A recap of the Avalanche game. Discussing Devils Depth.
Tim Wood (00:04)
Okay.
Dan (00:15)
Thank
Chris (00:24)
So what's up everybody, how you guys doing today?
Tim Wood (00:28)
been better.
Chris (00:29)
Dan, I think you're muted, buddy.
Dan (00:32)
Yeah, doing well. How about you?
Chris (00:35)
I'm good. I was like yesterday was weird for me, right? I had this amazing epic win for my Vikings to take us to 11 and 2 they just looked So friggin good, and then I taped the devil game. I'm all excited. I get home from work I sit down and I watched the game after the first two goals at a Colorado scored I basically I watched the game on double speed just looking up at the scoreboard and
Dan (00:42)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Chris (01:03)
It just never got any better for New Jersey. This is now their fifth time that they have been shut out. like every, like, I think the only loss out of the last six losses was that we scored on was the loss against Washington recently, right? And then five, five of the last six times we've lost, we've been shut out. I've never seen in my life anything like this. Like this is, it's actually crazy. And I'm so curious to hear what you guys
Dan (01:19)
Yeah, 6-5 loss.
Chris (01:32)
think of this Dan we'll start with you like what are your impressions of like what this is weird right
Dan (01:39)
Yeah, I mean, I kind of see them. I don't know. They they're they struggle when they get down by two goals. And that seems like it's you feel it coming on like it's not going to. Which is weird because they have shown capacity to come back at times. But yeah, it's almost like throwing in a towel. I don't know else to explain it. They don't get the scoring they need when they need it.
It annoys the hell out of you because they scored a ton of goals and they come in games where largely the ones that they're winning, you know, but they don't spread them out when they need to. And yeah, it's a problem.
Chris (02:19)
Yeah, I mean, Tim, you wrote a really good recap. And if you're interested, can find it on Tim's social media. can also find it at theunclepuckers.com, where you basically, you you had a lot to say about not just certain players, but the lack of depth on this team. You want to kind of dive into that a little bit?
Tim Wood (02:38)
Yeah, sure. And I feel like there's a lot of interconnected parts. mean, you give up an early goal and then you're playing from behind and then you give up that second one. And that allows teams against us to kind of fall into a trap, 1-2-2 or 1-3-1, and just really just clog up the neutral zone. And our game is still largely predicated on transition and the rush game. We still haven't really...
latched on to being able to figure out how to score from ozone pressure. they're getting it, it's just behind the goal line. And they're not really converting that work that they're doing behind the goal line into opportunities in front of the net. Teams kind of collapse inside. We're not getting any scoring from anyone other than our top five guys. We're not getting any real scoring from our defense. It's just been frustrating to watch.
Dan (03:28)
you
Tim Wood (03:34)
Even though we've given up what I think the first goal in nine of the last 10 games or something like that, they actually still like have a pretty good record over those games. Like they did come back a lot, but and they're still eighth in goals per game with getting shut out 16 % of the time. It's just, it's truly, it's truly baffling.
Chris (03:39)
Yeah, something like that.
The losses I expect, know, you're playing the Colorado's non slouch team. get that they're very good team you you know, a Very good chance that you know, but is he shut out? It's the fact that like once we like Dan said get behind to or something There's just nothing out the beginning of that game. I mean that was bullshit on Timo Meyer's goal I would have even maybe looked a little closer at that high sticking one that on Brad now to me and again
Dan (04:23)
you
Chris (04:25)
double speed it did not look clearly like this thing was above the crossbar now was it was it like legitimate okay alright so we could throw that one out
Tim Wood (04:32)
Yeah, it was. is like, he's like way over his head. Yeah. But the, the Timo won this, that fucking rule where it's like the ref was like, yeah, you know what? Like I kind of thought I should have blown the whistle, but I didn't. But like, I'm just going to go back and say that I thought I was going to. And it was a motherfucker Chris Rooney again, who someone should have pelted him with chicken tenders.
Chris (04:40)
huh.
They're too expensive to be wasted on Rooney. You know, ahead, I'm, ahead.
Tim Wood (04:56)
No, no, no, I'm kind of done with that thought before I start going on more of a tirade.
Chris (05:03)
It's just, it's like, it's just weird to me. It's weird that when we lose, we don't score at all. It's weird to me that these ex-devils just come back and haunt us. They absolutely kill us every time. It's Blackwood, it's Wedgwood. If it was Mileswood, he'd be in there too. It's any wood. you know...
Dan (05:03)
Thanks.
you
Tim Wood (05:21)
Did you say he got black wood got traded to Colorado? Yeah, so now their goal is their black wood and wedge wood. So he's fucking 1617 Albany River rats.
Chris (05:26)
Did he really?
Dan (05:31)
Yeah.
Chris (05:36)
I think that's a really good move for the Avalanche.
Tim Wood (05:38)
It absolutely is, especially if they to fucking play us.
Chris (05:42)
I mean, well, yeah, good thing we only play them one more time. But yeah, Blackwood over there, I think that's legit. You have a legit tandem right there. I think that helps Colorado a lot.
Tim Wood (05:54)
Yeah, I Colorado with, you look at kind of their overall metrics and goals against their defense and stuff like that. And it was terrible. And that was largely because Georgia should be like fucking hanging drywall somewhere and not playing goal in the NHL. And they also had a ton of injuries. You know, they then they're just starting to get guys back. They just got Nicky, Nicky, Nicky, whatever is my apologies. Whatever his name is. Yeah.
Chris (06:06)
bright.
Nushnukan. No, God, now you got me saying it. Bal Nushnukan. my God, why can't I say it now? What'd you say?
Tim Wood (06:23)
They started, I can't say it's a basic season type. So they just started getting these guys back and that was the Colorado team that people thought was going to be a threat this year. Not really the team that started earlier in the season.
Dan (06:24)
God bless you.
God bless you.
Chris (06:42)
Yeah, I mean their numbers aren't particularly outstanding. You know, they have a 552 winning percentage that's good for 17th in the league. They have a team save percentage of 866. That's dead last. That's dead last. And they shut us out.
Tim Wood (06:58)
Yeah, that's Georgia.
Dan (06:58)
Yeah, you know, weird about this team though. It's like there's been a at least a handful of games where they they've gone down two goals. But that's our you know, that's OK. They can come back from that if they've already scored, but they go down to nothing like one thing I'm not worried about. They you know, it's a game, but for some reason to nothing like it. I haven't gone over the complete stats, but that's I think where the problem is. I don't feel like it's a mental problem. I mean, I.
totally agree with Tim's analysis. They need more fore-checking, deep in the zone type goals. They are too dependent on the rush, too dependent on power play prowess. And that's how it bites them in the ass is once you get those two goals against you, I think they don't feel like they have the tools to score on the grinding hard work.
Which is kind of a bummer because I do feel like they added a lot of pieces in the off season that should have given them this game. So I don't know if there's something that can be done strategy wise with the players you already have to develop more of that fortune. I like Nason around the net. I love what he does. I feel like we need more of that and more of people doing what he's doing. And that would make a big difference.
Chris (08:19)
Yet, I think that our top six are playing really good and now we are mixing up our top line now. Now we have Nason moving to the third line, I believe, right? And Mercer, and Mercer up to the first. I don't know if that's gonna work. I mean, I love Nason up there with those guys and maybe Mercer gives them a little extra.
Tim Wood (08:32)
Yeah, yeah, they flip up nascent and move Mercer out.
Chris (08:45)
happened or step or something but the the depth of that what we thought was going to be an extremely deep team has turned out to be extremely shallow in a lot of ways and Tim you had it what are the projected numbers of some of these guys on this on the devils right now
Tim Wood (08:59)
Yeah, like like Nico, Nathan, Brad, Jack, Timo all projected above 25 goals. Nico's around 40. He'll probably I don't know if he's going to hit that, but Nathan Brad Hughes will be comfortably in the 30s if they keep it up. Timo, I'd like to see him up above 30, but beyond that, like the next guy is Cotter who hasn't scored and whoever, whoever knows, you know, Mercer had one goal.
Dan (09:24)
Yeah, great start to the season, maybe even quiet. Yeah.
Tim Wood (09:25)
Yeah, you know, like I listed out my recap, you know, over last 15 games, Mercer had three goals, Cotters had one, I think Holla has one, even Tatar has one. I know Tatar got buried on the fourth line for a little bit. He's been a pretty good trooper about things, but he's just not the Tatar from two years ago. know, Pilat is just, you know, I tried, man, I tried with like the, he does the little things stuff, but you know, that second goal was his fault.
like just a lazy fucking dump out and a bad change and we got pinned right back in the zone again. I think I like the line changes that he did, kind of get Dawson going on that second line, maybe bring some scoring from Nason down to that third line to get Cotter going, maybe hopefully that balances stuff out. And it's not like the Lindy fucking 1967 Osterizer, he's not just like throwing a bunch of shit into a blender and hoping it works.
measured small moves and the decor still intact too, which I like.
Chris (10:26)
Like we need Mercer to get going. I mean, seriously, it's enough already. You had a down year last year. Now it's time to actually start going. Pilat, like I said on the last show, I got some hate for it. I understand that. I do not like him for whatever reason. He has not fit on this team. I think it just strictly comes down to the fact that the man is older. He's played a lot of hockey in his life and he just doesn't have that step anymore.
Tim Wood (10:28)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (10:55)
for some reason he cannot fit in with this team and he never has since he's been here and i'm i'm done i mean what are we gonna do with this guy he's got
Dan (11:02)
Yeah, outside of his first postseason. I just don't feel confident he's a return to that form. He was good in his first postseason with us. But you know, that's nothing to be happy about. That's two years ago.
Chris (11:11)
Well then let's-
Well then let's mark, let's mark stone his ass, right? Let's, let's put them on, long-term IR until the playoff start. We'll use his six and a half million dollars. We'll go out and get ourselves a couple depth players. and then right when the playoffs start, we'll reactivate them and insert them in the lineup. Let's do that.
Tim Wood (11:19)
You
It's just like like if we're waiting for him to come alive in the playoffs like I I don't know if we can wait You know, it's just like yes, like we can't do that and everybody I know he was great with Tampa in the playoffs, but those what seven years ago six years ago Like that's a long time. It's a lot of miles on his legs You know, I appreciate him, know, it's just I don't think it's I don't think it's worked here, you know and honestly like I said it in my recap it's like I think he's actually hiding in plain sight with Jack and brat because
Dan (11:38)
No, it's not a strategy, no.
Chris (11:40)
No, you can't.
It's a long time ago!
Dan (11:47)
Yes.
Tim Wood (12:03)
There's nowhere else to put them.
Chris (12:04)
Well, that's what we kind of talked a little bit about it when people were saying to us like on social and stuff like, you know, look what Keith says, Keith saying, and you just brought it up like, yeah, he does a little thing. What you said it before, what's he going to say? Look, I'm doing the best I can. I'm insulating them between with Jack and Brad. Like we're trying to hide all his flaws and blemishes here because these guys are just so good. But when I watch, yeah.
Dan (12:29)
Yeah, giving them every chance to get on the board. I mean, you can't ask for a better opportunity than playing with those guys.
Tim Wood (12:31)
Yeah.
Chris (12:33)
And when I watch that line, I just think to myself, wow, this line is so good, they're so fast, they're so dynamic. How awesome could they be if they had somebody to actually fit in well with them?
Dan (12:46)
And I do like the type of player he is, playing to his potential is the type of player I think would really compliment those guys well. But he's not executing, so.
Tim Wood (12:55)
Yeah, like he's no, he's just and I'll put it this way. Like he's a very good kind of intermediary player in terms of like, like he does some decent things in the offensive zone. He'll make a smart pass back up to the point. He'll put it back into the corner. But when the puck is coming to him for the actual scoring chance, like that one timer that he just fucking whiffed on man, like he connects on that six years ago.
Dan (13:19)
Mm-hmm.
Tim Wood (13:22)
Like, that was embarrassing. Like, that shit I do in beer league when, you know, because I'm too old now. It's just like, like, it's just not, it's just not working.
Dan (13:22)
Yes.
Chris (13:31)
Yeah, and think the same could be said for Pilate. He's just too old now.
Dan (13:35)
Yeah. And I wonder about Holla. I don't think he's in the same critical shape of Pilate is, but I feel like he's, you know, he's he's having a similar parallel to his story this year too. Not as bad, but you know, we need him to come alive too. That's the depth you're talking about.
Tim Wood (13:51)
Yeah, I feel like, yeah, that's a very good point. Like, Holla seems to have flown under the radar in terms of getting kind of criticism from this fan base. Everybody's kind of been focused on Mercer and pull out, Holla's been largely invisible. I he wins draws, great. know, his face-off percentage is 54%, which is good. But, you know, he hasn't done shit. Like, he hasn't scored a goal in God knows how long. You know, he's...
On the second power play, he is a pretty good penalty killer, but like...
Chris (14:23)
And that's just it, just with where his ice time is slotted, this guy should at least have a couple of empty netters with how good this team's been, right? I mean, he's out there at the end when we're trying to hold on to that lead and he doesn't get it.
Tim Wood (14:31)
Yeah.
And like, we had home ice last night, like hard match him against Nate McKinnon so Nico can actually get some like some better chances. We put Nico on Nate McKinnon, the takeaway Jack and Brad knowing that our bottom six can't do anything. And that's how we wind up with zero goals.
Chris (14:53)
Now, Curtis Lazar will help this, but it's gonna be a while till Lazar comes back. And you can't expect Lazar to be the savior here. How do you get this bottom six going? You know, like you said, now, Pallat, I mean, Nasin, Hala, and who's gonna be that next guy with them? Cotter, right? So they moved it.
Tim Wood (15:15)
Cotter? think it was Cotter, right? I think was Cotter. Was it Cotter? Or was it Tatara? It was Tatara, I think.
Dan (15:20)
Yeah, to tar and.
Chris (15:22)
Okay, see to me that's just, you know, I mean I love Cotter but the other two guys are just old and and I won't say slow because I do think Tatar still has some wheels. He can skate still.
Tim Wood (15:34)
They all can still skate. Even Pallad can still skate a little bit. I don't know if he's necessarily lost a step. It's just his reactions are slow.
Chris (15:43)
And you know, Dan, you brought up, and I think this is good point on one of the other shows, like, Jack and Brad are probably very hard to play with.
Dan (15:52)
Yeah, do think it's going to take a special kind of player to play with them. I just think they are the new generation of player. I mean, when they're looking for each other, it's just so hard to read and to fit in with them and make the right passes to them, be there to support them in the right place at the right time. It may be more difficult than...
You know, other players that especially I would say some of the older guys like a lot have played with, you know, you know, I don't have to overblow it, but they are different than than a lot of other players. They they a little you know, their style is unique.
Tim Wood (16:26)
Yeah, that's a very good point.
They're very freelance, know, and I know a lot of people, but they're pawn hockey in a good way, pawn hockey. Like they're just fucking dominating puck possession, doing crazy shit. Like Pilots should honestly just go watch Zach Hyman tape and just go sit in front of the goal. just like, I think he might be trying too hard to like get involved in that type of game. And it's just like, simplify it, man. Just go sit in front of the fucking goal.
Chris (16:35)
Now, now-
Yes.
Dan (16:41)
Right.
I think that's a great strategy. mean, anytime you don't know what to do, go in front of the net. It just always works.
Chris (16:59)
You know how many wingers would...
Tim Wood (17:03)
Man, it always perks.
Chris (17:03)
And you know how many wingers would give their left nut to skate with Jack Hughes and Jesper Brad every night? I mean, talk about like, know, shit man, I'm going to have career years playing with those guys. And you know, that's the other thing, like who cares about the little things? We can get other guys that can do those little things and then fit with this line better and compliment those two. I watched again, double speed last night. I did not catch all the
You know all the details, but when I tried to watch it on normal speed whenever I saw us in the offensive zone Whenever I saw that 86 was out there. I would put it on and to me last night They weren't even looking for pull-off like it's just Jack looking for either that you know looking for brat number one or you know that that Dougie or the D man to just get that shot on net and to me plot was nowhere to be found like I just don't know
If you really want to be a Stanley Cup contender this year, depth is huge, absolutely huge, and you cannot have an anchor playing with your number one line, which could be one of the best lines in the NHL if you get the right guy with them. So we'll see. You know, I mean...
Tim Wood (18:16)
We'll say, and I hate shitting on the guy. He is a legend. He's got a couple of rings. He's just past his prime and he just doesn't deserve to be up in that line. I don't know. Hopefully it works. But I think Jack and Brad are so good together that it sort of is what it is. We can't have an all-star at every position, but for $6 million,
We can have two guys that are younger than him that do exactly what he does up and down the line.
Chris (18:52)
Alright, before we do a little bit of commercials, I got an over-under for you guys. Over-under, the number is 11. The Devils will be shut out this year over or under 11 times.
Dan (19:06)
God, am taking the under out of desperate, desperate hope.
Tim Wood (19:06)
man.
I'm not touching that. I gotta go under on that, man. Like, if they get shut out 11 times, it's crazy. They're still eighth in goals per game. that's, like... And...
Dan (19:15)
Please, it's a bad year.
Chris (19:23)
Right. Which is why this is so crazy to me.
Dan (19:27)
That's yeah, it's just the switch turns off and I just feel like they don't have an answer once they go down to nothing.
Chris (19:34)
In in two thousand twenty two, I guess, right. The hundred and twelve point season, they were one of two teams that were not shut out at all. Us and the Toronto Maple Leafs were not shut out. Last year, we all know what happened, but this team is so much better, I think, even then that hundred and twelve point team, I think it's top to bottom. This team is better. And yet they've been shut out five times. And I say the number eleven because that's the devil's record for most time shut out ever in the 07 08 season.
Dan (20:02)
wow.
Chris (20:04)
They were shut out 11 times. And that's their record. Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah, they are. Yeah, they are.
Tim Wood (20:07)
God. Man, those are really dark days, man. Jesus.
Dan (20:14)
I mean, that number is entirely possible statistically, right? I mean, how many games we got left? It's like, we're on, yeah, we're on pace to shatter that record if you want to know about it. I mean, we got on pace for 15, if you look at it.
Tim Wood (20:17)
It is.
Chris (20:19)
Well, yeah, you're a quarter, what are you, a third through the season, a quarter through the season, a third away through the season, so yeah.
Tim Wood (20:22)
or third of the way through this. Keep it up, bro.
Chris (20:28)
Yeah, yeah, so I want to take the over because just because you guys are taking the under So, alright, let's do a little housekeeping here the night did 19 24 25 NHL season still has that new car smell and the action is heating up at draft Kings and official sports betting partner of the NHL and if you're new to draft Kings listen up new customers can bet five bucks to get $150 in bonus bets if your bet wins
Tim Wood (20:29)
Yeah.
Dan (20:33)
Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Chris (20:54)
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Dan (21:55)
You gonna whisper?
Chris (21:58)
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Tim Wood (21:59)
Huh?
Dan (22:18)
Yeah, it's exciting.
Chris (22:19)
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Dan (23:48)
Gay time. You've been saying gay time this whole time. You know that.
Tim Wood (23:49)
Yay, game time.
Chris (23:52)
Gay time! I'm super! Thanks for asking, it's always gay time!
Tim Wood (23:54)
That's it that's after this guys
Speaking of my other podcast, can I pump something that's called Gay Time?
Chris (24:04)
It sounds like an awesome podcast
Dan (24:04)
Yeah, that's it. But that's my favorites. It's top of my list.
Tim Wood (24:07)
Just meet me in the public bathrooms at the board authority.
Chris (24:12)
You know them well, Tim. All right. Tim, we went over, you had sent over the tweet or the post out that guy put out about some possible replacements for plot, guess, you know, that's really what it was. And we went over them and I'm curious, because we were kind of really high on Alex Tuck. We like Batherson, we like Brock Nelson, and we like Kyle Palmieri. I think that was
Tim Wood (24:14)
I do, me and Vinny.
Yeah.
Dan (24:35)
Mm.
Chris (24:42)
pretty much the four that we were, yes, Jair McCan. So yeah, those five dudes I think we were pretty high on. Who do you like in that spot? If any of those guys or somebody else.
Tim Wood (24:43)
McCann.
Dan (24:45)
Yeah.
Tim Wood (24:54)
No, you know, that's I like I like that list of guys, you know, because we, you know, we tend to live in our kind of little bubble of like the retreads that we keep talking on. I like seeing other lists of other guys who might be available. And, know, it's it's obviously now the way the league kind of divides itself into haves and have nots. You kind of got to look at the have nots that are, you know, possibly building or, you know, going to unload potential, you UFAs, et cetera, et cetera.
If I were to rank them, I'd probably, Tuck would be number one by far. I love that guy. I think he's just big. He's got good hands. He's a grinder. He can play. The only issue is he is from the Buffalo area. So I don't know if he'd necessarily want to leave that area. He was actually excited when he got traded because he was in the Jack Eichel trade.
from Vegas back to Buffalo. So he might get kind of pissed. I think McCann would be an amazing addition. He would be my number two. Brock Nelson would be my number three. Then Batherson, then Paul
Chris (26:10)
I think a deal with the Islanders is something that can easily be done. I do. And if we're going to look at a deal with the Islanders, I would much rather Brock Nelson over Kyle Paul Mary.
Tim Wood (26:22)
Yeah, absolutely. 100%. You know, and I don't know, you know, we, we unloaded Zajac green to them. So, you know, know Lou's big on kind of, you know, the reciprocation and favors. Also, Lou would fucking love Andre Pallott from his ten, his resume from seven years ago. I feel like, I feel like that like he's just the kind of guy that Lou would be like, hell yeah, give me that guy.
Chris (26:43)
That's true.
We would, we're gonna have to eat some of Pilate's money if we move him.
Tim Wood (26:52)
I think so too. And I think there's some other contractual shenanigans we could do. I don't know if McDermott's ever going to see the ice again, man. We can bury his contract in the AHL and get that off the books. There may be some other shenanigans they can do. It came out yesterday that Rachel Herzog, she was him, right? She said something like where Lazar may be done for the year, then other people said he may not be.
Chris (27:15)
Yeah.
Tim Wood (27:22)
So, so I don't know if his contract can be fully LTI hard. I don't know why he wasn't in the first place. I don't know. I don't know why. I don't know what the nuances of that are because like, I guess. I don't know why we didn't use it for Dougie last year. And I think.
Chris (27:29)
Yeah, I was just gonna say that, why hasn't it been already?
Dan (27:36)
I don't know why we didn't use it last year, you know? I feel like somebody needs to talk to Fitz about the LTIR. I don't know.
Chris (27:39)
That's a great question.
Tim Wood (27:43)
I think the issue is, if you put him on LTIR and then fill that cap space, because we're right up against the cap, right? If you fill in that cap space, then basically that guy can't play until the playoffs, essentially. So if there's a potential for him to come back sometime before the end of the regular season, then
Chris (27:43)
Maybe he doesn't understand how it works.
Dan (27:54)
Right.
and you're stuck, not coming back.
I don't know, I'm thinking back with Dougie last year. I thought it was a pretty known quantity. He's not coming back unless we make the playoffs. And we didn't look like we were gonna make the playoffs. So make that move. Yeah.
Tim Wood (28:18)
Yeah, I didn't get that at all. I didn't get that at all. I think with Dougie, there was some rumblings that he might, maybe, but it's just like, why bother? Put him on LTR, take the advantage of it and just tell him he's not coming back to the playoffs. I don't understand that.
Chris (28:33)
Sure, that's what Vegas does every year with Mark Stone. I have to say though, think last year, by this time last year, do think that Fitz, now in hindsight, you can look back and you see those sequence of events and how we were all shouting like, make a move, make a move, make a move. I think Fitz knew then this was not the team. And it doesn't make sense to bring somebody else in here, make a trade.
And you know, if I'm planning on revamping this, a lot of this roster by the summertime. So I think that might be part of it. And that could have come up and bit them in the ass if this team made a playoff run and they got bounced in five games, a la Washington Capitals, while they got swept. But you know what I mean? Like we would have been one of the weaker teams going into the playoffs. so I don't know. It just, yeah, that didn't make any sense to me that we didn't use any of that LTIR money. I don't know. It's just,
it did right now i love this team i do and when they're on they're so good and so fun to watch but this like just getting shut out thing is just it's just mind-boggling like i i think i texted you in the bobby last night like i was i was watching the game and you guys had already seen it and it was like the second period and i was like this is just seems like a very familiar you know trend here that's going on and i was really hoping that i was going to get a text back like keep watching like
they're gonna come back here in the third like stay with it and like there's only two minutes left I don't think we're coming back
Tim Wood (30:01)
I didn't know what to respond with you to like kind of... Part of me wanted to be like, don't fucking bother because literally nothing happens. So that was one of the more frustrating things about that game last night is the second period has been our best period, like all season. we've, they got two shots.
Chris (30:07)
Ha
Dan (30:07)
Do you have three times fast forward?
Chris (30:09)
I sometimes I was at four. Yeah, it was just that bad
Two shots?
Tim Wood (30:26)
They just an absolute flat line that entire period. got fucking nothing. Even Wedgwood said like I could have like pulled up a chair and sat down. It was awful. And that was probably the most frustrating thing about that entire game is I, you you go into the locker room, you're down two, nothing after the first, you got a team coming off of back to back, Colorado was coming off of back to back. It's like, just wear them down, keep wearing them down. And then you'll be able to kind of kind of pick away at this and get back in it. It's just two goals. You got one, then.
Chris (30:34)
That's embarrassing.
Tim Wood (30:55)
You know that's how math. That's how math works. Yeah, I know gold star for me.
Chris (30:55)
Yeah, yeah, you're good at counting, Tim.
The Timo goal deflated them. That was an issue too. think that that's allowed and now it's one-nothing Devils. It's a different game. I'm not saying we win, but it's a different game. And they really better do what they... Well, I think that they're going to be okay tomorrow. I mean, it's a big game against a really good Maple Leaf team that kicked our butts.
Tim Wood (31:14)
Yeah.
Chris (31:28)
the first time we saw them this year, which was our home opener, game three of the year, and they just dominated us. We could do nothing against them. This team has a tendency to come back really strong after losing a game. The four game losing streak back in, what was that, October even? Or was it November? It might've been late October, early November. That was the last time we lost more than two games or more in a row.
Tim Wood (31:51)
Yeah, it was.
Mm-hmm.
Chris (31:59)
So they're very good at bouncing back. What do you guys expect tomorrow night against Toronto, which again is third of our five home games here. You have to start winning at the rock. cannot keep, know, home ice means something, but it doesn't if you're gonna lose every time you're at home. They have a stellar road record. But what are you guys expecting from the Devils tomorrow?
Dan (32:25)
I'm concerned. really am. was, you know, very lackluster performance. Toronto always plays us hard. Yeah. I, you know, they got the holiday malaise kind of hanging in the background. I've just, feel like I've seen this before, you know, like going into this last couple weeks. I don't know. I'm concerned. I'm concerned about it. And we'll see. You're right. You pointed out very well that they have been bouncing back. This would be a considerable bounce back. I guess a tough opponent.
Chris (32:41)
So.
Well, let me ask you a quick question. Does this loss against Colorado concern you more than the other four shutouts we've had in the last three, four weeks?
Dan (33:00)
I mean, not in isolation, but that's what I'm concerned about is that, you know, on one hand, they haven't lost two in a row since that, but that means they're due. And this is a great time of year for that shit to happen. They did look especially flat, you know, they didn't lose like a one-nothing goalie duel where there's a bunch of shots on both sides. looked dominated, they looked flat. And...
So yeah, I do have some concerns. I want to see them bounce back, but I'm not going to be wholly surprised if, I'm not saying being shut out again, but I'm not going to be wholly surprised if this is a little mini slump that they have to get over.
Chris (33:41)
Hmm. Well, their last game, let's see. This is their upcoming schedule. I just want to see where they were here. So yeah, they lost to Pittsburgh their last game, Toronto. So Toronto's on a two-game losing streak. So they lost Friday and Saturday back to back to Washington and then to Pittsburgh.
Dan (34:04)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (34:05)
before that was three wins in a row and that's the other thing like we can't string together any kind of consistency but so their last five there three and two and with coming also they're coming off of two losses so this is a team that's going to be you know they want they need a dub we need a dub what do you expect tomorrow night
Tim Wood (34:21)
Yep. Yeah. And actually the way Dan put that is spot on. you know, each individual shutout loss can be kind of explained away in its own little vacuum. Like Blackwood had a great fucking game against us. You know, just, you know, same thing. One of the other shutouts has got goalied again. But like last night, and then you look at it in aggregate of like, all right, this is kind of getting to be a bit of a pattern here. Like we, you know, and I think
Like I said, there's this, I think there's a playbook that if it's executed against us, it's extremely successful. So, you know, get out on top of us first, scoring wise, collapse, and then don't take penalties. You know, don't let our power play get on the ice. I don't know. I'm concerned too. Like I, you know, there are some cracks in this team, but like you said, they come back, they come back really well. They need
They fucking need to score first. Like, just feel like everything, this snowball kind of just rolls downhill once they score first. That's just so imperative. They've given up the first goal on the first shot in like four or five of those games too.
Chris (35:32)
Yeah, yeah, it doesn't matter if it's Marks for more Alan and they both do it. They both do it. yeah, I. Yeah, this is true. mean.
Dan (35:32)
Wow.
Tim Wood (35:38)
It's a team game, Chris.
Dan (35:42)
I know. And a couple of them have been weak goals. I know a couple of them have been weak. I want to I want to say, well, they're giving up golden chance, you know, for a couple of them probably have been that. But a couple of them have been those weird, weird goals like, you know, that I think Markstrom, maybe more now is prone to. Although he said it has been both of them that, you know, help make a couple of really great saves to make up for it. But, you know, that does hurt.
Tim Wood (35:43)
You're gonna stand for him blaming the Colies? You're gonna stand for him blaming them?
Dan (36:09)
especially this team, you know, it's a bad combo if you're going to give up a weak goal, which I'm sure not all of them in that, would you say five of the last something like that? Yeah. I'm sure that it's been, like you said, a team thing and defensive breakdown. But yeah, I mean, this is what we want is, I mean, our goal is to lift us where we're weakest and pick us up.
Tim Wood (36:19)
It's something like that, yeah.
Chris (36:21)
Yeah, it's a lot.
Dan (36:36)
And it seems like we're weakest when we get scored on first. So I would like to see that improve.
Tim Wood (36:42)
Yeah, like, you know, the first goal against us against Seattle was Burakowski, blew past Luke and then roofed one on Markstrom. Maybe Markstrom shouldn't be going down. That's his thing though. He does go down on that reverse VH and he gives up kind of those top far side corners. The same type of goal against Forsberg. Right over his shoulder. He was down before the puck even got shot. you know, there are books out on this thing, you know, on those types of things.
Chris (36:50)
It was a beautiful shot.
Dan (37:02)
Bye.
Tim Wood (37:12)
manuals on how to score. know, Forsberg may not have been trying to pick that corner, but he's like, you know, I'm throwing it to net, throw it to the net high and something good will happen. Yeah, just they need to fucking score some goals, This team is so goddamn fun when they score, but it's psychological, like, you know, and you could see it when VTEC would let in a bad goal and they would just they would just be like they would just get the flight and Jack even said it one postgame interview. It's like, when we get saved, we win games.
Dan (37:20)
Absolutely.
Chris (37:26)
and
Dan (37:33)
Yes.
Chris (37:40)
Yeah, yeah, just need a goddamn save. Which they get this year. mean, these guys have played, mean, compared to what we had last year, I mean, this is night and day, but the kind of worrisome too last night was just how bad Dougie Hamilton and Brendan Dillon were in that game last night. And you talked about it in the recap and you're 100 % right. And I...
Tim Wood (37:46)
They do. They do.
Dan (38:02)
Yeah.
Chris (38:07)
on double speed saw it all and i even said like in the first period like that he's having a rough night here and yeah you went over some of his numbers and just you know it was a rough night for them i don't know what that was all about but that was uncharacteristic to how they've been playing especially hamilton he's been so much better this last chunk of games here in the middle it started out a little rough okay
You know, he's coming off the injury, of expected him to have the slow start. And then he really started coming on and not just offensively playing very well defensively too. And then last night was just a whole team shit in the bed, which is just crazy to me how sometimes it just goes right through the whole bench, right? It's everybody that just is snake bitten and doing the wrong thing. It's contagious. And, you know, I just hope those guys bounce back.
Tim Wood (38:41)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so when you're watching in double speed, Dougie probably looked like a normal speed guy. he was, you know, he's, sometimes, like it just happens, you know, you're just fighting the puck. Dougie was fighting the puck all night last night. And Dylan, like, I don't know what he was doing, but he just, two absolute mental mistakes. Just, he was off in the clouds, you know, that breakaway that they gave up where Dougie fumbled, the puck in the...
Chris (39:03)
I couldn't believe how fast Brendan Dillon was.
Dan (39:03)
Yeah.
Tim Wood (39:26)
Nutrizone, I don't know what Dylan's doing. he, the guy is changing behind him, hops on the ice. Dylan isn't even paying attention. Doesn't notice. First goal. Dylan's watching Dougie behind the net. Maybe he thinks Dougie, Dougie lost a step and the guy's going to try to come and like wrap it around. But you know, if he's going to do that though, then Holla behind him has got to pick up the guy in front of the net, you know? And that's that kind of connectivity that they talk about. It's like, you got to read what the other guys are doing, but that's really kind of, both of those are really on Dylan.
Chris (39:27)
Yeah.
I was just going to say, I think that Colorado's speed really put them on tilt. I think that that was an issue for them big time, which makes me worried about Toronto because Toronto is a fast team. have guys that could score all over the ice. And if the Devils don't clean that stuff up, it could be a really, really bad night for them.
Tim Wood (39:57)
But to your point, yeah, sorry.
Yeah, and Dougie's, I know a lot of people give him shit for his defensive ability. He's a defenseman, he should play defense. He's an offensive defenseman. But where Dougie struggles the most is in his gap control in the neutral zone and sometimes coverage in front of the net. Those are where his biggest gaps come in. Where Dougie's actually really good defensively is in the corners, digging the puck out and making that first pass out of the zone. That's where he excels. And obviously,
Dan (40:40)
Yeah, corners behind the boards.
Tim Wood (40:47)
you know, at the blue line with his shot. That's where he excels. And when he's off and he's fumble in the puck, he can be fucking terrible. So that's just kind of what happened to him. They just need to brush it off, get back in there. Our defense has been outstanding this year, so I'm not really gonna ride those guys all that much.
Chris (41:03)
The Maple Leafs have a 9-0-8 team save percentage. That's good for fourth in the league. So their goaltenders have been playing very well too. Anthony Stolar is from Jersey. That's the other thing that worries me. Got a Jersey boy coming in. Yep. And we know how much they love to just light us up. I do think that they will back. I think they're going to bounce back. I really do. I'm not saying they're going to win this thing by five goals, but they're definitely going to bounce back. mean, Sheldon Keefe
Tim Wood (41:14)
God got another Jersey boy coming in
Chris (41:32)
has these guys believe in what they do and what they do well. I think it's obvious though there are some deficiencies on this team like we did talk about that I really do hope get addressed at some point or at least these other guys start stepping up and that's really what it
Dan (41:37)
Yeah.
Whenever I see Keith, sorry, whenever I Keith speaking in the locker rooms, they put a lot of that footage out, the doubles do. He's always talking about consistency. And I can see, he knows what he's got with this team. The fans know it, they can be amazing. But if they're gonna be serious contenders, they're gonna have to be more consistent. You're right, we haven't had a mini slumps in quite a while, and I hope we're not due for one.
Chris (41:58)
Yeah.
Dan (42:16)
but we also haven't strung together a winning streak either. And, you know, I, I don't see us, developing that consistency that he's looking for just yet. I'm not saying it's not going to come, but you know, we talked about, you know, some personnel changes that may or may help. I still believe we got to do better than what we saw against Colorado, with the personnel we have, you know, and that's, that's, that's something I think that they all have to look at themselves in mirror. Cause you're right. It was up and down the lineup.
They were entirely flat. Maybe it was like the worst I've seen them all season. It's one game in isolation. But really, when you even look at the four game and all the problems, they were more explainable. A lot of people out, this and that. What the hell is this about? So I'm not going to freak out, but this is definitely not what you want to see because they're capable of a lot.
Chris (43:09)
Our team... Our team's save percentage is down to 899 now. That's ugly.
Dan (43:14)
Right?
Tim Wood (43:15)
Is it really? Well, that's still league average-ish. I think we're now on the positive side of goal saved above expected too, which is a new thing for us over the past couple years. If you go back to two years ago, we had the 13-game winning streak, right?
Dan (43:33)
Definitely.
Tim Wood (43:39)
If you take that out and kind of normalize it a little bit, that's 104 point team. That's kind of really the pace that we're on right now is to be about that 104 point team. And if you remember, like they fell apart in December. That's the other thing. It's like the past couple of years, like we've had a real, real bad slump during December. I kind of that that's sort of sitting in the back of my mind too.
Chris (43:53)
yeah.
Dan (43:53)
That was rough.
Chris (44:01)
And we were really worried about this team back in December. Dan and I were doing the show, the two of us. And I'll remember it was the last game of the month. It was against Pittsburgh. And we went in and we went to their barn and we shut them out. And then we got back, we got right. And from that point on, we were very consistent, you know, three out of four, four out of five throughout the rest of the year. But you're right. The 13 game win streak definitely, you know, padded you up to where you could make mistakes.
Now, I have no doubt in my mind this team's gonna end up 1, 2, or 3 in the Metro. I have no doubt in my mind, of course, if they do that, they're in the playoffs. It's just... You're gonna get in the playoffs. How is this team gonna be built and ready to go? Because the playoffs change, and I see too much now of our... This last chunk of games, even the games we've won. Like, in the beginning of year, we were playing much more physical. I feel like that's kind of fallen off. We were playing a lot more forechecking.
Dan (44:57)
Yes.
Chris (45:00)
And now it's like everything is on the rush. You guys talked about it earlier in the show. Like, I don't know what changed and that's what worries me because that's not the recipe that's going to win in the playoffs. And they have got to get back to where they were kind of earlier in this year and put, put, put the speed, the skills, the goal scoring or everything that we have right now and kind of marry that with the things that were working early on that we're getting guys like Carter free and more chances and stuff like that.
Mercer, Mercer's kind of been flat all year, but I just think that, I do think a change has to be made. I absolutely think that if you want to get the most out of this team, you have got to get somebody else up there with Jack and Brad. That's just how I feel. I'm going to feel that way until, unless Pilat completely does a 180 and shows us that no, he is the guy he was four or five, six years ago with Tampa. But I don't think that dude exists anymore. They left him in Tampa and he's never made his way to Jersey.
So I do think some changes have to be made, but I just want to see that, like you said, the consistency. Put together four, five, six games against good opponents. And that's the other thing, like the games we were shut out, right? Calgary, yeah, they're a good team, but they're not better than us. And you can kind of explain that one away. Like you said, Mackenzie Blackwood with the Sharks, they're not better than us. Colorado just looked flat out better than us last night, you know, and that's...
Tim Wood (46:26)
Yeah.
Chris (46:29)
a little worrisome.
Tim Wood (46:31)
Yeah, you know, look at other circumstances. you know, I wouldn't want to go to Calgary. Like I'd be like, get me the fuck out of here. You know, yeah. And, you know, and look at the standings, you know, we are still firmly in a playoff spot. And honestly, if the Capitals weren't doing whatever the fuck they're doing, like we'd actually be flirting a little bit more with first in the division. You know, we're sitting right there with Carolina.
Chris (46:37)
Right.
So, all right.
Tim Wood (46:56)
The Rangers are tied with the Blackhawks right now going into the second, which is hilarious to me.
Chris (47:02)
Let's end the show on some Ranger talk. Okay, because we didn't get into the fact they shipped Trubo off to Anaheim. We didn't really talk too much about Shastrkin's contracts, so they signed him to the big deal. They took their captain, they shipped him as far away from them as possible. And if I'm Trubo, I'm excited to go to Anaheim. I really am. I mean, this is...
Tim Wood (47:06)
haha
Dan (47:25)
Well, he didn't want to go. mean, he put a kibosh on his trades many times before this.
Chris (47:30)
Yeah, he did. He didn't want to go to Detroit. if I'm, you know, in Anaheim, now if I'm showing up in Anaheim, because I heard some people talking to saying, you know, like, I'm sure Pat Rubik is kind of just pulled him aside and said, look, you're here now, we're going to shop you around at the trade deadline and we'll get you somewhere you want to go. I think that's a bad idea. I think with the guys that they have right now, with on defense with Rocco Gudis and now with Jacob Truba and Alex Collorn.
all the young guys that they have there. think that Truba should stay there and help build what they're, know, help be a part of what they're building there in Anaheim. I think it could be a good thing for him. And I hate Jacob Truba, but now I don't give a shit because I see him twice a year. You know, and he's going to have some rough years over there, but I would be looking at this as a big opportunity.
Tim Wood (48:14)
You
Dan (48:23)
Yeah, I mean, that's definitely one way to look. I don't know how he feels about it and I could care less to some extent. You know, a player like him with the right coach is definitely going to be an asset. know, it is kind of funny. He was the hero in New York for a while and then he wasn't.
Tim Wood (48:41)
They have, Anaheim is a really interesting team to me. They have some very good young pieces. Leo Carlson is gonna be a fucking stud. think, what's his name? Zegris just got hurt, but he wasn't doing very well. Can't say healthy. I've always liked Frank Fiorano, Troy Terry I've always been a big fan of. Yeah, Kalorin's always been good, but on defense, this Owen Zellweger kids.
Chris (48:56)
That's his problem though, cannot stay healthy.
Troy Terry's a stud.
Tim Wood (49:10)
He's really good and Pavel Mintykov is also really good. So they actually have and honestly if I'm coming across a blue line and you have either Gudis or Truba patrolling the blue line, I'm thinking twice about, know, making a cut in move across the blue line, you know, like that that will help on their social media team put out a tape. I know if you guys saw it where it's like where it's like now patrolling our blue line or something like that. It was just a
Chris (49:28)
No doubt.
Uh-uh.
Tim Wood (49:39)
collection of hits of those two and it's like I wonder how how many Videos they had to go through with them take out all the headshots
Dan (49:46)
Yeah, seriously.
Chris (49:46)
What did Bill from the trap put out there? Anaheim instead of the front, what was it? The flying V now they're implementing the flying elbow.
Tim Wood (49:51)
God.
Yeah, love it, love it Billy, but it can't all be bangers buddy.
Chris (50:00)
So, I mean, yeah, but if the Rangers lose, because they lost to Seattle pretty bad yesterday, right? I think that was like 7-5. Yeah. Were they really? I was all footballed all day yesterday. I didn't put hockey on until late. man. And they still get no respect. It's mind-boggling to me. I know, I know.
Tim Wood (50:09)
That was fucking embarrassing. They were up, I think, 4-1 or 4-2 or something. Yeah, I know. You and Zero Dark Vikings.
Let it happen, man. Just let it happen. Go under the radar, you know?
Chris (50:29)
I know I think this team. I'm not saying that I think they can win a Super Bowl, but I think they can make it to the NSC Championship game. I do and.
Tim Wood (50:36)
Absolutely they can I mean, you know Vikings in Detroit like who else in the NFC is gonna challenge those two teams? Yeah
Chris (50:42)
Philly and Green Bay and I'll tell you right now if the Rams make it in everybody should be rooting for the Rams to not make the playoffs because they are scary if they get in so but back back to hockey if if the Rangers lose to Chicago though one of the worst teams in the league what happens there like what is what is Valakett gonna bitch about then you know like
Tim Wood (50:49)
Yeah, true.
You
Chris (51:12)
What happens there if this thing seriously, if they blow it to the blackhawks? It's great to watch. It's fantastic.
Dan (51:16)
I don't know, but it's fun to watch. It really is fun to watch.
Tim Wood (51:19)
Bye.
I am just reveling in it, just like, please, yes, rain down losses. Whatever. It's just such a weird situation. They just fell off a cliff. If I was Igor, I would have taken a second and been like, do I want to be here for eight years? Because they have three, four guys that are just dead in the water that shouldn't be there anymore.
I wonder if they keep losing, like if they lose to Chicago, I don't know, does Zabaniad next? Like he's falling apart.
Chris (51:54)
I mean, so who do you think scored the goal for Chicago?
I know who it is. It's the guy Tim that me, you and Bobby talked about. It's Tyler Bertuzzi. Yeah, I mean, that was the guy I brought up then about possibly, you know, maybe what do you guys think of Tyler Bertuzzi? I think everybody poo pooed it, but
Tim Wood (52:07)
Yeah.
Dan (52:15)
Yeah. No, we were talking about him, I guess, as possibly for was it trade deadline last year?
Chris (52:23)
No, was the end of the year we made the playoffs because he played really well in the playoffs for Boston. And I actually even talked about that with Colin White. when he came in and I met him and we were talking a little bit about the playoff run and everything, and we were talking about some guys possibly coming on, I said, what about Tyler Bertuzzi? And he just kind of perked up and he's like, I like his game. He's like, and he did really good, right, with Boston?
Dan (52:25)
to you.
Yes.
Tim Wood (52:30)
Yeah, yes he did.
Dan (52:37)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (52:52)
I said, yeah, you had a good playoff. He's like, that's interesting. But I don't think he's that guy right now. I mean...
Tim Wood (52:58)
The clip I sent you about that conversation was pretty funny. So Bidard went like coast to coast to beautiful Deeks pass it off to Bertuzzi is like at the top of the circle has a clean shot and Bertuzzi literally is at the top of the circles. He just dumps it into the corner. So I sent him that clip. was like, I was like, yeah, I'm out of Bertuzzi. thanks. Also, he's a psychopath. He doesn't put any tape on a stick on the blade. He doesn't have a, and he doesn't have a knob like that's that's, you know,
Chris (53:04)
Yeah
Yep.
Dan (53:14)
Whoops.
Chris (53:17)
Yeah, we're out on him.
Dan (53:17)
Yeah.
You
Tim Wood (53:27)
Not to mention some other things, but like he's a fucking lunatic.
Chris (53:31)
And then you see who scored for the Rangers. It's Will Cooley again. I love him.
Tim Wood (53:36)
cool. I like that kid, man. He's built like a fucking cigarette machine.
Chris (53:41)
I really like the Rangers third line. I like Cooley, Heedle, and Kako. I like those three together. And the thing is though, he's the only dude that's scoring for them. Like, you know, I don't know. I love watching it. I love watching them just fall to pieces. And I can't wait until... No. And I can't wait till December 23rd when we do it again to them. I think that game's in our barn. So that'll be awesome.
Dan (53:53)
Yeah, no, else.
Tim Wood (54:00)
They're just not built well. They're just not a well-built team.
Chris (54:11)
That'll be a nice Christmas gift for Ranger fans. We'll just take them out the next two. But alright, so before we wrap it up, predictions for tomorrow.
Dan (54:22)
I'm going to be optimistic and I'm going to say the Devils pull off a four-three win. I think they can and they will. I am concerned that they won't. If I have to put odds on it, I'm just going to stay a little optimistic to give you that 51%. Yeah, they're going to bounce back and give a good competitive win here. it's not a real possibility, man, that they put up another stinker. Anything.
Chris (54:28)
They bounce back.
Dan (54:49)
Anything close to how bad they were against Colorado is like, that's alarm bell time for sure. So I really don't think that'll happen, but it's, it's, it's a possibility. Yeah. Four, three.
Chris (54:59)
What do think, Timmy?
Tim Wood (55:01)
I'm thinking 3-1 with an empty netter. It's going to be kind of a lot lower scoring than people think. Toronto's a pretty good defensive team. And I like what you're saying before, and I agree with you, is one kind of difference year over year with this team is that they don't go down these sort of pits of despair and fall into these losing streaks. They bounce right back and they get right back on the horse. So I think they pulled it out.
think Markstrom is a good game. I saw Alan might be hurt. I don't know if you guys saw that towards the end of the second or third. He was getting up a little gingerly from a couple of saves. I thought he was just being kind of sassy, being like, fuck you guys in front of me. But no, it sounds like he might be hurt. So I haven't... Yeah, he didn't skate today. I haven't heard anything more from that.
Dan (55:35)
not.
Chris (55:36)
Yeah.
Okay.
He didn't skate today, right?
So tomorrow we might get the info that I guess it would be Nico Dawes called up. I guess that would be our next guy.
Dan (56:03)
assume.
Tim Wood (56:05)
I think he's been day to day, so I don't even know if it'll be him. We might see a bird oar. Or it be a polter.
Dan (56:09)
boy. wow.
Chris (56:12)
I like Isaac Poulter. And I mean, just seeing a brodora net just gives me goosebumps. I mean, I only saw him in the preseason. He looked alright. He had a really good preseason game.
Dan (56:13)
okay,
Tim Wood (56:14)
Yeah, I too.
That's cool.
Dan (56:25)
He did. He had a couple of really nice saves in that game. Win.
Chris (56:28)
So, all right.
Tim Wood (56:29)
We've been dealing with the cursor bro door since since Marty Marty left man, like, you know, we We got so spoiled for so long Like we just you know, I think and I think that's part of the issue with Marsh from coming in and people kind of bitching and moaning about him It's like he's not you know, Marty wasn't walking through that door. Like this is the guy that we have he's good enough
Chris (56:37)
Yeah?
And the game was so different back then. You cannot compare March from today to Brodor of 2003. You it's just you can't do it. It's a different game. But maybe the way you break that curse is to put another Brodor on the bench in a goalie. They'll suit it up.
Tim Wood (57:07)
There you go. Just, just have him sit there with his back facing the other team.
Dan (57:07)
We'll see.
Chris (57:11)
That's it. would love to see him called up if Alan's her. I mean, I don't want to see Alan her, but if he is, I would really like to see Brodor. And that would be really cool.
Tim Wood (57:18)
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, and I saw our guy, Jacob Malik, who's over in Finland. He made a pretty sweet glove save on a shootout attempt and won a shootout game. So he's been playing pretty well. We got some guys coming. It's just, know, the goalies take a little bit.
Chris (57:37)
Now what about that kid that we drafted this year?
Tim Wood (57:40)
He's still on the Omaha Lancers. I don't think their team's very good, so his numbers have been a little tough. He's going next year, I think, is when he goes to BU to play for Pando.
Chris (57:49)
So we won't see him for three, four years easily. He's supposed to be, I mean, a stud, right? I mean, this dude is supposed to, they said he was one of the best, if not the best goalie in this draft, so.
Tim Wood (57:52)
No, it's that.
Yeah, goalies are hard to project out, particularly at 17, 18 years old and drafts, and how many undrafted kids have come along. Joey DeCourts, one of the best goalies in the league, and he played for fucking Arizona State.
Chris (58:09)
Yeah, I know.
I mean, you know who's amazing? You've mentioned we were talking about Anaheim, know, de Stal. I mean, now they have a franchise goalie there. That's a team that could pop in a couple of years. You know?
Tim Wood (58:29)
Yeah, yeah, I was, thought Colorado might try and go after Gibson.
Chris (58:34)
Yeah, that was a lot of talk. guess either Gibson just wants to stay there forever or, you know, I know he's got a big contract. Maybe that had something to do with it. Or maybe the fact that he's just ancient at this point and Blackwood has been having a very good year. So I think Blackwood makes Colorado, I think the woods make Colorado extremely dangerous. So you gotta get a picture of Blackwood, Miles Wood and Wedgewood all together.
Tim Wood (58:56)
They do. They do.
Dan (59:01)
Yeah, three wood. That's right.
Tim Wood (59:01)
My culture is not your costume, people.
Chris (59:03)
So, alright, I'm gonna say...
4-2, the Devils win it tomorrow. They come out strong. I'm even gonna go out and say that we get two of the four goals from our bottom six. Yes.
Tim Wood (59:22)
I love it. Do you know, the other thing we need, our power play has been a little cold recently. I'd like to see them pot one.
Dan (59:22)
That's very optimistic. That would be fantastic.
Chris (59:29)
it did there's still moving the park though i mean they still looks good they just you know which would made some amazing saves on the power play last night so i mean you know but
Tim Wood (59:32)
Yeah.
Yeah, it's so dangerous and unbelievable. Yeah, yeah, you're right.
Chris (59:43)
And they're still first, right? Yes.
Tim Wood (59:45)
Still first. Still the only team above 30%.
Dan (59:50)
crazy number.
Chris (59:50)
I mean, it's gonna be hard to maintain that throughout the year, but wouldn't that be awesome?
Dan (59:53)
Yeah.
Tim Wood (59:53)
I remember when like 25 % was like top of the league.
Chris (59:56)
Yeah. I mean, think what Edmonton last year in the playoffs, they were like clicking at almost 50 % for a while. Like it really is crazy. But yeah, I mean, I think that this team, the culture that they're have being built there now and how tight these guys are, I just don't think that they let it linger. I hope not because you don't want to get into any kind of bad habits. You want to be able to shake these things off because look, you're not going to win 16 in a row come playoff time.
Dan (59:56)
Absolutely, yeah.
Tim Wood (1:00:02)
Yeah, that was crazy. That was crazy.
Chris (1:00:26)
But if you drop a first game of the series and you all year have been able to come back and take that game, not lose two in a row, you're going to have a very successful postseason. So I just hope they continue that trend, come out hard. I mean, I think last night was a little more deflating than most of the games that we've lost. And I attribute a lot of that to, like you said earlier, two shots in the second period. That was as flat as can be. I mean, and the Devils, what we thought
up to this going in this season was going to be a very strong part and it was early on was our depth that that needs to get better here
Dan (1:01:05)
It's going be interesting to see how Keith handles this. You know, I don't recall anybody getting benched. Is this somebody, is this a kind of performance that is going to get, you know, somebody changed out of the lineup? I don't even know how many choices he's got there, but it's, you know, because it was such, it was so flat, but it was weird. I don't know what he can do because like you guys have already said, it was really team wide. So it wasn't like just, it's easy to just blame it on.
Chris (1:01:30)
Yeah, I don't know if anybody's really playing for their job right now. I don't think so.
Dan (1:01:34)
No.
Tim Wood (1:01:35)
There's, like Dan just said, like there's no one to plug in. Like they only have, they have six guys. I think they're even one under the max roster size right now. They're right up at the cap. know, Bastion's coming back, so maybe they have an option with Bastion and Ligar. Maybe they fucking throw Bastion on Jack and Brassil and just say, in front and don't do shit.
Chris (1:01:37)
Yeah.
Dan (1:01:54)
Honestly, it's not a bad move. Just try, get somebody who's gonna be hard nosed in front of the net and let those two guys do what they've been doing. Like you said earlier, they're playing around a lot anyway. So why not just put a body there who's got some ability to do something with it? Absolutely. It's always been most successful. Yeah.
Chris (1:02:07)
He's a big boy. mean, I would not be against that. I would not be against that.
Tim Wood (1:02:14)
Yeah, also like like, you know, we've he's a righty shot, you know, like it's a little bit of an old school mentality, but like I'm a big believer in kind of balancing righty lefty shots on on the lines. I fucking throw Nathan Mason on that line. He and Jack are nasty on the power play. Like, I don't understand why, but I haven't given that a look.
Chris (1:02:32)
Well, I just think that they don't want to fuck with that Heesher-Nason-Meyer line. It's just been too good. Well, that's true. They did fuck with it. So you're right.
Tim Wood (1:02:36)
But they just moved Nathan to the third line. So why not?
Dan (1:02:40)
Right, that's what's weird. If I was gonna move him anywhere, I would give him a shot with Jack and wrap it up.
Tim Wood (1:02:46)
I mean, it's because like he only plays right wing and Brad plays right wing. I don't know. Maybe that's what it is. You know, playing, playing the wing can be difficult if you're, you know, if, if, know, your kind of reads and routes are a little different and just the way you handle the puck and catch passes on, your forehand versus your backhand can be a little more difficult. So I don't know.
Dan (1:02:51)
Yeah.
Chris (1:03:04)
I wouldn't even be against Tatar up there trying him out.
Tim Wood (1:03:08)
Yeah, something. But that's the way they operate. know, they've Niko and Timo, Jack and Brat, Paula, probably Tuna. Like they operate in pairs and kind of the other wing, kind of have optionality there.
Chris (1:03:22)
But like you said, having one guy that just goes and just camp out in front of the net the way Nason does Zorn or power play, and know, just put them there and just let Jack and Brad do their thing. And I think that you would be extremely well rewarded for the effort that you do. I believe, like you said, Zach Hyman. mean, Zach Hyman had a year last year that he never had before, he probably never will again. And it was...
because of he was playing with. you know, I mean, it's just that simple. know, Yari Curry is not Yari Curry without Wayne Gretzky, you know?
Dan (1:03:56)
Right. I mean, it's not going to solve the bottom six problems, but it is a great idea nonetheless.
Tim Wood (1:04:00)
Yeah.
Chris (1:04:05)
the bottom six yeah they they've got to work that out themselves because I don't think there's too much that you can really do down there like you said but they the kid what's his name look like Harry and look air I like him a lot I mean he he's been playing really well I mean yeah I would maybe what's he like six foot three six foot four he's a big boy
Tim Wood (1:04:14)
Ligere.
Yeah, it did too.
He's a big kid, he's got good speed. He was pretty well thought of when he was drafted and he's another one of these guys who's a high draft pick that sort of changes game. Yeah, he's a good solid fourth liner, does what a fourth liner should be doing, knows his job.
Chris (1:04:42)
There's an interesting thought of maybe just trying him up with the Jack and Brat line, just a couple of shifts and see how he does, you know? That would be interesting.
Tim Wood (1:04:50)
Yeah, fuck it. I mean, I'll do it. I could probably score five goals a year sitting there.
Chris (1:04:54)
Alright, we'll put Tim Wooded.
Dan (1:04:55)
If you go to right place, I don't doubt you.
Tim Wood (1:04:56)
I mean, I'm not really going to be back checking all that much. don't like I haven't seen the defense's own in like 10 years in beer league. So
Dan (1:05:01)
It's gonna be tough.
Yeah.
Chris (1:05:04)
So the first time you get decked, you just gonna stay down? Is that it? Just staying down? Get the stretcher out.
Tim Wood (1:05:08)
I'm gonna like whenever you see like a football player who has like glassies when they're like, shit this is fast. shit. That's what I would be like.
Dan (1:05:12)
he's just not.
It's just not going to be inside our blue line. It's just. Yeah.
Chris (1:05:17)
Yeah
Yeah, or you can just hang out in the neutral zone and just hope to get those breakaways. Just cherry pick. That's it. All right, we're going to wrap this thing up for tonight. You guys have anything else you want to add? All right, so wherever you're listening to us, you guys know the routine, the like, the subscription, the download, a positive comment, negative comment, whatever. We're all big boys. We can take it. For Dan and Tim, I'm Chris. We are the Uncle Puckers, and we'll see you when we see you.
Dan (1:05:25)
Yep, exactly.
That it?
is out.
Tim Wood (1:05:52)
Fuck you, Valakit.