The boys talk about the back to back wins against the Wild. Can we help put an end to the Rangers season on Saturday? What to expect when the playoffs start?
[00:00:05] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils And you're listening to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast Let's go Devils! Welcome to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast I'm Chris with Tim and Keith Kachuk here with us today Keith, tell us what it's like having a son raise that championship banner What's it like, Keith?
[00:00:35] Dude, let me tell you something, it was just the coolest thing It really was, I mean, it's just, it's middle school, IEC, MSL, whatever it was But man, to see these kids kind of put it together and come together in the playoffs The way you really want, that last game was a nail-biter too Because it was tied late in the third, it just protected a one-goal lead Not a two-goal lead, you kind of clenched in the hallway But they really, man, they really just stood up, man They did it right, and this was, again, this is another team
[00:01:03] That came down from above our development league So we had to beat them twice to win And that was a really tall order I've never been so nervous, quite frankly I think I was more nervous than Caden all day But just to see them perform the way they did Yeah, I don't know, I got just nothing but praise for these kids, man It was such exciting hockey Given the fact that they're 10 to 14 years old
[00:01:31] And some of the talent is just incredible And then we went right from there to basically His first club, he's going to be on club team next year Two-day tryouts And this is for 12U, right? And oh my God The talent that you're seeing at this age I can't wrap my head around it Because even baseball, like as good as I got at that at some point I didn't even start playing until I was probably like 12 years old So I can't comprehend the speed of which I'm seeing these kids
[00:02:00] Fly around the ice and shoot the puck And I can only liken it to this Whether you've been to Hawaii or not You'll probably just understand the visual When I was at Hawaii for my honeymoon I went over to the north shore of Maui Not the big island, but Maui Which is where the waves typically are in Hawaii The bigger waves are going to be on any of the north shores And I stood there and watched 10-year-olds rip it To the point that I had never seen in my life It was kind of like that It was like, holy shit This is like an elite kind of group of kids
[00:02:29] And the next journey is going to be awesome He'll be doing club and middle school next year So three practices and three games pretty much every week Talked to his new coach last night Really excited about that But my goodness, just the team in general It was so much fun You know, when you get close Just like when our teams win the Stanley Cup Or something like that Or a World Series When you get close It hurts that much more to not win And I was really worried about the disappointment
[00:02:59] But thankfully we didn't have to Disappointment will be held off for at least another year We got a lot of kids moving up next year Expectations are not high That video you sent us Of that one little kid on the other team That kid's nasty He just like walked through the whole fucking team And almost roofed it Right at the end Yeah That was a five-on-three power play for us With 40 seconds Wow Did that kid have to run through the zone Yeah He almost roofed it
[00:03:29] He almost walked across the bar Our goalie came up huge too So we had two goalies all year If you ask me I would tell you they were equals One was a little older Maybe you could say it's just a tad bit better But they basically split time And one goalie got less and less That's kind of the playoffs went on It started with the game before the semis Because he had played like a double tournament The day before So he came up to the other goalie Who usually does the second half He's like you're going to get most of the game And the other goalie got like six
[00:03:57] Eight minutes in that game Then six minutes the next game And then the two finals games He didn't see any time But quite frankly It was the right call Like at this level Where everything's that much more heightened Like he was that much better And needed to be in there I think just like Caden and the other fifth grader They got very reduced ice time Like everything was I'm not out there looking for Equal share of line time You know what I mean? Not in the championship It's for the entire team But also but he's on the youngest Youngest edge of this age group too
[00:04:27] So And so was that other goalie Yeah As he gets older He's also a fifth grader He'll get more time So I think the coach pulled all the right buttons You know And just did everything right Because if Even as a parent If you're going to sit up there And be concerned about your ice time For your child Who like in the case of mine Is obviously a skill level below That would just That would just be ignorant on my part Right This is a team game And this is what it took to win And it came down to the wire As you saw from that That last shot So Even on a five on three It wasn't over
[00:04:56] Well we were doing a live stream During it And a bunch of the guys You know That always hop on with us Were Sending their congratulations to you Because we were kind of Keeping them updated on everything And letting them know when Caden won So It's awesome man We're super proud of him Super proud of you You never know when you're going to get These chances You know Yeah So much has to fall in line To get into these These games And I'm reminded of something That we don't As hockey fans We probably don't even need to say But There is no sport
[00:05:26] That comes close To What is necessary To do In hockey I mean I'm talking to all these coaches In different sports And everybody to a man Says like the same thing Like You can Play football year one Take a summer off And then come back in And boom You're great at football That ain't happening In hockey Like you Need ice time You need to master So much Just on the ice Before you're even talking about How the skill can translate To the game Like for example The fact that my kid's got a great shot
[00:05:56] In the backyard On the deck He's got a good wrist shot He's got a great Slap shot All those things Haven't done it yet On the ice It's different when you're skating On razor blades And you just want to fall On your ass So I just get reminded Constantly seeing these kids There's no sport like hockey It is definitely The best sport in the world You'll see it with Caden soon Where that starts to all click You know It's like In anything You know It just All of a sudden It clicks And you're like Oh shit Okay I can skate full speed And still get this slapper off
[00:06:25] And still get this wrister off And all that stuff So it'll all It'll all fall in line But it's just awesome We're so happy for you You guys Coach Tim's gonna come up And my little protege Is gonna Where Kids Love it Also saw he's wearing Number 86 Which is pretty cool Yeah That is cool That is cool But there is Another Person In the family The Hughes family That I Think today Should be A Luke Hughes Appreciation show Just because
[00:06:54] What we have been saying For the last little bit Like Alright Hamilton's out The training wheels Need to come off And we need to just let Luke Kind of be Luke And my goodness The last couple of games This guy has been Phenomenal And we will get into All of that The two big wins Against Minnesota And the upcoming Ranger game But first We have to do A little shout out To our hockey podcast Network sponsor DraftKings Sportsbook
[00:07:23] This NHL season Has been as predictable As a puck rolling On its edge No one knows Where it's going But that just means There's time for your Favorite team To figure things out And games left For you to get in On the action At DraftKings Sportsbook An official sports Betting partner Of the NHL And if you're new To DraftKings Listen up New customers Can bet $5 And get $150 In bonus bets Instantly Just download The DraftKings Sportsbook app Use code THPN That's for THPN For new customers To get $150 In bonus bets
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[00:08:21] For additional terms And responsible Gaming resources Visit DKNG.co Slash audio That's DraftKings Sportsbook With code THPN The crown is yours Okay Now we can get To the show Two big games This week Home and home Against the Wild We talked a little bit On Sunday About the game Saturday The Devils Looked great Just went up To Minnesota Holding on
[00:08:51] By an ass Aaron at third And just decided You know what We're just going To keep on scoring Kept their foot On the gas And did it But can they Do it again When they come Back home The same opponent Very much like A beginning Of a playoff Series now You're seeing It was testy In game one How is that Going to boil Over How are our Boys going To respond And I don't Know about you Guys but I Was extremely Happy with Yesterday's game I thought that
[00:09:20] You know we Could have won it Quite a few Times but You know I'm Not even going to Give a whole Bunch of shit Over that Boldy goal With what Two minutes Left A minute and a Half left Whatever it Was Because you know What that was Just a gorgeous Frickin goal Like not many Guys are Scoring that Goal So I know Dylan made a Mistake I understand That the Puck ended Going right To boldy But the Fact that he Was able to Get that Thing elevated On his Backhand while Falling on His face That was Impressive So all Right we Still get The other Point but I'm real
[00:09:50] Curious what You guys Feel about Just this Last game Against The wild How this Team has Kind of Looked over The course Of these Last four Games We know What happened With the Winnipeg game Again but You know The Chicago Game the Two wild Games And most Importantly Luke Luke really Stepping up And saying No I Don't want To I'm done Of hearing That we Don't have A number One d-man Anymore Because Seags and Hamilton Are out I'm the Number one D-man
[00:10:19] And man He's Proven it But yeah Curious What you Guys think Whoever Wants to Start Yeah I'd Go first The First Minnesota Game Yeah we Covered off On that That was Just a Pretty thorough Drubbing You know Start to Finish This game Kind of Weathered a Little bit Of a storm For the First five Six minutes Or so And In a line That I've Actually been Kind of Impressed with Recently
[00:10:49] Has been that Tatar Palat Dowling line And You know They went Through a Full rotation Of lines And then That line Came out For their Second shift And really Started to Push back And push Back on it And from There on Out it Was a Pretty Even game Kind of Back and Back and Forth You know Pretty Strong Defensively And Yeah you Know I just I'm running You know I wrote in My recap Like I'm Running out Of superlatives For Luke You know Like
[00:11:18] Month of March He Is second In defensive And scoring Only Behind Kale Makar It's Just Remarkable The way That he's Just found A new Gear And you Know What's Crazy Is he's Only 21 This is Only his Second year You know We The side By side Of him And Quinn At this Time Is pretty Even In terms Of You know The general Production And stat Lines And stuff Like that And the Sky Is the
[00:11:48] Limit For this Kid You know The We still Have some Cracks In this System But I Think You know Since that Flyers Game You know They're They're Seven Four And One Pace 625 Winning Percentage You know You take Those two Winnipeg Games Out Because We're Just not In That Class You know They're Beating The teams That they Should Be I Think This All Bodes Well And it Looks Like it's Coming Together I
[00:12:36] Well Mercer Is Has Really Elevated His Game You know I've Been Killing Him All Season But He's Been He's Been Playing A hell A lot Better Just Mentioned That Third Line Which Has Been Pretty Good You know Dowling Been Been Been A trooper This Whole Season Man Just Ask him What We need To Do He Worked So Hard He Knows He's Not That
[00:13:06] I Did Kind Of Like Cotter At Center I Thought Foot Was Okay A Couple Games Ago He Had Some Good Moments I Really Like Sprong Last Night The Only Issue That I've Had Recently Was Just That Dylan Nemich Pairing You Know That He Came Pretty Clear You
[00:13:36] He Couldn't Tie Up His Stick On That Tip Play We Have To Start Limiting Those Tips These Floater Shots That Come In Either Tie Up To The Stick Or Get Out To The Point Quicker So That Was A lot You Know Last
[00:14:06] Six Games You Go Six And Oh Yeah You Got The Four Days Off You Let Some Of These Teams That Have Some Games In Hand Catch Up And See Where Everything Falls By This Time Next Week But I In The
[00:14:36] Last Little While They Just Look More Like A Cohesive Unit They Look Like More Guys Understand Or Settling Into More Of Their Role Not To Suggest Mismanagement Earlier In The Year Because You Know A Guy Like Mercer Is Kind Of A Unique Situation Right But And Where You Played Him All Year And What Was But Now You
[00:15:14] I Mean He Sure And Brat Like You I Don't Know How To Speak Any More Highly Of Those Two I Think Timo Still Doing His Thing A Lot Of The Other Guys Everybody Has Seemed To Step Up Their Game At
[00:15:44] Awesome Awesome We'll Get To You In A Second As Bobby Finishes His Thoughts Yeah Just To Finish Up On Luke Hughes I Don't Know That I've Seen The Elevation In A Player In One Short Year That I'm Seeing With Luke Hughes I Mean We Weren't The First To Say This I Probably heard It Because Because I Heard Scouts Say But There Is A Contingent Out There Who Had Said Early On That The Best Hughes May Be The Youngest Hughes And That Is Not Out Of Reach The Way He Is Playing In What He's Done In One Year Think About What He
[00:16:14] Can Do In Two And Three Years From Now Like He's 21 Years Old I I'm Just Over The Moon Right Now With What We're Seeing From His Team So Overall Yeah It's Just Nothing But Encouraging You Know You Know You Listen To Anybody In The Media And They Talk About The Things That You
[00:16:44] Need For Playoff Success In The NHL Right And Everybody Says The Same Things That You Know A Team To Win The Stanley Cup You Gotta Have That Number One Centerman You Gotta Have Goaltending And And You Know The Kale McCarr Type The You Know Zach Wierenski Type You Know There's A Whole Bunch Of Quinn Hughes All Those Guys Even
[00:17:13] Before Dougie's Injury And Segendollar's Injury And Before Luke Kind Of Stepped Up Into This Role Where I Didn't Know We We Have You Know When Jack Is In That Line Up I Would Feel A Whole Lot Better Going Into These Playoffs But I'm Nowhere Near As Ready To Stick My Head Into A
[00:17:43] 500 Degree Oven Like I Game Was Awesome I'm
[00:18:13] Excited Again I'm Ready For The Playoffs I Don't Know This Last Night They Look Great You All Still Think I'm For Picking Them Nine And One In The Last Ten Well What's What's What's Right Now Three And One Since I Made The Prediction So They Got A Hopefully I'm Wrong But They Got The Rangers Left By Saturday The Rangers
[00:18:42] Might Just Be Looking For Their Tea Time Then The Same With Boston And You Might Get Some Life Out Of The Penguins And The Life Out Of It It's Not Like Pittsburgh And Red Wings Are The Two Worries On That Whole Thing Pretty Much I Guess You Would Say But Not You Know You Could Be The You Figure The Red Wings Last Game Of Season And If
[00:19:12] They're Out Of Of It We Might not Be Really For Much Of Anything At That Point So Yeah We Might Drop A Couple Of Those Games If Every Yeah Cause You Might See Some Guys From Utica Come Up Yeah So But I Don't Know I
[00:19:48] You Know So Bobby You're Going Saturday Right I Am Yeah That's That's Gonna Be Fun I Don't Know That I Love The Four Days Off I Think I Would Have Preferred A
[00:20:18] Wow They Have Like Basically Two Weeks Between Games And The Teams And A Lot Of The Coaches We're Doing Some Of
[00:20:48] Soon After That So If You Have A Healthy Dougie Do You Take Luke Off Power Play One Or Do You Just Move Dougie To Power Play Two Because Me Personally I Don't Change This I
[00:21:18] Power Play Is So Good Imagine Having Like A Power Play Two Unit That's Like Jack And Dougie I Know That's Not Going To Happen Because Dougie Won't Be On The Team But Yeah I See What You're Saying I I
[00:21:48] Half I Think I Always Kind Of Hate To Say That's I Mean That's My Biggest Gripe Is Yeah Three He's Only Played 70% Of The Games The Pass Some On I Shit But Yeah Yeah I Mean The He's Not A
[00:22:19] On Exits He's Excellent At So You Know Taking For A Guy That Big I Do Wish He Played A Little Bit More Visible Yeah I I Don't I Just Like Pace
[00:22:49] People Seven Two Yeah Like When He's Eliminating A Guy He Will Just Pace Someone Along The Boards And You Know You Know Take This As You Will But Sometimes They'll Show A Locker Room Videos And The Floral
[00:23:18] Scent Jurgens For That There You Go I Think So The Way I Look At Dougie Defensively Is When The Pucks On His Stick Freezing When The Pucks On A Stick It's Excellent When The Pucks Not On A Stick It Offensively
[00:23:48] We're Going To Need Him And We're Going To Need That Shot If He Still Has It You Know We're Going To Need Him In Last Year I Remember
[00:24:18] Last Year Early In The Year Luke Was Getting Power Play One And I Had Said On The Show I Don't Feel Like He Deserved That Everybody
[00:24:48] Knows He's Made A Living Scoring From Back There And You Can Keep Power Play One Humming And Put That On Power Play Two What's The Other Team Going To The The Two The Kind Of The One Power Goal Niko's Hattrick Goal And I Posted This On Twitter If You Watch That Again Just The Motion That They Can Implement With Luke Being So Mobile Up Top Dougie Is A Lot More Static Obviously He's Not Moving His Feet As Much And I Think On A Power Play Two It Can Be A
[00:25:18] Little Bit Simpler And A Little Bit More Basic Where It Is Yeah Yeah Yeah You Feed Let A Bomb Away And And Tatar Mason Or Whoever is In Front Even Mercer On Anyway I I I Totally Agree With You I Think I I I And I I've Seen We've All Seen
[00:25:48] Over The Course Of These Last Handful Of Games Like The Team Looking Like A Team Much More Than They Have All Season And I I Don't Know Were They Just The Guys That Are Now Contributing And Showing Up And They They Didn't All Year You Know It's Crazy Like Mercer Was Seriously Fucking Invisible All Year Until The Last Couple Of Weeks And Then All Of Wow This Guy You Know When He Wants To Play Or I Know He Always Wants To Play But You Know What I'm Saying He Is Great
[00:26:17] You Know Tatar Jumping In And Holla Offensively Even Like You Mentioned Dowling These Guys Are All Contributing Now I Don't Know If This Was We Better Get Our Asses Rolling Because There Is No Jack Coming Back To Let Jack
[00:26:47] In His Line And That Nico Line Just Take Care Of Everything That They Felt They Didn't Have To Do A Whole I Don't Know I Don't Think That's It But It's Weird To Me How But Even Against Some Top Line Opponents
[00:27:17] You're Seeing Them Play Really Really Good Hockey Not Able To Get The Wins You Know Against The Dallas Is Against Vegas Against After Two Goals In Winnipeg I Thought They Played Pretty Decent In That Into The Playoffs Yeah Look
[00:27:47] Guys We're Going To Play A Really Good Team But If They Play This Way And They Get Better Over These Last Six Games And They Get Ready For The Playoffs They Might Be Be Chance Unfortunately
[00:28:17] Is A lot Of The Devil's Fault This Year Because They Have Given Not Much Not Much To Believe In For You Know Winning A String Of Games Or Looking Like A Consistent Team For A String Games So I Think If You With Nico He Sheer Jesper Brad Some Of These Guys Even With Jack Hughes Out If They Were Consistent This Year People Would Say Okay They Have The Talent We Have Some Damn Good Players You Think But I Think It's Just The Confidence As Myself As We're Talking
[00:28:46] Right Now I'm Totally Sight The Way They've Been Playing Lately But If You Asked Me Do I Believe That's Why Earlier Do You Think They Can Win The I Don't I You Say Sweep A Series You Gotta Wait For Another Team A Week I Hate That Even A Buy Week In The NFL Sometimes I Don't Like That Shit If You You You Want To Keep On Rolling Especially
[00:29:16] The Devils Aren't Tired From Rolling They Have Rolled All Year So This Is A New role Very Good Points And The National And A Lot Of This Media Is The National Media They Glance At Who Is Out And They Are Dead In The Water We Watch Them Day In
[00:29:46] Day Out So We Know Where All The Issues Are It Seems Like They Been Able To Better Recreate Jack's Offense In The Aggregate Amongst All The Step Forward But Also The Third And Fourth Line Are Actually Contributing When They're Getting Constantly Caved In Or Not Producing Any Offense Or Forechecking Or Anything Then It's
[00:30:16] Completely Up To The First And Second Line To Game But You Know It's It's Like That Was The Biggest Problem Right It Was I Remember Seeing Some Dude At Wawa Back I Don't Even Remember When It
[00:31:05] It Was Those Two All The Time Like It's So Frustrating Like If These Guys If Everyone Had Just Woken Up Or For Whatever Reason Like Maybe We Have A Different But I Love Where We Are Right Now That That Goes Back To The Construction Of This Roster And The Excitement That We All Had And Everybody Had On Paper It Was Always Preference By Saying Yeah Of Course They Have To Play Up To Their Potential But That's All They Really Ever Had To Do With With The Guys That Were Brought In The Different Types Of Roles And Personalities Like If
[00:31:35] They Had All Done What They're Capable Of Normally doing We Would Have Had A From That Point On They Just One Of Worst Teams In The League So It's Been It's Been Trending Upwards But You Know Like You Guys Are Saying It Could All Fall Apart Again We
[00:32:05] Just Went Through This Like What A League Our Ass Is Handed To Them It's You Know It's 4-0 4-1 5-1 I'm Confident That Game Five We're Going To Be All Right Like This Team Has A Really
[00:32:35] Really Great Ability To Be You Know These Are
[00:33:21] Professional Single Play And Every Single Second Matter Really Is A Thing Like You've Got To Buy Into That Completely And Maybe Part Of It's That Too They Are Gearing Up For It The professionals It's A Long Season You Know And January February It Gets Dark At Four O'clock It's Cold Out Wife Bitching At You You Know Like Fuck I Have To Drive To The Rink You Know Like It's Two It's Two Degrees Outside You're Trudging Around In The Fucking Snow We Get
[00:33:50] It Okay The Winter Sucks Fucking Uncle Puckers Run Four Times A Week I'd Like To Hear Us All On Saturday If We Shit The Bet Against The Rangers There's A Very Good Chance You Guys And We'll Go Around We'll Go Bobby Tony Tim And Me We Have Six Games Left Before The Playoffs Start So These Six Games I Pretty Much Win Lose Or Draw
[00:34:20] It Doesn't Matter We're In We're Playing Carolina Bobby What Are You Most Confident About This New Jersey Devil Team Going Into The First Round Playoffs Against The Hurricanes What Are You Most Confident In I Think I'm Most Confident That They Won't Implode And That They'll Keep Everything In Check To Where It Is Overreact Or Underreact I Think They're Just Going To Be Kind Of
[00:34:50] A Steady Cohesive Team Okay What About You Tony What Are You Most Confident In Goaltending Yeah The Biggest Thing For Me Tim I Think They Have They've Shown Us The Ability That They Can Rise To Meet The Need In The Playoffs When Whistles Get Put In The Pocket You
[00:35:20] Know Like Brendan Dillon Yeah He Made Like A Huge Fuck Up You Know To The That Tied The Game But That's A guy That's Going To Be In Front Of The Net Like Like Like Beating The Shit Out Of Someone When The Within A Couple Periods Like I Think We've Shown A Pretty Good
[00:35:50] Ability To Bounce Back And To Stay Within Things And To React To Pressure And To Push Back When We Need To Push Back And I Think We Will Win The Physicality Battle If They Engage In That Physicality Battle I Think We Have The Horses For It Well I Think We Need To Initiate It Against Carolina We Have To Be The Initiators And We Have To Set The Tone Early On What's Going To Happen There I'm
[00:36:32] One Of
[00:37:10] For point was I feel like the team has just kind of come together more singularly focused to those types of things aren't going to happen again so that's why I wouldn't do that skill to skill yeah obviously we've had one of the top tandems in goaltending in the NHL all year so it's very comforting I just like the kind of mentality and what I'm seeing of the team in these last few games and what we have to look forward to in the next six now the next question now again can only
[00:37:37] pick one I know that if we stop and think you're gonna you know we can all come up with about 20 but just one what are you most worried about with the devils going into this playoffs Bob um I'm I guess I would say I'm a little worried about the offense drying up some of the key guys just you know not finding that like again I'll praise just for Brett to hell and back for how great of a year he has and just how great of a player he is
[00:38:05] and he still quietly has what 20 goals or whatever but we need the goals in big moments so I just don't I don't want to see all of our key guys miss that mark you know okay got to have different people stepping up different times so I'm a little concerned that we won't put up enough offense don skill and what I mean by that is because I do think that a lot of things weren't met before the deadline and I think that's when it comes to these a playoff series a couple playoff like
[00:38:34] the whole playoff run I just don't know if we have the pieces that can compete with all those teams that some of the you know some of the teams and that's what I think I complained about last episode we were on to is to me that's a big concern with the devils is that like right now I think if we had we said last week if we had even one but if we had two decent pieces with this team right now I'd you know I feel like the the playoff run could be more successful and I think you have to have that
[00:39:00] when you go it's not it's hockey's not like a it's a it's unforgiving sport like that's a you know you're going through a lot of games to get to that trophy it's not a it's not like you just I hate not that football is an easy thing but it's not like you could just pull off a couple games and get in you got to really compete with these teams and that's what worries me with the devils I mean and like I said I hope for the best but that is a concern I guess that do you feel though that come playoff time I'm not disagreeing with you I'm just curious about this like come playoff time
[00:39:29] your skilled guys get reduced quite a bit you know it's um you know Leon I mean dry saddle and McDavid are not going to have four and five point nights for the most part in playoff games you know teams go in and say you're going to beat us dude it's a physical game it's going to be you know ugly goal mounts scrambles for uh you know goals um it's going to be you know tic-tac deflections and
[00:39:56] bullshit like that you kind of see that skill not it just becomes a different game it becomes a much tighter game it becomes I do you think that that because we I think you have better players but but but do you don't do you think we have those kind of guys that can win that like grind it out game if they're if they're contributing you know the guys that can crash and I think guys like nasan can but there's guys that have been invisible this year that I don't know if they can actually do that where
[00:40:24] if you would ask me last year like I'll go to Eric Holla like he was a guy I thought could change a lot of games for the devils this year I mean he's been playing better right now right but I don't feel that still because I don't think I've seen like even again goes to the consistency thing I haven't seen these guys like the haulers or tatars be consistent for a period of time you think we have the horses they just haven't played that like that I think we might have I don't know if the horses are there anymore like I don't know if it's Eric Hall I don't know if it's just had a bad season
[00:40:51] or you know or had a rough season is he gone yeah or is it done or it's a tar I liked to tar the last time he was here I was kind of annoyed we went well we all were like wanted him back and then when we got him back I think we thought we were getting something different than we actually were getting and is that just what their skill levels become because they're getting older I mean it's nothing against them I mean I hate to say that even but it's you have to wonder these things because we've had a few guys this year and even you know Tim was talking about Mercer which I agree it's getting
[00:41:18] getting better but there was a period of time this year where it was like man like when's he going to take that next step you know and maybe I would love it to be in the playoffs because that would be a great time to do it you know um so I you know that's and Chris you mentioned we look at the like we're all we all watch the devils when they were great you know we watch the 95 teams and stuff like that you had guys like maybe like look at Claude the muse regular season was much different than his postseason you know uh Stefan Roche you know I mean he was hitting a lot of posts but I mean he was
[00:41:47] awesome like do we have a couple of those guys that can change the series like that guys that were added to on the team sometimes you know I think a Timo Meyer can be that type guy I do I think he can turn it up a different level like do we have a guy that is going to be like Jeff Friesen who is just gonna you know been a kind of example Jeff Friesen right right a good player right it was good player for San Jose good player wherever he was explosive playoff yeah and then comes in
[00:42:17] to us and just holy shit man this guy was just fine in the back of the net every single time that the devils needed him to and you know is that Cody Glass I don't know it's gonna be fun and that's the way it always seems to work right there's always one random guy that just you know you look at Tampa and it was um Nick Paul and you look at um Carolina against us two years ago how many goals
[00:42:41] did Jordan Martinuk score against us like Jonathan March and so for Vegas like he just decided you know Sean Chambers 95 goals in game four two years ago had like six game winners and then the year after wasn't even a point per game uh Langenbrunner the same year as Friesen yeah he scored a third of what his regular season goals were in you know so I don't know if we have a couple of those guys that I
[00:43:09] don't know if we have a couple of those guys you know I think we had him last year like I thought Eric Holla when he was you know the year he was we're all fired and he was coming back fired up you know I like that that was a guy that to me then the playoff you know could score some of those goals I think that uh believe it or not I think Nason can do some you know do something special in the playoffs because guys like that one you know or that's a big one but yeah 100% right what about
[00:43:35] you Timmy who are you uh what are you most worried about I'm I'm with Bob you know it's just I I think the biggest issue we've had this entire season I don't think that will change you know I you know our our ability to generate offenses has gone dry you know like we're giving up we've been shut out more than anyone else this year I think maybe tied with like San Jose or Chicago or something no we're we're leading the league are we leading the league we have they said
[00:44:01] it on the last game I read a game before they were about Spalding and Danico we're talking about we've been shut out eight times and we've shut teams out eight times yeah good great grand everybody on the bus um yeah that's the thing you know like being in your pants is cool sorry okay it's gonna be mild game it was this guy that I knew uh but you know and and Bob brought
[00:44:27] up Brad and I I will go to the end of the earth to defend Brad and I you know I think his play was actually pretty good two years ago he just didn't score but he needs to be able to kind of continue what he's been doing this year and I think he has a nice personality that's basically what that is he had a bunch of hits last night too didn't he well that's that's what I was about to say that's a different part of his game that he just added this year his game has evolved every year
[00:44:55] and right and I think I think he can continue that in the playoffs you know like like that one play then you know he eliminated Foligno who's like twice his size yeah like the second or third period I was like oh holy shit Jesper and then that play in the three on three overtime he just decided he was like I'm gonna get on top of this guy and just fucking bury him into the boards get possession back and possession is the most important thing in three on three overtime Brad just made the decision
[00:45:21] that he was gonna get the puck back can he do that in the playoffs I hope so I think he can I think but he needs to he needs to lock in and be able to do that you know I think two years ago he was still pretty heavily a perimeter player you know and you know like you were saying you need to kind of get get into the inside and get into the interior on on teams and and we've struggled to do that you know that one flyers game where we got shut out that was an absolute dud of a game like they they
[00:45:49] blocked like 30 shots and we just could not get to get to the interior on that we need guys that can be able to do that I think Nason Paula Palat are the guys that will need to do that well Palat's another one that can be that like holy shit yeah he showed up for the playoffs so the thing I'm most worried about going into the playoffs and for the next six games and for the playoffs are continuing however long they do is injuries I just I'm I'm I'm the last two years this team has been just
[00:46:17] so riddled with freaking injuries that's the thing that scares me it's like right be like game 80 you know Myers out and you know and Bratz out like that you guys see Chuck's hurt uh Brady's out right now and then I heard I heard uh the other Chuck is actually practicing but I heard he's still along a decent amount of time I heard somebody say today from Florida or was it yesterday it doesn't matter yes he's skating but they said they're hopeful they'll get him back at some point in the playoffs
[00:46:45] but there's a very good chance he doesn't make it back at all changes the whole thing for them that's a I mean that's a massive blow and Tony this is something you brought up earlier that was a great point in this couple shows ago it's like what Florida had and relative to what we have is Florida has like heavy skill they have players that are good and big and heavy we have guys that are heavy we don't have really anybody in between except maybe for Timo and Nason sometimes Nico's
[00:47:10] kind of evolved into that a little bit but he's still still not totally there so that that's what I think wins in the playoffs the other thing I'm concerned about is if Dougie's not back then we're running Nemec out there as our 6d and Keith's inability to trust him and if a if he fucks something up but also the amount of mileage that that's going to put on Luke and Pesci and Kovacevich on the right side like Kovacevich has kind of had some had some rough moments uh of the past couple of games
[00:47:38] I don't think there's a chance in hell that Dougie's not back for game 83 against Carolina yeah I don't think there's a I think that no matter what he's going to get himself back into this lineup yeah that emotional of like uh Dougie hollow and uh Nason against Carolina I think yeah that's going to really drive the ball what I wonder is is that if so say say the devils win the next two right I think they're in I think that's like is that they need six I believe so
[00:48:06] I believe so I don't know if do you put Hamilton back in until the play do you let him rest a couple more games and then bring him back into playoffs or do you I mean if he's ready to go now I would play him now I'd let him get as more as comfortable as possible until the playoffs but if it's like he can go now but that's what I'm saying if he can go now like if it's like if one of those like yeah he'll probably be better off resting until the playoffs start then I either way whatever they
[00:48:35] decide I mean as far as his physicalness I I have no problem throwing him in against the Rangers if he's ready to play um you know I don't think I don't think that's gonna happen no but well one other thing I want to talk to you guys about but first Bob did you have a devil you know for tonight you do okay so do I so we'll do yours all right you guys want to play a game yes we do it shall we play a game
[00:49:03] buckle up boys and girls it is time for the devil you know on the uncle pucker new jersey devil podcast it is that um we have all four of us now so that's awesome like I didn't write this thing
[00:49:26] and Tony was gonna play so I'm half out of it man so did you listen to the last one where I threw him off the scent with Chris Terreri no I did not I uh I gave him his the goals and assists stat line totally threw him off the threw him off the set all right so this is now time for devil you know the most fun interactive game in new jersey devil podcast history tonight it'll be Bobby he'll be
[00:49:53] giving the clues of any new jersey devil or former new jersey devil player myself Tim and Tony get three incorrect guesses before we are eliminated we can ask Bobby any question that we want he can or cannot answer it is completely up to him and whoever wins this round of the devil you know will be the clue giver for next week so Bobby whenever you're ready so let's just hope that you weren't
[00:50:15] preparing the same player this is gonna be a very short game this former devil played for four NHL teams he averaged about 18 goals per year over his career no I have to say something uh with this regard to Tim so last time we played Tim got what was it Rache right Tim Mike Motto
[00:50:44] oh the one before that when I when I think I gave the I'd gave the motto so it was before that when you won yeah yeah he's from Quebec or something like that and I was like when I heard the first clue I thought that name I said so now I'm thinking well you got three chances or so I think it's just good if you have a first like just wasted guess yeah that's what I do do you have a guess yeah are you just wasted a guess and just done it yeah you should have hmm still is more fun when we get to answer
[00:51:12] more questions maybe we don't tell them if they're right or wrong till the end shout them out just write it down all right so what we just say average 18 goals a year uh this player has never reached 30 goals but did have a 29 goal season his highest point total was that same year and it was a year
[00:51:35] where the following four movies were tops at the box office something about Mary saving private Ryan Armageddon and Titanic does anyone know the year 1995 no 97 it is 98 it is 98 98 okay that's when he had the most goals 98 most points most points highest point total year was 1998
[00:52:01] 98 we're not doing that yet okay okay his lowest scoring season was four goals was that season all when he was on the devils or are you not telling us that I'm not telling you that what was that clue you were given his lowest season his lowest statistical year was four goals and nine total points
[00:52:26] that was with the devils overall he's had 21 professional seasons oh wow he's played some time yes this former devil became an american citizen in 1996 at a ceremony in newark this is where tony gets it
[00:52:49] no the notable albums to debut in his draft year were appetite for destruction by guns and roses 87 88 dr feelgood by motley crew 89 like a 89 is right 89 by madonna the batman soundtrack by prince and the world was introduced to millie batman soundtrack
[00:53:14] i just watched that drafted in a who was he drafted by can't tell you that yet you can tell me bob we've been best friends since we're 12 we ain't gonna tell no one this player did have two stints with the devils for a total of 11 seasons two stints 11 seasons with the devil 11 drafted in 90 between the two stints yes now if he's drafted in 98 all the mu is not correct if he's not throwing out a random guess
[00:53:42] i was gonna i almost said the same thing because he said two uh two stints yeah in 18 nhl seasons this player managed to play all 82 games just four times see he's a forward right
[00:54:02] 29 goals yeah yeah as a devil this player had 202 goals 270 assists for 472 total points the langer brunner no he was already american no one still a guess was it langer brunner i was just thinking like that's a good guess layups are coming now no it's not langer brunner okay
[00:54:29] this people are people laughing at us for not knowing by now you think bobby probably i think right about here is where it's all going to start to click that's just my guess this player had 863 penalty minutes for the devils billy garan incorrect no he was twice you know he was american too oh yeah that's probably that's right are you guys bobby hollick it was bobby hollick
[00:54:58] here's what would have really started to bring it down so he's 10th all time in devils games played 786 he's a 6 4 230 pound right shot center yeah that was from the czech republic he won two cups 95 in 2000 and a former member of the crash line he was drafted what that year from hartford he was like ninth or tenth um i can i think i still have that up so who did he play for the devils
[00:55:27] wait did he ever play for the whalers he did play yeah two years oh he did okay so the whale dropped it like ninth or tenth in the whale and 10th overall 1989 and the thrashers you said yeah the thrashers came back to us in 0809 for one season i forgot i forgot i forgot about that second stint yeah that fucking eyebrow yeah he did we did a very good job tonight on the ice i thought that my lines and my line mates randy mckay and
[00:55:57] mike peluso did a wonderful job i'm so happy to be here in america thank you i hated him for a little bit though man when he was a ranger for him yeah he lives in like the the hills of like some weird little town in the czech republic now or ceccia um hey i haven't heard from bobby hollick at all he did he did like a spit and chiclets interview like pretty recently like a couple months ago yeah he was talking about like like his training regimen where he like this hill that was by his
[00:56:27] house he was like it was like he was like carry water from like a well or something up the hill like he never comes back for like any of the reunion stuff like they never see him i i really appreciate how chris slow played that because he also did have bobby hollick he just let it drag out for a little while you can see make a team smart 14 i was like shit i gotta make a new devil you know for next month actually i have my i have my next week w you know right here but we're all set for it
[00:56:55] i'm gonna i'm gonna go look at that i'm gonna go watch the youtube and cheat there's one thing i want to mention you guys because this caught me as uh and completely by surprise the last home game and it happened again last night and i don't know if this is something that's that's now a thing that we're doing or it's been going on and i didn't notice this kill chant during the penalty kill whenever the puck is in our defensive zone you guys don't know what i'm talking about i didn't hear this you met you texted i was like i don't remember when you texted it i was like what did i
[00:57:25] miss that's new because that is i don't remember seeing that but timmy you knew about this you don't see no i i yeah i never noticed hear it or or notice it i don't know but like i'm like a cat with my phone so and then the other team brings brings the puck into the zone on the penalty kill an air horn goes off and then and it's synchronized the air horn and then they go kill man kill and the whole place chants kill which i think is the coolest thing in the world
[00:57:53] oh it's the soundtrack from the capital last year on the sixth but no you know i didn't notice that but you know what i always you know what i always notice is the fucking sandwiches going around on the side of the things yeah they say wah wah hoagies oh it's so crazy bobby how long have they been doing this they didn't do years with the game i've never seen this every home game i go to yeah for at least the last little while i couldn't tell you
[00:58:19] did they not take a penalty kill a penalty a penalty in the toronto game we saw because they didn't do that and i know we took a power play i never really noticed it through the tv to be honest with you it's just when i'm there but yeah that's not new as far as i know anybody else to write us let us know i just noticed this and i think it's the coolest thing i've never heard any nhl team do it before and to me i'm just discovering it so i'm like this is something that we do as devil fans it is
[00:58:45] the coolest thing in the world just that kill chant it's so violent and awesome i noticed that i don't understand how i missed it i feel like tony that'd be right up your alley yeah i'd be curious if there's any season ticket holders that can tell us for sure when it was i'll just go on record of saying at least a couple years okay i mean by saying a couple it could have been the last 10 for all i know all i know is i very much hear that chant i was at a couple games and i didn't ever man i was that a couple games a couple years ago and i didn't notice that maybe i did i was just too
[00:59:15] stoned to realize no you would definitely notice 17 000 people chanting kill it's cool thing in the world conscious i go to it's very normal i gotta know when this thing started and who started it because it's brilliant i love it i do like that maybe if i was on the ice bellicone that would get me from me jazz right and i think that we've been perfect on the penalty kill since i noticed they started doing it which i thought they just started doing it and i was like wow this is so freaking
[00:59:45] cool and how the hell did they get everybody hooked on this so quick maybe they're like blowing the horn and then kills coming up on the jumbotron and everyone's just chanting it like i i just think it's super awesome that's all um i have a little nhl news okay uh alex ovation scored goal 891 so now he has four more to go four to go and then he can work the tire yeah well i think they
[01:00:10] might get swept in the first round so i hope he does do it before the end of the playoff start because at least i'll have something to be happy about because i don't know are they winning right now i don't know my brother just came in and was like oh you know give me hand signals like 891 who's getting that last playoff spot i think it's gonna be montreal still we gotta put that we gotta put the nail in the rangers coffin on saturday that's that's what i really hope for that's what i'm hoping for dude plus we're getting like a marriage so i don't know if this is gonna be
[01:00:40] like ranger fans with us or not it's gonna be secondary sales i'm praying to god it's not i want to ruin my time but uh yeah we got to bury them after this i mean i'm constantly thinking like shit without jack and anybody's score on just dirken like that's what i'm thinking you know he was the only one that was able to do it for a lot of games so i mean hopefully brad can do his best jack hughes impression on saturday but there would be nothing like the only thing that would be better
[01:01:07] you know than okay winning a playoff round would be awesome and going far into playoffs but to be that nail in the coffin for the ranger season like if they lose their next game and then you know montreal or columbus win and then they have to win it beat us on saturday and we just stuff them i know it might not be the actual proverbial nail this game even if we beat them but that's still how i'm looking at it we can keep these two points from them as far as i'm concerned we've done our
[01:01:35] job to keep them out of the playoffs i think timo i think timo has a big game he was such a menace in that playoff series like you know he didn't score he was just he was one of our most valuable players and to be honest if the rangers lose their next game who knows how much heart they're going to have coming into this game that's that team is really uh a shell of itself like instead of digging down and and trying to i mean out of all the teams chasing they're the best team you know you put
[01:02:00] them up against montreal columbus the rangers talent is unmatched i mean their president's trophy winners last year this pretty much the same team if not a better version of it which if i were washington i'd be i'd be a little worried that if the rangers do get in yep i'm completely with you i think at montreal i think washington could probably take care of but if columbus manages to get in or the rangers manage to get in it could be trouble for washington um i mean i i want to see a world where
[01:02:29] we just go and we beat parolina and then beat washington and then go to the eastern conference final that'll be so much fun win the stanley cup have a parade and then have it yeah and we have some nice fun podcast tony buy the plane tickets now man you're coming back i'm telling you all right anything else you guys want to make the summer better because we can't go recapping the stanley cups again yeah but think about how many shows we just filled with tom fitzgerald bashing if they win the stanley cup we're gonna have to not i don't know find somebody else in management to
[01:02:59] fuck that guy get rid of him i got i got one one more thing before we go it's not hockey related i just want to know if you guys have ever heard of the senior high school game called senior assassin okay so it's hysterical that you just brought this up because you know about it as well i'm on my way to see my daughter at college yesterday and i was in a text thread with my wife and my son and i pull
[01:03:28] in and i was texting him something he's in school and she's at work and i'm on my way to montclair and i see a kid pull in to wawa and he has a pacifier in his mouth right okay so one kid with a pacifier in his mouth whatever i walk into wawa there's like 10 kids with pacifiers in their mouths so i text on the group thread why is every person at wawa have a pacifier in his mouth legit and my son just
[01:03:54] writes back to me senior assassin like i know what that is i'm like okay and i get my shit and i leave like i have no i didn't whatever i'm done i don't want to know what this is right now i have shit to do so last night he comes up to me he's mind you he's only a junior and he goes uh dad who's his buddy's on his way over he's like we're gonna go scope the house out of his uh target for the senior assassin i'm like okay so now i gotta know what the fuck is senior assassin dude and so apparently you
[01:04:24] know what this is then bob i do mine's slightly different than yours but go ahead no well maybe the whole thing is different what's yours so in my version of senior said let me just does yours have anything to do with water guns yes okay so this is basically a water gun game this is sanctioned by the kids this is not by the school and i think it's absolutely cool as hell that like we can still live in a world where kids with plastic water guns can have fun and it's not like this big fucking problem until a parent comes out of the house or until they're like motherfucker or until
[01:04:54] either neon green or until a cop pulls one of them over and right so around here we started seeing kids with swimwear on okay they have to actively wear the swimwear so like if you choose goggles they're not around your neck like you're wearing the goggles yes if you choose floaties you're wearing the floaties you're not carrying it with you the idea is everybody gets assigned to target whoever's
[01:05:18] playing in this game the only way you are safe is if you're wearing this swimwear wherever you are and school is safe you can't be assassinated within school so this is like you're at your job you're leaving your job maybe you know you're slinging yoga all around your town all around you got to put this stuff on so you don't get assassined by a water gun so maybe you're at the gym and you leave like fuck i forgot my floaties next you know your buddy's out there waiting for he's squirting with a water gun
[01:05:44] and it just goes on and on until the last man's standing so they got to humiliate themselves in public in order to be safe and i just think it's the coolest game and i wish we could have done it so they're like exactly it's it's fucking awesome and apparently they each put money into this and so every week if you're eliminated um you know you're out and then so the pot can grow because you can come back and whatever so the pot can always right now the pot's like thirty five hundred dollars
[01:06:12] to whoever wins this so so wait so you don't get eliminated you could buy back in i'm not sure if you could buy back in my son explained it to me yesterday away the pot rose i wasn't i was half watching the game and half listening to him that was when you guys were like are you behind because i had paused it this is exactly what we had talked about but we're talking about so these in in my son's school they have to put a bass fire in their mouth that's what they have to do that's their safety that's their safety so the rules are the same same exact as yours it's like safe zones right no no at
[01:06:40] school you can't break into people's homes you can't do anything illegal or stupid the only way that you can go through somebody's into somebody's house if their parents let you in that kind of thing um and if you walk into their house or you catch them somewhere and they have a you know swim noodle between their legs or a pacifier in their mouth you can't shoot them and uh if they don't you shoot them you get it on video that person's eliminated and you move on so you finally get the ball like ask that hot chick out and then you're right you got the red lobster wear swimmies
[01:07:09] run and shoot her in the face would be if it's like you know right the best would be like she asks you out and you're like oh my god she actually likes me she takes you out to dinner and you're having this great conversation at the end she shoots you in the face with a water gun her friend comes up from the booth over with a video camera laughing at you and she walks out i love it i remember in high school oh sorry go ahead tim no no i was just laughing it's funny i
[01:07:36] i yeah i went to a boarding school so i missed all i remember we in high school uh actually we you know we all went to high school together us three i remember there was a kid i don't remember his name and so but he was like one of these raver kids because remember everyone was raving back then and we had some like and he was on our bus and he actually he was dating this girl named julie i don't know but but he always bought a pacifier on the school bus this was like a regular this was like a 18 19 year old kid you guys knew this guy too and he was like he had real squinty eyes he was
[01:08:04] always real stoned like always real stone but they would all go to these raves and then he would they would come on the bus in the morning like basically in their pajamas and they'd be sucking on pacifiers and lollipops girls all the time with pacifiers in their mouths going to raves and shit yeah so i guess that was something that they do it was a fashion choice we did some weird shit in the 90s i heard it wasn't a fashion choice i heard it was because you take x and when you're on ecstasy you grind your teeth a lot and if you have the pacifier in your mouth it stops you from grinding your teeth i don't know
[01:08:33] what you're talking about chris never heard of that before in my life i've never done ecstasy to be honest with you so yeah where's your where's your name i got a whole drawer of them over there and in other news i'm gonna go get a bunch of false teeth and it was so funny next episode i'm like this half of my brain is just gone my son's explaining it to me and he's like so if you don't have the binky in your mouth i'm like he's just this is a really cool story but you're referring to it as a
[01:08:59] binky it's just makes it really you gotta carry your binky around makes it even better like i gotta have my binky crazy good yeah i wish that we fucking were able to do that shit somebody thought of it most apparently have done a version of this just with friends but i worry about take a lot longer to be done because you know like look at us our friends are spread out this guy's on the wrong continent for christ's sakes you know it's like i'm never gonna win it's true like that game tag
[01:09:28] walking around in lithuania with a swim outfit on too they're gonna look a little weird fucking american american this guy exactly i told you that tony landed in the u.s and we all go grab our binkies and make sure we're safe that would surprise the shit out of you guys would not wouldn't it yeah i show up at your door like all right we're obviously in his eagles jersey and his mets hat yeah he'd catch bobby by himself get out leave me alone he's wearing an eagles jersey
[01:09:54] we'll admit it he's probably a closet flyer fan too oh now let's not let's not ryan grace blow up doll in the corner he's got ryan grace picture taped to the top of a hockey sink he's dancing around his living room with it i'm gonna run in the room and squirt you in the face with this all right we're gonna actually i did miss bob bobby i haven't seen been on a show with you in a while so i haven't missed you know he hasn't wasn't here all week yeah i know your kids been tearing it up
[01:10:21] on the ice and stuff like that man congrats yeah it's been fun man all right so we're gonna wrap this thing up and you're checking us out on the youtube channel hit the subscribe the like the alert bell and if you're listening to us wherever you're getting your podcast on apple or spotify or prime a like a five star review a positive comment helps the little podcast that could for bobby tony and tim i'm chris for the uncle puckers and we'll see you on the seat peace coming for you
[01:10:52] it's over johnny it's over