Carolina In My Mind

[00:00:05] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils and you're listening to The Uncle Puckers NJD Podcast. Let's go Devils! Welcome to The Uncle Pucker NJD Podcast. I'm Chris with Tim and Bobby. We just finished watching the Devils blow a two-goal lead to the Puttsburg Penguins and lose 4-2.

[00:00:33] At least I'm pretty sure that's what the final was. I turned it off after the empty net. Just a message to the Devil players that these last two games, these are the reasons why nobody gives you a chance against Carolina. This is exactly why everybody already has penciled in Washington-Carolina for round two.

[00:00:57] And the way that they're inconsistent play, I can't say I blame them. You know, it looks when they look like they're starting to get going, it's always one step forward, two steps back with this team. And at game 79, that's worrying for me. Bob, what were your takeaways or just what are you looking going into the playoffs here? I mean, just generally not happy right now. I mean, these games are nothing but tune-ups for the playoffs.

[00:01:26] We know who we're playing. It mathematically cannot change. We know what we have to do. You start with a 2-0 lead, bang, bang, pretty quick in the first period against bottom-feeding team. And this is what you come away with. It's just, you know, I wanted to say it's one game because the first two goals, very circumstantial, right? Very weird goals that they happened, okay? But they did. And it's 2-2. And you couldn't do anything with it against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And now you got three games left.

[00:01:56] And, you know, before we would look at the schedule and be like, oh, well, you know, the Boston, Pittsburgh, Islanders, Boston, Red Wings. That could be five wins in a row. And maybe we were more worried about the Rangers just because of the kind of rivalry aspect. And no, no, it's a bit more worried about the shitty teams below us because they just don't seem to want to beat them. And, you know, it sucks. Do you think that this is like a motivation thing? Because, like, they are completely up for the Ranger game, you know?

[00:02:26] Like, when they put their best foot forward, they're a really dominant team. And we've seen it throughout the year, but it's that lack of just consistency. We've said it, you know, since Christmas. But, you know, Tim, your thoughts. I'm sorry, Bobby, go ahead. I was going to say, just to finish, this seemed a little bit more like last year where, you know, the one little thing went wrong and they just stopped again. They stopped. There was no pushback in this. Maybe because it doesn't matter. I don't know.

[00:02:53] So, I just think at this stage of the game, I just would expect just everything everybody's got to really go into the playoffs feeling well. I agree. Yeah. I mean, that's what I was going to say is it really did feel like, you know, just one little oopsie mistake. And they just kind of fell apart. You know, bad penalties, like just multiple bad penalties.

[00:03:18] Like, and I know their first goal wasn't on a power play, but it's right afterwards. And we came out on the front foot. Like, I was like, oh, all right. Like, like these guys are cooking. And then about 10, 15 minutes into the first, it kind of evened out a little bit. And it was, it was a little bit back and forth. But we, you know, we weren't, we didn't really get any like decent chances after. That's what I was just going to say. After the first, you know, we were, we had several in like the first 15 minutes, several good chances.

[00:03:47] We didn't make Jari work for that. No, not, not after, not after the first intermission. They just kind of fell into this, this shell. And it's just, it's frustrating to watch this shit, man. You know, we didn't capitalize on the power play. And then, you know, we can't just rely on that. Like, we can't. We need to. They need to manufacture some sort of five on five offense. And they just, they're just not. And, you know, this kind of, you know, Allen was okay.

[00:04:14] He was spraying rebounds all over the place. You know, he wasn't bad and he fought through it. You know, it's kind of like a pitcher who doesn't have his best stuff and kind of battles through. And maybe, you know, gives up three runs or something like that. But like, it's just two, two bad breaks. And they just mentally fell apart. These mental tiny people. You know, I, the one thing about. Short people. Mental tiny people.

[00:04:43] That is literatory with mental. Can we seriously not say midgets anymore? Like, is that really. I didn't want to. I didn't want to offend you, Chris. I'm taller than you. Hot. Kettles. Exactly. I'm taller than you. Between us and a trench coat, we can get into an R-rated movie. Yeah, exactly. Can I get four tickets for Asses of Fire, please? No. No. Yeah.

[00:05:10] So, the thing that worries me, or it's beginning to worry me, is that Jesper Bratt has now gone into witness protection over the last week or so. And it's like, this is the one thing that was the knock on him about the playoff run two years ago. So, I really, like, this team needs Jesper Bratt, Nico Heischer, and Timo Meyer to lead the way.

[00:05:36] When I thought in the beginning of this game, when Holla and Palat scored so quick, like you guys, I was like, wow, this is going to be a blowout. It's route time. Yeah, exactly. The Meyers and the Heischers and the Mercers and the Brats to get in on the fun. And I thought this was going to be a, you know, 5-1, 6-1 game where everybody has multiple points and we're looking good and feeling good about ourselves. Instead, it was the complete opposite.

[00:06:03] Like, we need Holla and guys like Holla and Palat to score in the playoffs, but we need a whole lot more than just those guys. So, that's the thing that's kind of worrying for me is, like, the Jesper Bratt kind of cooling off a little bit. I don't know. Brad had a goal and assists against the Rangers and has four points in his last five games. I mean, that's cooling off. Yeah, for Brad it is.

[00:06:30] Like, I mean, like, the driving to play and stuff like that. Like, he – well, let me put it this way. He hasn't been super noticeable in just the eye test. Like, Jesper Bratt, when he's at his best, he had a horrible game against Boston, which I'll say – He did. He did. The whole – yeah, he did. But that might be the only bad game that that dude has played all year. He's been phenomenal. And I just get nervous that he's going to turtle come the playoff time.

[00:06:57] I just – because of the past – you know, past his prologue here. And if we go by that rule, then it really – we're done anyway. I really, really need to just stop this narrative that he didn't show up in the playoffs is false. Like, he was driving play. He was controlling chances, controlling shots. I realize you don't give a shit about – and he wasn't putting up points. But we were playing one of the best goalies in the entire league in the first series.

[00:07:25] And the entire team got the doors blown off him in the second series. So, like, I just – I disagree with that narrative that he didn't show up in the playoffs. Like, I just don't think that's true. Because you need to – when you're not putting up numbers and you're not putting up points and goals, you need to look at it. I would have to watch – I would have to watch all seven games of that Rangers series again to, like, get fresh in my mind.

[00:07:50] But going back to where my thought pattern was two years ago when this happened, I didn't see him doing all the things that you say he's doing. Now, maybe I'm wrong. And I can go back and watch him. I'm just saying from myself, I didn't see those things. So, stop. All right. Well, we're in a fight. Fuck you. Bob's got something to say. Well, I think – I mean, it was just a show or two ago I had mentioned that I was so elated with kind of our key guys

[00:08:18] stepping up and doing what they need to do right amongst them. Other than probably his worst game of the year against Boston, I'm not ready to say he's not doing as well right now when you throw this game into the mix too. But my only concern is – listen, I give a pass either way for what happened in that playoff round. You know, we got one side for Chris and one side for Tim. It was one playoff series. Yeah, you're right. I'm not judging the guy on that.

[00:08:47] That is when I first started to notice, though, him controlling the play, coming down the boards, and then like kind of always missing the net or missing the opportunity for the net. But, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say whether or not it was – didn't show up at all. I'm not concerned that he's not showing up this time around. That's what I was going to say. I don't think that's going to be an issue. It's just in my crazy head these are the things that I think about sometimes. And I don't think he's going to – this dude has grown as a player every single year,

[00:09:15] and I expect even next year him to be better. He will in his career be a 100-point guy. At least one season he'll get there. I think what's frustrating is – He's one of the only players I've ever really seen where you can see noticeable, demonstrative growth every single year. It's actually pretty incredible. Yeah. Let's move on past that. Just a testament to – real quick, though, just a testament of his mental fortitude.

[00:09:44] Like this dude eats, sleeps, breathes hockey and how to get better. And I tell you, if everyone on our team lived that lifestyle and that offseason, my goodness, man, we would be able to blow anybody. I'll just button up this segment too. It's just for me, it's not about Bratt. It's that in this game, under these circumstances, the frustration we're feeling is that one of our top key guys

[00:10:13] should have brought this game back into reality, kind of tamed it back in and maybe came up with a big goal or a huge moment. Because to let this game go against a pen was just not acceptable. So whether it's Brad or Heischer or Timo, somebody should have stepped up and did this one. Yeah, and honestly – You've got a two-goal lead, which means you've got a long time to get that third goal and that winning goal. And the opportunities are there. Like Luke had, what, like six, seven shots, missed a couple, hit a post.

[00:10:43] Score a goal. Nico made a nice – Exactly. Jesus Christ. Nico had a nice little spin move fed to somebody. Like Cotter trying to ridiculous stick between the legs. That would have been so nice, man. That would have been so filthy. Cotter cracks me up, man. He's like a plug for like 12 minutes, just absolutely invisible. Looks like he has no fucking idea what's going on and then pulls out one of the most insane highlight reel. Like his highlight tape is outrageous. You'd think he was one of the best players in the fucking league.

[00:11:12] Did you see the record? If you saw his highlight reel. What's his record for what? The record he just got tonight? No. Oh, the most hits. Most hits? Yeah. Ever in the Devils. I thought he did that a while ago. I thought he – They just showed the graphic tonight. Yeah, they said it today. Or something like that. Oh, for some reason I thought he'd beat Coleman's record like a while ago. I guess not. I don't know. But, I mean, that's just like silently awesome. Yeah. This guy has so much to offer. We always said it. Like if he packaged all that together with those hands

[00:11:42] and became a 30-goal scorer. It's unbelievable. I know. I know. And, you know, I really like Daniel Sprong again tonight. I agree. He had so much job that – I texted you guys in the middle of this, but he had one ridiculous rush where he cut through the whole team and then just ate shit behind the goal. Yeah. You know, like it doesn't matter right now. That's why I feel like I can kind of laugh about some of the stuff that happened. Like that was a frustrating game, but like it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter anymore. I know. I share that with you that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

[00:12:12] It matters mentally for them. Right. It matters. This game mattered. I mean, not in the points, not in the standings, but exactly how you go into next week, which I'm really hoping that game one is on Easter, not on Saturday night because I'll be off and I can actually watch it. But I just think that, you know, you've got to feel good going into the playoffs and you've got to get your game right. And, you know, Bobby, I agree with you totally.

[00:12:40] When that second goal was scored, you know, something should have clicked on that bench. They should have taken the game over. And they, they, they, they have the skill. They have the tools to do that. But sometimes I don't know if they get in their own head, their lackadaisical, they, you know, bad penalty. And then they got scored on once. That was such a weird goal. It was just kind of hanging out on the Allen skate. Kind of feel for Luke. I know what he was trying to do. Trying to like your sticks in the way.

[00:13:09] And you're kind of like, fuck my sticks right here. And then you're trying to like lift it over. And then you actually like, was that like a balance thing where he's like, okay, I got to move. Well, like, cause he's, he's got it. He's got it behind the goal line. Like he's positioned correctly, but then the puck starts like shaking free. And he almost tries to like, does it want it to hit a stick? So he moves a stick right directly into the path of it. Cause like he was trying to move his stick out of the way. So he could kind of swap and knock it out. Yeah. But unfortunately hit the puck in the, yeah. And then that, that second goal, like, you know,

[00:13:39] it hit Allen again with a bad rebound. That's a bad rebound. You know, he's got to kick that out somewhere else. But again, that's a team. That's the team coverup right there for Luke. That's, that's what I'm saying. Like he lets that in, you know, it's a total weird fluky thing. He was doing his best just to hold that position for as long as he did. And then sweep it in. Like you get one back for him. But the offense is just anemic again. And one thing, you know, I've, I've, I haven't really brought this up, but one thing that I've,

[00:14:06] I've kind of frustrated me a little bit with how this team is structured and how they play is oftentimes in the neutral zone, their first instinct is to go backwards to the defense and regroup, which then lets the other team set up and it makes it harder to get through the neutral zone. What, what they're not doing is pushing the puck forward there. I don't see it. And, and they waste so much time kind of trying to set up and set up these,

[00:14:32] these structured zone exits and breakouts and neutral zone regroups that, that they're not pushing the puck forward and through, through the neutral zone. And then also they'll, they'll push it back to the defenseman. And then what they'll wind up happening is defense will just pass it to try and throw it to a forward. Who's got a guy on him. It's basically like a quarterback thrown it to a receiver and coverage. Right. Or the opposition is very good at forechecking and you never get it back. Or like there's, I just,

[00:15:00] we just passed to got too many guys that are flat footed. It happened once where Timo was, was bully. Like, like Pesci had the opportunity to hit Timo going in the zone full speed. Timo had to hit the brakes to not go offsides. Pesci kind of slowly gets into the zone, then hits Timo when Timo's flat footed and stuck and it kills him. I see this so many times. It's just, I don't know. I don't know what it is. It's just, this offense is so anemic right now,

[00:15:27] which is strange because when they play for checking game, they're really good at it. You know, when, when they play physical, this team is very good at keeping other teams kind of on tilt. When they played a physical game, they just don't do it enough. And you're right. Everything doesn't, not everything has to be a beautiful highlight reel. We don't have to regroup and do our, you know, plan zone entry. Sometimes just throw it in, go hit some fucking bodies,

[00:15:55] get the puck back and try and produce something, some offense. They don't do that enough. Also in, in zone, you'll see that they do this so much as they, they will rim the puck back and forth and back and forth to the points. And we don't have good enough defense. And now that Casey's there, he's like one of them and Luke are the only guys that can actually corral a puck off the boards and actually do something with it. Every other guy on, on the, on our decor just sends it right back down through the, along the boards.

[00:16:23] And then our forwards aren't there to four track and win a puck battle and get it back. And then there are spacings all fucked up in the, in the four check. So one pass gets through the, through the entire four check. And then they're gone and into a transition. It's just, it's really frustrating to watch, man. Like I'm, I'm holding out hope that they, they pull it together and somehow give Carolina a fight. But I know deep down inside that, that it's going to be a tough, tough slog to even get one win against these guys. When you see a game like this in the game against Boston, that's where, you know,

[00:16:52] the conference days ago, we were like, if they just play this way, they're going to be fine. But then they go ahead and not once, but twice against bottom feeding teams. So, yeah, it's very frustrating, but Hey, how about that hit by Casey? I didn't know that game, right? That was pretty cool. The numbers say that Casey gets caved in as much as an image does, but I, he doesn't make any stupid mistakes. Like he, he doesn't give up on coverages. You know, I don't want to say he gives it the old college tribe, but like,

[00:17:20] he's actually breaking up plays behind the net, you know, when you say his angle caved in, what numbers, like, what are we looking at? Like, like D zone, D zone time shots, just shot chances against, you know, basically because he's definitely not giving up more goals than no, no, no, no, not at all. And there's, there's actually a stat float around out there that, that goalies when Casey's on the ice, have like a nine 85 save percentage. And when our goalies is on the, our goalies. Yeah. Okay. And when,

[00:17:49] when Nemich is on the ice, it's like, it's awful. So like Nemich's mistakes are getting exposed, but that's because his mistakes are bigger, you know, like, like not tracking when that guy, Minnesota tipped the puck in, you know, that was Nemich's guy. You got to stay with him. I don't see Casey making any of these mistakes. He keeps the pucks in the corner and along the boards. You know, he's not giving up any real chances in the high slot. Oh, he did kind of give up one to Malkin today, but yeah, but he could, you know, it was just, you know, pass it up to boards next time. He doesn't make that mistake.

[00:18:19] Yeah, exactly. And he just has so much more offensive juice. And one thing he really does really well is when, when the devil is one of their offensive sets, like there's really not a lot of like, like formations, like basketball or lacrosse and in hockey and the offensive zone. Um, one thing the devils do do. And we talked about it when I did a little film club with Tim the other day is a, they, a four will pop out and they'll do, they'll have three guys high across the top. Um,

[00:18:49] he's so perfect for that. And that's actually how plot scored is, is glass pops out to the, pops out to the top in between the D Casey is so good at that little five to 10 foot pass. The glass just one times right off of, right off of plots. Like, so, um, you got to keep starting, starting this kid overnight, sorry, Simon, but like, you know, we're sending you and pull out to Seattle for Jared McCann. I mean, I love Seamus Casey. I think his vision is phenomenal. He's a great passer. And exactly what you said,

[00:19:18] he doesn't do the stupid play. He's very smart defensively and he's only going to get better. He's got a little Brian Rafalski in him. Yeah. Uh, and I, and I like that a lot. I loved Rafalski, but before we move on to some other stuff, is there anything you guys want to button up here with tonight's game or any other thoughts before we get a little bit into Carolina and we have a new game that we're going to play. So it was nice. It was nice to see the first period effort. Those first 10 minutes were good. The rest of the game was meh. You know,

[00:19:47] I kind of want to just grow from there, you know, like use that. They kept, Bryce kept bringing this up. He was like, well, this will get, this will get used in the film room. It's like, shut the fuck up. They're playing like shit right now. I feel like all they're doing right now is watching Carolina film because they were not ready for pitch. No, no, no. I'm, I'm working on something that we can talk about when we do our playoff review about how we match up against Carolina across a lot of different. Things with a lot of, a lot of different stats. I've done all,

[00:20:17] well, I've done a disgusting amount of work and Excel to parse out some numbers. This coming Thursday will be our playoff preview show. By then we will have everybody, uh, all the, all the seeds, all the matchups and all the numbers. We'll go over them. We'll pick our brackets. And most importantly, first round. Also, we will post this week on our social media sites, our uncle pucker bracket. So that we're doing it's free to anybody hop in, do a bracket.

[00:20:44] And winner is going to get a dinner with Bobby. Um, you have to pay though, but dinner with Bobby, uh, he buys drinks. He likes tequila and he's pretty easy. Once he has a few, um, the NHL. Yeah. You got to go to PA though. Um, now we can do a little housekeeping. This NHL season has been as predictable as a puck rolling on a bench. No one knows where it's going,

[00:21:09] but that just means there's time for your favorite team to figure things out and games left for you to get in on the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NHL. And if you're new to DraftKings, new customers can bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets instantly.

[00:21:53] Just download the DraftKings Sportsbook app. Responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resort, 21 plus age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus customer or new customers only. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, visit DKNG.co slash audio. That's DraftKings Sportsbook with code THPN. The crown is yours. That was a long read. I would like a crown.

[00:22:23] They are annoying. Burger King? Yeah. When you buy dinner for the person. My sister was going, by the way, we're going to go to Burger King and we'll just BYOB because guys, I mean, real quick. Yeah. Burger King burger, right. It is better than McDonald's, right? We all agree on that, right? Can we just, I don't want to be a big infomercial here. I'm just saying like, no, no, I will agree with you, but I have a reason. Why I don't go to Burger King.

[00:22:51] And the reason I don't go to Burger King is we have one Burger King in this town. And it's been here for about 50 or 60 years, maybe more. And never, ever, ever anybody there. And it's like the parking lot's always empty. I don't even know if it's open sometimes. Like I drive by and I'm just like, did that Burger King close? And no, they're open. So I don't go there because I just don't trust the place that I never see cars in front of.

[00:23:19] And McDonald's is literally walking distance from my house. So I, but I do like Burger King better. Yeah. And we're talking like burger to burger, not like the burger to burger, like burger to burger. Yeah. I agree with that. Maybe yours is like a front for a, for a meth. Maybe it's just a money laundering. Yeah. Los Polos. Is it the original one on 37? Yeah. Like two doors down from the McDonald's, the original McDonald's right next door to the old McDonald's.

[00:23:48] You know, but the newer McDonald's is the one that's right by my house. And they just opened a Chipotle, like basically walking distance to my house. I got that. And a Chick-fil-A just opened up. It's crazy. Tom's river does not have a Chick-fil-A. It was a little overrated. I gotta be honest with you. I like them. It's good. You will be hungry when you're done. That sandwich does not satiate you. Like you got to get like five of them. Yeah. They're, they really don't fill you up.

[00:24:16] Wait till you get a Raising Cane's in your neighborhood. That Texas toast. My, my kids have gone to Raising Cane's and like PA and Philly and the city. And they absolutely love it. I went to Chick-fil-A one time because it's a one town up in brick. And it was a whole family. We were just out for the day or whatever. The kids wanted to go to Chick-fil-A and they were just a couple of years ago. And I'm, it's packed inside. Right. So I'm walking to the table. I got, you know,

[00:24:44] four chicken sandwiches, all the drinks and everything. And I stumble and all the sodas fall onto my frigging daughter. Just completely soaked head to toe in soda. She loses her shit. Everybody's staring at it. I'm like, Oh my God. I'm like cleaning it up. And nobody even came out. How old? How old is she? Oh, let's see. She had to probably about 15. Okay. So she was, she was like eight. No. So she runs into the bathroom.

[00:25:14] My wife goes with her. My son just kind of walked outside. Like, I don't know these people and I'm stuck there cleaning this mess up. And like, she came out of the bathroom with like my wife's sweatshirt tied around her. Like we had to go to target so she can go in and buy clothes. So it like not only cost me all the money from Chick-fil-A because we had just basically ate in the car with no drinks because I just took this stuff and left. I had to buy her a whole new frigging outfit. That was my only time in Chick-fil-A. So, yeah. Guys.

[00:25:44] That's a dramatic story. I said, I said before that past is prologue. And I really hope that's not the case because we have faced the Carolina hurricanes six times in the post season. In 2001, the Devils won in six. Marty had two shutouts. We only allowed eight goals to them in six games. I still remember that being tense as hell though. I don't remember that series. At least tense. You know,

[00:26:13] that was a second round series, right? Yeah. Or was that the conference final? No, I think it was second round. I don't remember anything specific about the games. I just remember not feeling good about it. But we won and Marty had two shutouts. So I guess, you know, they did better than I remember. And then, and then in 2002, the Canes won in six. In 2000. And what? Oh, the one they lost. Maybe that's the one I'm thinking of. 2006,

[00:26:44] the Canes won in five. Then they went on to win the cup. 2009. That was the heartbreaker at the rock. Canes in seven. And then 2023, two years ago, Canes in five in the second round. Six times one win. Are we now again? Only recent history kind of matters because those other teams have sure. Nothing to do with the current team.

[00:27:12] Other than the mystique of the fact that we can't beat Carolina. Um, but a fair contingent of both. Our two teams have survived since the last ass whooping they gave us two years ago. And for that, I will be scared. I've always said that. I said it all year that I did not want to play Carolina. I wanted to get into the playoffs and do anything else, but Carolina, I don't like playing Carolina and I hate them. Yeah. I hate them too. I hate their structure. I hate how they play. They just have, you know,

[00:27:42] they have a bunch of nameless faceless people just rotating in and out of their lineup. And they have an elite decor since Freddie Anderson came back. He's been very good. They just don't, they don't have any high end game breaking players, you know, like that's it. Like Aho has like 70 points. Um, even Smetjikov has like 50 points. So does that go into the game plan? Is it harder to like plan against them? Cause you're not cutting down any one particular unit or anything. Chris's point. Like,

[00:28:12] and look, I will shit all over Jesper Bratt. If he has a bad playoffs, because we need, we need Bratt and Nico and Timo to run train on Carolina to have any fucking chance. And we need Jacob Marsham to have a massive series. And this is why I like, I know Alan has been better from a general metrics perspective. When you look at like the kind of season body of work, Marsham ceiling is so much higher.

[00:28:41] He can actually steal games and you cannot leave rebounds hanging around against Carolina. Like we did, like he did all night tonight. You just can't do that. Like marking on his a plus game. Like he gives us a chance, but like, it's pretty bleak beyond that. And therefore a couple in a row too. That's the thing about him when he gets, he gets hot for like a period of time. like Jake Allen, if Jake Allen sees any ice time in the playoffs, we're fucked. We're fucked. I mean, our goalie. Yeah. Right.

[00:29:11] Alan has stolen. Should not see any ice time in the playoff. This is Marky's net. This is why he was brought here. He has a, like you said, Tim, a much higher ceiling. And if you're going to go far in the playoffs, he's got to be on his a game. Uh, and Jake Allen, you know, yeah, it's not going to happen. It's not going to, it's got to be Markstrom. And we will go as far as Markstrom takes us. I think. Yeah. I want to see the team that showed up against the Rangers and the first 10

[00:29:39] minutes of this game and nothing else. Like that's. Now, Tim, you had sent over some stuff that is that all the stuff that you were getting ready for next. I don't want to, I don't want to spoil the fun because I actually have been putting together PowerPoint slides guys. Whoa. I've been doing, well, here I can, I can, I can preview. Hang on. Yeah. I'll preview since. Get everybody coming back. Yeah. Just the tip. For those of you listening, you can only see the chart if you download.

[00:30:09] That's right. You have to download on audio and that's how you could see Tim's chart. Okay. I will put it up. Yes. I think that hang on one second. Cause there's two things here. I think this is it. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. Okay. All right. So this one I'm done with it. I might change some numbers by the time we get there just to update them. But the way I'm looking at is, is how we compare on a couple of different categories. So this is top six forwards. Um,

[00:30:39] you know, total goals, points, goals for game, points for game. Um, the percentage of goals scored when we're, when our top six are on the ice versus their tops or the other, teams that we played plus our expected goals. So across those five categories, you know, they have the advantage in three, we have it in two and we're even in one. So it's pretty much a wash. Um, I thought honestly, like just looking at our best three forwards, like, like Jack or sorry, not Jack. And this,

[00:31:10] like going through these numbers and, and looking at all this stuff without Jack in it is just so depressing. Cause like, if I can include him, we blow them out of the water in this, in this exercise. So like I said, Nico, Nico, Brad and Timo are better than anything that they have to offer. The problem is their depth. So I'm getting into that a little bit more. So I'm also going to have bottom six forwards, same five categories. Um, I was kind of debating on how to do the defense, but I think generally the way it works,

[00:31:40] most teams will have kind of a top four D and then kind of a bottom pair. Um, so I'm looking at the top four defensemen and then the bottom two defensemen, um, goalies. Um, so these are season long ranks. You did this one already. Yeah, I did this one already. And, uh, special teams I did already. So our special teams are better and our power. Well, our penalty kill and their penalty kill are about, they're pretty close. Our power play blows theirs out of the water. Um,

[00:32:10] goalie comparison. This is a, might be a little misleading because this is all, all three of our goalies combined, or actually it's just Marshall and Allen versus Kocheck off and Anderson. And Anderson has been hurt most of the season. So some of their numbers are struggling. His save percentage is actually nine 11. So he's actually pretty good right now. And Markstrom has been, um, at a pretty rough ride. He's probably his last 10 starts except for maybe three of them.

[00:32:40] So coming into this, they may actually have a goaltending advantage overall comparatively on the season. We have the goaltending advantage. So I just got to finish some of these numbers. Just honestly, awesome Tim. Yeah. But looking at, looking at their D like, dude, it is, it is depressing. We need Dougie back in the worst fucking way. It's really, it's really bad. I can actually hang on. Yeah. Let me, and just show you. It's going to look, it's good.

[00:33:09] It's not going to be an easy series. I mean, the devils were to win this thing. It's going to be seven, you know, six, maybe they get lucky. Um, you know, we, they, we have a hard time beating Carolina at home. Um, and we got to start there. And if you start the playoffs this year, the way we started both series in 2013 or 23, rather, um, we're, we're, we're not going to see game five. Yeah. We will get swept in four. What's this, Tim?

[00:33:40] So this is just a spreadsheet that I'm getting all the numbers from. Um, so like the biggest, the biggest issue really where it comes to defense is, is just this bottom, like our bottom three, like anytime you're below 50%, any of these kinds of metrics, it's not good. And their, their top six decor is just outstanding. They, they, they've been very fortunate. They've had, um, you want to get that off? Uh, for fuck's sake. Yeah. I'm like,

[00:34:10] my computer is dying right now. I saw you clicking X. Um, they've had, um, cancel. Sorry. Hang on. I want to, oh no, what'd I just do? You didn't do anything. I got something here. I think I just lost the chart that I was working on. I think I just lost the chart I was working on. I don't have anything. So anyway, um, no, it's all right. I'll find it. Um, so basically what is it? Chatfield, Orlov, uh,

[00:34:40] Gossespierre, Slavin, and, and there's one more I'm forgetting. There's the three pairs that they've had. They basically been together the entire year and haven't been hurt and basically played every single game. Um, I think Ty Smith stuck and snuck in a few, a couple of games and they're, they're getting it. Nishish skin, Nishish, and Nishish, and chicken, chicken, chicken, We take one of their main cogs and, and it still looks like advantage Carolina. That bothers me.

[00:35:10] Carolina is the complete opposite of a box. Chocolate Bobby. You absolutely know what you're going to get. I think they, they are going to spam us with shots and, and try and suppress shots. And that's what they do. What we need to be able to do is, and, and we would be, we would be much better shape. Like, like looking at this exercise, like when I, I don't know, three months ago, when I looked at, at the best decor in, in the league,

[00:35:40] we were the best decor in the league. Carolina's was second. So losing, losing Seags and losing Dougie was just a massive blow to this decor. Obviously like that's, that's not like, but like, you know, the numbers like all prove that out. Oh, but it lose what I was working on. like diving into that, man. That was pretty deep. That's going to be, that's going to be fun. And, you know, we can really sit down and, and, you know, look at the actual proof of who is the better team going in.

[00:36:10] I mean, it's just a, who has advantages in certain spots, I think are important. I think we absolutely have the advantage in goaltending. I expect Marky to play fantastic. Um, and I, I think that that could be the reason if the devil will be the reason if the devil's pulled this series off, but again, like, um, our first pay-per-view. Yes. And, and we need to play this series physical.

[00:36:38] They've got to initiate the physicality and make, make Carolina meet that because I think the devils have the advantage there. I do. I think that we can wear their forward group down a little bit. Um, if we play that way, but we got to do it and we got to do it. Running people over and just showing Carolina kind of like, what the fuck are they bringing right now? Like how we came out when we played the first game against the Panthers in Florida, we had those two games against them.

[00:37:07] That first game where the hurricanes are like, what? I mean, the Panthers were like, what the frick? We had no idea that this team can play like, and they still couldn't regroup for the second game either. Nope. Yeah. There's still that, that two-year-old narrative that we're small, fast, and soft. We're not a small, fast, soft team anymore, but like you said, they need to be able to manufacture that, that energy and that effort. And I think, I think they will in the playoffs. We've seen them rise to the occasion and seen them be able to generate that,

[00:37:37] that energy. Um, just going into the, the hate palace that is Lenovo center or whatever the fuck it's called. Um, you know, hopefully, hopefully nobody threatens to mail any of us, a pipe bomb or something. Oh, screw them. All right. As Newark. So we're okay. Exactly. The rock got a package for some. That's the least of our concerns, right? Yeah. All right. We have a, we have a new game and we're going to try and play this every week.

[00:38:07] It is non hockey based. We can throw like certain hockey things in once in a while if we want, but we're basically going to do a snake draft of the week. So we randomly, uh, picked the order before we came on the air. So it's going, it's going to be Bobby, me randomly. Right. It's always, you fucking guess, I guess who's going last guys, but you also go right after that. But it's also, this is also about your opinion on something. It's not like I'm making away.

[00:38:35] So we're going to do a three round ridiculous choice. Okay. We're going to do a three round snake draft. Um, and then we are going to post the question and our answers up on X and anybody that wants to can vote on who's they think had the best one. And that will decide the order for us moving forward next week. Today's category is best Sylvester Stallone movies. Yes. So this is now Bobby,

[00:39:04] you have the first pick in the Stallone big response draft. It is a huge responsibility. Don't fuck. What are you starting off with for the, your favorite Sylvester Stallone movie? I have got to say, first of all, this started off as just kind of like a little joke. And I found it very hard to do this because I mean, come on, it's sly, right? Yeah. I'm listening to us. Maybe won't get it. They've only seen him as an older actor or whatever. Like us three,

[00:39:32] we were literally like preteen watching this guy beat people's asses at an age where you're growing up thinking you're tough and you want to beat people's asses. So this is slide. This is like, this is like a dad. And I almost wanted to be like, is there any way I can group like franchises? Okay. Rocky franchise, Rambo franchise, the entire Rocky franchise. I know because it's so hard to kind of cherry pick out of those. Well, there's one Rocky movie that's clearly better than the rest. So,

[00:40:00] and I hope you agree with me on this because I am going to start with a Rocky movie and it will be a controversial pick. There's only one to pick your first pick. It ain't fucking Rocky five. There's no goddamn way. It's Rocky five. No. However, Rocky four is the ultimate Rocky movie. I understand one's a great story. I understand two is like the most sought after in the franchise and everybody loves Mr.

[00:40:28] T and the energy that came with three Rocky four is the best Rocky four. And I can't start a Sylvester Stallone movie cap without starting with a Rocky franchise. Therefore it is Rocky four. That's the correct answer. Good job. It is such the wrong answer. I don't even have Rocky four on my list of seven sly movies. I don't even get out of here. You fucking Russian asset. I have no problem with Rocky four. I love that movie. I love the soundtrack. I love everything about that movie.

[00:40:58] Rocky. You know, it's basically two hours of training montage, but it is not the best Rocky movie. Rocky and Rocky two are so clearly above Rocky four on every level. You're going movie. You're going movie. No, yeah. That's the last time you actually watched the original Rocky. About two months ago. All right. Nevermind. So, yeah. Okay. It's like, it's like, it's like an hour and a half of him being like, it's a fucking love story.

[00:41:27] It's a fantastic movie. Tim, Bobby. Ask me the question. When's the last time you saw Rocky? Right. So when I recently went through my midlife crisis and I bought the Rocky Blu-ray set, just so everybody knows I watched number four, then number two, then number three. Then I went to Rocky Balboa. I didn't even watch Rocky. That shit is old and slow. Get out of here. It's like him standing on the porch.

[00:41:55] You guys wouldn't know a good movie. If it came up and slapped you on your fat little asses. You say that Rocky is better. And with my first round pick, I am shocked. It's actually still on the fricking board. I mean, this was the Caleb Williams pick and you picked Rocky. It's the original Rocky. It's number one period. The original Rocky. Great movie.

[00:42:24] Start to finish. Yeah. Boxing kind of take a second. I mean, act to the original Rocky because it's just a story about a struggling aging boxer who falls in love with a, you know, half. I don't want to say the word woman who works in a pet store. And, and it's just a fantastic movie. And then the boxing always culminates into just a great story. I'm going Rocky. Before you, before Tim goes,

[00:42:54] y'all remember like, like Rocky three came out and we were all like, Holy shit. Adrian's hot. Yeah. And you're saying, you're like, you're like, you're like, To use, to use a term from our time. I was like, what a glow up for her. Yeah. It's like, that, that, uh, that movie was like, Oh man. And she just stopped using a ponytail and took her glasses off. Yeah. Sometimes it's very easy. 70s, 70s to the eighties, man. Happened to happen to some people. All right, Timmy, your first round pick. All right.

[00:43:23] This movie. Um, I, I just fucking love this movie. It was classic nineties. Demolition man. Love demolition man. It's on my list. It was on my list too. It was only a few way. All right, Tim. You also get the first round. I mean, his first pick of the second round. This one might be a little off the grid. Um, but I think I just, one of my favorite, favorite movies of all time. He's going to, not of all time. It's, it's an awesome.

[00:43:53] About to snipe my movie. I know. Copland. God damn it. I knew he was sniping it. That's the second time you've sniped my picks. I, that's my, that, ah, all right. Then there's another fantastic movie. It's more of a movie movie than kind of a typical. Sylvester Stallone. Exactly. That's what I like about it. And where he kind of, you know, he plays a little bit of, uh, he's not all there. He's deaf in the one ear. Yeah. He's a leading man. He's kind of like that. Yeah. And where does the movie take place?

[00:44:23] New Jersey. Exactly. The great state of New Jersey. So I got my first pick of the second round and I was going to go with Copland, but, uh, that's a great pick Tim. All right. This is a movie from the early eighties might even be the seventies. Maybe not a lot of people have seen it, but it's a, it's a cop kind of, um,

[00:44:52] thriller and it's nighthawks. And I don't know if anybody has ever seen, you guys have ever seen nighthawks. I don't know. I don't know. Billy Dee Williams and Sylvester Stallone. It is a great movie with an awesome ending. Um, yeah, I'm going nighthawks number two. I'll look it up. I have no opinion on that because I've never seen it, but it's kind of 1981 sliced alone. Billy Dee Williams. That's kind of hard to, uh, that's kind of hard to, to ignore. You know, it's going to be awesome, right?

[00:45:21] Like, yeah. Yeah. I'm just looking at, just looking at the, the, um, the like screen grab or the thumbnail. Yeah. It looks awesome. He's got a goatee and like long hair. He's got the long hair. Yep. It's, it's an awesome movie. So yeah, that's my second round pick Bobby, your first pick of the second round. Okay. So again, we're, we're talking about how this was kind of the enjoyment and kind of part of your life growing up. And in this next franchise that I'm going to pick,

[00:45:49] I will openly admit that the first installment is probably the better movie, but for the one that meant more to me as a young child, it was Rambo first blood part two. I saw this in the movie theater with my mother at like 12, I think I was tops and my older brother at the time, didn't believe it. So he had to question me. And he was like, okay, when Rocky is being tortured and all that, he's like, what does he say back to the,

[00:46:18] you know, the Colonel or, or, or whatever. And I was so excited because I was 12. I was like, he said, fuck you, which he did, but he's like, no, the other thing, what'd he say? Oh, I'm like, oh yeah. He's like Murdoch. I'm coming to get you. I'm like, that's just bad right there. I love it. When I, when I got the Rambo set, that's the first one I watched out of that set too. So you really were going through a midlife crisis. Yeah. Well, it was two separate years. Yeah. old Bobby just sitting on his couch when he's 12, just like started with the J. Wrangler. And then it was Rocky.

[00:46:48] And then it was Rambo. Well, Bob, you get, you get the first pick of the third round. Who do you want? What's your final pick here? This is awful because there's so many great movies. Um, I'm going to deviate from what I wrote down. Uh, I'm going to deviate from what I wrote down from the, cause I already did these two franchises. So I'm going to skip ahead and I'm going to go to die hard on a mountain and go with not. Great movie.

[00:47:18] Love me some cliffhanger. I had, I had Rocky two and first blood, the original in there too, but that seems like a sellout to me. Cause I picked the other two. So I'll go. Incredible. Incredible. One of the best opening scenes in a movie of all time sets you up where you're like, what just happened? Yep. And also set me on a path of never going rock climbing in my fucking life. I love that movie. I saw that in the movie theater. Um, this John Lithgow is the bad guy, right? Yep. Yeah. Now my third round pick,

[00:47:48] you see, like originally it was first blood like that. That was what I was playing. I love that movie. Can't go wrong with it, but you know, I'm looking at some of these movies and I got to go with a horrible movie. This is not a good movie, but I saw it when I was a kid in the movie theater. And I've probably have seen it about 10 times and he's so bad in it, but no, it's not. No. Okay. It's not.

[00:48:16] I did see that in the movie theater. I did see over the top in the movie theater. I am going. Thank God. Tango and cash. Oh, that was my third pick. I got it. I got it. That was good. That's good. I thought you were going to, I thought you were going to different direction on that. Love that. Hey, I just saw this thing. Did you guys know that like Sylvester Stallone hated first blood? Really? They were still, I just saw it today. They were so worried him and some other producer or whatever, that the movie was so bad.

[00:48:45] They tried to buy it back from the studio and they said, no. And then what they wound up doing is they just said, well, basically how do we make it better? And Sylvester Stallone just said, I had so many terrible one-liners in there. Think like Arnold Schwarzenegger at his worst. Think like Arnold Schwarzenegger is Mr. Freeze. Like those kinds of bad lines that they had to take them all out. He's like, the best thing you could do is like cut my dialogue to almost as little as possible to make it a good movie. He was actually very afraid that the movie was going to suck. That's the opposite of the movie.

[00:49:15] It's a fantastic movie. That might be like his best all around movie. You know what I mean? Like that and Rocky maybe, but I just, I, I didn't put it on there because I had just that little personal connection to Tango and cash, like as my, as my childhood, because I loved it when I was a kid. And then when you watch, I definitely, I thought about it and you're like, this is such a terrible movie. It's awesome. Yeah. There's an honorable mention here that we'll probably get to too, but that Tango and cash is one of those movies. Like when I first couple of years in college,

[00:49:45] like in lieu of buying cable, we just kept buying DVDs. Right. I just watched the same shit over and over again. You had DVDs in college? I was cracking, I was cracking through VHS. Actually, I didn't get my first DVD player till first year of graduate school. So VHS before that. There it's my pants. All right. When I was getting my PhD, I used to watch Tango and cash all the time.

[00:50:10] Bobby's snake draft of the week consists of Rocky four Rambo first blood part two and cliffhanger. Yeah. Mine is the original Rocky night Hawks and Tango and cash. Tim demolition, man, cop land. I just, man, deserts, great fucking movies. I think. All right. What do you got for number three, Tim? Being a, being a sports podcast. I'd be remiss not to pick one of Sly Stallone's greatest achievements of all time. All right. Victory. Victory. Oh,

[00:50:39] the soccer movie. Yes. Wow, dude. Good callback. I felt completely forgot he was even in that. I really liked this. Cause you just cemented my win. I don't know if I was. Sly Stallone playing soccer goalie. Like some of the action sequences in that are fucking ridiculous. Keanu Reeves playing hockey goalie. It's got, Keanu Reeves was a hockey goalie, but it's got, it's got Pele in it. Michael Caine, Max von Sydow. Great. Love that movie. If I was, if I was voting on this,

[00:51:09] I think I might just go to with, with whoever picked cop land. Cause that is such a great movie, but I just said that about 10 of these movies. So I don't know what I would pick. Maybe we should have gone like five. I mean, I mean, just, just for sake of it here, you know, like, my God, I can't see my shit. So honorable mentions, right? Obviously we got, yeah, we got the expendables. We got Cobra. Nobody brought that up. Lock up. That's a traditional kind of like, you know, nineties,

[00:51:39] just bust people up kind of daylight. Judge, judge dread. Oh my God. I didn't even see that on the list. I completely forgot about daylight and judge dread. Judge dread. And the old over the top that I thought, I thought it was so perfect. Like judge dread was like so perfect. Yeah. Over the top. How did we like, if, if we started getting to like round five on this, I thought it was like, we're slim pickings after like maybe three, three, I would stop or my mom will shoot. Oh, how that,

[00:52:08] how that didn't win an Oscar is beyond me. I would sit down and watch any one of these nine movies that we just mentioned right now. Like, they're all great. I haven't, I haven't put down the, you know, Rocky Balboa because that's, I haven't on my list. His son about how winning is done. I'm like, dude, it gives me chills every time. It's so stupid. I love it. I really, I have Rocky. I really liked, uh, like Creed and Creed too. That's I did too. Creed was on my list. Rocky Balboa was on my list. Demolition man, cop land, nighthawks, Rocky,

[00:52:38] Rocky two. It was on my list. Zookeeper. Was that on your list? I don't know what that is. I'm apparently, I think he plays an animal voice in that. I don't know if that's animated. Speedwitch. Have you seen, uh, have you watched Tulsa King at all? No, no, I want to. It's a great show. It's a really good show. It's, it's perfect. Like he's like a mafia boss that get basically gets exiled to Tulsa. And he winds up like basically setting up a little like gangster operation in Tulsa centered on like a, like a weed dispensary. It's fucking hilarious.

[00:53:07] And it's just a great show. There's a show on Paramount plus with Pierce Brosnan, um, mob land. I think it's called. Yeah. about the Irish mob. And I, I wanted to start watching that. So that looks really good. I hear so many good things about Tulsa King. Tulsa King's good. I've been watching, um, the pit. Uh, it's like a new kind of medical drama on HBO. Oh yeah. Yeah. Like an ER with Noah Wiley. It's just, it's really good. I, you know, it's Noah Wiley's in it. No Wiley. Yeah, I know. It's exactly like ER. Well, it's,

[00:53:37] but it's just, it's better. It's kind of, it's kind of grittier. Like it, it's like a real ER that's like a fucked up place. I don't know. It's just, and it's kind of more like there's more urgency in it. And I don't know. I just really like it. They, they say stat more. They yell, I need stats of stats. Did you guys, did you guys watch, White Lotus? I've got another show. I really want to start watching. All right. I just finished season three. So when you're done with it, we can discuss.

[00:54:06] I only got one problem. This isn't going to spoil anything. Tim, of all the characters, I did not care to see return for season two. Cause they do not overlap in a traditional way at all. You can watch season two without watching season one. Yeah. There's one character came back. There was a, so annoying in the, in the first, and that is the, whoever played Stifler's mom, the American pie, Jennifer, Jennifer. I can't stand her. Oh, well, I cannot see the first few seasons at least. Yeah. She's, she does not make it through the end of the second month.

[00:54:36] So that's a spoiler. Spoiler alert. I told you I wasn't done with it, but that's cool. Oh shit. I'm sorry. Fuck. I don't care. I'm actually very happy now. This night started off shitty and now I'm happy. I've been addicted with daredevil born again. What an amazing show. I got to get into that. You guys have not seen the original daredevils that were on Netflix. Three seasons. Highly recommend you watch all three. And then you watch the two seasons of the Punisher and then go to Disney plus and watch a daredevil born again.

[00:55:05] Do you guys realize from like a top level view, how much money we could have made in sponsorships in this podcast alone, food franchises, movies, actors, like Netflix. Stallone will be sending the check. THPN's got to up their game. All right. On that note, we are actually going to get the heck out of here and wrap this thing up. And like I said, we're going to post the snake draft up on, on X vote on it. And please send us any ideas you have for other snake drafts that we're going to do.

[00:55:35] And we'll give you a shout out and we'll do it. You can reach us at uncle puckers at gmail.com or on X or blue sky at uncle puckers. If you're listening, a like a five-star review, a download, a positive comment helps a little podcast that could. And if you're watching our pretty little faces, please hit the subscribe and the alert bell. We really do appreciate it for Bobby and Tim. I'm Chris. We're the uncle puckers and we'll see you when we see you. Bye-bye. Fuck off, Ellicott. You're not going to be able to say that after next week.

[00:56:05] Yeah. He already did fuck off. Yeah, he is. It's over, Johnny. It's over. Sorry, Rambo. Well,