On this episode The guys talk about the playoffs. A quick look at all 8 series. Who has the advantage and why. Can NJ put it together to beat a very good Canes team? Why fighting in hockey is a good thing and other shenanigans.
[00:00:05] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils, and you're listening to the Uncle Puckers NJD Podcast. Let's go Devils! What is up everybody? We are the Uncle Puckers, Tony Zamboni, I'm Chris, and Tim is with us today. Bobby is off recouping from his surgery on his little mouth.
[00:00:30] One enchilada, $6,000, oral surgery, and an implant. Was it worth it, Bob? I told him he was going to tear the side of that mouth if he wasn't careful. He's not going to listen to this. It was not worth it, I don't think. So, what's up boys? How's everybody doing this fine Monday, or what is it, Tuesday afternoon? Bad? Bad? Ugly?
[00:00:57] Yeah, it's alright. I've been building a lot of shit the past couple days. We're putting a new flooring in one of our outbuildings, so I've been learning how to use a tongue and groove router. Very nice.
[00:01:13] Yeah, it's amazing what you can learn on the YouTube do-it-yourself channels. I had to put a new drive chain on this DR mower that I have. Let me remind you, I lived in New York City for 25 years, so if I needed a problem fixed, I'd just call the super. So, I was moving down here, I was one of the most useless people on the face of the earth. Now I know how to do everything. It's pretty remarkable. Why'd you relocate him?
[00:01:42] A variety of reasons. Not really for public consumption. Oh. It was the supply of milk art. I'm just trying to avoid some outstanding warrants in New York, you know, for, you know, some light robbery. Apparently, CBS is very upset about shampoo. So, you're on the lam? Yeah, yeah. Is that it? Alright. No, I had to take care of a sick relative. I'll put it that way.
[00:02:07] So, is Montreal taking this last spot, or like we were talking, are the Columbus Blue Jackets going to come up from the gates of hell and steal this thing away from Montreal? Like, I don't know, man. It's possible. You just need two wins and a loss on the other side. I mean, it's possible. So, the Habs have one game left, right? And that's tomorrow, I think, against the Canes. Yeah, Wednesday against the Canes. Now, what about Columbus? They have two games left. Islanders and who are they playing?
[00:02:37] Somebody else. Yeah, somebody else bad. They have to win the next two games, and then if Montreal loses to Carolina, I think they're in. Yeah, that's it. They're in. That would be scary to play. You know, that's a team that's having fun right now. I watched that. You know, you guys watched a Montreal Blackhawks game last night, right? Did you watch it? No, I watched it, yeah. I watched it just to see this Demidov kid play. Man, he is electric. But he also didn't back check very well on the go-ahead third goal.
[00:03:07] So, everybody's falling in love with Montreal because they're like young and exciting, and it's cool to have a new team in. But it's still Montreal. Like, they still have four good offensive players and like a bag of shit. Don't look at the doubles. And one decent defenseman. They're also a bunch of midgets, now that we're allowed to use that word. So, they're going to get fucking pummeled by the Capitals. I've made that decision. I don't know if I agree with that. I really don't. I don't know if I agree.
[00:03:36] The Capitals are twice their size. The Capitals are just fucking around right now. They're not doing anything serious. They're going to flip a switch. They have veterans that have been there before. Montreal is nobody who's really been there before. I just don't think – I just don't see it. I think either team, Columbus or Montreal, are going to give Washington a hand – be a handful for Washington. I really think so. Either team – and I am taking – you know, my picks. I am taking Washington to win the first round, whoever they play. But I do think it's not going to be a cakewalk.
[00:04:07] But as far as Tampa Bay and Florida, that's an interesting one. And like Thursday, we'll talk about that more and we'll get into all the numbers. I'll have all that stuff laid out and we can go over their records against each other. We'll go side-by-side comparison. I'm taking Tampa. Yeah, it's hard not to. I was about to say it's the same thing. It's hard not to. I mean –
[00:04:29] Art Ross, the way Vasilevsky has played down the past couple of months, like he's actually given Hellbuck kind of a little bit of pause on the Bessina conversation. Hellbuck should still win it, you know, because it's been like this the whole season. But you look at Vasilevsky's numbers, they're pretty insane. He's back to being the best goalie in the league or one of the best goalies in the league. Like it's – And come playoff time, we know, you know.
[00:04:55] Hunter Hellbuck, we – you know, he seems to crumble like blue cheese during the playoffs and Vasilevsky's a freaking stone wall. Sorry, go ahead, Johnny. No, I'm sorry. I got a Vazzy story actually. I remember – so Vazzy first comes in the league, right? I'm living in Tampa, as you know. They have a Lightning Fan Fest. My mom is now a Lightning Fan. She runs for the Devil's Sale, but she has switched over. Sure. So we go to the Fan Fest. Vasilevsky is sitting there. So it's basically like players.
[00:05:24] You can get them to sign all your shit. You know how it works, right? Vazzy's sitting there with nobody around him. Bishop has a bunch of people around him. Next year, Vazzy's the – I just remember him sitting there and no one caring. And now the guy is – One of the best goalies I've ever seen play. There's actually a highlight of him catching the puck behind his back in Tampa. I was at the game. I was playing – I mean, it was amazing. It's like a big highlight there. They always know. I've seen him play a lot.
[00:05:52] Like, you know, and I mean, living there, we used to go to games. We always went to the Devil's games. We would go to a lot of games there. He is amazing. And if – in the playoffs, you just can't doubt Vazzy. You know, and I think the Lightning with their experience last year, some of the moves they made – notice I said some of the moves they made to help them in the playoffs. Yeah. The Lightning are going to be tough. I think they're going to – I think they're pissed about last year. I mean, you know, I always envy living in Tampa. I wish we never leave the Devils. But I was like, man, you could be –
[00:06:22] the Lightning fans, they have every year you're a competitor. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, that window will be wound down. I like some of the comments that – and this is what I think I'd like a little bit more out of from Fitz is the comments that Breezeball made basically saying, like, I'd rather trade for a known commodity than a pick sometime off in the future. You know, he unloaded the clip on Janot, which is kind of a bad trade. But upgrade – like, what's clearly become an upgrade from Gensel for Stamkos.
[00:06:51] But, like, you look at that first line, Kucherov point, Gensel, and then you've got to deal with Hagel and Sorelli, and then you've got to deal with Nick Paul. Like, the depth that they have is outrageous. Hedman's back to playing the way he was, getting McDonough back, who I thought was washed last year. But he's one of the best defensive defensemen in the league. You mentioned Point last show, and I tell you, you remember – I don't know if you guys remember, but they – so they had Druin, who Druin was a hell of a player for the way he was there. They lost him.
[00:07:20] They were worried about that. And then Point comes in and basically just takes the spot right over. And another guy I've seen play, I've heard, like, a decent amount of games, and a guy who actually changes everything on the ice. And Point's not a big guy at all, you know. No, they have scoring everywhere. They have the best coach in the league. They have the pedigree. They know what they're doing. There's not going to be – in any single situation or scenario that comes up
[00:07:48] during these playoffs that they haven't dealt with already. They're my favorite to win the East. I just think they're so much better than they were the last couple of years. And, you know, Florida's probably my second pick, but, you know, that's the first rounders. One of them is going home. I'm taking Tampa. Yeah, me too. And in Florida, we don't know what's going on with Matt Kachuk. Yeah. And he is just such a linchpin person for Florida, just emotionally play style, the clutchness.
[00:08:17] Just if they don't have him – and I wouldn't put it past Florida to be, like, slow playing that at all or, like, that would be some sort of long time. Sure, sure. Where, you know, he got hurt at Four Nations. He's like, fuck it. I'm going to wait until the playoffs. But, yeah, the depth that Tampa rolls out. And Brayton Point, I always – there's a funny – I guess I wouldn't call it funny, but a good story about how he kind of got noticed. One of the scout – I forget who it was.
[00:08:44] Went to one of his games in juniors, but they were actually looking at someone else on the ice. And his eye just kept going back to Point and was like, who is that guy? Like, he's little, but he's everywhere and everywhere on every shift. And that's the way he plays in Tampa, man. He's just everywhere. So, yeah, I'd say they're coming out of the east. I don't see – I don't see anybody who's better than them right now. Yeah. And we'll pick the games and stuff as far as how many – each series is going to last on Thursday.
[00:09:13] And then we're going to end up with Ottawa-Washington – I mean, Ottawa-Toronto. Ottawa. I'm going Ottawa. Yeah. I'm with you. I'm going Ottawa. And I like this Toronto team. They're a lot better than they've been. I think Craig Berube was the voice that they needed in that dressing room. I like this Toronto team so much better. But at the same time – We got Ace in here. All right. I don't know, Ace. Yeah.
[00:09:43] Is that Ace from Running with the Devils? Yeah. I think it's Ace. Yeah, I watch that shit all the time, man. Yeah, me too. Yeah. I like that show. But we're going to – we'll go into the – whatchamacallit, the Devils next. But I am. I'm taking Ottawa. I think that Travis Green's got these guys playing a really good brand of hockey. And Olmark was the – you know, the move that whole pendulum over.
[00:10:09] I mean, you got Olmark in there, and now they are a legit team that's figuring out how to win. I like some of the moves that they made. I think that the Zetterlin move is – and the Cousins move were just brilliant. They're great pieces to add for a playoff run. I like Ottawa over Toronto. What about you guys? Yeah. I mean, I've said that, I think, last week too. I mean, Ottawa's a team, I think, that's going to be a surprise team in the playoffs.
[00:10:36] You know, and I mean, I love – like we always say on the show, we love Brady Kachuk. And I think he's a difference maker. And, you know, I'm going with Ottawa. I'm going to go with Ottawa in seven though. I don't know. We're not predicting that now. I haven't looked recently. Is Brady healthy? Do we know? That's the question. We don't know. We don't know. So they may be doing the same thing, but I think a lot hinges on him as well. But you said that about – you said that about Allmark.
[00:11:05] Like I think he's a difference maker. I think there's a little bit of question mark in the Toronto goal. We saw Sanderson come in and emerge at the Four Nations where people are like, holy shit, this guy's really good. And I think he's going to take his game to a whole new level. And we'll be having – and I'm basically saying verbatim about something I heard on a different podcast, but whatever. I'll steal whatever I want. But we're going to be having a whole different conversation about Sanderson after these playoffs, I think.
[00:11:34] Like this guy is so good at hockey. And people underrate Timmy Stutzla. Like he's a 90-point guy. Like he's a really, really good player. I'm still waffling though on this series. Like I think it's going to be Ottawa. I'm probably going to pick Ottawa, but I go back and forth. You know, I don't know if Toronto has the stones, but their defense is better. And with Berube leading the charge, you know, he'll slap the shit out of these guys if they're not playing. You know they're going to play the right way.
[00:12:03] It should be a really good series. And that one I can totally see going 7-2 tone. But I think other than Brady Kachuk having a leg amputated between now and Saturday or Sunday, no matter what, he's going to be in. This is his first playoff. He's not missing any time in the playoffs. I don't buy that at all. And I heard something interesting too that there's an interesting opinion about it. It was because Brady Kachuk only has one gear.
[00:12:32] So now that Ottawa's in, they're playing Toronto, kind of like the Devils in Carolina. Like they don't have anything to play for. It's like why put him in right now when he only has one gear? You know, let him save that up. He's like a rabid dog in a cage, just kind of sitting there waiting to just fucking unleash himself on Toronto. And that's why I think it's brilliant that Jack Hughes hasn't played all this time. You know, get him in for Saturday. Oh, wait. I'm sorry. Yeah. Jack's going to rip off his mustache and come out.
[00:13:01] That's not happening. All right. Which leads us to our series, which again, we will get into a lot more in depth, but I am sorry. I can't see us beating the Canes. I just don't see it. I don't know how many games it's going to go. I just, the way that this team has been playing since Christmas. And, you know, I'm not at a point, and there are some devil fans that are okay with the fact that,
[00:13:30] hey, look, we didn't make the playoffs last year. We made the playoffs this year. And, you know, Sheldon Keefe has got these guys in the right direction. So really, whatever happens, it's all gravy from here. I don't buy that. I'm not on board with that. No. Any time that you have a chance to make it to the NHL playoffs, then you, there can't be any more, I'm happy to be here bullshit. Yes, Ace, they are fucking losers.
[00:13:59] But I don't, you know, I just, I'm not buying that whole thing. If you're going to be in there, you go in there to try and win this whole thing. Carolina, I think the Devils match up a lot better with the Canes than we had in recent years. I do. And if we can get back to how we were playing when we played them earlier in the year, I think we have a shot. This team right now, I just don't know which way the wind's blowing with them.
[00:14:26] And they haven't really shown us shit in the last two weeks, at least to even, I think, going into the, and again, momentum isn't anything. We've seen these devil teams, right, struggle. I mean, we fired our freaking coach in March. And, and, you know, they're struggling. They win the last couple of games of the year and they go and sweep the first round and go win the Stanley Cup. But that's not this team. And I just don't know if we have what it takes right now to beat the Canes.
[00:14:56] So I don't think I'm going to be picking us to do it. I get so frustrated with this because, you know, I've been bitching for like two months now about it. I keep on thinking about the moves that we made at the trade deadline or what move, the non-moves we made at the trade deadline. And it just frustrates me so much because all of us guys and, you know, Ace, I mean, he's another guy. We've all been around, we were around during 94, 95. We suffered with the devils when the Ranger fans were running our high school and basically like, you know, just being total douchebags.
[00:15:28] And I'll go down with the ship. You know, I always tell Chris, like, when we talk off the thing, I say, I love the devils. I always go down. But, man, it's frustrating. I'm worried. I don't – you know, I know these next couple games don't mean anything right now, but I really feel like they kind of mean something just because we've played like such shit for so long now. Pull it down. You're talking about Chris. I'm talking to my dog. He's got some kid chained up in the back.
[00:15:55] But, I mean, it's just, you know, if I wasn't a devil fan, I would be like, okay, New Jersey is going to get – Nobody, nobody has the devils. And everything that I've seen – and this is something – Except for PK, except for PK Subban. PK does have us beating the Canes. He does have us beating the Canes. He's just such a – He's a little. I love PK, man. Just that was just an excellent, excellent troll job. Yes.
[00:16:24] And I love that we have him. I love that he believes in the team. Now, look, I mean, anything can happen. I mean, I think that the devils have shown that when they do play their game, they can beat anybody. But it's just a matter of we haven't beaten anybody good in so long. And that's the thing that's just frustrating. Like, you have to win one of these first two games. Like, that's the thing, too.
[00:16:51] Like, the way we started both series two years ago, the Rangers and the Canes, just – You cannot start that. Who is dicking around with a pen or something? And Canes have only lost nine – They've only lost nine games at home this year? Yes. Their home record is – That's ridiculous. They're tough at home. All right. I'm going to pick the devils. Okay. Because fuck everybody else, and I'm a devils fan. Ah, we got them. I'm going down with the ship. I don't care.
[00:17:18] And once we get past these fucking trash bag, uneducated hillbillies from Carolina, we're going to breeze through the Eastern Conference Finals. Me and Ace are going to be dancing on everybody's grave. I want some of that weed that Tim has. I'm not getting that involved here. In-bred, in-bred, Hicks, whatever you call them, are 31-9-1 at home this year. Yeah.
[00:17:43] Let me tell you why the regular season record doesn't matter in the playoffs. So, over the past 10 years, there have been 10 Stanley Cups awarded. Correct? Correct. Okay. Four of those cups have been won by teams that were, quote, unquote, going in hot. And their combined win-loss record was 305 to 314.
[00:18:08] So, they actually had a losing record in the playoffs when they were going into the playoffs hot. Teams that were going in about 500-ish have a 242 and 250 record. Teams that were going in cold and not playing well leading up to the playoffs have a record of 370 and 349 in the playoffs.
[00:18:30] So, teams that actually were cold going into the playoffs actually have better accumulative playoff record than 500 or 100. Or better. Do they have four months of pool? I think that is evidence that what their play right now doesn't necessarily matter. I get it. It hasn't been pretty since January. It hasn't. That's the big problem. But when they raise the emotional stakes of the game, the Devils have responded.
[00:18:58] And they've responded extremely well. And I point to that Rangers game and I point to those two Minnesota games when things got really heated. I point to that Flyers game when things got really heated. When the Devils elevate themselves emotionally and get up for a game emotionally and lead with physicality, they bury their opponents. We have the physical advantage in this series. And I think we can beat the shit out of these little Canes forwards. Smetschikov might be hurt, which is fine. The guy only has 46 points this year.
[00:19:28] Our elite forwards are better than theirs. Nico, Timo, Bratt are all better than anything they have to offer. And if we get Dougie back and Markstrom hits his playoff ceiling, we're going to beat the Canes. There are a few things that I feel good about with our series against them. And I do think that if the Devils beat the Canes and we move on to the Capitals, I think we beat Washington. And I said this to you guys.
[00:19:56] If we beat the Canes, I think we make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. I really believe that. I think that we can make it to the Eastern Conference Finals if we beat Carolina. Carolina is going to be a handful, though. We have the advantage in goal. I think Markstrom will absolutely be a force. I'm not worried about our goaltending. And, you know, this whole going in hot, going in cold thing. I know it makes sense when you look at the numbers like that.
[00:20:25] And I can see where, you know, you can look at this and say, yeah, well, then we have a shot. We're cold. We're going in. But we've been cold since, like you said, Tony, since like January. And that's the thing that kind of worries me is that they never got back to playing the way they played earlier in the year. We barely even saw glimpses of it. Now, that can all switch because I do think we have the better goaltending. And we have a few guys in our lineup that I think have a switch.
[00:20:52] And if they turn that switch on, they have proven they can show up big in the playoffs. And I'm talking guys like Palat, guys like Holla, these guys, Meyer. These are guys that can be huge for us if they can kick it into the next year. And guys like Dylan that have the experience, a guy like Cotter. I mean, he's won a cup. He has the experience. He knows what it's like to go through and win 16 games in the postseason. Sort of. So I like... And Meyer's been a beast since we lost Jack, man. Yes. He's been, you know...
[00:21:22] Completely taken on his back. Meyer's a guy that can transform a series. Yes. And I think that if... And the physicality, that to me is the key. If they... If the devil set the tone, whether Saturday or Sunday, whenever game one's going to be, if they set the tone early physically, I think they can get Carolina on tilt. I really do. Because I think we are a much more physical team when we all collectively say, this is how we have to play.
[00:21:51] We can't cheat for offense. We have to be defensively responsible. We have to hit anything that fucking moves. And when the opportunities arise, we have to bury the pucks. That was as simple as it was for them when the season started. And they get away from that. If they can get back to that, they have a shot. Right now, I mean, for our exercise in all this, I'm taking the canes probably in seven. But, you know, anything can change. I hope...
[00:22:19] Never hoped I was more wrong about something than I am about this series in my head. Because I'm... Look, I full on have rose-colored glasses on. But I do think there's a path for us to win. I do think... I'm not just blowing smoke to blow smoke. I do think there's a path. We need everybody to be their best, though. We need a lot to go right. We need a lot to go wrong for Carolina. I mean, I hate to wish injury on people. But wouldn't mind to see if Svechikov was out for a couple of games.
[00:22:48] Like, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for us. Because then they really only have Ajo and Jarvis that provide any sort of offense. Carolina struggles to score. They really do. They struggle to score. Where their strength is their 6-D core. I think that is really their strength. And what worries me is Brat's ability to get to the interior against this D core. You know, like, I think that's something that is going to be a fight all series.
[00:23:17] Not to say that he's any sort of playoff liability. Because nobody can get to the interior on this D core. But that's a problem. What they need to do, what Carolina needs to do as a team, is insulate Anderson or Kuchekov. Whoever starts for them. Which is a question in and of itself. Like, who is their starting goalie? I think it's probably going to be Freddie Anderson to start. Probably. I think so. Kuchekov has carried the water for them. Yeah.
[00:23:48] 27 wins. I also think the Devils have a secret weapon. I really believe that we have one guy on this team that if he turns it up, he can transform this series and be the best player on the ice. And that's Luke Hughes. I really believe that Luke Hughes can take that turn. If he can take that turn in this playoff, I think the Devils can go pretty far.
[00:24:16] But, you know, it's a lot to put on his little young narrow shoulders. But he has all the skill in the world. It's the same thing I just said about Sanderson on Ottawa. Yeah. They're almost on, like, identical trajectories. Like, both of them. You know, I thought Luke actually would have been a good option for the Four Nations instead of Sanderson. I think they're going to be the two guys fighting for that probably fourth lefty spot on the American team over the next couple years. Because that left side is, you know, Quinn, Slavin, and Wierenski. That's pretty locked down.
[00:24:46] So Sanderson and Luke are probably going to be the next two guys fighting for that spot with that little midget in Montreal. I like Lane Hudson, even though he's a tiny little guy. But I do like him. He's a weird-looking dude. He looks- He's wiry. Wiry players. He's latteries. Yeah. He's just- I like him, though. I like this Montreal team. I like the core of this team. Dude, they're fun, man. I like the story that they told last night during the game. And I'm sure you probably heard it when-
[00:25:15] It was right before the trade deadline. And Suzuki went up to management and just told them, like, I want you to keep us together. I want you to keep our core together. I don't want you trading Evans. I don't want you trading. I think that we can do it. And it was a couple weeks before the trade deadline or wherever it was. And who's their general manager? I don't even know who their GM is. Hughes. Jack Hughes? That's what he's doing? He left us to go fucking run the- The father of BU's Jack Hughes, actually. Ken Hughes.
[00:25:45] Ken Hughes. Okay. Ken Hughes. Actually, the old management team that was working for the Rangers the last time. Last time they were good. So, you know, he said, look, and the management basically said, all right, you show us that you can win, that you can make a push, put something together for us, and we will not rip this team apart. And they did it. And I think that's awesome. I think that's awesome that Suzuki is that much of a leader at such a young age to just
[00:26:12] put it on his back and drag these guys all the way to the playoffs. And for that, I hope they make it. I hope Columbus makes it just because of everything they went through. It would just be a great story. But personally, I'd like to see the Habs in there because I just think the Bell Center playoff time is just awesome. Dude, that atmosphere last night, that place was on fire. That place was rocking. They're such great fans. They really are. Yeah. Yeah, they really were. Even though they lost. Yeah, I know. I know.
[00:26:41] But they got another chance at it. Yeah. I mean, both of them. What's cool is Calgary is kind of lurking in the west too. And Columbus is lurking in the east. And that'd be kind of a pretty cool Johnny Gaudreau type of connection story if both of them kind of somehow managed to sneak in. But if it's Montreal or Columbus, happy with both of them getting in. A Columbus-Calgary Stanley Cup final. There you go. I mean, Columbus, if you think about it, like I said, it sounds crazy. But it's not that they could get in, man.
[00:27:11] If you really look at it, you got to beat the Isles. You got to beat Philly. Yeah. They have a lot. Carolina can beat Montreal. I mean. Yeah. Fantilli has elevated his game. Merce Lincolns is really kind of the only question mark there. Zach Wierenski can control an entire game. Like that guy's unbelievable hockey. But, you know, all the whoever offs that they have, you know, Marchenko and I don't know. All the other random Russians that they have that suddenly appeared and were like, oh, this guy's really fucking good. Yeah.
[00:27:40] They're sneaky and they're winning at the right time. You know, they're potentially sneaking in. We thought we buried them a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if you remember that. We thought we put the last pile of dirt in their grave. And, you know, the thing that's effed up, if you, like Tony and I talked a little bit about this before we hit record, like the Devils, if they didn't have the start that they had, we're not in these playoffs. No. You know, with the way that the end of the season went. Yeah.
[00:28:10] The goaltending was definitely the savior. It's been a long con. They knew they were playing Carolina since December. I've been saying this. Yeah. I mean, we've been. So they're just like, you know what? Let's rest everybody. Pretend Jack got hurt. It's a long con. Jack's going to come out to the Undertaker's music. Game one, round one. And it's going to be fucking over for Carolina. Hey, could you just.
[00:28:37] I mean, that just that thought of everything. The Undertaker's music. Jack kind of coming up in like a billow of smoke right in the center ice. You hear the dong. He comes on, the lights come on in the rock. And all of a sudden, 86 is back on the ice. I mean, what better way to start WrestleMania weekend and playoff weekend than that? That's the perfect fit right there. There you go. All right. We're going to do a little housekeeping. And then we're going to go and talk quickly about the West.
[00:29:05] And a little bit about tonight's game against the Bruins, who apparently we can't beat anymore. And this is great because they gave us a new ad read here. And the ad read is given to us by the Hockey Podcast Network. OK. And we are a podcast which directly just talks about a hockey team from the Hockey Podcast Network. Just keep that all in mind.
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[00:30:56] That's DraftKings Sportsbook with code THPN. The crown is yours. You should literally tell the THPN guys to get DraftKings to just switch NBA to NHL for that ad read for their whole network. It's like the dumbest thing I've ever seen. I know. I mean, we've done Super Bowl ones. We've done football ones. There's a golf one once. Yeah. There was the golf one for the Masters, which I don't know. I mean, that's all everybody was talking about. I can't watch golf.
[00:31:26] I love golf. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people do. I just can't watch it. I watched the majors. I was a pretty good golfer in college, so I enjoy it. I think Gilmore was good. That's a hockey movie, Tony. It's kind of golf, too, right? Sort of. More of an anger management. Aren't they doing another one? Isn't there a part two? Yeah, part two. I think it's in June or something. I think Snoop Dogg's in it, too, or something like that. Yeah, I saw the preview for it. It looks a little not good. Snoop Dogg should be in everything.
[00:31:57] You really should. But him and Kevin Hart doing the Olympic commentary, there's like that dressage, the horse dancing, basically. Where Snoop is like, oh, shit. He's crip walking. I didn't realize that I needed my Olympics to have Snoop Dogg in it until I saw him on the Olympics last year. And I was like, yes, he needs to be on all of Olympic coverage all the time. He was calling football games there for a while, right? Snoop's a big hockey guy. Yeah, he loves hockey. He loves hockey.
[00:32:28] All right. So Western Conference. I mean, we don't have our seating just yet. It looks like it's going to be St. Louis a wild card two and Minnesota a wild card one. So we're going to just use those numbers for our discussion here. So it would be Winnipeg playing Minnesota. And I like this Minnesota team, especially with Kaprizov back and Eck back. I like this team.
[00:32:58] I don't know. Like, that's in the back of my head. Like, Connor Hollabuck was so bad last year in the first round against the Abs. So bad. And again, a Vezina year and crumbled in the playoffs. Is that going to happen again? Going Winnipeg. Taking Winnipeg? Yeah, I think they're damn good. I mean, I know what you're saying, though. Definitely happened. But my instinct is to say to take Winnipeg. I'm going to go with Minnesota. Yeah.
[00:33:27] Minnesota was the best team in the league before Kaprizov and Eric Zinnett got hurt. Now that those guys are back and they just added Zeve William to their lineup, Gossipson's a really – he's a hell of a goalie. And Winnipeg just lost Ehlers, who confirmed is week-to-week now, which doesn't look good. I don't know if you guys saw that, but Ehlers got hurt, like, running into a ref or something like that. No, I didn't see it. Oh, I didn't see it either.
[00:33:52] So he's – so Winnipeg, I just – I don't know. There's something about them that I just can't put my finger on. But I think Winnipeg, kind of the narrative about them starts to turn into a little bit of the Toronto narrative where they just can't get out of the first round. The entire West is an absolute buzzsaw, except for who finishes first and gets to play St. Louis. Well, not even that. Like, St. Louis, the way they've been playing has been outrageous.
[00:34:19] I don't think St. Louis is good enough to beat the one seed, but I think Minnesota can give them a real run for their money, and I think Minnesota takes them. I think it's going to come down to Connor Holbaugh. I think that Minnesota is a very good team, and they're a scary team in the West. I think anybody that takes them lightly is – because they have that narrative too, right? The Wild can't get out of the first round that they – you know. So – but I like John Hines. He knows what he's doing. I like that team. What? What?
[00:34:49] You don't like John Hines? I like John Hines. You don't like John Hines, really? Never really did. So I'm going to take – I'm going to go with Minnesota probably. That might change by Thursday, but right now I'm going to go with Minnesota. And then, like you said, St. Louis, it looks like it's going to be St. Louis, Vegas. Now, St. Louis is – you know, everyone's talking – St. Louis fans and Ranger fans, for some reason, remind me of each other.
[00:35:12] Like, they grasp onto whatever little success that they had, and they try and, like, you know, manifest that into what's happening now. You know, so this is exactly like 19, right? You know, Binnington's getting hot, and this team's just going to make it to the playoffs. You know, even though in 19 they ended up, like, I think first or second in the West, not a wild card spot.
[00:35:35] But I just think Vegas is a fucking train, man, and I don't know if St. Louis has the horses to stop them. So I'm going to take Vegas over to Blues. What about you guys? Same here. Vegas. Yeah, I'm the same. I think, you know, Eichel's too good. Like, they've been there before. They had their off year where, you know, they didn't make the finals. They got an extra month of rest. Like, they know what they're doing. Their D corps is elite. Aiden Hill's been there before.
[00:36:03] And, you know, Eichel, Marshall, and, you know, elite goal-scoring winger Alexander Holtz. Yeah, elite. So then we have, for the fourth time in a row, the Kings and the Oilers. And the last three years, Edmonton has rolled through them like a buzzsaw. It is not happening this year. The Kings don't lose at home.
[00:36:27] I think Edmonton is a shell of what they, you know, between the injuries, between all the hockey they've played. Unless Connor McDavid has just kind of been, like you said, slow playing this shit for the last few months, and him and Drysaddle are going to just flip that switch and become, you know, the best two hockey players in the world. I'm going to take the Kings on this one. I think Edmonton gets bounced in round one. Yeah.
[00:36:58] I'm going to go with the Kings, too. But it's almost 50-50 for me just because of what you – just because of McDavid. I mean, these are the kind of guys that can change a series, you know, like that. But I'm going to go with the Kings, too. Yeah, I agree. I think, you know, the way Kemper's playing, like he's going to get top 5 dozen votes. And the way Quinton Byfield, you know, has been playing recently, like that guy's highlighted.
[00:37:21] That guy, man, he's – once he finally puts it all together on a game-to-game basis, like he goes through these periods where he's the best player in the NHL. Like some of the shit he does is insane. Like that one goal he just scored where he deflected it down and then like lacrosse – The one-handed one? Yeah, that was just – I mean, I know he was holding the guy's stick, but like I think the rule – It should have been a penalty, but it was still nice. Well, yeah, but I'm a big believer in the rule of cool. Like if it's a cool fucking goal, like it shouldn't be allowed to be overturned.
[00:37:50] Like the overtime goal that – The Cotter out. The Cotter scored the other day. I was like, that was a cool goal. That should stand. And we should have like a panel of like, you know, like Pete Blackburn and Biz being like, yeah, that's a cool goal. That should stand. Yeah, they grade him. Yeah, that's in Toronto. Over eight and a half then. Yeah, they hit the goal. They just sit there on the sidelines. I just – And our guest referee, Pete Davidson, and he's just like holds up to nine. Whatever – yeah, Chuck Norris. There you go.
[00:38:20] Thank you, Chuck Norris. Whatever voodoo they have in L.A. that they're so good at home. Don't know what that is. I just don't see it. And like Edmonton's – Edmonton's IR list and injured list right now is ridiculous. Yeah. All right. And – Yeah. Well, real quick. The L.A. Kings home record. Let me just see this real quick. They're 31-5-4 at home this year. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous.
[00:38:50] Yeah, they don't lose at home. All right, and then the series, which I think is going to be the series of the first round, is Dallas and the Avs. This is – this sucks that one of them has to get bounced in round one because I think both of them have a legit shot to win the cup. But I like everything that the Avs did in the offseason, and I think Nate McKinnon – I mean, he's probably – no, not probably. He's my favorite non-devil hockey player in the league.
[00:39:20] I'm going with the Avs. I hate to say that Mackenzie Blackwood is going to win a playoff series, but I think he's going to win a playoff series. I would like to – so I think Dallas is going to win the series, but I would like – I actually would like to see Blackwood. I have no problem. I mean, you know, if Blackwood couldn't have stayed healthy, I think it would have been a different story. You know, I mean, I liked Blackwood.
[00:39:46] And, yeah, I'm rooting for him, man, but I do think Dallas is going to win, but I would actually be kind of cool if he actually won a series. So you're going to take Dallas? Yeah, I'm going to take Dallas. I just think Dallas is damn good. I think they've been damn good all year. One of the best retro – one of those – what is that, the third jersey they have, that neon green? The black one. Awesome, man. I love it. Oh, I love it. I love it. I don't like it. I hate it. Oh, I love it. But I think Dallas is really good, and I think it's going to be a seven-game series, I think. You know, I mean – It should be.
[00:40:14] I think a lot of those – I think a lot of the West is going to be seven-game series. The West is an absolute gauntlet. Like even like, you know, the bottom two teams, you know, we just talked about, like Minnesota has a reason to be excited. St. Louis has been hot. Vegas is a wagon. Dallas and Colorado are both wagons. Like you said, it sucks that one of them is going to get eliminated, but like every one of those – Like what's going to happen is the West is going to beat the fucking living shit out of each other,
[00:40:42] and someone from the East is going to win because someone – whoever comes in from the West is going to be limping into the playoffs. I agree. But I think Colorado is going to win that series. I have no ill will towards Blackwood. Like I don't think – I think he was horribly mismanaged by the Devils. You know, the whole shit with his heel and what they're – they're like cutting a part of the back of his skate out. So his bare heel was like exposed to the elements and he was trying to play through. Like we just fucked that guy up.
[00:41:12] And fans did turn on him. I remember it was like love Blackwood and then it was hate Blackwood. Yeah, and we – you know, and every fan base does that with their goalies. Goalies is like the – it sucks. Like you can see with our own this year with like Marky and Allen. You know, everybody's like, oh, sit and Marks him to the moon and re-sign Allen. It's like shut the fuck up. So – Exactly. Idiots. But, you know, with Kale McCarr, man, he is – he might be the best player in the NHL. He might possibly be. There's certainly an argument to be made. He's going to win the Norris again.
[00:41:42] Nate McKinnon, like there's a reason why I keep telling Bobby – like I don't know if you guys see this. I sent Bobby some stuff on the side. But, you know, every time Nick McKinnon comes up, you know, I tell Bobby to tell his kid to eat sleep McKinnon. You know, just watch him play, man. He just skates like he's pissed at the ice. And what they've done to reinvent their entire team during the course of the season. Oh, yeah. They turned over their goaltending by November, which another thing, it's like Fitz, what the fuck, man?
[00:42:11] That's what I love about Colorado. Exactly that. They identified an issue and they fixed it. They didn't fuck around. It didn't sit on their hands. They didn't say, well, let's wait and see what happens. No, we have issues. Let's fix them now. And you're right with Fitz. He doesn't do it. Oh, that's nice. There's a fucking wasp just crawling around in my window up there. All right. I'm going to try to be quiet. So I have to. I didn't mention this. I don't know if you guys did. I'm sure you guys done a couple of shows since then. But I have to. I wasn't on for a couple of nights, I think.
[00:42:42] Man, I was watching Crosby play the other night. I have to say, dude, I hated Crosby when he first came in the league. Couldn't stand him. But now, I mean, he's a hell of a player. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, the narrative on him has certainly changed. You know, he came into the league and it was Cindy Crosby. He was a whiner. He was like. But now, like, it's kind of like, it's almost like the Tom Brady syndrome. I hate it, Tom Brady. I still have a lot of resentment towards him with the whole Raiders situations. But, dude, he's a great quarterback.
[00:43:09] Eventually, you just have to say, okay, this guy is that good. Talking about the homes? No. No. I saw a picture. It was Brady. It was a cartoon picture. And he had all the rings on his fingers. And he had one ring on his slong because he had so many rings he couldn't fit it. I mean, it made sense. I was like, yeah, dude. It's kind of a small dick if you can fit a ring on it. Jesus. You can get it extended. Yeah. Tony would know.
[00:43:38] I watched a really awesome documentary last night that I think you two would really enjoy. It's called The Guardians. It was on Prime. I don't know if you guys have seen this. And it was an entire documentary about the enforcer role in hockey. You know, from the earliest days of fighting in hockey and to right up until now where the
[00:44:03] enforcers are basically, you know, dinosaurs, you know, and they follow a bunch of guys and everybody's, you know, all these different stories. They go through everything from, you know, concussions to the injuries. And they go and they talk about like, I didn't know this. This was, do you know how many concussion percentage wise of concussions happen in hockey during fights? Like a rough idea of a percentage.
[00:44:33] I thought it was pretty small. I thought most of the concussions come from actual hits and not fighting. What number would you say? Like 5%. It is exactly. 70%. Was it 5%? It is 5%. Wow. Yeah, the hits and the force from hits because it's a physics equation, you know, and that's why they say hitting in hockey is harder because force is speed or velocity times mass. Well, and there's a lot of other things that go into it.
[00:45:01] I mean, you have so many more of these injuries that happen now, the head injuries, and it's because of the speed. And the biggest thing is the equipment, like the shoulder pads that they have nowadays. They can take a frigging hit from a tank and you don't feel it. And, you know, so like Fred Hall even said, like, we wouldn't be running at guys at 25 miles an hour with our old shoulder pads because that hurts like hell. And we're not going to hit people like that because it fucking hurts.
[00:45:28] You ever see a picture of Scott Stevens wearing his shoulder pads from like the 80s or 90s? Yeah. Like, it's like he basically had like wet newspaper strapped to his arms. Like, like those are, those are his shoulders. Not, they weren't shoulder pads. Those are his fucking shoulders. And now I have a bitch related to this. I have a complaint related to this because I was going to bring this up. Chris, you mentioned this. Hold that complaint for two seconds. Okay. Sing a song. I'll be right back. Tim, you know, so I'll bring this up with Chris too. But if you notice, man, you watch, like I'll watch the highlights in the morning for some games and they don't show.
[00:45:58] It's so pussified, the highlights now. Like, I don't know if it's sports net, whatever. You can watch all the highlight shows. Most of them online now don't show the fights. Don't show the hits. Like, I mean, games with big fights, they just blow right through that. Now they don't show any of that. It drives me crazy. I mean, because, you know, obviously we come from back in the day where you just clobber people, you know, it was just. And where you live in Europe.
[00:46:22] Yeah, it's, you know, it's the skill level of players has gotten so extreme and kind of the pendulum has swung so far. Not room for those guys. Or skill and speed and stuff like that. But I think it's kind of coming back a little bit where people are starting to realize you need that heaviness and you need that skill. And that's the perfect player. Florida showed that last year. Florida showed that last year.
[00:46:50] You know, even like a guy like Kucherov. Like, he's one of the biggest pricks on the ice. And you've got to be a little bit of a greasy prick on the ice. You know, like, I think McDermott is valuable to an extent, but he's a terrible fucking hockey player. Like, he's not. Like, a guy can't skate for shit. But I look at a guy like. Yeah, you look at a guy like Olivier. Sorry, Chris, one sec. You look at a guy like Olivier on Columbus who put up 16 goals. Like, give me that guy. And put that guy in the lineup. You can ask anybody on that devil's bench and they'll tell you they feel a hell of a
[00:47:19] lot more protected and faithful when he's on the bench. And even if he takes two minutes of ice time, that's it. I've been disappointed, man. We had not seen. I mean, he's just been. When I signed him, I didn't think we'd see him every night. But man, it's like he doesn't even exist on the team, it feels like. Yeah, I mean, because we need to win games and he doesn't really contribute. We're not doing that anyway, so. And last year, he was the only physical threat we had. It's not that way. Yeah, and I actually like having him in the lineup because he's only going to get three
[00:47:49] to five minutes, which means Brat's double shifting, Nico's double shifting, Jack's double shifting. And that's, you know, that's kind of why we score more because those guys are getting more ice time. But now, now, Tony, in Lithuania, does Lithuania have its own hockey league or is it part of a bigger European league? Like, what do you have there? It's part of, like, we have, like, we have our own leagues here. But, like, the big thing here is, like, Lafia. We play Lafia. We play places like that. I thought you said mafia. And there's no fighting, right?
[00:48:19] Oh, there is, but there's not supposed to. It's the same as it's kind of like, you know, there's not supposed to be, but there's a bunch of cheap hits. There's a bunch of that stuff. You just get, but you get tossed out of games, though. The here, like, I remember going to one of the playoff games here last year for, like, that I think it was 20 up where I think we're playing Lafia. And, yeah, they just toss you out. You know, you're kicked right out for fighting. In the European leagues that do not have fighting, they have a exorbitant amount of head injuries,
[00:48:48] more head injuries than the National Hockey League. And the, you know, big reason is that guys are going to take liberties. Like, if they took fighting out of hockey, like, do you think anybody would think twice about just running an elbow through Jack? No, that's. Jack Hughes' skull? Because if I can get this guy out and I know that he's going to be out for three weeks and I got to serve, what, a four or five game suspension? I don't give a shit if I'm just a thug or whatever. I'll go and I'll throw that 30 mile an hour elbow at him.
[00:49:17] If I know that I don't have to worry about McDermott or Dylan or anybody else coming and kicking my ass. And that's a problem. You take that away. Take that out of the game. You're going to have a lot more head injuries. And I, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Tim. No, no, no, no. I cut you off. I apologize. Go ahead. I'm done. Oh, that's why I'm a little worried about the repercussions for this Cotter suspension. I do not think that was the suspension where they hit. Because he hit him in the head.
[00:49:47] He got a five in a game. That should have been the end of it. Like, he should not have gotten two games for this. Like, the angle he was taking, he was watching the puck the whole time. It took a bad angle. And Pellick, one of the parts, one of the things Tony was talking about, the sort of plusification of this game, is guys aren't responsible for the positions they're putting themselves in. Like, you, Pellick, his nose and his chin are out like this. Like, don't put yourself in that position. Your head is going to get clipped.
[00:50:17] Like, it's going to get clipped. Like, Cotter, if you watch him, he's watching the – like, Biz actually broke this down on the intermission pretty well. He's watching the puck the whole time, whole time. And then he takes an angle like this. And Pellick is like this. And Cotter's on his right edge, on the right inside edge because he's taking that angle to go get the puck. And Pellick is right there. Like, it should not have been a suspension. I truly don't understand that decision.
[00:50:43] Especially since on the same fucking night, someone – What? Laughing at a comment. Nothing to do with you, Tony. Yeah, nothing to do with you. It changes from Pellick's nose and so fucking big you can't avoid that shit. You know, though, but I always bitch about it, Tim. But I – it drives me crazy, man, because I think, like, there is some teams that are getting tougher. And I love it, man, because, again, we all grew up with the Chris Simons, the Mike Pelusos, the Bob Proberts and guys like this.
[00:51:13] Yeah, I miss these kind of – you know, this kind of hockey. And, I mean, I keep on hoping – that's what I love about the Kachucks because I feel like they bring it back. Whether the league wants it or not, they're like, you know, it's in your face. And it's not just fighting. It's just the general level of violence and finish your checks and go through a guy. Like, that's the emotional level. Like, we were leading the league in fighting majors before Christmas. And I don't think – what, have we had one fight since? Yeah.
[00:51:41] Like, that sends an emotional charge through a team. You know, like, when I – when did Dylan fight? When I played in college, like, I didn't fight. But if a guy fought, he'd get kicked out of the game. But, like, that would fire the boys up on the bench. That gets you fired up. It does. It really does. And I think – A thousand percent. That we need to find the balance again between the violence and the skill. And I think we are. I think we are. I think Mario – hopefully he'll bring that into playoffs.
[00:52:09] I'm really hoping, like we always talk, we kind of compare. It's different because Claude Amu was a player of his own. Claude Amu was the guy that you wanted to kill if he wasn't on your team. But I think Meyer can play that role too, like we always talk about. And I think that would be huge for us because we don't have – you know, Dylan, I love Dylan. But I think Meyer is the guy we have to look to because, you know, we don't have many of those kind of guys I feel like who are nasty. Now, not tough. I'm talking about nasty. Pricks. You have to have some of that nasty.
[00:52:37] You have to be a greasy prick. Like Martian said last year. He's like, yeah. I still like Blake Coleman because he was kind of a prick. Yeah. Yeah. Martian said last year. He's like, yeah, I'm trying to hurt that guy. It's the playoffs. Yeah. Do you guys think that Nico Heischer has that in him? I think he does. He has fire in him, but I don't know if it's nastiness. He has – I think he can be a little nasty. I do. I think he can – I think there's another level of him come playoff time physically wise that I think he can handle a little bit more on his plate, I think.
[00:53:07] And he's not so much of that skinny little kid that just got – you know, that gets bitched off of the puck like he was when he first started. Like he has turned into, I think, a very good – and he's got some fire. And you see him – he's thrown some big hits this year. I think he's the kind of guy that maybe – you know, I'd like to see him kind of take that up a notch too. I thought Bastion was nastier when he first came in the league, man. He was like, you know, getting into it sometimes. Yeah, but he would – you know, back in the day he would get into – it was always in the scrums and stuff like that.
[00:53:34] Like, you know, and I remember Wood was like that. When Wood first came to the Devils, Wood was like – Yeah, he was our fighter. And then it just changed. And it was actually – I think he changed it so he can change his game, which I get. But it sucked because I loved the nasty Wood, you know. Like he knew something about him. The nasty Wood. That should be the name of the show right there, the nasty Wood. No, I agree. I agree. And I think there's an emotional level that these guys just need to get to.
[00:54:03] And, you know, I love Nico, but I think it needs to kind of come from some other people leadership-wise in the room, like Dylan, even Cotter to an extent, Nason. COVID-7. Veterans, what was I ever say you brought? Nason is another one I keep forgetting about. And I think he can be another dude. Yeah, you're right. Nason is another guy. Don't discount that Holla, Dougie, and Nason all basically got run out of town in Carolina.
[00:54:30] And, like, you know, we're playing for those guys, especially the Holla hatred. Holla is a guy that is a greasy, greasy little fucking prick. Like he can be a dirty little bastard. And I love that. We need – Nason, though, we need guys like that. That's one thing we're going to have to do. If we're going to beat Carolina, we need to have those guys who show up that you don't even notice in the regular season and get the chip bits. We need the Tatars to get the big – the third period goal that you don't expect. We need Nason to get a couple of the goals like he was a couple months ago, you know, putting them in all the time.
[00:54:59] That's the – to me, that – we were talking about the Carolina series earlier. That – because we don't have – like I said, we didn't retool like we should have. Those are the kind of guys we need to get past this series. If we have – say if we have at least two of the games decided by some chip-in you don't expect from one of our guys, then I – we could take it. That's right. We have to have that. And we've seen kind of glass contributing. You know, and like I've been putting together kind of the side-by-sides of Carolina and New Jersey stats.
[00:55:27] And season long, you know, our tie-in, our high – our high end – what the hell was that? It sounds like a dog with like one of those voice things on the voice box. Comes out when he gimp. Real quick. He's got a – yeah, he's got a gimp on his mouth. A car of peanut butter. Is that your son? I've never had a dog that barks and sounds like such a fucking pussy when he barks. He's a 60-pound dog. He's a big guy. And when he barks, he sounds like just a little tiny pussy and I want to punch him.
[00:55:57] I hate it. I hate when he barks. Here comes Keita. Seriously. Another problem. We're going to get flagged by Keita. We're not getting any admin. Oh, boy. No other ads to that. We're putting our ass out here. Actually, since – go ahead, Tim. Wrap this thing up. No, no. It's fine. Yeah, we can talk briefly about Boston. I thought there was a pretty good quote from Pesci on it. And I think this is kind of how we all feel about this. I want to see this team win.
[00:56:27] But objectively, I understand that it doesn't matter in the standings. But you've got to be able to get yourself up. So this is what Pesci said. But obviously, it doesn't matter in the standings. But you've got to ramp it up now. Now the playoffs are a week away. At that same token, these guys embarrassed us in our building not too long ago. We'll be ready. So I think that's that good kind of leadership quote. Oh, I forgot about Pesci in Carolina as well.
[00:56:52] I mean, there's a lot of guys that have a big reason to go and win this series for New Jersey. Absolutely. And tonight's going to be – no, it doesn't mean anything. But it means something. Right? Does that make sense? Yes. You want to feel good. Like win these last two games. Feel a little bit good about yourself. You go into this series in Carolina. And like you said, Tone, like that's all it takes, right? Is that chip in from Tatar, right?
[00:57:18] Palat to make that big play in the third period and Marky to come up with that big save. And next thing you know – You saw Jimmy Dow do it in 95, right? Exactly. Changes everything, man. I mean, look. Go back to the Rangers. Game 7, right? Michael McLeod. We all know he's a fucking scumbag, but he showed up. He's a scumbag scumbag. Yeah. What does he say here? We definitely have the slowest, worst shooting. Yeah, that's – I mean, that's – That can chip in like a ball thing.
[00:57:45] You know, that's why I think Luke is going to have to kind of do some magic. If Tuggy comes back, that transforms our whole – Yes. That's big. I need to get this Hamilton confidence because I just – I don't know. There's a piece of me that's like I really wouldn't mind Seamus Casey just being in there. Oh, by the way. I know. Tuggy is light years better than Casey. I know he is. I know he is. But I just – yeah, I'm happy that Tuggy is coming back. I just – Anything we can get, right?
[00:58:14] Yeah, exactly. You mentioned the guys from Carolina. We also got to worry about – it sounds funny, but I'm sure Taylor Hall would love to put us down. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Nah. All right. Well, we're going to wrap this thing up. Anything else that you guys want to share this afternoon before we go? No, I'm good. Yeah. Let's go Devils. Yeah. We're going to be back. We're confident. We'll see the text messages. It's only 10-0. We have a chance today. I feel confident.
[00:58:43] There's still 28 minutes left in this game. It's five goals a minute. And I tell you, there's no more for me because I'm up at like 3 in the morning, 4 in the morning watching these games. And when this shit goes down like this week, dude, it sucks the next morning. It's different when they win. Being tired when they win the next morning, that's one thing. But when it's – man. Yeah. It's a rough night. Having my entire emotional well-being tied to this team for the past three months has been pretty rough on the old – Every seat. And then we do the same thing. And then we take off for the summer.
[00:59:11] And then it's football season starts. And then hockey season starts again. And we're all in this shit again. I start losing again. At least with football, it's only one day a week that we have to go through it. You had a good season last year, man. You had fun until the end. We're going to have a better season this year. We are going to have a better season this year. The Vikings, within the next year or two, will be in the Super Bowl. Do we score both? Yeah, with Aaron Rodgers leading the way, right, pal?
[00:59:39] Well, you know, if Aaron Rodgers becomes a Viking, I will buy you a Viking jersey. With Aaron Rodgers extended you. I will split that with you. It may be from China, but I'm going to get you on. Well, then you're going to pay like 50% tariff tax on it. That's right. Well, you're in Lithuania. You're good. That's right. Here's the thing. Aaron Rodgers got in touch with Minnesota. The Minnesota did not try and get him. He got in touch with Kevin O'Connell.
[01:00:07] And he basically said, look, if you're okay with having J.J. McCarthy sit another year, I will show him all of everything. I will mentor him. I will be all these things. Like, sounding like, you know, hey, this is – but my whole thing is, that's great. He's 41 years old. He hasn't played good in three years. He's a nut job. And four if you count the injured season.
[01:00:33] And I have a 22-year-old kid who is coming off a national championship, who has studs all around him on this team, can make all the throws. Why are you going to go and bring in the 41-year-old guy who hasn't played good in four years? And, Chris, do you want him to mentor him? Because, you know, Rodgers, man, he's in a league of his own with certain things, man. Do you really want him to – Being a crazy fool. I don't. He's a crazy fan on the team. I don't want him on the team.
[01:01:01] But I do think that I have to just pick a bone here with Jay Snow. You think J.J. McCarthy is ass? Are you absolutely insane? You have to be like a – You got to be a fucking giant fan. I mean, what are you – J.J.'s ass and I think Tim's Ravens are going to get over the hump. How about my Raiders? Maybe catch the two-point conversion or something. Look, the Ravens aren't going to get over the hump.
[01:01:27] How dare you go after national treasure Mark Andrews like that? Well, I just did. How dare you? And I just – I don't trust the Baltimore Ravens. I don't trust them at all. We're not asking them to babysit for you. We're asking them to win fucking football games. The only way the Raiders win is if you play the Ravens every game this year. That's going to. We're not asking you to preserve like a white suit or anything like that. We're just asking you to fucking win football games.
[01:01:54] But it's really funny how I have entirely different standards for my football team than I do for my hockey team. I don't give a fuck that that guy murdered somebody. Go Ravens. Yeah, isn't that funny? I hope so, man. You're a way, J.J. J., who is your team? All right. So just before you sit here while you're slinging – A Lions fan. I bet you're a Lions. Is he really? Lions are killer. I mean, I know. No, no. Because Jets are Giants. That's my guess. Did he say Lions? No, I didn't say that.
[01:02:22] Oh, because he said the good thing about the Raiders, so I'm cool with him. I'm waiting for Packers. As a Raiders fan, we hope for eight games. That would be a great season. Giants. Yeah, there you go. Oh, he is a Giants fan. Yeah, well, sorry, dude. Hey, look, Russell Wilson, man. What else is there to say? You guys are on the right track, you know, bringing in Russ. Can't go wrong there. All right. One quick thing. Yes, sir. So just a quick prospect update. Okay.
[01:02:50] There's a lot of guys that are making their debut. Zeev Bouium, who we could have drafted over Salaya. But I just want to point this out. Thanks to Mike Ruff, who just tagged me on Twitter on this. So there was a five overtime game between Torpedo and Gorky. The Devils prospect Anton Salaya finishes with 43 minutes of time on ice. Eight shots on goal, two block shots, and 10 hits. This guy is going to be a fucking monster when he gets up there. I cannot wait.
[01:03:19] And him and Big Mike, I can't wait. Yep. It's like a time. Yep, that left side of Luke Quinn and Salaya is going to feed families. Is LeChance playing? No, but this other kid, I just saw this other kid that we just called up from the AHL. This is the other thing that's going on with these games. It's Mike McLaughlin or whatever his name is. He's a Boston kid, local kid. So Fitz is saying, like, put him in the lineup. I guess a couple people are hurt.
[01:03:48] But he's playing fourth line center tonight. And it's like he's from Boston. It's like Fitz wants to do a favor for his Boston guys. When is Fitz going to get some of these favors returned? He does favors for fucking everyone. For everyone. He ships Boston guys back to Boston. He does favors for David Poyle in Nashville to give him the last pick in the seventh round. Like, when is a favor going to come back to Fitz? You know, he took money on for Tanev's contract.
[01:04:17] He took money on, who else was it that he took on money for the contract? Just this year. Oh, yeah. That's right. And then we got, we got what's his name for it? Yeah, LeChance. Taking the money for it. When is his favor? When are these favors going to come back to him? Because it kind of feels like he's getting taken advantage of a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of does. Kind of does. This is why we need Kathleen Brannigan to take over and, you know, run this thing like a fucking boss. Bring back Lou. No. Yeah, Jason.
[01:04:44] William looks like a step, but we just got away from a slot. Three cups all Amarillo. That's all. Yeah, absolutely. You've got to admit, it's a whole different conversation. Oh, yeah. It's completely empty. The game is past Lou. Yeah. I got to run. I still love Lou. I got to go keep building this floor. Sexual favors, too. All right. We're going to bounce, guys. Thanks so much for checking us out and hanging out with us tonight. We are coming back on Thursday with a full NHL playoff preview, and we're going to dive deep into New Jersey and Carolina.
[01:05:12] Real quick, do we have any idea if our game is going to be Saturday or Sunday? I heard it's going to be Monday, actually. Oh, even better. Okay. I just don't want to be Saturday. You should drop acid on one episode, all four of us. Get on here. That would be awesome. We eat some fucking shrooms and just fucking bug out and talk about whatever. The last thing I want to do is that. That's the only thing I want to do. Come on, Tim. I live on a hundred acre farm. If I'm going to do that, I'm going to go outside and play with leaves.
[01:05:40] Well, then why don't we just go to Tim's farm? We'll bring some camping shit, and we'll hang out in his field. If anybody needs like when the economy collapses in the next couple months and you need an apocalypse shelter, but you don't mind some light manual labor, come to the farm. I'll be there. I'll be there. Also, if you want to fix a 1948 international harvester front loader, that would be great, too. Oh, fuck yeah, dude. I got you. I got you. I'll bring the acid. Nope.
[01:06:10] If you're listening to us- No, I do not. If you're listening to us, a like, a five-star review, a positive comment, helps a little podcast that could. If you're watching us on the YouTube channel, please hit the subscribe and the like and all the other bullshit buttons that are there. For Tony Zamboni, Timmy, I'm Chris. We're the Uncle Puckers, and we'll see you when we see you. For the last time, go fuck yourself, Battle Cat. That's not the last time. You got Thursday. That's the last time. All right, fair enough.
[01:06:44] It's over, Johnny. It's over! My dog is-