Devils Storm The Capital

[00:00:06] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils.

[00:00:13] You're listening to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast with Chris, Dan, Bobby, and Tony, The Uncle Puckers.

[00:00:20] Let's go Devils!

[00:00:48] Fired up.

[00:00:49] That's pretty good.

[00:00:56] I was going to say, I know that's a wrestling thing, but I was awfully tired starting this show.

[00:01:02] I feel better now, thank you.

[00:01:03] I'm exhausted, I had an absolute shit day at work, but we had a saving grace, Bob.

[00:01:10] We did.

[00:01:10] We just beat the Washington Capitals 5-3.

[00:01:14] Yep.

[00:01:15] So we're going to, we're the Uncle Puckers, Bob and Chris, like, you know, because the other guys didn't want to show up tonight, losers.

[00:01:22] So we're going to talk about the Toronto game and this game.

[00:01:27] The Toronto game was mainly forgettable, but before we get rolling, Bob, what do you,

[00:01:31] give us some thoughts on tonight's game, the Toronto game, you know, go ahead.

[00:01:36] There's some similarities between tonight and the Toronto game.

[00:01:40] There's a little bit out of sync, a little bit.

[00:01:43] They're not as crisp as they should be, specifically the power play for one.

[00:01:48] And, you know, for the better part of, you know, the Jack Hughes line.

[00:01:52] And I still say that's thinking they're going to be absolutely fine.

[00:01:55] It's not connecting right now.

[00:01:57] Do we know when Jack Hughes' birthday is?

[00:02:00] I do not.

[00:02:00] I'm going to get him a gym membership.

[00:02:02] I was thinking that that might be something good for him.

[00:02:05] You could do that.

[00:02:06] Maybe bulk him up a bit.

[00:02:07] Yeah.

[00:02:08] Go ahead.

[00:02:09] But anyway, I mean, today's game was a big improvement over Thursday.

[00:02:14] I thought the second half of the first period, they started to play their game.

[00:02:20] We've talked before about my favorite style of player.

[00:02:25] And is it just me or would you not take a whole team full of Paul Cotters right now?

[00:02:30] Well, I when Tony and I did the little preview video, I said the impact players for tonight have got to be Jack Hughes, Paul Cotter, Stefan Nason.

[00:02:40] I said those are the names I said.

[00:02:42] And, you know, Nason and Cotter were fantastic tonight.

[00:02:46] I thought Thomas Tatar.

[00:02:47] That goal was gorgeous.

[00:02:49] His third goal.

[00:02:51] A thing of beauty.

[00:02:52] The first two lines, like you said, they are a bit wonky right now.

[00:02:57] I think they're trying to do a little bit too much.

[00:03:00] Yeah.

[00:03:00] And not just kind of especially Jack, like, you know, the breakaway was a good save by Lindgren.

[00:03:06] It happens.

[00:03:08] But, you know, just every time I seem like I was watching him, he was getting pumped off the puck.

[00:03:13] He was getting a stick knocked out of his hand.

[00:03:15] He was getting pushed around a little bit.

[00:03:17] Just settle down, Jack.

[00:03:19] Stop trying to do, I think, too much.

[00:03:21] We've seen that with him before.

[00:03:23] When he does tend to do too much, it doesn't tend to work out that well.

[00:03:28] When he just forgets about all that and just plays.

[00:03:31] And there were glimpses of that today.

[00:03:32] And like I said, I'm totally not worried about it.

[00:03:34] This guy's like, you know, one swing and the stick away from just running on a heater for God knows how long.

[00:03:39] And I think him and Bratt work excellent together right now, actually, despite, you know, the lack of production, I guess you should say.

[00:03:46] And I still feel that Timo is complimenting that line greatly.

[00:03:49] I think the targeting on the board was huge.

[00:03:51] I still think that Nico is, you know, going to have a great year.

[00:03:56] Together they're working out.

[00:03:57] So I'm not concerned in that way.

[00:03:58] I just think overall we've kind of touched on it.

[00:04:00] It's there's something about you're coming back from that long travel.

[00:04:03] They're just it seems like a little mushy at times.

[00:04:06] They're just missing.

[00:04:07] They're just missing.

[00:04:08] And, Bob, we talked about it during the summer that, you know, there's might be an expectation here that this team is going to start a little bit slow because there are a ton of new guys.

[00:04:18] It's a brand new coach.

[00:04:20] It's a new system.

[00:04:21] It's not like you're just jumping in from where you left off last year, which if that was the case and we had last year's roster, I believe through four games, we maybe would have taken one from Buffalo.

[00:04:30] We'd be one in three right now.

[00:04:32] Yeah.

[00:04:35] Yeah.

[00:04:58] We'd be one in three right now.

[00:05:00] Yeah.

[00:05:00] First of the year.

[00:05:01] So that was really nice to see the price for that, didn't we?

[00:05:04] Yeah.

[00:05:05] It ran the hell over.

[00:05:06] Yeah, he did.

[00:05:07] He knew I had to make that pass and he knew he was going to get lit up and he took it.

[00:05:12] And that's what you have to do.

[00:05:14] You know, this is hockey.

[00:05:15] You know, quarterback sits in that pocket.

[00:05:17] He knows I'm going to deliver this ball when I'm about to get my fucking head rocked.

[00:05:20] They do it.

[00:05:22] But the good ones do it.

[00:05:24] So I think there were a lot of things about tonight's game situationally, I should say, that I thought was a lot.

[00:05:32] It was really good to see.

[00:05:35] They come out.

[00:05:35] Washington comes out second period, ties it up 30 seconds in first shift.

[00:05:39] Right.

[00:05:39] They didn't fall flat.

[00:05:41] They didn't give up two or three more right after that.

[00:05:44] They got and then they took the two goal lead again.

[00:05:48] Washington comes back.

[00:05:49] You know, they were sleepwalking on that Wilson goal.

[00:05:52] You know, nobody covered them.

[00:05:54] They let them.

[00:05:54] You know, two guys were behind the net on.

[00:05:57] I think it was.

[00:05:57] I don't even remember who it was.

[00:05:59] But, you know, but they didn't let it ruin their game.

[00:06:04] And most importantly for me, the goalie was pulled and they did.

[00:06:08] They finished the game.

[00:06:09] They closed it out the way that they were supposed to close it out.

[00:06:12] And there's a lot of good I think you can take from all four of these games so far and move forward.

[00:06:18] I like this team.

[00:06:20] I love the new additions.

[00:06:22] Yeah.

[00:06:22] Listen, this game alone, based on last year and the record they had against us and the way that we've played, this game as it played out today is probably a loss last year.

[00:06:35] Oh, definitely.

[00:06:35] So you're talking at absolute 180 in the scoreboard, in the register.

[00:06:39] And that's the most important thing.

[00:06:40] No matter what we say here, this was a tough one for them to win.

[00:06:45] Capitals match up well against them, whatever it is.

[00:06:47] And they fought really hard and they got through it.

[00:06:49] So that's a character win.

[00:06:51] So I'm not going to say, oh gosh, I wish it was a cleaner win.

[00:06:54] No, I think this is a pretty good win for this team right now.

[00:06:56] I think it's this type of win on this day is actually really good.

[00:06:59] Yeah.

[00:07:00] And, you know, you go to the guys that we mentioned earlier, right?

[00:07:03] The Cotters, the Nasons, the Tatars.

[00:07:06] These guys, Washington pushed us around last year.

[00:07:09] They won three or four games.

[00:07:10] They kicked our asses in most of them and made us look really bad.

[00:07:14] They seem to be able to score at will and they can just bitch slap you right off the puck.

[00:07:19] And that's what we, they weren't able to do that today.

[00:07:23] When they put up a wall, we hit back.

[00:07:27] And that's what I like to see.

[00:07:28] I loved Koba Savage's game tonight.

[00:07:31] I like this kid a lot.

[00:07:33] We are going to talk a little bit.

[00:07:35] We're going to dive into a little bit to the defense.

[00:07:38] And there's a issue brewing that you and I talked a little bit about at the game against Toronto.

[00:07:45] And then I think Nick Villano from, what's he on Pucks and Pitchforks or whatever.

[00:07:50] I think so, yeah.

[00:07:50] He wrote an article today.

[00:07:52] I didn't read it, but I saw the headline.

[00:07:53] I was too busy at work.

[00:07:54] Oh, perfect.

[00:07:54] And I was like, let's talk about that.

[00:07:56] Yeah.

[00:07:56] Yeah.

[00:07:56] So.

[00:07:57] Because we were focusing and I know we're not getting into it yet, but we were focusing more

[00:08:02] or less on maybe one person that's causing a problem for the defense.

[00:08:08] There's another candidate that emerged.

[00:08:10] Yeah.

[00:08:10] I'm sure he's going to talk about that particular candidate.

[00:08:13] And this is probably the person I had penciled in for number seven, who's looking at this

[00:08:17] point, like you're not coming out of the lineup anytime soon.

[00:08:20] I want to mention one other thing about the job that like the Cotters and the Nasons and

[00:08:24] Lazars are doing.

[00:08:26] They're going to get a lot of attention right now for the points that they're putting up.

[00:08:30] But I think the more important thing here is that they're doing exactly what they are

[00:08:34] supposed to do and are capable of doing when your top two lines aren't feeding your

[00:08:40] team.

[00:08:40] 100%.

[00:08:41] So this is when, hey, guys, we got to pick them up.

[00:08:43] Let's go out there.

[00:08:44] Let's get a goal.

[00:08:45] If things are reversed, if there are other scoring going on, maybe they're playing their

[00:08:49] role a little bit more differently, securing the win, locking down the defense.

[00:08:53] And, you know, they play a simple game, which bodes well for like the entire game.

[00:08:57] So I'm not saying they're either going to score or not like, oh, Jack scored.

[00:09:00] So we're not going to bother scoring.

[00:09:01] That's not what I'm saying.

[00:09:02] I'm saying this is the mentality of those types of players that know, hey, we got amazing

[00:09:09] leaders on this team.

[00:09:10] We've got great offensive talent.

[00:09:11] They're just not hitting it right now.

[00:09:13] Let's pick them up.

[00:09:14] Let's do our thing.

[00:09:14] Let's get a goal.

[00:09:15] And it's early and often already.

[00:09:17] This is four games in.

[00:09:18] And that's what your depth is.

[00:09:20] Like you said, that's what they're supposed to do.

[00:09:21] And, you know, look, does anybody think that Hughes and Bratmeyer and Heischer and Mercer

[00:09:26] aren't going to start taking off?

[00:09:28] Of course not.

[00:09:28] Of course they are.

[00:09:29] You know, they're going to get their points.

[00:09:32] It's early on.

[00:09:33] But like you said, the guys are we didn't do any net crashing last year.

[00:09:37] We we were so easy and so predictable to play against.

[00:09:41] And we're not anymore.

[00:09:42] And it's because of those guys and how they play.

[00:09:45] It's hard nose and it looks great.

[00:09:48] Four games into an 82 game season.

[00:09:51] Trust me when I say it's going to look so fucking fantastic in game 83 and beyond,

[00:09:57] because these are the guys that win playoff series for you.

[00:10:01] These are the guys that make your team scary and dangerous to play against.

[00:10:05] And I think the depth of this team is phenomenal.

[00:10:09] And that does lead us to now, I guess, do should we talk about you want to jump into

[00:10:13] the Toronto game before we talk about some of the players or, you know, is there not

[00:10:18] much to talk about?

[00:10:19] It was a loss.

[00:10:19] They didn't look good.

[00:10:20] First period was crap.

[00:10:21] I'm never going to a devil game again unless I'm sitting in a suite because of that asshole

[00:10:28] sitting behind us.

[00:10:29] But yeah.

[00:10:30] Yeah, that was quite brutal.

[00:10:31] I mean, let's start with the beforehand.

[00:10:33] It's still so much fun, right?

[00:10:35] I mean, you know, Edison Avenue, just the place is just rocking and everybody's just having

[00:10:40] a great time.

[00:10:42] The energy was great in the arena until, you know, everybody blinked and it was three

[00:10:46] nothing or whatever.

[00:10:48] Again, some of those games, we said it, it kind of felt like a trap game.

[00:10:52] We're like, oh my God, they got shut out by Montreal.

[00:10:55] They didn't even have their starting goaltender.

[00:10:56] Now they're bringing in number three.

[00:10:58] That's never played.

[00:10:59] Everybody's just one nothing them for sure.

[00:11:01] And all the gags started.

[00:11:03] And then sure enough, it hit home like that.

[00:11:05] And maybe, maybe the guys were again, uh, just, they weren't Chris, they were like playing

[00:11:10] in a fog a little bit and it just got away from them.

[00:11:13] Yeah.

[00:11:13] And, uh, then they probably started pressing too much and just made matters worse.

[00:11:17] There were glimpses in that where it looked like, um, they had a chance.

[00:11:21] And you know what I noticed about me at a game?

[00:11:24] I am so much more optimistic just in a fairy tale way than at home.

[00:11:31] At home, I would have looked at that game and I'm pretty much want to throw my shoe at

[00:11:36] the TV and I'm thinking there's no way they're going to win.

[00:11:38] But when you're there and you see them score and now it's four, two or five, two or whatever

[00:11:41] it was.

[00:11:42] And you look at the clock and you start going, yeah, they can do this, this, and that.

[00:11:45] And it's odd that I think that way when I'm at a game, because the game actually goes

[00:11:52] faster when you're at a game, like the clock, the sitting there.

[00:11:54] Like sometimes I feel, sometimes we're at a game and I'm like, I can't believe I didn't

[00:11:58] get up to pee.

[00:11:58] If I were home, I would have got up to pee.

[00:12:00] It's just weird.

[00:12:01] I also think part of that is the fact that you don't have the noise of the commentators

[00:12:07] in your ear when you're sitting home and you're watching and you're listening to Bryce

[00:12:11] and Ken Danico and Bill Spaulding and, you know, oh, the devils are looking flat here.

[00:12:15] They should have done this.

[00:12:16] They should have done that.

[00:12:17] And it brings you down a little bit when the team is playing bad because you're not hearing

[00:12:21] all that noise.

[00:12:22] You're watching what you're seeing on the ice and it's like, all right, we can do, yeah,

[00:12:25] we can.

[00:12:26] I thought they were going to win that game against Toronto.

[00:12:28] I really thought they were going to come back and win the game.

[00:12:32] Toronto just, you know, they were the better team that night.

[00:12:34] It happens.

[00:12:35] It's not like you played a bunch of schlubs from the AHL.

[00:12:37] It's Toronto Maple Leafs.

[00:12:38] This is a, you know, perpetual 100 point team every single year.

[00:12:43] Is perpetual the right word?

[00:12:45] I don't know.

[00:12:46] Yes.

[00:12:46] But I think everybody knows what I mean.

[00:12:48] Every year.

[00:12:49] So they're a well-coached team.

[00:12:50] And I think that there was that little bit of, we have to win this for Sheldon Keefe.

[00:12:55] We have to win this for Sheldon Keefe.

[00:12:56] Like, settle down.

[00:12:57] Next time we play Toronto, we'll be better.

[00:12:59] They played better in the first period.

[00:13:01] I think, you know, we probably come out with a point at least on that game.

[00:13:04] Yeah, we probably do.

[00:13:04] You know, Toronto is interesting too because they are changing under Verubi a little bit.

[00:13:08] The guys in the NHL tonight, we're talking about it this morning.

[00:13:11] Sounds weird to say, right?

[00:13:13] But they were mentioning how, you know, the top guys, the top offensive guys, they're pretty much pointless.

[00:13:19] Small sample size, of course.

[00:13:20] But they were just alluding to the fact that maybe they're just trying to adjust their roles just a little bit, you know, to be more responsible.

[00:13:28] And that might be throwing them off their, you know, their high-flying offensive game.

[00:13:31] I think Matthew's going to be absolutely fine.

[00:13:33] Probably still wind up leading the league.

[00:13:34] But you could totally understand how, in the beginning, the system would just give you a little bit of cross.

[00:13:38] And I think that could be an issue with our top forwards too.

[00:13:41] You know, you're talking about a bottom six that, you know, Stephan Nason knows how to play defense.

[00:13:48] Stephan Nason spent, you know, a couple years in Carolina under Rod Brindamore.

[00:13:53] He knows what he's doing.

[00:13:54] Paul Cotter played for the Winnipeg Jets.

[00:13:55] I mean, I'm sorry, Brendan Dillon played for the Winnipeg Jets.

[00:13:58] Like, they know what they're doing.

[00:13:59] Paul Cotter played for Vegas.

[00:14:00] Like, they just won a cup two years ago.

[00:14:02] These guys know what they're doing.

[00:14:04] So, if you put them in a more defensively sound system, they're going to pick it up a lot faster than Lindy saying,

[00:14:11] Just go, guys.

[00:14:12] Just Jack.

[00:14:13] Go, go.

[00:14:13] Just be Jack Hughes.

[00:14:15] Like, no, structure works.

[00:14:16] And Jack will be fine.

[00:14:17] He'll be a lot better.

[00:14:19] You know, I think maybe you do have to give him a little bit more leash, though.

[00:14:22] I think he is trying a little too hard to, I think, marry his offensive game with what it is that maybe Sheldon Keefe is asking of them.

[00:14:32] It's going to come a lot easier for Thomas Tatar, Nico Heischer, and Dawson Mercer.

[00:14:37] You know, the other three, I think maybe you've got to just give them a little more rope, maybe, and let them be creative.

[00:14:43] And they're going to be fine.

[00:14:44] This team is going to be fine.

[00:14:46] Yeah.

[00:14:46] Not worried about that at all.

[00:14:48] I mean, you look at what happens, again, early in the season.

[00:14:50] So, tonight, the Sabres put up five against the Panthers.

[00:14:53] I don't know who the Panthers had starting in net, but it doesn't matter.

[00:14:56] You just put up five against the Panthers.

[00:14:57] You're an inferior team.

[00:14:59] The Panthers look like world beaters already.

[00:15:01] Panthers are without tonight Matthew Kachuk and Sasha Barkov.

[00:15:05] Okay, did not know this.

[00:15:06] But still, the structure of the team is there.

[00:15:09] I agree.

[00:15:09] I'm sure.

[00:15:09] And it's Buffalo.

[00:15:10] Yeah, any Florida Panther fan is penciling that as a win.

[00:15:14] It just goes to show you that, you know, that's not always going to happen.

[00:15:17] And then, you know, Chris, your dark horse pick there, Utah, putting up six against Jesterkin.

[00:15:24] Wow, what's his final of that?

[00:15:26] 6-5 overtime.

[00:15:28] Wow.

[00:15:29] Awesome.

[00:15:30] So, I mean, that's pretty crazy.

[00:15:31] Against the $12 million man.

[00:15:33] Apparently.

[00:15:34] They're 3-0.

[00:15:36] They're 3-0, huh?

[00:15:37] Yeah, they are 3-0.

[00:15:38] They beat the Islanders in overtime.

[00:15:40] They beat the Rangers in overtime.

[00:15:42] And they're going to get their first loss Monday.

[00:15:44] Apparently, yeah.

[00:15:45] I do think Monday's game, and we'll talk about it.

[00:15:48] We'll do a little preview of it and stuff.

[00:15:49] But I think Monday's game is going to be a lot more open than these few that we've had.

[00:15:56] I do think that Jack and those guys will have a lot more open ice in that game.

[00:16:00] True.

[00:16:01] You got to watch out for some guys on Utah.

[00:16:03] Man, they are on their really good team.

[00:16:07] And I thought, you know, summertime, I said it.

[00:16:10] LA's not making it.

[00:16:12] Utah's taking their spot.

[00:16:14] I stand by that.

[00:16:15] I mean, and right now, they're looking good.

[00:16:17] But it's funny because I know they're not an expansion club.

[00:16:21] I know that.

[00:16:21] It still feels like they are.

[00:16:23] And in the recent years, the success window of some of these teams like Vegas that comes out,

[00:16:30] it's so different.

[00:16:31] Remember back in our day when we were expansion?

[00:16:32] That's it.

[00:16:32] You're going to suck for 10 years.

[00:16:33] That's just how it's going to work.

[00:16:34] But the way they do it now, you think about these gyms that have this opportunity to literally pull the puzzle together.

[00:16:42] It's actually really cool.

[00:16:43] And now I think the expectation should be a competitive team because every team's got to put up X amount of players that they have to put, you know, available to be taken by an expansion team.

[00:16:54] And they're often good players.

[00:16:56] Oh, yeah.

[00:16:57] And then you have like a blank canvas.

[00:16:59] Like if you pick one of those four, they can't say no.

[00:17:03] And then you can literally like how do I want to build?

[00:17:06] Defense out, goalie out, you know, superstar center out, like or whatever.

[00:17:09] Pretty crazy.

[00:17:10] You're a team because I think what can you protect?

[00:17:13] How many players that you can you protect?

[00:17:15] Like four or I think there's only like I think only maybe a handful of players that you can actually protect.

[00:17:20] Yeah, I actually said it in reverse, didn't I?

[00:17:22] I'm thinking you can unprotect four.

[00:17:24] No, you can protect like.

[00:17:25] Yeah, there's not many.

[00:17:27] And that's why when Vegas came in and it was like, how the hell did they get Marc-Andre Fleury from Pittsburgh?

[00:17:33] And it's like, well, because they had to make sure that they didn't take Crosby and Malkin and, you know, Letang and everybody else that they had on that team.

[00:17:41] And you lose good players.

[00:17:43] And Marc-Andre Fleury was absolutely the catalyst of that team making it to the finals.

[00:17:46] Sure.

[00:17:47] And there's a situation where Pittsburgh's banking on the fact, you know, you're going, okay, they don't have they got to spread out their money.

[00:17:53] So you're kind of hoping that they don't they're not going to overpay, not overpay, you know, because it's what his salary was to take it because, well, unless they want to build from the goalie out, you know, in which case they do.

[00:18:03] So that's the other cool thing that they get to do.

[00:18:05] Like they can like it's all in their hands.

[00:18:08] I don't want to spend X amount on the goalie group.

[00:18:10] I want to spend X amount on the defensive group or whatever.

[00:18:13] So it's quite incredible.

[00:18:14] And I bring that up because I know there's been some talk about two more teams maybe in the near future.

[00:18:21] Yeah, I see you shaking your head.

[00:18:22] I disagree too.

[00:18:23] I don't really particularly want any more, but it's out there.

[00:18:27] And I think that's what Bettman's always wanted.

[00:18:30] So we shall see where it goes.

[00:18:32] I think 32 is perfect.

[00:18:34] I think we have a really good, healthy league right now.

[00:18:38] It's all lined up and balanced right now.

[00:18:40] Yeah.

[00:18:40] The numbers are perfect.

[00:18:42] And, you know, you add more teams.

[00:18:43] That means you maybe got to add another play, you know, maybe make it 10 teams from each conference, making it to the playoffs.

[00:18:49] And you add another series and all this.

[00:18:51] And I don't want to deal with that.

[00:18:52] I really don't.

[00:18:53] As a fan of baseball, whose team is actually doing really well, despite the fact that they had a wild card round, I still don't like it.

[00:19:02] Like I get we got more playoff baseball now and I was a benefactor of it.

[00:19:06] I got to watch it two rounds already.

[00:19:09] But I just I don't like that setup.

[00:19:11] But I didn't always love either.

[00:19:12] Baseball was only like your top two get in.

[00:19:15] That was it.

[00:19:15] Remember, it was like it was so hard to get in.

[00:19:17] So I do want that happy medium.

[00:19:19] But and even before that, like there was a time that you didn't have championship series.

[00:19:25] You had an American League and a National League and you want you race for the American League pennant and you race for the National League pennant.

[00:19:32] And those two teams met in the World Series.

[00:19:34] So if you weren't first, that's last.

[00:19:36] You literally you were not going anywhere.

[00:19:39] And I mean, I like the opportunity.

[00:19:40] I like that.

[00:19:41] It makes and it also makes it a lot more fun.

[00:19:44] You know, like literally.

[00:19:46] The Mets had to play after everybody else was done with baseball and they had to do it in a double header.

[00:19:51] Right.

[00:19:52] Just to find out if they're in and they had to do it before they flew off for the for the postseason.

[00:19:56] So the intrigues there all year when you've got more opportunity for more teams.

[00:20:01] But if hockey ever, like you said, went to, you know, 10 and 10, I just I and you can't.

[00:20:07] You know, when it comes to hockey, like I love football.

[00:20:10] I love hockey.

[00:20:11] You love baseball.

[00:20:13] Hockey has the best postseason.

[00:20:15] You know, there's not a team, not a league out there that has a playoff system that is so exciting.

[00:20:21] And so much fun and so many opportunities to so many teams.

[00:20:25] Like, look, it's strictly half the league is going to make it to the postseason.

[00:20:28] Half is going to sit home.

[00:20:30] And I like that.

[00:20:31] Right.

[00:20:32] You know, a lot enough teams get in, but it dwindles down kind of, you know, like after that first round, it's like, OK, now shit serious.

[00:20:40] And I just think it's the best playoff system that is 100 percent the best.

[00:20:45] I mean, I'm watching playoffs.

[00:20:46] And again, for anybody listening, I'm a Mets fan, so I don't have a lot of experience watching playoff baseball.

[00:20:50] Right.

[00:20:51] No, seriously, I think up to this year, they said only 11 times they made a postseason appearance.

[00:20:55] And I think two, at least two of them before I was even born, let alone old enough to care.

[00:21:00] So I'm probably somewhere in eight to nine that in my lifetime as a fan.

[00:21:05] Now you've seen them in three World Series.

[00:21:08] Yeah.

[00:21:09] 86 World Series when they won, 2000 lost to the Yankees, and then 2015 lost to the Royals.

[00:21:14] Right.

[00:21:14] Yeah.

[00:21:15] But so baseball playoffs is a different animal, too.

[00:21:19] Like people who don't like baseball usually say it can be kind of boring.

[00:21:22] I kind of like the commentating in between.

[00:21:24] If you've got the right guys, to me, it really carries the game.

[00:21:27] But it is super intense.

[00:21:29] I told you when I was watching that last game, I'm pacing back and forth because unlike hockey, I can get a feel for what's going on.

[00:21:35] And maybe that makes me feel better or more relaxed or just, you know, more hopeful.

[00:21:39] In baseball, it's like 0-1, 0-2.

[00:21:42] Oh, my God.

[00:21:43] And then, oh, he hits a home run on an 0-2 count.

[00:21:45] Like that's just crazy.

[00:21:46] But hockey is the one sport that people who I don't talk to much during the year, non-fans or like barely fans of hockey, fringe fans, they always start just texting me around hockey playoffs, whether we're in it or not.

[00:22:00] Just about how fucking good hockey playoffs are, man.

[00:22:04] It's the best.

[00:22:05] It is the only sport out of every major sport that you literally see your team change right before your eyes.

[00:22:13] Like it is like it is a completely different game.

[00:22:16] It goes back to the NHL of 20, 25 years ago.

[00:22:20] And that's, you know, awesome to see because that's when we got into hockey, you know.

[00:22:25] So it's awesome that the playoffs are like that.

[00:22:27] I absolutely love it.

[00:22:28] I don't want to see expansion right now.

[00:22:30] So let's just keep it at 32 for a little while.

[00:22:33] But the problem is it's such a healthy league right now.

[00:22:37] Everybody wants a piece of it.

[00:22:39] Yeah.

[00:22:39] So you have, you know, now you're looking at Atlanta and maybe Atlanta will work a third time and maybe Houston will work and maybe Cleveland will work or Quebec, not Quebec won't work.

[00:22:51] You know, so, you know, I know Bettman's looking for a team, cities that have arenas that they feel, you know.

[00:22:59] So I think Atlanta is going to be your number one spot.

[00:23:03] There's your East team.

[00:23:05] Yeah.

[00:23:05] You have every major sport there already.

[00:23:07] They have the arena where the Atlanta Hawks play.

[00:23:11] So, you know, where out West?

[00:23:14] I mean, Houston seems to be the place.

[00:23:17] I'd like to see maybe if you're going to go.

[00:23:19] If you're going to go, I'd love to see like Portland.

[00:23:21] Just to kind of say, I wish I don't know how big these cities are in Oregon, but I'd love to see like that just makes sense to me.

[00:23:26] Just another state with another professional team.

[00:23:29] And, you know, right now, you know, you don't really have that rivalry yet of Vancouver and Seattle, which I think people are expecting to happen at some point.

[00:23:38] It's a short drive.

[00:23:38] Yeah.

[00:23:39] Now you throw maybe Portland, Oregon in there and you have those three teams up in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.

[00:23:44] That could be a nice little rivalry.

[00:23:46] That could be a little New York, you know, New Jersey, Philadelphia thing going on.

[00:23:50] So that could be fun, but I don't want to see it.

[00:23:52] Yeah, I'm with you.

[00:23:53] All right.

[00:23:53] Let's give a shout out to some of our sponsors here.

[00:23:58] And then I think we need to talk about the devil's defensive issue that may be coming up shortly.

[00:24:05] Guess so.

[00:24:06] Well, like we all know, guys, the quest for the Stanley Cup starts now and puck drop.

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[00:25:33] The crown is yours.

[00:25:36] There is nothing like live hockey.

[00:25:39] I can't stop thinking about how cool it was to be in the arena just the other day.

[00:25:44] The crowd in front of you, behind you, we're all rooting for the same thing,

[00:25:49] except for the one jerk off behind us.

[00:25:50] What a jerk off.

[00:25:52] What a jerk off.

[00:25:53] But it's so good, there's nothing better.

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[00:27:42] Indeed.

[00:27:43] Let's talk about our problems.

[00:27:46] Well, we said it at the game, Thursday night.

[00:27:50] And I said, I think that Simone Nemich is going to end up down in Utica.

[00:27:58] Or up in Utica.

[00:28:00] Down and up.

[00:28:01] Right.

[00:28:01] Depending on where we are, it's up, but he'll be down.

[00:28:03] Anyway, yeah.

[00:28:05] So Nick Villano wrote an article titled for Bucks and Pitchforks, Simone Nemich is actively hurting the New Jersey Devils.

[00:28:12] So this is not something that just me and you saw at that Toronto game.

[00:28:17] And we were looking at it a little bit more like not so much that Nemich is hurting the team more so than Seamus Casey is really, really good at what he does.

[00:28:28] Yes.

[00:28:29] And I just think when you have Luke and Pesci coming back, I don't know.

[00:28:35] And we'll read his article here, but I just don't know how you take Seamus Casey out of this lineup right now.

[00:28:43] He's earned it right now.

[00:28:44] I think I was on record the last podcast saying the math of this would suggest again that Casey could go down because Fitzgerald didn't like losing that year of service on Nemich last year.

[00:28:57] So let's blow that out even a little further.

[00:29:00] And here's where it hurts even more.

[00:29:03] If, in fact, it is Nemich who needs to go down because it's based on production, gut, whatever, right?

[00:29:10] Right.

[00:29:11] Then not only did you waste a year of service on a year that meant jack shit, now you're sending him down this year.

[00:29:18] That compounds the issue a little bit.

[00:29:20] You know what I mean?

[00:29:21] Yeah.

[00:29:21] Because if he were staying and everything was golden going forward this year, you kind of swallow your sword.

[00:29:27] You go, hey, business is what had to be done.

[00:29:28] We had to burn that year of service, but this guy's awesome.

[00:29:31] And now if you're sending them down, now in retrospect, which you can't live in, you say, shit, we really shouldn't have because we didn't go anywhere last year anyway.

[00:29:39] All that being said, you got to keep the best players.

[00:29:43] You really do.

[00:29:44] There were times last year I said to you right on this podcast, I'm like, are we seeing the new best defenseman for the Devils forecasting Nemich down the line?

[00:29:52] We still think it's going to be Luke Hughes.

[00:29:55] But now you might have to take a seat back for a while.

[00:29:59] I completely agree.

[00:30:00] And Nick Villano writes in this article, the New Jersey Devils suffered their first loss of the season on Thursday night.

[00:30:06] In front of a raucous home crowd, the cheers quickly turned to quiet murmurs.

[00:30:09] The Toronto Maple Leafs completely demolished the Devils in the first period, controlling puck possession, causing turnovers, taking advantage of mistakes and forcing the Devils to play flat on their skates.

[00:30:18] The Devils bounced back and played much better in the second half of the game.

[00:30:21] They were crisper on passes, although they were still not where fans wanted them to be.

[00:30:25] They had better chemistry and it seemed like they had their legs.

[00:30:29] They were drawing a bunch of penalties and the team looked even with the Maple Leafs.

[00:30:35] Unfortunately, the Devils never had a chance after going down 3-0.

[00:30:39] They were behind the eight ball and the Maple Leafs had a really good defensive game plan to keep the Devils from getting to those high danger areas, which is absolutely true.

[00:30:46] They just had no second, third opportunities in that game.

[00:30:50] It was one and done.

[00:30:51] They looked a lot like the Devils of last year in that first period.

[00:30:55] So he goes on to say, ignoring the game as a whole for a moment, we need to discuss Simone Nemich.

[00:30:59] He doesn't look right.

[00:31:01] And in this game, it lost it for them.

[00:31:03] Sure, Jacob Markstrom put up a stinker and the power play could not get the Devils on the board despite ample opportunity.

[00:31:10] But Nemich made too many mistakes and it went in the back of the net multiple times.

[00:31:14] According to Natural Stat Trick, Nemich was on the ice for four high danger chances against the most of any defenseman.

[00:31:21] That led to two goals against and the Devils scored none while he was on the ice.

[00:31:25] Nemich looks uncomfortable with the puck on his stick and he seems to be tentative just in getting into position.

[00:31:31] There were many times where a forward was covering his position and he didn't know if he should move back to the position or stay up and leave a forward back on the blue line.

[00:31:39] The big question is why?

[00:31:40] Why is Simone Nemich, after such a successful rookie year, just completely falling over himself in the first three games?

[00:31:48] Even if the Devils wins against the Sabres, Nemich didn't look like himself.

[00:31:53] The most obvious answer seems to be his shoulder injury.

[00:31:56] Nemich had to end his Olympic qualifier early because of what looked like a major shoulder injury.

[00:32:01] We were lucky when he was available on day one of training camp, but it might still be impacting his play.

[00:32:07] I don't think that's the problem and I want to see if he brings up what I'm thinking.

[00:32:12] Okay.

[00:32:12] Nemich might also be getting used to the Sheldon Keefe system.

[00:32:15] With a shortened training camp and this being just his second season, plus it being his first season as a full-time NHLer, there will be some growing pains.

[00:32:24] However, with a team that has sky-high expectations, the Devils can't afford to take chances with every two points they have available.

[00:32:31] The first thing the Devils can do is break up Nemich and Casey.

[00:32:34] They're both incredibly young, prone to mistakes.

[00:32:36] Brendan Dillon had himself a rough night on Thursday too, but he's usually incredibly reliable.

[00:32:42] Put Nemich with Dillon and Casey with Kovacevic, or hopefully add a returning Pesci to the lineup and you got some really good lines.

[00:32:49] There's also a chance that Nemich can work his way back to health in the AHL.

[00:32:52] It was one of our bold predictions.

[00:32:54] It wouldn't be for the season, but a few weeks in Utica could help settle him down and build his confidence while building him back from his shoulder injury if that is truly an issue.

[00:33:03] Now, I don't know if it's the shoulder, but that's not the first thing I thought of.

[00:33:09] Okay.

[00:33:10] Shimon Nemich has played up until April of last year.

[00:33:14] Then he went to Worlds.

[00:33:16] Then he went to Olympic qualifying.

[00:33:18] Now he's back playing.

[00:33:19] I think the dude has played too much hockey.

[00:33:23] And you're talking about different systems.

[00:33:26] You're talking about playing on different teams with different roles for you.

[00:33:30] And he's only 20 years old.

[00:33:33] And I do think – like I remember Wayne Gretzky saying a while ago, like you should not – if your kid wants to be in the NHL, your kid wants to play hockey, don't – let him play – make him play other sports.

[00:33:46] Make him play baseball.

[00:33:47] Make him play soccer.

[00:33:48] Make him play – take a break on the ice because it will only help him in the long run.

[00:33:54] And I do think – like if you look, I bet you there's not another devil that has played more hockey in the last full calendar year or I guess September to September than Samoan Nemich.

[00:34:06] I mean what are your thoughts on him?

[00:34:09] I hadn't actually considered what you're saying there.

[00:34:11] So that does make a lot of sense for a younger kid to go through that kind of workload.

[00:34:17] And I don't know what he had done before.

[00:34:18] But I would think he probably did take a break in other years of his development even if it's not a tremendously long break that we might think of.

[00:34:28] Not like a summer break full but a month or six weeks.

[00:34:33] It does a lot.

[00:34:34] It really can.

[00:34:35] It does a lot to reset everything.

[00:34:37] Yeah.

[00:34:38] So that's a really good point.

[00:34:39] I think sometimes the game just moves faster than you're ready to as well.

[00:34:45] I mean is this another situation where he kind of surprised other teams with how good he was and now they're teeing on him?

[00:34:50] Is it more the fact that it's two very young guys in the lineup at the same time as a defensive pair?

[00:34:56] I don't know because Casey looks really good.

[00:34:58] I do know this that if he did go down for a while that's exactly what it would be.

[00:35:03] It would be temporary.

[00:35:04] I think that in the long run Nemich on this team is probably best which leads us to a problem we still have.

[00:35:13] But maybe it's not this year.

[00:35:14] I don't know.

[00:35:14] Look, if Pesci and Hughes come back, right, then when they come back, right, right.

[00:35:22] And now you have basically three guys that are kind of going to be out, right?

[00:35:28] Nemich, Kovacevic, and Casey.

[00:35:32] Now you got three guys.

[00:35:33] You got a couple of spots.

[00:35:34] You definitely want to keep Kovacevic.

[00:35:36] But there is the, you know, do you want to send Seamus Casey down?

[00:35:40] I suppose it can only help him.

[00:35:44] But the bottom line is he is playing right now one of your, he's one of the best guys on the blue line right now.

[00:35:50] He's making good choices.

[00:35:52] I mean, his defensive play needs a little bit of work and he is small.

[00:35:55] But my God, he's a magician with the puck.

[00:35:57] He's, oh man, his offense is not overrated.

[00:35:59] That's for sure.

[00:36:00] He is fantastic.

[00:36:01] But I think that the player dynamic there is kind of exactly what you're going to get back from Luke Hughes.

[00:36:10] So, again, I just, it's nothing against the kid.

[00:36:13] I just think it's a numbers game.

[00:36:14] And we've talked about how, close your eyes and fast forward a couple of years and think of the potential of this defensive core and how it'll look for a decade.

[00:36:24] And it is incredibly exciting.

[00:36:27] Yes.

[00:36:27] But sometimes just to field the right team, you got to make a decision that maybe, maybe you're sending a better player down.

[00:36:36] Maybe you literally are.

[00:36:38] Or maybe after a couple of weeks, people are going to start teeing up on him and his goals aren't going to go in and he's going to look like a young kid.

[00:36:45] And you just don't know.

[00:36:46] But the bottom line, too, is no matter who gets sent down and in all honesty, it will most likely be Shimon Nemich and Seamus Casey.

[00:36:59] I do believe that when we're fully healthy, those two will go down and Kovacevic will be your seventh defenseman.

[00:37:08] And I think that's how it probably should be.

[00:37:10] You want that size.

[00:37:11] You want what Kovacevic brings even more than what the other two are bringing right now.

[00:37:17] Yeah.

[00:37:17] But you'd be silly to think that this defense isn't going to have injuries.

[00:37:21] So we're going to see them throughout the year.

[00:37:23] And who knows what it's going to look like come the end of the year.

[00:37:26] I mean, they're going to be back up.

[00:37:27] But I do think it can only help them.

[00:37:30] But I just cannot see – like Seamus Casey has just impressed me so much these first four games.

[00:37:37] Hold on.

[00:37:38] I'm trying to figure out why you'd have to have multiples go down.

[00:37:42] I'm just trying to forecast the defensive pairings if everybody – let's say Luke and Pejic come back and they're going to play together.

[00:37:48] So that's just an easy two, right?

[00:37:50] So then we still have right now you've got Dylan playing.

[00:37:52] Oh, you're right.

[00:37:52] You're right.

[00:37:54] You're 100% right because Nemich is a –

[00:37:57] full-timer right now.

[00:37:58] I'm thinking in my head like, yeah, you're 100% right.

[00:38:01] He's penciled into that lineup.

[00:38:03] Right.

[00:38:03] Right.

[00:38:04] So it comes down to who's going to take – so only one guy is going to go down.

[00:38:09] One's going to go down and one's going to essentially be a seventh defenseman.

[00:38:12] Right.

[00:38:12] If you're keeping – and I don't know if this pairing actually gave up a goal yet together,

[00:38:18] but the surprising pairing of Siegenthaler and Kovacevic has not been on the list.

[00:38:23] Okay, one in four games.

[00:38:24] So that's still really good.

[00:38:26] That would always be – that's the pairing that you – that's the one you want to go,

[00:38:30] oh, thank God we got this pairing that we can break up.

[00:38:32] And now you're like, shit, we can't even do that because they haven't let up any goals.

[00:38:36] And if you make them your third pairing, and like you said, Pesci and Hughes and Dylan and Hamilton,

[00:38:43] that's a solid blue line.

[00:38:45] Right.

[00:38:45] And then you can take Seamus Casey and he can –

[00:38:48] the only reason why you might not want to make Seamus Casey your seventh defenseman is

[00:38:52] because you want him to have ice time.

[00:38:53] If you want him to play.

[00:38:54] Yeah.

[00:38:55] So –

[00:38:56] You want Nemec to play too.

[00:38:57] It's interesting.

[00:38:58] It's a tough decision.

[00:39:00] It's a problem.

[00:39:01] And I know we say it's a good problem, but is it?

[00:39:05] Like at what point – at what point is the chemistry so good you don't know how to get these guys into games?

[00:39:09] A hundred percent.

[00:39:11] You know?

[00:39:11] A hundred percent.

[00:39:11] And then like, you know, let's say Luke and – well, you know, I don't want it to say like Luke and Pesci will come in

[00:39:17] and they'll struggle because I don't see that.

[00:39:20] I mean maybe it'll take a couple of games for them to figure it out.

[00:39:23] But that's going to be a very dynamic pairing on the blue line that I'm so excited to see.

[00:39:29] But –

[00:39:30] Literally our best pairing hasn't even played together yet.

[00:39:32] No.

[00:39:33] At least, you know, what we think is going to be the best pairing.

[00:39:35] So it is very interesting.

[00:39:37] And I do think that Simone Nemec is going to be the odd man out.

[00:39:40] I really do.

[00:39:42] Well, he's got movement.

[00:39:43] He's still got the ability to do it.

[00:39:45] And you have to – I mean, listen, Kovacevic's a free agent.

[00:39:49] So maybe he winds up sticking the lineup the whole year anyway and then you don't know.

[00:39:52] Maybe despite how good he could be by the end of the year, that's the type of guy you're going to lose.

[00:39:56] Because you can afford to pay him a little bit more, but you also have got a ton of guys waiting to come up.

[00:40:01] And that's the type of guy where another team's going to be like, wow, look what he did with the Devils.

[00:40:04] This guy was getting paid $700,000 a year last year.

[00:40:06] Yeah.

[00:40:07] We're overpaying a little bit for this guy.

[00:40:09] He's huge.

[00:40:09] He's awesome.

[00:40:10] So I think he's gone either way.

[00:40:12] Yeah, he's not going to have any trouble getting more.

[00:40:13] But that doesn't mean to me he should sit.

[00:40:17] Because if he's giving me the best chance to win right now, I want him to play.

[00:40:20] And same with Seamus Casey.

[00:40:22] Seamus Casey, I'm telling you, man, he reminds me of Brian Rafalski.

[00:40:25] That cut move he's got is insane.

[00:40:27] He did it twice already.

[00:40:29] I know.

[00:40:30] I know.

[00:40:30] I mean, he is a really impressive player.

[00:40:33] And the thing I like about Seamus Casey is he said it.

[00:40:37] He said, I am coming in and I am making this team at a camp.

[00:40:42] And God damn it, he did.

[00:40:43] And I give that kid a ton of credit.

[00:40:46] He just seems like the type of guy that set his goal, did his time, earned his spot, and just may never see the AHL again.

[00:40:57] Yeah.

[00:40:58] I mean, despite what I'm saying about mathematically, he seems like a candidate to go down.

[00:41:04] You've seen stories like that where they just did.

[00:41:07] I finally hit it.

[00:41:07] This is where I'm going to be.

[00:41:09] This is where I'm going to stay.

[00:41:09] You're going to have to peel me out of this lineup.

[00:41:12] I get that it's the first half of the week into the season.

[00:41:19] Of course.

[00:41:20] He's going to win the Calder Trophy.

[00:41:21] He keeps going this way.

[00:41:22] He's rookie of the year, in my opinion, right now.

[00:41:25] Cotter scoring 80.

[00:41:27] Yeah, Cotter's going to lead our team in scoring.

[00:41:29] And then if that's the case, we're not going to make the playoffs.

[00:41:32] And yeah, so I mean, it is a very interesting problem that Sheldon Keefe and Tom Fitzgerald are going to have.

[00:41:39] I'd even like to think that full season, full scope of the season, that they'll be a really good kind of that sixth, seventh guy.

[00:41:50] Like they'll figure out a really proper rotation.

[00:41:52] So it's not really like you're not getting until every 12th game.

[00:41:56] You know what I mean?

[00:41:56] Like a real member of the team constantly going.

[00:42:00] If they could figure out basically three guys that could play together, right?

[00:42:03] Moving one in and out.

[00:42:05] I kind of hope that it goes that way.

[00:42:08] But if it doesn't, I just have a real hard time picturing who's out.

[00:42:15] Like actually out.

[00:42:16] You know who I kind of feel bad for?

[00:42:18] Just because he got injured is Sentary Hitaka.

[00:42:22] You're done.

[00:42:23] You're done.

[00:42:23] This year you're not stiff in anything.

[00:42:25] You're not getting a chance in this lineup.

[00:42:27] Unless there's major injuries on this blue line.

[00:42:29] Like as soon as he's ready to play, you better go dust off that Comet jersey because you're heading down.

[00:42:34] Yeah.

[00:42:35] And it sucks because I like him too.

[00:42:37] Like that's the other thing.

[00:42:38] Like we do have such amazing depth that, you know, even if, you know, Brennan Dillon, I don't want to lose Brennan Dillon.

[00:42:46] I should say Luke Hughes.

[00:42:47] You know, it takes him a little bit longer to get back on the ice.

[00:42:50] It's okay.

[00:42:51] We're not sitting here going, you know, we need him or we're going to be out of this thing before we even start.

[00:42:56] Last year it felt like anybody that went down, we were completely screwed.

[00:43:00] And now it's, if you go down, you need a little bit more time, take it.

[00:43:03] We're fine.

[00:43:04] And that just is so much of that credit goes to Tom Fitzgerald.

[00:43:08] Like I'm just to, we said it before, but I'm so impressed with the fact that very rarely do you get everything you asked for or everything you needed.

[00:43:18] And he got everything.

[00:43:20] And, uh, you know, it was an impressive win tonight.

[00:43:22] Uh, I know you can always find things that you're going to have to improve upon, but you're talking about, you know, four games in this team is finding ways and they're doing, you know, a lot of things that we saw were big struggles last year.

[00:43:36] Aren't, uh, right now.

[00:43:37] No matter who you are, don't tell me this isn't a wonky start to a season.

[00:43:41] Again, you got, you got a one o'clock game, 12 hours away, followed by a 10 a.m. game.

[00:43:46] Then you fly home.

[00:43:47] You're sitting on your butt.

[00:43:48] You're waiting for your home opener.

[00:43:49] You got Toronto.

[00:43:49] We already discussed that.

[00:43:51] You know, then you come in, you got this game against a team that's basically had your number last year.

[00:43:55] You fought, you clawed.

[00:43:57] And then of course, Monday is going to be that weird one.

[00:43:59] I don't like the devil's playing at one o'clock.

[00:44:00] I've always said that I don't like it.

[00:44:02] And just, they always seem to do bad for that, but it's not till then.

[00:44:05] Is it going to kind of get into a cadence and a rhythm where I feel like they're going to, you know, so if they survive, they survive today.

[00:44:11] I think that they're going to prevail on Monday.

[00:44:14] And then I think maybe we could start to see a little heat.

[00:44:16] Some of these guys get a consistent, you know, kind of play every other day, every other day or whatever, you know, especially for the top key guys.

[00:44:24] These guys are going to get a lot better now.

[00:44:26] Like you said, now it's an every other day thing.

[00:44:28] Now, Monday we play Monday, we play Tuesday.

[00:44:32] How do you work out the goaltending tandem for these two games?

[00:44:36] I mean, you got Mark from-

[00:44:37] So who's after Utah?

[00:44:37] Carolina.

[00:44:39] It's Carolina's second game, their home opener.

[00:44:42] Okay.

[00:44:42] They lost to Boston or I'm sorry, they lost to Tampa a couple nights ago.

[00:44:47] And so now they've been off like probably like three days or so before they play four days, maybe by Tuesday.

[00:44:54] And so what do you think?

[00:44:56] It's a metropolitan division rival.

[00:44:59] I know that.

[00:45:00] I think that I have to, right now I look at Utah and what they've done.

[00:45:05] And to me, that's the bigger threat.

[00:45:06] I put my number one goaltender against that.

[00:45:08] Plus, I want to keep Markstrom kind of going as even as he can.

[00:45:11] And then I would play Allen with confidence the following day against Carolina.

[00:45:15] Okay.

[00:45:16] I would have gone the other way, but I'm totally fine.

[00:45:19] I'm totally fine with that.

[00:45:21] I think that I would have given Allen, you know, just, all right, it's Utah.

[00:45:24] Let's see what, you know, Allen can do.

[00:45:27] It's going to be a test and let's see what he can do.

[00:45:29] And then I want my number one when we're playing metropolitan division guys.

[00:45:33] Plus, Markstrom's a little more used to that organization.

[00:45:37] That's true.

[00:45:38] And, you know, the other thing about Utah, like Arizona started pretty hot last year too.

[00:45:43] And they ended up coming out.

[00:45:44] They played us hard too.

[00:45:45] Yeah, they beat us.

[00:45:46] Yeah.

[00:45:46] They beat us.

[00:45:47] I think it was an overtime game or shootout or something.

[00:45:49] I think it was, I think we got a point out of it, but that was the second game of the season last year that we dropped.

[00:45:54] And it was, you know, but I'm really looking forward to that game.

[00:45:59] I think that's going to be a ton of fun.

[00:46:00] I'm shocked they put six up past the $12 million man tonight.

[00:46:05] Yeah.

[00:46:06] Yeah.

[00:46:07] I mean, I'll tell you, you know, anything can happen.

[00:46:09] But when you're turning down 11 million for eight years and then you drop six.

[00:46:16] You know, you're not doing yourself any favors, man.

[00:46:20] It just went down to 10-5, asshole.

[00:46:22] Right.

[00:46:22] Yeah.

[00:46:23] For every fucking six goal game you go, we're dropping a million.

[00:46:27] Yeah, dude.

[00:46:28] Like, that's awesome.

[00:46:29] Hold on.

[00:46:30] I want to make sure.

[00:46:31] I want to make sure.

[00:46:32] Because I only heard.

[00:46:34] I saw the, what time is it posts?

[00:46:36] You know, because whenever that happens, I go right to the scores knowing it's like five

[00:46:39] past to Serkin or something.

[00:46:41] Yeah.

[00:46:41] So let me just make sure it was in fact him in the net.

[00:46:43] Either way, it's still funny as shit.

[00:46:46] And check this.

[00:46:47] I mean, here, like you talk about like shocking starts, right?

[00:46:51] Shocking games here.

[00:46:52] Um, so I watched that Bruins King game today.

[00:46:56] That was a fun little game.

[00:46:57] Right.

[00:46:58] The Maple Leafs beat Pittsburgh today.

[00:47:00] Poor Pittsburgh.

[00:47:00] They look so bad.

[00:47:02] Um, but then they whooped in.

[00:47:04] They put like five or six on, uh, against Ottawa the other night or something.

[00:47:08] Yep.

[00:47:09] All right.

[00:47:09] So the Devils won.

[00:47:11] Uh, the Canadians beat the Senators four to one today.

[00:47:14] The Sabres, like you said, beat Florida five to two.

[00:47:18] I wonder if that was, uh, also, um, I have a feeling that that was, uh, what's his name

[00:47:22] in goal?

[00:47:23] Um, yeah.

[00:47:24] Spencer Knight was in goal for Florida.

[00:47:26] So they didn't have Bobrovsky.

[00:47:27] They didn't have Kachuk.

[00:47:28] They didn't have Barkov.

[00:47:30] You see the respect that they had for, uh, Buffalo.

[00:47:33] Sure.

[00:47:34] Uh, Utah.

[00:47:35] Yep.

[00:47:35] Six up past the Rangers.

[00:47:37] Um, and it was Igor Shisirkin.

[00:47:39] Six goals on, on 26, uh, shots.

[00:47:43] He had a 0.769 save percentage tonight.

[00:47:47] So again, that's fantastic.

[00:47:49] Listen, this shit's going to happen.

[00:47:51] It's going to happen to the best goalies.

[00:47:53] I don't really recall it happened to ProDura that much, but I guess it does happen.

[00:47:57] But you're just, you're running your mouth by being silent about how steady it is.

[00:48:04] How steadfast you are on this next contract.

[00:48:06] You should never let in six goals.

[00:48:09] No, no.

[00:48:11] He's not, he's not no goals.

[00:48:12] No goals.

[00:48:13] Definitely not no goals.

[00:48:14] But you know who did get no goals tonight?

[00:48:17] Who got no goals?

[00:48:18] The Predators.

[00:48:19] They scored none.

[00:48:21] I know that's.

[00:48:22] Scored none goals.

[00:48:22] Yeah.

[00:48:23] None goals.

[00:48:23] The Red Wings beat them three to nothing.

[00:48:25] Uh, you had a shootout, uh, where the Kraken took the extra point against the Wild.

[00:48:31] The Dallas Stars shutting out the New York Islanders three nothing.

[00:48:35] Uh, I don't, like I said, I don't see the Islanders doing shit this year.

[00:48:39] And now out in Colorado at the end of the second, the Avalanche are down five to three

[00:48:45] to Columbus.

[00:48:46] Blue Jackets.

[00:48:47] Yep.

[00:48:47] Wow.

[00:48:48] The Blackhawks are up one nothing against the Oilers and the Sharks and Ducks just ended

[00:48:54] the first at zero zero in the game.

[00:48:56] Nobody gives a shit about.

[00:48:58] And the Flames are beating the Flyers two nothing, uh, in two, three minutes left in the first.

[00:49:04] That's, that's the slate for today.

[00:49:06] So we had a couple of things fall our way, right?

[00:49:08] Like we beat a metropolitan team.

[00:49:10] The Hurricanes and the Penguins were postponed.

[00:49:12] So we don't have to worry about that.

[00:49:13] The Penguins lost to, uh, you know, so there's one metropolitan team, another one that lost.

[00:49:19] Um, let's see the Rangers lost.

[00:49:21] Got a point though.

[00:49:22] Yeah.

[00:49:23] They got three points.

[00:49:24] The Islanders lost.

[00:49:25] So this works out.

[00:49:26] I mean, we're going to have like five games in hand by the end of this week.

[00:49:29] Yeah.

[00:49:29] So, you know, we're going to be in first, if we keep winning, we're going to be in first

[00:49:32] in the Metro for a while.

[00:49:34] So I like that.

[00:49:36] But so anything else you want to touch on this evening, Bob?

[00:49:39] I just want to tell our listeners that we have changed our official Instagram account

[00:49:43] to the Uncle Puckers.

[00:49:45] It was just previously at Uncle Puckers.

[00:49:46] Now it's the Uncle Puckers.

[00:49:48] So go ahead and follow us there and share it with anybody.

[00:49:51] Cause we had a pretty good following on the last page.

[00:49:53] We just couldn't maintain it.

[00:49:54] So we're, we're starting a new one.

[00:49:56] Uh, we'll get a fresh, uh, if you want to jump on that.

[00:49:58] And of course, you know, we'll get all our shows out on Twitter and Instagram and,

[00:50:03] you know, everything we can to keep everybody updated.

[00:50:05] Absolutely.

[00:50:06] You can also, we're going to start doing, um, you know, pregames, a little, you know,

[00:50:11] 10 minute videos of just kind of the upcoming game, what to look for.

[00:50:15] Those will be up on YouTube on our YouTube channel.

[00:50:17] So if you'd like, you can check those out.

[00:50:19] We did the first one today.

[00:50:20] We're going to put another one out tomorrow night about the Utah game.

[00:50:24] Um, also we have our awesome logo, Uncle Pucker stickers.

[00:50:28] If you are interested in one, you want to slap it on your car, your computer, your water

[00:50:31] bottle, whatever, um, give it to a Ranger fan.

[00:50:34] And all you got to do is go to the uncle puckers.com, click on sticker.me, uh, email us the address.

[00:50:41] They're free of charge.

[00:50:42] We send them out.

[00:50:42] Yeah.

[00:50:43] I think it's actually under the contact page.

[00:50:45] Now, if you go to contact us, it used to say contact us slash, uh, sticker.me, um, but

[00:50:50] we've gotten more tabs since then.

[00:50:51] So it's just contact us.

[00:50:52] You'll see the sticker.me section.

[00:50:53] We've already fulfilled a few.

[00:50:55] Yeah.

[00:50:55] Yeah.

[00:50:56] We've got a couple.

[00:50:56] Garrett's will be in the mail soon.

[00:50:58] So thanks for listening, Garrett.

[00:50:59] We really appreciate it.

[00:51:00] And, uh, yeah, so wherever you guys are checking out, we also will start doing a lot more videos

[00:51:05] up on the YouTube podcast.

[00:51:06] We'll be up more video form and stuff.

[00:51:09] Um, you know, coming down the pipe, we're just working out some kinks on that because we

[00:51:14] want it to be good.

[00:51:15] So, um, wherever you're listening to us, like a five-star review, a positive comment really

[00:51:21] helps.

[00:51:22] Uh, you know, the download and a subscription helps a little podcast that could, he's Bob,

[00:51:26] I'm Chris, where the uncle puckers, and we'll see you when we see you.

[00:51:29] Bye-byes.

[00:51:30] Let's go devils.

[00:51:31] Woo.

[00:51:37] It's over, Johnny.

[00:51:39] It's over!