's just man. I just there's been nothing strung together this year to make me feel like I have to remember that tomorrow morning I could be waking up pissed off, especially with this team this year. So, yeah, I think you look at their last like 15 to 20 games. I think it's literally win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, loss. Last five, the last 10, five wins, five wins. Yeah. Nice. Lovely.

[00:32:34] I was taking notes from my recap. I'm very excited to write my recap today because somebody's phone going off. Yeah. Do you guys hear that? Might be my flashlight. Wait one second. It's ready. Batteries charged. It's ready to go. Is that what it was? Your flashlight? It was my phone on vibrate. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm very excited for my. Oh, God. Look at my frozen picture.

[00:33:04] Insert dick here. Speaking of fleshlights. I get to use a quote from point break for my recap title, which is very happy about. And I know you got to go, Chris. You guys mentioned Gene Hackman. Oh, no, we didn't. Go ahead. Young Frankenstein. I mean, well, come on. Like the French connection. Royal Tannenbaum. I mean, come on, man. You know, it's that's a bummer. Good story is getting crazier and crazier as time goes on.

[00:33:32] Well, what are you saying now? I've been working. I haven't. He was dead for two weeks. His dog did it. He was dead for two weeks. And then his wife was also dead for a while. But like she was surrounded by pills in her bed and the dog was in the closet. Also dead. They ruled out carbon monoxide. It's suspicious. Yeah. No, I did not see how the dog died. And I just starved to death in the closet. Maybe she like locked the dog in the closet. Oh, my God. What a fun episode.

[00:34:03] The dog out. Let the dog out at least. Jesus Christ. I know. There's something fun I was going to say. Devil's wise. About Gene Hackman. Forgot the quick and the dead. David Johansson. Yeah. Unforgiven. Utah. Get me two. Oh, Utah. Get me two. Lex Luthor. Okay. Chris. That's right. He did play Lex Luthor. Yeah. Was it? Dead shorty. Poseidon Adventure. Was it Hunt for Red October? No, that was Sean Conner. Submarine.

[00:34:33] No, sorry. He did the other submarine movie. All guys look the same now. He did the other. He did the other. He did the other submarine movie with Denzel. Denzel was. Was that the canine widow maker? No. Denzel was in a sub movie? Yeah. Where they're talking about like, they're talking about horse horses and horse colors.

[00:34:58] It's like Gene Hackman plays a marginally racist guy and doesn't like Denzel. So I think that Gene Hackman strikes me as a guy who was marginally racist in real life. Like he just kind of seems like that crotchety old somewhat racist. All right. So we're going to have to wrap this up. I know it's a little bit of a shorter show today, but. Crimson Tide. Crimson Tide. Crimson Tide. That was a sub movie. It's a great movie. Have you never seen it? I never saw it. No. I never saw it. David Johansson died too from the New York Dolls.

[00:35:28] Did he really? Yeah. Yeah. Brain tumor and cancer finally got a man, but 75 years old. Oh, I guess he's not feeling too hot, hot, hot anymore. No, no, no. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Chris, I started Zero Day last night. Oh, Zero Day. How is it? It's, it looks good so far. It's, you know, speaking of politics, it's pretty funny because I don't know if you know anything about it, but like De Niro plays the ex-president. Oh, he's the ex-president. He's the ex-president. And then something happens.

[00:35:57] And then he goes to see the current president. And it's so clearly. Did you kick that out of the White House? Like this is like, and people are going to lose their fucking minds about the show because it's so clearly a Biden-Kamala analogy. Anal. Anal. Anal what? You think Biden and Kamala have an anal? That's crazy. Breaking news. Run the bar on the bottom, Chris. You didn't.

[00:36:22] But no, but he's an old white-haired guy and she's a young black woman and she's the president. It's pretty funny. And she goes to him for advice. So it's like, oh, come on. Except making this shit so transparent. Like this is the propaganda, quote unquote, that people get so mad about. Is this on you porn, Tim? Or was this on a? It's on a place called xnxx.com. Wow. You think Tim watches like those porn parodies? Like Kamala and Joe? And oh, what could have been?

[00:36:52] And Tim's just there. They have a Bob's burger. I get really. I'm more of a Simpsons. Really do. Simpsons anime porn kind of guy. Oh, God. I can't ever. Every time I even see like a little clip, I just roll off. You're not ruining the fucking Simpsons for me. You know Marge has a bush too. There's no. And Homer's got a fucking. Oh, with that hair? Homer's got a thick veiny hog. You are a fucking thick veiny hog. All right. How many listeners are left? Tonight. Tonight, Vegas. I think we're going to lose.

[00:37:21] I mean, I just. I'm sorry. I just. The way things have been going. This is our MO right now. And until some changes are made and some new blood is infused into this lineup, I just see them going out today and getting completely rolled by Vegas. I hope I'm wrong. But I'm going to go, you know, four to empty netter third period. Vegas wins. And they kind of make it look a little easy. So that's what I'm going. What do you guys think? I think it's going to go wonderful. I think that.

[00:37:53] Yeah. I mean, Chris, I hate to say it, you know, I mean, that's the first thing I thought this morning, too. When I saw it, I was like, man, Vegas. I was like, you know, just. Yeah. I'm going to. You know what? I'm going to be. I'm kind of agree with Chris, but I'm going to try to be optimistic. And I want to say four or three devils. Okay. Please. Please. We need it. We need every game is so damn important. That was a. That was a score. I was actually going to pick. I think they're going to get fucking dummy. Alan's going to have a great game.

[00:38:22] They're still going to win four or three, but it's not going to look pretty. There's some. They're somehow going to figure it out. Timo's going to score again. And we're going to laugh about it. Paul is going to score. We're all going to laugh about it. But. But. You know. You know. And. I'm so hopelessly optimistic and delusional about this team. I think. You know. Just something seemed to click last night about turning the corner. But. I said that also about Nashville. So. So.

[00:38:51] Riding with my boys. We're going to win four or three. I'm going to sit on my couch. And be positive. Until there's one minute left. And they're getting killed. And be like. They could still do it. They could still do it. You are very. Blindly optimistic when it comes to this team. But we're going to wrap this thing up. Because I have to head off to work. This will be posted up soon. So. So. Thank you guys so much for checking us out. If you're watching on the YouTube channel. Please. A like. A subscription. Click on the little bell. So you can get some notifications. You guys know the routine.

[00:39:19] Every other person that has a YouTube channel tells you the same exact thing. And if you're listening to us on audio. Like. A five star review. A positive comment. It really does help the little podcast that could. If anybody is interested in grabbing one of these awesome Uncle Pucker stickers. All you have to do is go to the Uncle Puckers dot com. Click on contact info. Put yours in. And we will get it in the mail for you. ASAP. Free of charge. For Tony and Tim. I'm Chris. We're the Uncle Puckers. We'll see you when we see you. Peace. We hope. Fuck you. Fuck you. Valakad.

[00:39:55] It's over Johnny. It's over. It's over.