Devils Bounce Back NJ -4 Van -1

[00:00:06] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils, and you're listening to the Uncle Puckers New Jersey Devils Podcast. Let's go Devils! I feel kind of naked right now, not having my microphone in front of me. I'm experiencing major technical difficulties right now. So if the audio is wonky, if the video is a little wonky, I apologize. But hello, Tim. How are you?

[00:00:36] Hi, how are you? What's up? Nothing, man. I'm having a good weekend, right? My Vikings are now 5-0. Big win today. Kyler Murray looked really good. And our Devils are off the schneid. They ended the two game losing streak at two and played the kind of game they should have played against Vancouver.

[00:00:57] Yeah, dude. Yeah. You know, it's, you know, we had two... Hang on one second. I haven't even... I've been in my barn all week. Or sorry, all day. I forgot the Ravens were playing tonight. Yeah, without Lamar. Yeah, I know. My fucking fantasy team, man. My two pillars are Lamar Jackson and Saquon Barkley. I'm getting absolutely fucking railroaded right now.

[00:01:25] Yeah, those are two bad losses to have. Real quick. Kyler Murray was my backup. So he did a... He had an okay. An okay. When Tony sent that... Oh, the Huskies response here. Yeah.

[00:01:48] So Huskies writes, just read a story by Hockey Feed saying that Jack is unhappy and uncertain about his future with the Devils. This is also the same feed that came out and said that the Devils in Minnesota are real close to a trade for Quinn. So, I mean, Tim... So Hockey Feed got that from a place called NHL Rumor Report. And if you look at NHL Rumor Reports bio on Twitter, they are... They basically are from Minnesota.

[00:02:17] So it's made up nonsense. It's just fucking stupid shit. So basically, my advice to all of you, and I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said this, don't believe everything you read on the internet. Yeah, it was definitely Lincoln. Yeah, yeah. He said a lot of important stuff, but I think that's kind of should resonate with most people. I think it was right in the second paragraph of the Gettysburg Address. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean... Just skip limited news.

[00:02:44] Look, if Jack is unhappy here, let's just play Devils Advocate and pretend that this is true, right? He has four years left on us. Well, he has four years left on his contract. So who cares if he's not happy here? Shut up and play. And if you're really not, then all you... As a Devil fan, just think about... If Jack actually ever became a Dylan Larkin type problem, just think of the haul you're going to get back for him. But I think we're with Jack for another four years. He seems like he's happy on this team.

[00:03:13] I think it's all bullshit. I think he's unhappy. Like, look at the speech he gave his first home game back after... After the Olympics? After the Olympics. Yeah. Well, you can go back to look at what he said after game one when Amanda Stein asked him about like him and Brat and their connection. He's like, yeah, you know, we do that. Been doing that for years and looking forward to doing it. Sorry, give me one second. Every time I leave the door closed, this dog fucking freaks out like he doesn't know where he is. Don't leave the door closed. Well, I have to. Okay.

[00:03:40] Well, so while Tim takes care of his dog and his door... Took care of the dog and the door. Yeah. So, I mean, he comes out and says, you know, I hope to keep on, continue doing this for years to come. A guy who's unhappy and wants to leave. And if, I mean, what could have changed between game one and game three? So, you know, it's, it's, it's bullshit. Yes. Anyway, moving on. Um, and Connor Brown should be returning this coming week.

[00:04:06] I don't, I'm not sure what game, but it looks like, uh, remember Keith saying, hopefully for one of the next two, the back-to-backs against Ottawa and Detroit. So hopefully we'll see him in the lineup. Yeah. Yeah. So, so, you know, I mean, look, Vancouver is probably bottom five team in the league, but they did what they needed to do. Kind of a thorough thrashing of that team. It's still some shit they need to work out. They are not scoring at five on five again.

[00:04:32] And they gave, you know, they still haven't, um, scored their first goal yet this season, but you know, that kind of worked itself out. You know, the power play was electric and, and, you know, the penalty kill kind of, kind of came up big when, when they needed to. So move on, move on to Monday, they beat a team that they had to beat. Like, you know, I think years past, excuse me, years past kind of the mental midgetry shows up and they don't, they don't pull that one off.

[00:04:59] But this was, that was a, it was a professional win, which felt kind of good. It, it, exactly. It was a, a team that was considerably better and played considerably better pretty much for this whole 60 minutes than Vancouver. And, um, you know, there is a lot of good to take, like, this is what we call a get right game, right? Going into this, you lost two in a row, you're playing an inferior team that on paper you should be, this is a get right game.

[00:05:26] The things that haven't been working for the Devils over the last three games, the power play, uh, you know, that comes alive. Now that you can use that and that's fuel to get into the game against auto, which was, which is going to be considerably tougher. Um, but you know, last year, too many times teams like Vancouver, Chicago, San Jose, well, San Jose a couple of years ago, but teams that were obviously worse than us. And we could not get two points from them. Yeah. We didn't put them away.

[00:05:55] Yeah. And like, honestly, the, the second we scored to tie it up is just, uh, um, the second we tied it up, I was like, all right, that's, you know, this is going to be over. And, and look, you know, all the big boys scored, you know, Nico had three points jacket to Brad had two. And, and I still don't think Jack and Brad really have reached a level yet that, that we need them to be like they're, they're playing pretty well, but like, I think there's still some, some things going on with them.

[00:06:25] And, and, you know, like Manta hasn't done a fucking thing yet and kind of, I don't know, getting a little frustrated with that. And other than that, like our fourth line, like that's a really good fourth line. Like talking about Connor Brown, what happens when he comes back? I'm not really entirely sure. Well, I mean, he's going to end up at the lineup. That's for damn sure. Of course. Yeah. But that, that fourth line right now, I mean, you think about the fact that Mason even started two games for this team with both.

[00:06:55] I was sitting on the bench is just insane. And I understand why they did it. You know, they want to shop them a little bit, knowing full well, he was going to end up on waivers, but. Yeah. And that's, and look, we can talk about Mason really quick. Like that's a, it's a shame, you know, like injuries kind of derailed progress that, that he had made. Like he was great for that, that sort of fourth quarter, the, the first three months of the season, two years ago. And, you know, injuries just derailed him, you know, hopefully ideally he can kind of, he did this once already where he got hurt and went to the season.

[00:07:25] He went to the HL reestablish himself and came back. And it does kind of suck for the devils for the simple fact that, you know, like, or hate Mason, like, or, you know, whatever. Or dislike Mason, it, he brought a style of play that this team doesn't have a lot of guys that play that way.

[00:07:41] Unfortunately for a team that has struggled over the course of the last couple of years for offense, you can't sacrifice that position for, you know, especially when it's a guy like Boquist, who has been playing one of our best forwards since, since he's been in the lineup. And, you know, Brad, Brad could have had two or three last night. Um, I thought, you know, At least in Timo could add three or four.

[00:08:05] It's just like, and been pretty fucking tired of saying shit like that, but I know, but it's, I don't mind saying it when it comes after a dub. Right. You don't want to, you know, Jack could have fucking had three goals last night and we lost fucking five to one, you know, whatever. Um, I like what I saw. I like what I saw. They took care of business. I thought everybody played well. Luke continues to be our best defenseman, super, super impressed with his style of play and how he's been playing first.

[00:08:33] These first four games, very, very assuring to see like, all right, we got our guy. He's, he's playing with a lot of confidence and poise. You know, the one thing that, that's still like, so there are two things that he was really bad at.

[00:08:49] But those puck retrievals and a puck management kind of getting the puck up and out of the zone. Now puck management has a, a forward component to that where the person you're passing to has to be able to accept passes and be in a good position for passes. And if you don't have it kind of had to throw it off the glass, you're kind of the mercy of that being, you know, a bad player or not. So the, the retrievals have been so good. And one thing I've been really impressed with this is defensive stick. You know, he's not like he's an,

[00:09:18] he's never going to be a guy that throws like massive booming checks, but his, his stick work getting back and just breaking up plays and getting in lanes and has been just absolutely elite. And even behind the net when, you know, he may not be physically overpowering someone, his stick is in there doing, doing work.

[00:09:39] So I've, I've been really impressed with Luke and would like to see that continue. You know, I was, I was a little worried that after that turnover at the end of the Utah game that looked, you know, there's a little bit of that.

[00:09:51] That that's a little bit of that puck manager thing. I was just talking about where, like, where are his outlets and passing options and he sees Jack and it's just like, I'm just going to give it to Jack. Like, I think a big thing that our defensemen have been told is get the puck to the forwards, just whatever it all costs. Like your Chisholm talk about that a lot. You've heard Dylan talk about it for Siegenthaler talking about like get the puck to our forwards. I can let them do the work. So I think that was a little bit of that with Luke and he'll learn from that, but it hasn't been awful by, by any means.

[00:10:21] His recovery speed has been so impressive when a guy gets behind him or he's got to close on a gap. I mean, he is there in a blink of an eye. He has played. Yeah. Very, very impressed. And again, the mistakes are going to happen. It's a game of mistakes.

[00:10:36] You know, you can't sit here and say, I want a guy traded because every once in a while he calls the puck up in his defensive zone and it ends up being a scoring opportunity. It sucks, but it's going to happen, especially with guys that play the way Jack and, you know, Luke play where they are very fast and they're very, they're magicians when the puck's on their stick. But when you have your puck on your stick, as much as they do, there's going to be some issues once in a while.

[00:11:00] Yeah. That's when you're playing 25 minutes a night and you have two minutes of puck possession within that, you're, you're going to, you're going to turn the puck over. You're going to pass to the other team. You know, not everybody, you know, when it's, when it's 85% amazing, 10% fine and 5% bad. That's still pretty fucking good.

[00:11:21] Absolutely. So I think I've been pleasantly impressed with them. There are other guys on the defense that I have not been impressed at all. Someone sent me a picture of a traffic cone Halloween costume in target and was like, Oh, they have Brendan Dillon costumes in target. Dylan played a lot better last night than he did against Utah.

[00:11:45] But it's like, but it's, yeah, if we win, it's kind of like it, it's sort of any sort of issues get swept under the rug. He still makes me fucking very nervous every time he's out there. You know, we mentioned before about Brown and coming in this lineup dubs for life says Mercer out Brown with Jack and brat Manta with glass and grits third line and Lombardi Erod Boquist fourth line. But I mean, yeah, it's the odd man out here.

[00:12:11] I, if in a perfect world, if it was just a purely merit based, how are you playing world? I think that's the correct answer. Mercer has been a little better this season. He's shooting the puck a little bit more. He looks a little more confident, but in third line minutes with limited ice time that, you know, his ice time has been cut back. Yeah. You know, it's, it's kind of hard to notice him as much as you didn't notice him last year. If you follow, if you follow what I mean. Yes, I do.

[00:12:38] The other thing would be Anthony Manta. Like, does he need a seat? Like I think, so there are three different things. So based on merit and generally, I think Manta could probably take a seat just to watch and figure, figure that out. Based on merit and slotting, like where it's more appropriate to put Connor Brown. I think it's Mercer based on what I think is going to happen. It's going to be like a three man wing rotation on the fourth line.

[00:13:08] And like one of Lombardi or Boquist will come out. Like if you think about it, like, like Lombardi has been playing in the AHL and I don't think he's played more than 50 games in his career. So keeping him kind of fresh isn't the worst thing in the world. Boquist is a guy that I feel like you can kind of bring in and out, but I'm absolutely not taking him out of the lineup right now. No, I wouldn't take him out of the lineup. And to be honest with you, what you say about Lombardi makes absolute sense and maybe easing him in.

[00:13:32] Maybe you just kind of kick the can down the road and make this a tough decision later and maybe take a better look at Mercer and kind of see how he does. But I think the only, I agree with you as far as like who they are, their position on this team, how long they've been here. Yeah, it's Mercer. But when you're a guy like Sonny who didn't draft him, I don't know how allegiances are going to work there.

[00:13:59] If Sonny even has any say in the lineup, I'm just saying. So I would, I mean, personally, I would prefer to see Manta in there than Mercer. Yeah, probably. Manta's a guy that Sonny brought in. Sonny went out and spent the money and brought him here. So it's a will to be there. And Chimes is talking about Erod and. And being a dick. I haven't, I haven't totally been all that impressed with Erod.

[00:14:24] But what Traveling Devils just said is, is I kind of agree with like, look, the spear, what he did was kind of stupid and dirty, particularly situationally. But he's lucky. Honestly, four minutes. But like, honestly, who fucking cares? Like, fuck you, Rossi, you little pussy. I'm with you. Like, Rossi acted like he was in fucking Fallujah taking sniper fire. Like, get the fuck out of here. Like, Andy was standing at the bench like, like this, like waiting for the, for the, like, you're fine. Like, stop it.

[00:14:53] That's why Erod only got a, got, got a fine. And we don't have another player really that will do that. So that's where, yeah. You know, he's a dickhead. One dickhead. Yeah. I mean, I think Meyer can be a dickhead. I think that Dylan can be a dickhead. But we need more. We need more dickheads. And, and they're got like Gritz. Gritz isn't a dickhead, but he's a pain in the ass. Yes, he is a pain in the ass. Bratz a pain in the ass. I know he's a little bit smaller, but he's a pain in the ass.

[00:15:21] I really liked Lombardi's game last night. It looks like he's kind of figured out the speed of the NHL game. Like he had, you know, that interception and kind of play where he had on Bocas goal. Like that was great. Not everybody in the lineup is going to be, you know, a 90th percentile speed guy. You know, like you need different elements in a lineup, you know? And I think one thing I do like that, that Sonny has done is he looked and, you know, traditionally

[00:15:51] you've been like, oh, we have a fourth line. So we need guys that are fourth liners. And it's like, do you like, why, why can't we have a fourth line that plays like a second line? And it's just like burying the other team's fourth lines in their minutes. You know, like if guys are too slow, like, and can't keep up, you know, it's, it's like that's going to be better for us. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, watching the game yesterday and just seeing the four lines rolling and yes, that

[00:16:18] Rodriguez line, another reason why, you know, maybe Mercer needs to take the seat. That line hasn't been clicking and Mercer, I'm not saying Mercer's played bad, but I'm saying it just hasn't clicked. He's not noticeable. But it's not necessarily a horrible thing. You know, like that line has been winning their minutes for the most part. You know, it's fine. But then do you sit a guy who's never missed a game since he's coming to the league? Like that's kind of fucked up too, right? That's a shitty thing. That's like that Hockey-in type of thing. Yes. He sat Madonna. Yeah.

[00:16:48] And I think Madonna is what, like 14 or 1,499 career games or something like that. I'm pretty sure that it was a, it was some type of record type of start that it would have been. Yeah. So long story short, I was really impressed with the way they bounced back, the way they kind of professionally handled their business. You know, the special teams finally coming alive.

[00:17:16] I think it's a big week coming up. We have back-to-back Monday, Tuesday, and then what we have Thursday. So we have three and four. And then Saturday. And then Saturday. So four and six. So this is a big week. I think this is, I think this is, I don't want to say a make or break week, but an important week in terms of the direction of this team and where they're going to go from here. No, I absolutely agree.

[00:17:44] And we didn't even discuss, you know, Jake Allen played great. That's exactly what we need from Jake Allen. But we also like did a good job, like minimizing chances. Yes. But that's how we have to, that's how we have to win. Yeah. Vancouver only had 2.3 expected goals at all situations. Like keep that number in that two to 2.5 range. And, you know, it's, it's a race, it's a race to three and a half basically is, is, and I think we have the ability and the goal scorers.

[00:18:12] To be able to get to three, three to four goals. Like that's where we're going to kind of probably have to put up every night, particularly if, if Dawes is in that. But I think we'll also see, and I'm very curious to see what they do with the goalie rotation this week because no, now, yeah, now Remy, Remy's in the mix. You know, he's actually fully dressed, practicing, getting, getting involved. So Dawes probably gets Monday, I would think.

[00:18:41] And then Allen Tuesday. And then I don't know where they go from there. And this is kind of what, what Allen was talking about, the three goalie rotation, not knowing the communication and how it works. Well, I mean, they might know. Yeah. Fair. So, I mean, but, but I mean, we have, we have two games that are, I think are very winnable for the devils this coming week. And we have two games that I think we're going to have to play very good hockey to get dubs.

[00:19:06] And the first one that I think is a tough one is tomorrow against Ottawa. I would probably put Allen in and against Detroit on Tuesday, a winnable game. I would maybe let Remy get his first start in Detroit. That's not a bad place to ease him in. Although, I don't know, with, with, yeah, yeah. Look, whatever. You got to put him in at some point.

[00:19:35] I would think you got to give him. And then maybe run Dawes against the Rangers on Thursday and Jake Allen back in that on Saturday against Washington, because those bookending games, Washington, Ottawa, strike that, reverse it, is, those are tough games. Ottawa's going to be tough. They lost Eklund. There have been also like a series of like catastrophic injuries to people. Yeah. I mean, we didn't get into the thing yet. Yeah.

[00:20:01] Well, you know, like Barkov, Marchand, Shesterkin, saw someone on Calgary, maybe Coronado got severely hurt. I haven't really been. I don't know. Who gives a fuck about Calgary? Take with Calgary. But actually, I just wanted to address something that David Chimes just said. I'm actually looking at the money puck, like expected goals chart that kind of goes through the flow of the game. And he's actually right from. Remember that play where the puck hit the ref and bounced out?

[00:20:29] And then we got pinned for like, I don't know, 30, 40 seconds. Yeah. From about the 32 and a half minute mark to about the 35 minute mark, they got almost an entire expected goal out of that. So they got a shitload of chances in that two minutes or so in that chunk. And that's about a third of their, their overall offensive output for Vancouver. So, so it was a good game. And like, and honestly, it doesn't matter who's in goal.

[00:20:56] If you play like that and limit it, limit chances and limit opportunities, you know, it's just you got to play better in front of them. I'm very excited to see Remy. I mean, we have to assume he's getting one start out of the four this week. I don't think, I don't know. It's, it's, I'm reminded of Moneyball, the movie Moneyball where, um, where Billy being the GM, like Brad Pitt builds this roster with a certain intention and the manager keeps doing

[00:21:26] it differently. Like he's bringing the different guy in from the bullpen. He's playing pain yet first base and not Hatterberg. And it's just like, I don't know if there is a disconnect between Sonny and Keith in terms of the goaltending, like, because it kind of sounds like Keith is not so much on board with this three goaltender rotation. Yeah. He's kind of like, uh, I don't know why that guy's here. I fuck him. Like that's kind of the attitude I've gotten.

[00:21:56] I've gotten from him. And I'm excited to see this kid. Like let's, I, Dawes is, I'm willing to give Dawes a handful more starts here, but he's got to turn it around. Like he has to, like if the kid comes in and plays a couple of games through the course of October, early into November, and he's looking good and Dawes still hasn't found his game. I think at some point, cause I don't think you can run the three goalie rotation all year.

[00:22:25] It's just, it, it doesn't make a ton of sense. And then you get into the playoffs and you lose in a roster spot. And yeah, but like, it doesn't make sense from like a, that's what the way it's always been done personally. And it's like, look, goalies are creatures of habit. And, um, if the goalies don't like it, then yeah, I'm on board with, with the two, but if the goalies are like, yeah, we can, we can live with this.

[00:22:53] Just, you know, have a plan and let me know when I'm starting next, basically. Cause nothing ever, cause you know, no good ever happened when the devil started a rookie French Canadian in net. I'm just saying, let's do it. Let's not, let's not put that much pressure on this kid. Let's do it. Put them in there. Something bad happened across the river. It is. It sucks. It does. I don't like seeing players go out for the whole season. Like that's just fucking brutal.

[00:23:22] But you know what we got laughed at every year that our guys get hurt and all this time. I'm not laughing at them. All I'm saying is it sucks to be the Rangers right now. He's their best player. He was, I mean, the only reason I think that people think the Rangers could even do anything this year was because of that goal tending. I mean, does this put them completely behind the eight ball or do they do something fucking crazy and trade for Connor Hollabuck or Jordan Binnington or somebody?

[00:23:51] I mean, if they trade for Hellebuck, that's insane. I, you know, what are they? Because then, then what, you know, then you have two guys, you know, make it $20 million. Like, like you're going to, then, then you have to know a guy with a five-year contract. Five years. And then other teams know you, you're looking to flip Hellebuck and it's just like, then they have no, you know, they, they lose all their negotiating leverage on that. Plus the assets that they have to trade for Hellebuck.

[00:24:21] I just don't see that. I see like, I see more of a Binnington thing than anything from them. Yeah. Cause he only has one year left. Right. Right. Right. So yeah. So it's, it's goalies on expiring contracts, but if like, if Calgary, if they wind up trading like for Devin Cooley in Calgary, I would have been pissed. Cause he's my guy. This guy, the, the kid that they, they have right now, Grant, Grant, Grant, Grant. He is good. He is good.

[00:24:48] He and, he and, he and our guy, Remy are like both the two best goalies in the AHL. Yeah. I'm watching, like just watching this dude play. And I'm just thinking to myself, like the Rangers are like the Packers Rangers with goalies are like the Packers with quarterbacks. It's like the next guy up is just better than the fucking hall of famer dude. They're replacing. And it's like, I'm watching that game. Like, did they do it again? Like, do they have another fucking guy waiting in the wings? Um, Tony, what's up guys? How you doing? We're doing Chris, but doing okay, man.

[00:25:18] How are you doing? Uh, well, I'm doing great. My team only let up 13 points. Not 45. Yeah. Ooh, 45. Tony, Jesus Christ. What happened? I didn't watch it. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm picking them up on fantasy. That's right. We did. Didn't we? Yeah. God damn it. I'm going to kill, man. Only positive was Mendoza came in at the end. That looked good. I saw that. It was just cool to see him out there for the first time. You know, the score was good. Did he do anything? Yeah.

[00:25:44] I think he was a six out of seven possibly, you know, drove him down the field a little bit. It looked good though. It looked like he's comfortable, you know? So he won't be in obviously, but now you already like. Well, how bad was Kirk Cousins? I didn't think it was really him, man. The running game was not good at all. Can you blame the quarterback when you give up 45 points? Can I tell you, the Patriots look good. Patriots look good. It's the same thing. It's like, can you blame the goalie when we lose six nothing? It's the same thing.

[00:26:13] That quarterback looks good for them. You know, for, I got to say, at least he did today. Yeah. Drake May. Yeah. Yeah. May looked good. It sucks, man. Fuck that guy. I'm not a fan. So, I mean, Kirk went, oh, I mean, you can't blame Kirk on this at all. He went 19 to 28 for 243 yards, a touchdown and no picks. Like, those are good numbers. Yeah. Pretty clean. Pretty clean. Fuck football. So who do you play next week, Tone? Bills.

[00:26:44] It only gets easier. I mean. But now the fans are already doing the Mendoza thing. You know this. Like, I was, it was like, there was like four minutes left in the game. And this is for that one dude. I put him on for a second, this Raiders guy. And already all the chat was like, Mendoza, man. I'm like, no, no, it's not what you do, man. I was worried about him going in today. If you lose to next week, you're three and three. There's going to be a contingent of your fan base that has these ideas that we can make the playoffs and we can maybe do some damage, possibly even win the division.

[00:27:13] We've cracked off three in a row to start the year, but we need Mendoza in there. Or you're going to have another part that's going to say, we suck and we're never going to, we're not going to make the playoffs. So why are we starting Kirk? Put Mendoza in there. So I think that he's going to, I wouldn't be shocked at all if after Buffalo Mendoza is your starter. Yeah. I mean, nothing surprises me. We talked about this, that that's a bad idea. Yeah. We agree. It's a bad idea, but.

[00:27:36] Well, I think the only reason it wouldn't happen is if you think of this, like Brady, he never played when his first season, he just stood on the sideline the whole time. I know he's big on that with Mendoza, but I was surprised. I'll be honest. I didn't think he would come in today. I was kind of surprised a little bit, you know, it was raining out. I was like his first time and. So many teams say that that's the plan they're going to do. And then, you know, the fan base and the media all start and they, they sway their opinion. They end up putting the guys in.

[00:28:03] I think the Raiders have the best chance of actually sticking to that and not playing, maybe playing like Mahomes sat out, I think 16 or 15 of the games. The last game of the year, they were already in the playoffs. I think they had already won the West. He came in and played the last game. And that was Alex Smith last year. You know, Hey, let him get some experience. Right. You know, right now it's, that's why I like with cousins, no matter what, because realistically, like it wasn't that big of expectations there anyway this year. But with cousins, it's like the plan kind of work.

[00:28:32] They wanted someone that can keep them in the game and not bring him in and also mentor him. So everything's kind of makes sense. You guys are in a good place. I mean, it's hard to say that after you gave up 45 points. Exactly. It's hard to hear it when you're thinking of it that much. It's like, I'm not going to get too excited about Minnesota, but today was, Tyler looked good today, man. And that defense is fucking amazing. That defense is so good. But we're going to get back to hockey. Tony, what were your thoughts of yesterday's game against Vancouver? Much needed.

[00:29:02] I think that's pretty much, I mean, that was pretty much the thought. I'm not sold or not sold. I just was much needed win. It was nice to see them play like that. It was nice to be in a game where you felt like you just had the game the whole time. So, I mean, that was pretty much it. What do you guys think? These next four. How do you think we do? We have, Tony, we got Ottawa tomorrow, Detroit on Tuesday, the Rangers at home on Wednesday or Thursday, rather. And then we are down in Washington against the Caps on Saturday.

[00:29:32] So, Tim, what do you think? These next four. Three and one. Who are we losing to? Caps. Okay, so we're going to go on a four-game win streak before our next loss. Yes. I like that. Tony? Two and two. Who are we losing to? Tony, get the stick out of your ass. Ottawa and... Actually, I know it's not a stick, by the way. Washington. Okay, so you think we beat Detroit, and those are the two toughest games in the Rangers.

[00:30:02] I'm going to be optimistic. I like what I saw. I think they can follow through on that. I'm going to say three and one. I'm going to agree with you, Tim. I think we drop to the Capitals. But if we do take the next three, go on a four-game win streak, I might change that depending on how we play. But right now, I just think those big boys in Washington are just going to be too much for this team to deal with right now. I think it'll be... Yeah. I'm kind of with that.

[00:30:31] I think it's going to be a bit of a reckoning just to see how we handle a team like that. And they're going to know the best way to contain the Devils. So we'll see how that goes. But that is clearly, I think, the concern with playing the Capitals. I'm curious to see how we play against the Rangers and how the Rangers hold up without Igor. I just saw something that it was an actual knee injury. So I'd imagine ligament of some sort.

[00:31:01] Which is really rough because if this is now... Well, it's got to be severe. So, I mean, ACL, maybe. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, look. Now, you're a fucking goalie and you're coming back from major knee surgery. That's... In your 30s. That's tough. Like, yeah, that's something to be worried about if you're a Ranger fan. You know, we've seen guys just not quite be the same. And goalie is... I mean, is there a...

[00:31:30] A position in sports that puts more wear and tear on your freaking knees other than maybe catcher in the MLB? Probably catcher. That's actually a good point. They even get breaks, though. Like, you're on the ice for 60 fucking minutes. You're a goalie. So, yeah. I mean, I hope he's okay. I like Igor Shostakovich. And he was on... I do like him as a goalie. I fucking... I like him. No, fuck him. Fuck him. War criminal. He's a war criminal. If he wants... He's a what? What? War criminal. He's a war... What?

[00:32:00] What did I miss? Nothing. I'm just making that up. Oh, okay. Because Tony's pointing at you like, yeah, he is. Tony just doesn't like any Russians. It's implied, all right? No, Igor's been pretty Americanized. The... What was I going to say? I wonder how Jack Hughes plays with an Igor in that. Because he terrorizes Igor Shostakovich. I wonder if he's going to be like, eh, it's not as fun. I just...

[00:32:28] I think a lot of it is just the Rangers in general. I just... Hey, look. We went to the game where he had a hat trick against Jonathan Quick. So, I think it's just the Rangers. That's actually a very good point. Okay. Yeah. Sorry. Is that... Which ones are home and which ones are away? I'm like kind of... Okay, I'm pretty sure we're home against Ottawa in Detroit. Home against the Rangers and down in Washington. But I'm going to check right now just to make sure. Home against Senators in Detroit. Home against the Rangers in Washington. That's right.

[00:32:58] Okay. So... And they play a lot of games at home this month. So, this is a good time to start getting their shit together and stacking up points. I'll be right back. Tony. What's going on? We were asked a question and we kind of talked a little bit about it. But I'm going to pose this question to you. With Connor Brown coming back, who do you take out of the lineup? What the frick? Another person? Oh, I know why. Hang on.

[00:33:28] Who did you guys go with? It was tough. Tim kind of said a rotation between Brown and... I mean, Lombardi and Boquist. And one of those guys... Well, no. I said what I think should happen based on merit. What I think will happen. And that would be a rotation between those guys. That's what I think will happen. I'm kind of... I think it's probably...

[00:33:58] Because I don't think they're going to take Mercer out. Even though he might be the guy. I just... And if he had missed one game over the course of his years in the NHL, I don't... I think he might be the guy sat. But I think that means something. And they're not going to sit a guy who's the Ironman on this team and break his streak just to get Connor Brown in there. So I think... I think it's really a terrible look if they pull Manta out. I agree with that. Yeah. And the two guys that... So that kind of means... The two guys that you can...

[00:34:29] I think you're kind of probably hoping, you know, maybe somebody gets a tweak of an knee or something. Maybe he needs to see a couple of weeks. Well, yeah. That's the thing. It's like we can talk about this all we want. But these things have always kind of worked themselves out. This is true. This is very true. But, Tone, how about you? I kind of like Tim's idea. Yeah. I think that's... I kind of see where that's kind of where it can go. So, I should say... Yeah, that kind of makes the most amount of sense. Yeah. Even though both of those dudes have been playing good.

[00:34:59] I mean, Lombardi's got a lot of sort of just happy to be here type of attitude. Like his game has been picking up, which I like. But he's only played 60-something AHL games every season. So, with the longer-term view of, hey, let's space this thing out for this kid. Particularly because it's going to be... We're coming up on four games in six days. You know, like... You know, work Brown in there. And that's the other thing. With four games in six days, you can rotate the three of them.

[00:35:28] You know, you can give E-Rod a breather if he needs one. You know, like you can give Mantha a breather if he needs one. But I do kind of think Mantha needs to sit in the press box and watch Jack and Brat closely to kind of better align with how they play. Because I think that's not working right now. No, and I think that makes the most sense. I would be very surprised if the team did anything different than what you just said. It's got to be some type of rotation between the guys you mentioned. Absolutely.

[00:35:59] Now, did you guys hear that Jack had a maintenance day the other day? Yeah. Okay. Does it worry you that three games in are best player needed a maintenance day? No. Might just be because so early in the season, they want to... He went to the Yankee game the night before. Oh. So, I needed a recovery day. Yeah. There are pictures of him and Luke at the Yankee game. Although, Luke practiced. The day after that Yankees show series, too. Yeah.

[00:36:26] I just don't know what kind of message that sends with some new guys out there. I'm a stickler for that kind of shit. The whole lead by example thing and stuff like that. I just, you know... But maybe it wasn't... Maybe it didn't have... Maybe it just kind of looked... Maybe it was just a planned day off for him. No. I mean, but it's not like he's at home playing video games. You know, he's probably in the room, you know, like lifting or riding a bike. Yeah. Of course. That's what these guys do a lot. Like, they lift before and after games.

[00:36:56] They work out. They ride the bike. It's just so... You know, the coaches never say, you know... He was here all day. He just never took the... He just didn't take the ice. That's all. You know... Yeah. They just never say something like that. I'd say he had a maintenance day. We gave him the maintenance day. And I just think, like, a maintenance day is for a dude, like, who's, you know... A guy who plays really hard. Let's say a guy like Nico Heischer that by game 60-65... You know, this guy's been playing the hardest minutes on this team and he's a little banged up.

[00:37:24] Practice, you know, give him a maintenance day. Let him sit out. Rest up. I just think three games in... I don't know how I feel about that. Or maybe he was feeling a little sore from those... A couple of those early hits, you know. He went to the... Maybe there was some kind of alignment to it. Maybe there was some reason to it. Maybe he was waiting for the cable guy. Who knows? Maybe. Or maybe the reason was he said, I'm not coming into practice tomorrow because I'm going to the Yankee game. Yeah. Or maybe he was like, you know what? Trade me to Minnesota. Who knows? Right.

[00:37:55] Right. Because apparently he leaves here. NHL rumor report out of Minnesota. Florida. There's tons of evidence of jacklifting. It's just these minor players who don't lift heavy weights anymore and get big and bulky. So... They're all about CrossFit. Yeah. They do a lot of band work, a lot of flexibility work. I'm interested in this Ottawa game too tomorrow. I feel like they're... I would say probably the best team we've played so far.

[00:38:25] Right? I think they're better than Ottawa. I mean Utah. We took a stray on the back page of the New York Post, by the way. What time is face-off? What did you say, Tony? What time is face-off tomorrow? Tomorrow, I think, is 6 o'clock. 6 o'clock. It's early. What do you mean, Tim? Something like... Who are the Islanders? Like Utah, maybe? I don't know.

[00:38:51] It's a back page headline that was like, Islanders first test of the season. Or first good team they played this season. I was like, oh. What did you say fuck me for? Well, because they fucking destroyed us and embarrassed us. That's true. It's hard to say we're good. It's hard to even say we're a good team now. Let's put some wins together. I think we are. I think we're a good team. I think we are a good team, too. But we've also thought that our good teams were...

[00:39:20] We've had good teams in the past and it hasn't worked out. So, yeah. Oh, it's 7 tomorrow, 6 on Tuesday. Thank you, Steven. Oh, it's Tuesday the... Yeah, it is. Oh, God. Face-off frenzy. Fuck face. Ah. Fucking sex offender. Wait, what do you say? Hmm? I thought Tuesday was something else. What are you talking about? It's the John Bouchergross host that thing. Oh, okay. He sent a shirtless picture of himself to an ESPN intern.

[00:39:51] That's kind of gross. Yeah. Still has a job somehow. Cool. Fucking loser. I'm kind of flabbergasted. Not flabbergasted is the right word, but I don't understand how certain people on ESPN have jobs. I absolutely fucking despise Stephen A. Smith. Like, I don't know how anybody can listen to that man springing at the top of his lungs about whatever the fuck it is.

[00:40:18] But, like, dude, you don't have to be loud and obnoxious every time you open your mouth. And most of the time, the stuff that comes out of his mouth is just as fucking dumb. I can't. I don't understand the infatuation that this country has with Stephen A. Smith. The worst infatuation is with McAfee. It's like if you look at, like, the ESPN programming grid, it's fucking awful. It's like Stephen A. Smith for, like, two hours and then McAfee for, like, eight. And you're just like, who wants it? Who asked for this? Who asked for this?

[00:40:47] Well, that's, yeah. They have audiences, man. That's why I'm saying it. I just don't understand it. Like, McAfee, I don't mind. Like, McAfee is kind of fun and silly, whatever. I'll listen to his show once in a while. But I don't despise him. Stephen A. Smith, I don't know if I ever heard an intelligent thing come out of his mouth. No, that's because you're racist, Chris. I was waiting for it, Tim. No, it has absolutely nothing to do with his skin color. Where were you on January 6th?

[00:41:16] My kids were watching these old Looney Tune cartoons yesterday, man. And damn, they're fucked up. They're fucked up. They're shit on those, man. Like, I was like, oh, man. I was like, I can see where this one, you know what I'm in. It was real racist shit back then. It's kind of crazy when you just sit back and, like, there was one yesterday with a Bugs Bunny one that was real. You know, I mean, whatever. But I was just like, fuck, man. I was like, that's pretty obvious, like, right there that, you know. You're like, yeah. You're like, you know.

[00:41:44] The landscape of cartoons on Saturday morning. Yeah, you think about some of the characters, like Pepe Le Pew. Like, that's pretty bad. But also, like, Bugs Bunny is way too rapey for nowadays, man. I mean, Bugs Bunny would call people a maroon. Like, go look up the origins of that. What are the origins? Like, you're such a maroon. I know that, but what does it mean? I just thought it meant it. Oh, okay. Yeah, it was like, yeah.

[00:42:09] Pepe Le Pew, like, this dude would disguise himself just so he can get close to another skunk and fuck it. Like, yeah. Is that wrong? That was before the red hats they were wearing back then. Should I not be doing that? Is that wrong? Well, I mean, you could try. Pepe the 10 days. Anyway, moving on. So, Ottawa is, yeah, they're 4-1. They're a good team. Like I said, they would be. They did lose Eklund, though, I believe, for an extended period of time.

[00:42:39] So, I'm curious to see how that goes. Even though the guy that they got rid of, Agent 007 with zero points, zero assists, zero goals, and seven penalty minutes. So, I watched that Wild Panther game yesterday after our game. And, like, everything that we said was, like, an issue going to be an issue for Florida was on full display. Like, they couldn't keep up. Markstrom let the first fucking goal in. First shot. And then they get it.

[00:43:09] Kaprizov scores. So, it's 2-0. Brady scores. I mean, sorry. Matthew scores. And real quick, I don't know if you guys have ever listened to the Florida Panther broadcasters, but this Kachuk Ka-ching fucking tagline. I think Bobby may have even mentioned this before on the show. That's the fucking worst. Like, I would rather listen, be trapped in an elevator with Stephen A. Smith than listen to fucking Kachuk Ka-ching. But.

[00:43:38] I never have, but that's, they got to work on that. They got to come up with something new. Yeah, it's bad. So, Matthew Kachuk scores to make it 2-1. Now Florida, the building's into it. Like, now's the time. And Markstrom pulled a fucking Markstrom. And Kaprizov scored again. And it was, like, it was definitely a stoppable puck. And it just doesn't come up with the big save. They hold on. Kaprizov gets the empty netter for the hat trick. They lose 4-1. Brady was non-existent.

[00:44:08] Other than a hit he laid on Kaprizov. But that was about it. I just. And I'm just fucking with it. He'll be fine, I'm sure. But, yeah. Old, slow, and Markstrom. Yeah. Not great. And losing Barkov. And Markstrom isn't good. Yeah, that kind of might be the nail in the coffin for this team. You know, I know he's coming back. But he's coming back in three months. So, I mean, January he'll be back. Yeah. Not great. No. No.

[00:44:37] And Toronto embarrassed Colorado last night. Like, there's been some kind of surprising results so far. Yeah. And we talked about this. Like, how there's going to be some sloppiness early on in the season. And some weird scores. And weird things happening with teams who we thought were going to be good. And teams who we thought were going to be bad. Like, taking advantage of those teams. You know, like, even what, the second game of the season?

[00:45:05] That 9-7 Oilers Vancouver game? That's crazy. Like, that's nuts. Imagine that Vancouver team we just played scoring seven goals. Like, fuck out of here. Yeah. Yeah. To me, though, the biggest surprise right now is the fact that Philadelphia is this bad. I know we touched on it a little bit on the last show. But I'm... We even said, like, the Rick Tockett thing kind of wears off after the first year. Like, we saw it in Vancouver, too. But I didn't think they'd be this bad.

[00:45:36] Like, they look like they've completely given up on playing fucking hockey. Have you guys watched any Flyer games? No, I haven't seen any of them. I watched one. Just ours or any other ones? But there's something. Hang on. Hang on. Okay, listen to this. I saw this earlier today. It was like, Flyers' first six-game stretch is the worst season start recorded in the analytics era, 2007. And onward, in 5-5 expected goal share and shot share.

[00:46:04] It's all the second-worst six-game stretch of 5-on-5 shot share, 33% since then. And the fifth-worst expected goal is 4% overall, so 30%. So they are basically the worst team ever to start a season since 2007. My prediction of the Panthers not making the playoffs is looking pretty good five or six games in for them. Well, that was the Flyers. Oh, that was the Flyers? Yeah. I thought you said the Panthers.

[00:46:34] I thought you said the Panthers. No, no, it was the Flyers. The Panthers haven't been that bad. Yeah, I was a little surprised, but I trusted you, so okay, I'm going with it. Yeah, no, this is bad. And they played Carolina tonight. And if they don't show up, Carolina's going to fucking score 10 on them. Like, they have been so fucking awful. Yeah, it's tough. They got to get their shit together. But we kind of saw that. Like, they were a bit of a mirage last year.

[00:47:02] And I saw a clip of Steve Dangle. You knew Steve Dangle was right? Yes. Where he was saying, you know, everybody was lauding Breer this summer where, oh, he took big swings. You know, but he missed on all that. And they're still trash. You know, the team playing right now sucks. Yeah, so bad. But, yes, Nico Overtime says, I've heard New Jersey fans say they want torts if Sheldon's out. I just won on the record. I said it after game two.

[00:47:33] Yeah, we've been saying it. We were saying it since last year. Tony's been saying it for three years. Tony's been saying it for three years that this team needs John Tortorella. So, it's nice to hear that some of the fans are on board, too. Well, it's also like, who else is out there? You know, that's either sitting on their couch or like. Bruce Cassidy, I think, is the other one. The other dude, the other main guy that you'd say. Yeah, the only established coach with a track record. You know.

[00:48:03] Unless you like. How exciting it would be to have him. It would be exciting for him. There would be some excitement going on for a while there. Whether it's negative or positive, there would be something going on. You're right. It wouldn't be stagnant. It would be entertainment. Yeah, it wouldn't be stagnant. And I'd like to actually see. Like, Tort's kind of. I hated him when he first came in and stuff. But he's kind of. I think as the older I've gotten, I've kind of liked him a lot more. And I enjoyed him. You know, his last run with Vegas. Like, his interviews and stuff.

[00:48:32] I put him right up there with one of the better talkers in there. For entertainment value. He's one of the best. He's got aura. You know, as the kids say. He also plays with puppies at puppy shelters. But, like, universally. That's awesome. Universally, former players speak so highly of him. And, you know, the one thing that is very consistent about the way people say to him is like, yeah, he's tough. He rode our asses, but he was fair.

[00:49:02] You know, like, Cassidy was just kind of a dickhead. You know, which is. Which is. I don't know. I'm not really into that. And, like, what's his fuck? Babcock plays mind games. So, it's like. There's a distinction between being tough and being a fucking unreasonable weirdo. And being tough and fair. And I think the. And it is a bit of a narrative shift, I think, on Tortorella in general. Like, he was out of this game because people considered him unreasonably fair.

[00:49:31] But now, I think that sort of pendulum is shifting back. And I had a fucking point and it's gone. I was going to say something about. Oh, I was going to say. And the fact that Torts, you know, does win wherever he goes. You know, that's another reason. Like, it's not just like we like him for his personality or to bring fire to this team or whatever. Like, all that, yes. But the guy wins. So. Yeah.

[00:50:00] And, like, the era of the long-term coach. Like, coaches aren't a long-term solution anymore. You know, there is no such thing as a long-term coach in the NHL. Well. I think Sheldon's like the fourth or fifth longest tenured coach at this point. Rod Brindamore, John Cooper are unicorns. I'll give you that. Like, those dudes are unicorns. He's a badass, I think. Yes. But I can see a world where if Tampa doesn't make the playoffs or gets bounced in the first round, I can see a world where Tampa does move off of John Cooper just for a change.

[00:50:29] I don't think I ever see a world where Carolina moves off of Rod Brindamore. I think he will be the head coach of that team as long as he ever wants one. I do think Cooper has a long leash, though, because I know just from living there, you know, for as long as I did, he's such a popular figure that, you know, Tony Dungy was the same way in Tampa. There's certain people that that town really that, like, takes in. And Cooper's one of them. So, I don't think – I don't know if he would – I know he loves being in Tampa.

[00:50:59] I know that organization is big on him. So, I don't know if he would leave. I mean, I guess anybody would leave these days. But I think even a bad season – I'm not saying he would leave, but I'm saying would the team ever decide to move on from him. What do you get fired? I don't think – I mean, I'm not saying they never would. But I believe that a bad season wouldn't lead to that, the way he is with that team, you know? That's just how – I mean, just from that community. I'm not saying bad season. I'm saying when it comes to a team like Tampa and a guy like John Cooper, right?

[00:51:27] Like, it's not about, okay, having a one-off season because the expectations are to win Stanley Cups and compete for Stanley Cups. And when that is your expectation and you've built your roster as such and for four or five years in a row, you get bounced in the first round, there has to be a conversation about making some changes. Because if what you're doing isn't working, you know, you end up like – There's also a championship there too.

[00:51:55] So I think that kind of adds a little bit to that conversation. Yeah, I just don't know if anybody's untouchable. But they're close to it. I do love Cooper though. I tell you what, I mean – I love Cooper. She's a boss. Yeah, yeah. Big Cooper. I think people would – teams would – if he was ever available, I think teams would just fire a pretty decent coach just to hire that dude like before somebody else. The big market team would want Cooper. He's like – That's what St. Louis did with Montgomery. They fired their coach to bring him in. That's right. They did do that. Yeah.

[00:52:24] Yeah, like it's very rare that you see that. Plus he's asking Ted Donato, what do you guys think? I have no opinion of Donato except that he's a Harvard guy and fuck Harvard. Yeah, I'm kind of with you. I don't really know much about Ted Donato. I mean, I trust Sonny. But then again, like we trust him with analytics and building our team and stuff like that. We don't know how he would be picking a head coach. So it would be interesting. No idea.

[00:52:54] And I still stand by like that Keefe should have been let go. Like I just felt like when Sonny came in – and I like Keefe, but when Sonny came in, you have to get rid of the entire stench of the Fitzgerald administration. So I just think you should have let him go, bring your own guy in. And I think it would have set a different tone going into this year. Well, it didn't happen, but that's still where I stand. Yeah, but it's like who is his own guy? You know, that's the thing.

[00:53:24] It's like he was an AGM in Florida. Before that, he was the analytics guy in New Jersey. Well, I'm sure, you know, you have to have ideas. You don't take this job. Yeah, sure. And no idea what he thinks. Like, you know, like watch how Pittsburgh plays offense in the way they score. Like nobody saw, you know, Dan Muse as like a real kind of option, and they're fucking lighting it up.

[00:53:50] So is that something that Sonny, does he have his eye on kind of a younger, up-and-coming coach that has, you know, maybe outside the box, offensive instincts or offensive thoughts about systems and how to play? And like, you know, I think what Dan Muse has done in Pittsburgh is extremely impressive. Or a guy like Carberry in Washington. Like Carberry is fucking awesome. It would be awesome to see who Sonny picks. I would have liked to have seen that this summer.

[00:54:18] I would have liked to have seen Sheldon out and Sonny's guy in there. Yeah, and I think, you know, with a – but if we're firing the coach, like we have a lot bigger problems too. Like we got to – because like there's only like – what is that? Three coaches that this group, that this primary core group has gone through. Like come the fuck on. Like it's got to work with someone. Like if it hasn't worked with any of these three guys, we got problems. Yeah, I know.

[00:54:45] But they said the same things up in Toronto, said the same things in New York, and it didn't work. Like, you know, I just hope that we are not in that case and we don't end up like the fucking Maple Leafs. Yeah, I mean, generally I think the influence that a coach has is very hard to quantify. But I think when you look at Keefe's body of work in New Jersey with, you know,

[00:55:14] the amount of like one-nothings that we've had and the amount of times that we haven't been able to build on a one-nothing lead of our own, it's something to look at. Our record against the Metro, like why isn't this team ever fucking prepared from puck drop to play? To me, I think Sheldon Keefe would be a much better assistant coach. He does a great job with developing guys and getting different things out of guys, you know, getting Jack and Brad to be so good at defense and things like that.

[00:55:42] You saw him do it with Marner or Matthews. I think he'd be a better assistant coach. He needs a Zempick first though. Jesus. So, all right, boys. I might expect an email back, Chris. Yeah, did we get any email back from Pete? No, we did not get any email back. We are putting this on the record, right? We did email Sonny's people. We said we wanted them to come on the show. We said very nicely.

[00:56:11] Unfortunately, Tim, who wrote the email, made a fatal mistake, in my opinion, where he said, well, you can easily find us if you want to give us a listen to. I think that was the nail in the coffin because we probably went and listened and said, no. Well, what do you think? He was just going to be like, yeah, sure, this random podcast. No, it was a joke. Tim of course, he would listen to us, even if he didn't say that. It was the joke. But no, we haven't heard back. But yeah, like one thing within that too,

[00:56:41] and I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who listens to us and watches us. You guys are fucking crazy, but we love you anyway. We've grown a lot over the past year or two. And so, yeah, so just thank you. We have a heat map through our distribution partner that shows us where people are listening from, and we are officially on every single continent except for Antarctica. So if any of you are in Antarctica, what's that? I said which we are working on. Yes. Yeah.

[00:57:07] If any of you go to Antarctica, download the Uncle Puckers and listen to us. It just happens to be a random environmental scientist doing some groundbreaking work who happens to be a fan of a small market NHL team in New Jersey. Maybe give us a listen. That's all. No. Well, since New Jersey produces some of the best talent in the world at everything. Dan, let them know we're looking for him. Where is Dan?

[00:57:33] So I was saying to Tim, Dan was the only one that actually texted me for my birthday. Out of all you motherfuckers, the dude that I haven't talked to in a year is the only one that texted me on my birthday. Yeah. You're still sore about that, huh? Yeah, a little bit. Well, it hurts. Well, in Tony's defense, your birthday was tomorrow when it was today for you, which is then yesterday for you, which is tomorrow for him. Birthday.

[00:58:02] I would have taken that into consideration if I got in my days a day late birthday tweet or text. I would have put that in. Well, I'm not social media friends with you anywhere, so I don't know when your birthday is. That's the only reason I know when people's birthday are. What did you do for your birthday, Chris? Besides not get texts from us. What did I do for my birthday? Oh, we went to my sister's house because my nephew's birthday is the same day, so we do a little double celebration.

[00:58:30] So she made tacos and we had cake. That was it. So it was fun. Not a bad little birthday. No, but it was fun. I feel really bad now. Oh, stop, dude. Chris is the fucking guy. Are you kidding me? We wish you a birthday. I'll see how you feel on January 19th when you wake up and go, Chris didn't call me yesterday. Yes, everyone. Tony's birthday is January 18th. I know. You fucking talk to your therapist about these guys and wish me a birthday. Oh, no.

[00:59:00] That was last month, dude. We talked about that. I'm over it. I know. Are you? You sure about that? Well, we're on to other issues that I'm dealing with. Uh-huh. Because you just brought it up. In my therapy session. Have you moved on yet? Chris is 5-0. You should be happy, Chris. But Dan, my point was that Dan is alive. Is he in Antarctica? He's doing good. We need somebody in Antarctica. So if you guys know anybody in Antarctica, just tell them to listen to one episode. They probably don't even have to listen to the whole thing.

[00:59:29] Even if any of you guys in Australia, Roger, if you're listening, go get on a boat, go down to Australia, download the Uncle Puggers, come back. We would really appreciate that. That would be awesome. We might send you a sticker if you do that kind of shit. That's pretty wild. Tony. Nobody's sending anybody a fucking sticker. Oh, God. Not until Tony gets it. Oh, did I get the sticker? I got the logo. Tony's got the fucking sticker embargo.

[00:59:57] Nobody gets one until he gets one. I was cleaning up this room a little bit, and I found a sticker shoved underneath. Send it to Tony. I know, right? Yeah. What was that? One Dracula. I had so many. I just slapped them on water bottles and shit. Stick on everything. Just go slap them on cars at the rock. I did actually see a car over the summer that had one of our stickers on it. That wasn't owned by one of us. Yeah. Yeah, that was.

[01:00:25] I saw one in your driveway, too. Yeah, right. There's two in there. I had three, but my daughter took it off. So how's your kid's trip, dude? He's leaving today. He's boarding probably in about 20 minutes. Nice. He'll be landing in Barcelona at 9 a.m. their time, 3 a.m. our time. And for the next two-plus weeks, I'm going to be a nervous fucking wreck.

[01:00:51] So I gave him both your phone numbers so he has access to both of those, Tony. Yes. I texted him. I talked to him. No, I thought you were talking about my phone. No, no, no. What the fuck did I do? No, God forbid there's an issue or anything I said, you get to Lithuania or, you know, Tony will find you somewhere. You guys fucking, you just. I can stay. Yeah. So. Don't worry, man. It's like the rock in San Andreas. I just, I just hope everything. Bring up here, drones everywhere.

[01:01:20] Run, dude. He's like getting those alerts on his phone. He's like, what the fuck is this place? Driving to pick them up from the airport. I lose my shit. All right. Let's just hope everybody has a nice, safe, fun trip. And Tony and my son do not meet for the next at least two and a half weeks. That's all. That's it. Yeah, there you go. It's my third episode. I think. It's all I have to watch. It's my third episode. Tell him to stay away from Eastern European women. Yes. No, that's why he's into that. He's into Eastern European women. Yeah.

[01:01:50] I've watched Hostile too many times. So, all right. We're going to wrap it up tomorrow night. Big game. Ottawa in Ottawa. No, it's at home. So that's good. I think this could be a bit of a statement game. They win this game tomorrow. I think it could set them up for a really successful week here moving forward. Like, I hope that yesterday gave them some confidence and they're now the power plays click in. That's the kind of shit you need.

[01:02:19] Just keep it fucking going. Get that ball rolling downhill. All right. Last question before we bounce and I'll give it. Tim already answered it. Tony, who are you starting goal tomorrow and Tuesday against the Red Wings? Because Remy has been practicing with the team. I think tomorrow is going to be Dawes. Okay. I think Allen. Yeah? Yeah. I think Remy gets to start in Detroit. We'll see what happens. But, all right. We're going to wrap this.

[01:02:49] Regardless of what happens, I think like if they're going to give Allen, Allen, like not a start. Don't even dress him. Like, don't even like tell him to just like stay home with his kids or something like that. Like, like even put Remy as the backup. Like, give him a full, complete maintenance day. Yeah. Maintenance day. So, Stephen Angle is breaking our balls. You want to explain to him when he writes 319 subscribers over three years is good stuff. LOL. Just kidding. So, no.

[01:03:18] But we do have a lot more listeners than we do just subscribers because for some reason people- Niagara Falls area. People don't fucking subscribe. People don't fucking subscribe. I don't fucking subscribe. I don't subscribe to shit. Like, I can't blame people for that at all. Like, I'm not- That's why, like when you listen to us, like we say it real quick at the end of the show. Like, we- You watch some of these podcasts. They tell you, make sure you smash the spread. Screaming at it a million fucking times. It's like, we don't really care. We don't care. We don't make out of revenue, so we don't give a fuck. No. But if you want to, great. That's cool.

[01:03:54] Yeah. Well, you can't have a paper trail like that, Chris. Especially that- I just don't want unnecessary fucking text, you know, text message alerts all the time telling me when new shit drops. If I want to fucking find you and watch it, I will. I don't need to fucking tell me when new shit's- Two-foot Tanya is live. Is there a two-foot person named Tanya? Because I want to watch her. I don't know, Chris. You tell me. We're simple. If anybody sees us in public, just give us like gummies or a joint. We're very easy people. That's it.

[01:04:24] We are. We do need to get up. We do need to figure out a way to get out there. Tony, you coming to America anytime soon? Yes. Yes. I'm going to- Hopefully next opening day. I was talking to Chris. The problem is I want to go to Seaside with my family because they've never been there, my kids and stuff. So I'm trying to figure out like when they come there. It's just the problem is if I go in the summer, the season doesn't start until too late. So we're trying to figure that out. Well, I mean, do you want him to experience like all of Seaside like in the summer? Yeah.

[01:04:53] And they've already been the devil's game. I'm in the fucking winter and just we'll hang out in some arcades and look at the Ferris wheels silhouette through the moon. We spent, yeah, that's how we spent our winters, man. I always say me and Chris, we saw blood. So get hurt and the whole change of NFL one night when we were working at the sawmill. That's true. And didn't they do like some type of fucking anniversary tribute for like the game? It was awful. Today, right?

[01:05:23] With the tuck rule game? Yeah. Is that true? Yeah, it's true. Yeah. What did they do? And then, you know, just seeing McDaniel. There's some ceremony in the beginning, you know, and McDaniels just seeing his life. I mean, I couldn't stand him ever. It was just, it was a rough game, dude. He didn't stay. He was your head coach. He sucked, though. He was such a douchebag. He was such a bad coach. That's when the team really started like, I think that was pretty much the end of Carr, you know?

[01:05:50] Who was the interim head coach that came in before him that actually took you guys to the playoffs? Was that who that was? Yeah, yeah. He was good. That year that like the last game of the year you tied or something? Oh, Jack Del Rio was a great coach. No, it was after Del Rio. No, but that was my favorite coach that we've got in the last probably like 10 years was Jack Del Rio. Fucking Giants tied today. Oh, my God. Oh, did they? I didn't see that. Did you watch any of that game? No, I watched the Raider game.

[01:06:18] Dude, some of the worst situational football at the end of that game from Jaden Daniels and the Commanders. Like, it was a fucking joke. I gotta go. Check it out. Yeah, we're gonna bounce anyway, guys. Thank you for hanging out with us again tonight. We will be back maybe after one of these games. We have to figure it out. So we will. We will be back. We will let you all know. Thanks for hanging out with us again. We're the Uncle Puckers, Chris, Tim, Tony. We'll see you when we see you. Yeah.

[01:06:56] By the way, Chris, I told that guy, go fuck off. Thanks.