Player Profile... Brenden Dillon

[00:00:06] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils. And you're listening to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast with Chris, Dan, Bobby, and Tony, The Uncle Puckers. Let's go Devils! Hello everybody, we are The Uncle Puckers, Chris and Dan with you this fine evening. How are you, Mr. Dan? Oh, doing great, Chris. How about you?

[00:00:33] I'm doing alright. It's nice to be, you know, on here chatting with you. You know, better than being at work in the fucking a million degrees all day. It has been very hot lately. Very hot. It sucks. It does suck. I mean, I hate the winter. It's summer, but it seems like it's very hot this summer. Yeah, and the humidity. I mean, hopefully it's supposed to rain all weekend. We kind of need it. So I'm hoping that maybe that happens and cool shit down a little bit. But it's weird because it's been so hot, but yet the ocean is still ice cold.

[00:01:02] Like, it's only like 60 degrees. It has not. We were talking about this today. It has not been a good beach summer so far. No. As hot as it's been, you go to the actual beach. I'm talking like three, four blocks off the ocean. It's hot and sticky and gross. You get on the shoreline and there's like sometimes cool breezes, those inversions where there's fog rolling in. Tons of fog. And the water's not very warm. I went a few times, but I honestly spent like no time in the water. It was not pleasant. It was really cold.

[00:01:33] So, you know, early July still, but it's like, come on. This is as hot as it's been. You can't even enjoy the ocean. I've never had a summer like that. It's weird. No, it is weird. And I mean, I live like you, 10 minutes from the beach. I work where I can throw a stone and hit the ocean. I have not been to the beach once yet this year. So I'm thinking Monday is going to be a beach day. Hopefully, if it's nice.

[00:01:56] And it's a bummer too, because when the weather is nice enough, I think like first half of July is always the best of the summer for the beach. The water is always clearer. Right. It's before the jellyfish explosions that come and sometimes, you know, make it a little messy or whatever. But this early July has not been good. No. But anyway, you know, that's the weather report. Yeah, that's the weather report. At least we're not dealing with that. People like in Texas with that massive flooding, man, that was fucking crazy. The hurricane. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:02:27] Just real quick. I was I love documentaries. I watch them all the time. And there's one called Our Planet on Netflix. Morgan Freeman narrates it because I think you have to if you do a documentary, you have to have him narrate it. Either him or if it's nature related, it's him or Attenborough. Attenborough. The British guy. Yeah. This is the only two of them. Yeah. So there you go.

[00:02:47] But so it's pretty cool where it actually talks about the formation of Earth and earliest life and all the mass extinctions and how different, you know, species took over the planet and to where we are today with the mammals being the main species. And I'm watching this and I'm like, they're showing so many mass extinctions and so many horrible things.

[00:03:14] And like, you know, a lot of people think, oh, it was 65 million years ago that the asteroid destroyed the dinosaurs. And like we've had other mass extinctions much closer, like 10,000 years ago. And like, you know, major flooding that killed, you know, tons of species off this planet. And I was just like, we are so fucked. Like, we're just like, there's nothing we can do about it. It is weird.

[00:03:36] You get a perspective sometimes like how like vulnerable we are as a species because you just grow up and you feel like things have always been this way. They're always going to be this way. Not really true. The more you learn, the kind of freakier it gets. I kind of remember Carl Sagan once talking about like that view from space and you kind of see how the Earth has just this tiniest little bit of layer around it that you can actually breathe on. Right. And that's it. Anywhere we can look in any direction. It's like, whoa.

[00:04:05] And like so many things have to be perfect for us to remain on this planet, you know, any little changes and we're done. And I'm watching this and I'm like, man, we are just, we have no clue. Like, it's just one day. I don't know about you. When I was like a kid, I was thinking, oh, if we dodge those asteroids like the dinosaurs, we'll be okay. Now there's a lot of other shit. Yeah, exactly. I didn't know this.

[00:04:29] So like 10,000 years ago, it was in North America and there was a huge melting in the Arctic and in Antarctica and a huge flooding. Like this giant deluge of water going from, you know, the Antarctica all the way down to the Pacific Ocean. Like it met the Pacific Ocean.

[00:04:52] And like you can still see, you know, a lot of Midwest and stuff that there, you know, you can see the scars on the Earth from this flooding. And it only lasted about an hour in a matter of one hour. That one I did not know. It destroyed like thousands of species that lived on, you know, especially in the Americas. I mean, you don't even have time to build an ark when that kind of thing. No, you're fucked. One hour. You're fucked. Yeah. An hour.

[00:05:19] And the water receded and it was like, and Niagara Falls was there. It was like all of a sudden in an hour, Niagara Falls was formed. That's crazy. Yeah. You know, the glacier shaping, you know, you're told takes a long time. But there are other weird things that can happen. That's amazing. Yeah. It was crazy. But now onto some happier notes. We're going to, we're going to do a little player profile today. We're going to discuss today is going to be our newest acquisition on defense.

[00:05:47] One of our UFAs signing on July 1st, that's Brendan Dillon. Number five. We're going to talk about him. And throughout the summer, we'll talk about, do a little player profiles on all the new guys that came in. So we're going to start with Brendan Dillon. And I didn't know Jack about this dude. No. Yeah. Most of the time, I guess he spent in the Western Conference except for a stint with Washington. So that's probably where we've known him the best over the last, what, five, seven years. Right. Yeah.

[00:06:17] So you don't get to see him that much. And he's just recently, most recently came from Winnipeg. Yes. And a super impressive guy. I mean, just on so many levels and not just his hockey. We'll talk about it. So Brendan Dillon's 33 years old. He was born on November 13th, 1990. I actually dated two girls in my life whose birthday was November 13th. So there's a shot, I guess. He's a Scorpio. And I like Scorpios. Apparently I married one.

[00:06:45] So he was born in Surrey, British Columbia. He's six foot four, 225 pound lefty. This is also pretty cool. Like his father's from Portugal. I don't know if you knew that. I did see that. That's interesting. His mother's name is Debbie. She's Canadian. His father's from Portugal. And he speaks three languages. He speaks French, English and Portuguese. Which is pretty cool. So he's not an idiot. Right.

[00:07:12] You know, the thing that impressed me the most about him was how overlooked he was his entire career. And it's hard to overlook a guy who was six foot four, 225 pounds. Right. But he was overlooked a lot. Well, you know, it's interesting too. Because like that is, you're right. That's a, that's a big frame. That's going to get you some attention if you have skills to go with it. But, but I saw that the very first draft he didn't make, he happened to be 15 years old.

[00:07:40] And he was, I mean, a late bloomer, not only in making, you know, big in hockey, but in physical size, he was five foot two. Yeah, I saw that. And, you know, 15 years old, he was five foot two. Wow. I was bigger than this guy. And now he's six four and I'm like five 10. It's like, well, yeah, he grew up a lot between 15 and I guess it was 1920. Um, you know, yeah, that's pretty amazing. Yeah. He was always an athlete. He was a multi-sport athlete.

[00:08:08] He played track and soccer, basketball, volleyball, and, uh, he went to a Catholic grade school and the guy was a top, uh, uh, 100 and 200 meter runner. I mean, he won, he was like top of his class, top in the whatever area or whatever. So he was definitely an athlete, but like you said, he didn't put on ice skates until he was 15. Now I was thinking, I can't think of anybody that I know of, and there must be somebody who started that late and made it to the NHL.

[00:08:36] I mean, you always hear guys that go, you know, I had ice skates on before the first thing I remember, you know, two years old, one year's old, 15. I can't think of anybody that was that late starting. No, no. I, I, I, I don't know of any, it'd be interesting. I don't know how I go finding that stat out, but, uh, that would be, I wouldn't amaze me to find out that he's the only guy to have done it in a very long time. Yeah. That's pretty awesome. But like you said, he wasn't drafted.

[00:09:05] So the, the, the WHL, um, entry draft happens. He's not picked. Uh, he has to start, you know, basically just trying out and he tried out. Um, he made it onto the junior B, the hope icebreakers of the Pacific junior hockey league. And that's where he started playing. And then he got noticed there. WHL doesn't take him. Um, but he goes and tries out for the Seattle Thunderbirds and he earns a spot. Uh, and he played four seasons in Seattle.

[00:09:35] That's one thing like, okay, he's younger. He wasn't drafted into the WHL, but surely he made a name for himself there and the NHL picked up on him. But no, that didn't happen either with this guy. Right. But, um, you know, the four seasons in Seattle, he collected 85 points. He played 271 games. And then he, again, the draft comes and goes and he's not in it.

[00:10:01] And finally he, um, again, try out makes the team makes a Dallas star team. Um, and that was in, uh, March 1st, 2011. He signed a three year deal with the stars played a lot of his first, especially in the beginning, um, it to, in the AHL, uh, playing for the Texas stars. Right. League minimum entry level contract. You know, guy, every time he got his foot in the door, he's, you know, playing on a bottom level.

[00:10:30] And this is a guy that literally at this point had no business ever making it to the national hockey league. No. And, uh, do you know who he, uh, when he was called up, uh, do you know who he was called up to replace? I did see that somebody also connected to the devils. Yes. Yeah. Sheldon. Sorry. Right. So sorry. It gets injured with Dallas. He gets called up. Um, but he did not play in that time.

[00:10:55] Um, he did make his debut on April 8th, 2012 against the St. Louis blues. Um, so that was the first NHL game that he played and he was up and down a lot. Uh, you know, especially, uh, before the lockout and after the lockout and the 13, 14 season, he did play all every game, 80 games first. And he got 17 points with Dallas. I was reading that first game that he got to play. It was the last game of the season.

[00:11:24] Oh, is that right? Yeah. And so like, you know, that's the game that you usually, you're going to call up a guy like that and rest some of the other players. Right. But he played it hard. Uh, apparently he led the team in hits and shots on goal and maybe assists, which is, you know, a lot of people are coasting through that game, looking ahead to the playoffs and stuff. And of course, this is, uh, the young guy who gets his shot off their opportunity. Looked like he wanted to seize it. So.

[00:11:50] Which apparently impressed, uh, Dallas because the following season, November 21st, 2014, they traded him to San Jose. Um, for Jason Demers and a third round pick. I don't recall a Jason Demers. Do you know who that is? No, I do not remember his play. Me neither. So he was with San Jose for a few years. I think he was there for what, like three or four years. I think six years, actually, he was there for six years.

[00:12:18] Um, and he was paired with Brent Burns when he first came in, in 2014, 15. And they had played 60 games for San Jose, two goals, seven assists. Um, then he was a, uh, pending RFA in 2015 and the shark signed him to a five year, $16.35 million contract. Um, and then like his third year in San Jose is when he kind of broke out and he set career highs and points and assists. You know, he's a tough dude, right?

[00:12:48] He's, he was suspended that year for one game suspension for slashing Madison Bowie. Another guy. I did go back and watch that play too. Did you? How bad was it? Well, it was one of those frustration plays. It was towards the end of the game and, uh, the goals were out of reach by like three or four. And, uh, he's coming, carrying in the puck, loses it, whatever. He's still followed up and kind of cross-checked. It wasn't a super hard cross-check, but it was kind of, you know, away from the puck.

[00:13:15] And he reacted in a reactionary way, slashed at his hand. And, uh, so that's what they gave him. And I get it. It's a one game suspension. It is what it is. And I, as far as I can see, it was his only, uh, suspension so far. Okay. Well, I mean, and he's definitely, like you said, he's a tough guy. This dude blocks shots, uh, you know, fights, does whatever. And it's weird because in 2018, 19, he won the inaugural media good guy award as a player

[00:13:42] that handles media responsibilities, honestly, and thoughtfully, you know, and just a guy who's not a complete douche to the local reporters. And anytime that the team asked, you know, he'd be the guy they'd put out there to promote whatever and talk, whatever. So, you know, he was definitely a leader in that way. Um, you know, and like I said, for a guy that plays his style, it's so strange because he seems like a really smart guy, you know? And I think a lot of those big fighters are like that, you know, a lot.

[00:14:11] Like, did you ever, like you watch NHL tonight and you, you watch Stu Grimson now, right? Right. There's not, right. Not many guys on that NHL tonight broadcast that are as knowledgeable and thoughtful as Stu Grimson. And I'm going to be honest when he was playing, everybody would call him a bit of a goon. Yeah. And if I had to guess his IQ or something, I probably wouldn't have given you a high number. I didn't know him very well, but now as he gets a chance to speak with him, you see, uh, you're hearing speak.

[00:14:40] You see, they're coming for you. They're coming for me. But yeah, he's a, and he, he seems like he's a very positive person. Got a good way about him. So I'm not surprised. Uh, they sent them out to talk to the media because he's good at it, you know? Um, and he seems very genuine too, which is nice. You know, he's a, you know, the guy also the sharks nominee that year for the King Clancy Memorial trophy, uh, for the player that best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice. He was a big in activism in San Jose.

[00:15:10] He was a big part of the community out there. Um, spent, spent the six years there. And then 2019, 20, he's traded to the caps for a 2020 second round pick and a conditional third. Um, and at the time that he was traded, he was ranked ninth in most games played as a San Jose shark. So, you know, like you said, nice stint there. He ended up signing a four year, $15.6 million contract with the caps on October 6th, 2020.

[00:15:39] And the following July, he's traded again to Winnipeg for a second round pick. He could have gone free agency there and he had the opportunity with capitals, um, to just go for free agency before he signed that contract. But he was, you know, he's, he seems like that kind of guy who like is loyal and wants to stay with a team. Right. You know, when he gets to a home, he's not like super picky or looking to go for the next biggest, uh, pot of money.

[00:16:06] Uh, and I noticed in his current signing with the devils is his first time now he's gone through the free agent unrestricted free agent process. And he had equal or better money offers out there. Uh, but it looks like he chose because he wants to be part of something good, something exciting. And he likes what he sees here. Well, he's, you know, in July 1st of this year, he signed three year, 12 million. He's got a 4 million AAV.

[00:16:32] He did say, um, I can find this when, when talking about why he came here in his press conference, he said, quote, thoughts start to run through your head that you're probably not going back with your original team and where might be a good fit. The amount of hours logged reaching out to guys around the league with teams that might be a fit. And it's funny just looking at the backend of the devils. And as soon as they made the trade for Markstrom and looking of what I can bring to the table

[00:17:00] and maybe what the devils could maybe use more of, you start to kind of put the dots together of what could be a good fit. Those are the things, those are the things that for the first time in my career, being a true free agent, where, what I valued, what I was looking for, um, super, super honored. Where is it? Do, do, do, do, do, uh, to have the amount of teams reach out and show interest. But for me, kept coming back to the devils and with their amount of skill and just the

[00:17:26] way Tom approached the off season, their commitment to win and just the way playing against the devils this last bunch of years, so much skill, great room, and a whole lot of things that I'm super fortunate to have had mutual interest in. So he, you know, again, we've talked about it like now, New Jersey's kind of becoming that destination. And I thought that was super interesting too, that he said, you know, he liked a lot of what was going on with us, but he gave it a little bit of a, his perspective time-wise.

[00:17:54] I don't know if he's as attracted to this team, if we didn't solve the goalie situation. So when you look back on this off season, uh, probably the key move here, even more than, you know, the quality of the goaltender, this and that, I mean, that you went and got a quality goaltender right away may have led to some of these awesome signings. Like Dylan, I completely agree. I mean, you think about it. I'm sure that players last year would watch play against us, you know, whether whatever

[00:18:23] happened in the game and they, they had to say it and know it. If these guys had a goalie, holy shit, they'd be good. Uh, you know, their defense and, and, you know, Tom Fitzgerald thought that we would just be able to coast by without replacing Severson and Graves. They were talking about this a little bit on, uh, they had a guy on XM today, um, a local reporter. I don't even know his name. I apologize. But you know, that was, they were talking about that being a big issue.

[00:18:50] Like now, finally, not only did you replace him with Pesci and Dylan, you've upgraded, you know, they're better players than those guys were. Yes. I don't know if I, I was fine with Severson though. And I know that we all kind of thought. Yeah. Especially the guys here, uh, you and I were like, you know, we're totally cool with Severson leaving, but you know, to be objective about it for a minute, he was really good in the playoffs and he brings some steady experience, at least on paper that we lost and we didn't get back last year. So, and we didn't think we'd miss it.

[00:19:19] You know, we really didn't think we miss it. And then the original plan, you know, Hamilton stays healthy, right? Fuse just replaces, um, you know, Damon or, you know, Ryan Graves or I'm sorry, Damon Severson, like Graves should have stayed. That should have been the only move. And I think our defense would have been a heck of a lot better. Um, but you know, now I think he saw the folly of his ways on that. And you can't overestimate, exactly.

[00:19:44] And you can't overestimate the, um, the effect the injuries had on the plan because they were just extreme amount of injuries. But yeah. So now I look at our defenses being way upgraded over two years ago and, and like light years ahead of last year. Like, so, uh, and not only that there's the maturation factor of these two young defensive stars who are scoring stars. Brendan Dillon's just the kind of guy you want to put with him.

[00:20:11] It looks like he's maybe good for, you know, 20 points in 80 games. He's very durable. He doesn't miss a lot of games. Um, he hits, he has a huge impact. Um, he's, uh, you know, scores more assists and goals, of course, uh, as a, uh, a defenseman. And I liked what he said about, you know, uh, he feels his game is being tough behind the goal line and in front of the net.

[00:20:37] Like that's where, and where, where do we see the most trouble for the devil's defense right there? I mean, two years ago, 21, 22, he was first on the jets and block shots first in fighting majors, second in hits second and plus minus. Um, and he hit 20 points, not a lot of turnovers. We're not going to see that from him, you know? And he, he hit 20 points for the third time in his career. So this guy led the, I mean, you know, he's going to probably, I'll say I've got, I put

[00:21:05] money on this as a lock that Brendan Dillon leads the devil's block shots. Yeah. And I think he's going to have career year in points. He he's going to be paired with a very offensive minded partner. And so, you know, his goal is going to be like, all right, if I'm him, I'm thinking this, I'm just imagining knowing the kind of skillset he has that, um, I, my plus minus is in danger. Take a little bit of a hit. Cause I got to cover a young player here, but I'm up for it. And I'm probably going to pick up some points too.

[00:21:35] Yeah. I mean, he's great at the first breakout pass. He knows which way the puck's got to go. That was a problem, especially for John Marino this year. Uh, how many times we're seen, but he, yeah, you know, be just, he, he'd go for the path. Like you're in a very bad spot. You have guys bearing down on you. Like nothing good is going to come from you doing anything other than just getting the puck out. Right. And, uh, you know, too many times he made all these mistakes and I hope he bounces back. I really do.

[00:22:03] I mean, Utah, uh, you know, now with him, they're depending on him in Utah, him and Sergeyev are going to be two pieces that they, you know, really are looking to kind of build this young defense. And I think Utah can be a team. Uh, if those guys play well with the young guys, they have, I think they're going to be that team. That's going to be hanging around. They're not going to make the playoffs, but they're going to make some teams nervous. I think for a lot of the season because everything about, and you know, the, um, expansion teams

[00:22:31] coming in has changed, you know? Yeah. But this isn't really an expansion team. You're right. The coyotes, but they did have a little bit of, you know, so it's going to be interesting to see how they compare to the expansion teams. Like can a relocated team under this new method, even compete with an expansion team in terms of what you expect from them. I don't know. You know, it's, it's gotta be weird for these guys. Like, you know, you, you, especially like management and stuff like your season just

[00:22:56] ends and then you have to, you know, in the middle of free agency draft and all that, move your entire team to a different state, relocate. And they, from what I read, every single employee of the coyotes went with them. So they're relocating, you know, hundreds and hundreds of people in their families, not to mention all the team, you know, I mean. And we'll talk about a housing boom in that area. Right.

[00:23:22] I mean, I'm sure it's difficult to find a house, but yeah, that's gotta be a very stressful situation. I hope John Marino does good. I like Marino as a person. Yeah, me too. And you were talking about, you know, a player who's smart. John Marino is like a genius. Yeah. He went to Princeton, right? Yeah. I think it was Princeton and he's got like two degrees and he's a really smart guy. So smart enough to just hit the puck off the wall. Well, and that's what makes me think like, it's not that he doesn't know how to do it.

[00:23:50] I think there was, it was such a difference in his play between the prior year and last year that I think that something else was going on. It just, he was not meshing with this team any longer. If I had to guess, I would be like thinking coaching strategy more than anything. And who knows? And I do expect him to bounce back. Like you said. Yeah. It definitely was uncharacteristic of what we saw the year prior to what we, what came down last year. I don't know what the issue was.

[00:24:18] Um, you know, I don't, I, there's, I, there's no, you know, maybe he was hurt. Maybe there was something bothering him. He definitely played like it, but yeah, there just, he wasn't driving and a lot, you saw that with a lot of the players this year, just not jiving with Lindy rough, not having clear cut roles. And a lot of the time it just seemed like Lindy didn't give a shit. And I know that's not the case, but it just seemed that way. Um, you know, I think that Sheldon Keefe has to be chomping at the bit to get going because I mean, Luke got to look at this team.

[00:24:48] He had some great teams in Toronto, but I don't think he's, there's no way he's coached a more complete team than the devil seem right now. I mean, yeah, I know they need to gel and do it, but on paper now they, they've been, they've increased in a way I didn't even expect them to. They'd write these are things we wanted. And he got pretty much every item that the fans wanted this year going from, you know, people just scratching their head at the end of last season. Right.

[00:25:18] To now, I mean, I'm hearing people saying, no, the devils are winning the Metro. The devils are Stanley cup contenders. And again, right. We were talking, there was, it was a leecher report. Maybe they projected them, you know, number four in their top teams to, yeah. To, you know, go for the presence trophy or even when the cup, I can't remember which it was, but you know, anyway, it's crazy, but it's, it's so hard not to think that way. Right.

[00:25:45] Because of the moves that he made, but at the same time, I have to pump the brakes in my own head. And I'm just like, we had such high hopes last year, man. We were like this team there, you know, we're running it back. It's going to be great. And we just couldn't foresee every fucking pitfall that happened. It's really tests your sanity as a devils fan. Like these last couple of years, it's been a really, it's a rollercoaster. I mean, it's amazing. We had a team that we were like, okay, wow.

[00:26:12] These guys are really coming together going into the season before last. This could be super exciting. You know, the expectations were so exceeded, you know, the 13 game winning streak, you know, knocking off the Rangers in the first round, you know, devils fans were very pleased. You saw the future of this team and it looked amazing. And then last year was just such a, you know, stick through the spokes moment. Everybody's all the fans going over the handlebars and, you know, look, you can say injuries and

[00:26:42] you can say a couple key important things like, you know, your coaching did not pan out. Your goaltending did not pan out. And there you go. That gets you where you are in the standings and the disappointment you feel is easily explained. So fix those things and you're good. Yeah. But there's like, you don't want to get fooled again. You know, you don't want to have your heart broken. So I think all devils fans are pumping the brakes a little bit and I don't blame them. But, um, you also at the same time, are you paying attention? Cause this is crazy.

[00:27:11] We put together a great roster here. Uh, and in early July, by the beginning of July, we have a roster, man. I cannot wait to see these guys play. It's fucking crazy. I mean, it just, if we would have just gotten Brett Pesci and that was the only deal we made, we'd be super excited. Absolutely. Or just Jacob Markstrom. We're over the moon. We finally got a goalie, but Holy shit. He revamped everything.

[00:27:37] And, but instead of revamping everything, he took all the good and complimented that. How am I, how can I make all these guys better? It's not about making a big trade and getting rid of Jesper Brad or, you know, one. We're going to try out this star. Wait till you see him. Right. You know, like it's like the rain is sometimes too. Exactly. And they, he said, no, we have our core, you know, seven, eight guys and the young kids are included.

[00:28:05] We're going to build around that and just add to it. And it's like, Holy shit. Brett Pesci is just any Brett Pesci and Stefan Nason to like the organization they come from when you're coming from Carolina. Like, you know, I'm in the food business and you're going to think this sounds crazy. But if I look at a resume or, you know, an application, right. And I look at an application, it's a 17 year old kid looking for a job. And he has one job. Let's say, let's say I have two applications.

[00:28:35] One of the person, they have all the same qualities, but they had one job each. One worked at, you know, the local diner, you know, mom and pop thing. The other one worked at McDonald's. Right. I'm hiring the one that worked at McDonald's. Right. Because they know how to work the right way in a restaurant. Yes. Yes. They know, you know, yeah, everything from, you know, efficiency, put all the food away, how to, you know, stock everything. They know all of that already because they train the shit out of them.

[00:29:04] And when you get some, and you look at the Carolina hurricanes, you're coming from, especially defensively, you're coming from an organization that's second to none. This segment brought to you by McDonald's, by the way. That's right. And the Carolina hurricanes. Yeah, that's right. You know, you're coming from an organization that just, they know how their culture is so disciplined and good. And you know, he's going to bring that element. Yeah. Very similar to two years ago when we were bringing in Eric Haller, when we were bringing

[00:29:32] in Andre Pallat, you know, the team had so little experience outside of those guys before we brought them in that there was no experience here. They really were the kid team. And they, those guys did make a big impact. Having somebody steady with a winning tradition in their locker room made a big impact. And yeah, there was stumbling last year, but look what we're adding. I'm so excited about it. You know, and, and yeah, big part of it is health, you know, but I have much more confidence

[00:30:01] in our health knocking on wood because of the pickups that we made, you know, as long as Jack's shoulder doesn't break into a million pieces, you know, I see this team being, you know, such a complete team. You know, if you want to play the way Florida Panthers play, we can forecheck now we can go in and get that thing. We can, we can hit you. We can thump you. We can play heavy. You want to play North and South. Well, we're great at that too. This team is totally complete.

[00:30:29] And I, you know, you look at Vegas, right? Two, three years ago, they missed the playoffs the following year. They win the Stanley cup. Not saying they're going to do that, but it is possible. This team should be put together. I mean, it's put together the right way. And I think they have a, a home run coach. I think that Sheldon Keefe is going to do a fantastic job with this team. Yep. I don't know if you should bet your bank account on winning the Stanley cup, but as a devil's

[00:30:55] fan, you are not wrong to think that they are today as we sit here in July, a top contender, but how far are the top teams? How far can you like see them going realistically? Okay. Or, you know, like, like just looking at this, not like, what do you, or let me just put it this way. What, what will make you, what would make you happy? What would make you consider this a successful season? How far do they have to go? Yeah.

[00:31:24] Well, that's a great question. It's a tough question because the, you know, this, first of all, I don't believe a weather report if it's more than three days out. Okay. So, uh, yeah, predicting this year in June or July rather is. Yeah. You know what it is? I see multiple possible realities here. There's a lot of places where things can go wrong as last year showed, but, um, I will

[00:31:46] tell you that we have to have, uh, an even more unlucky year than we were last year to go anywhere near the performance of last year. So I think that making the playoffs is like as close to a given as you can get right now. I think that realistically that if this team gels and they don't suffer one or two major injuries, which by the way, I don't believe would put them out of the playoffs.

[00:32:13] I think if they had, I don't want to, you know, even say it, but it's like, let's say if Jack was out or just for Brett was out one of the two or Timo Meyer, I think they can still make the playoffs, which is like, wow, those top three scores you can make play. Yeah. I mean, it's possible. So let's say everybody stays healthy though. All right. In that scenario, I don't think just making the playoffs is, is going to be where you land. I think you're talking Eastern conference finals.

[00:32:38] I do agree with a lot of things I saw that said right now, as we sit here in the summer, this team, should it possibly, you know, perform anywhere near close to its potential is one of the top four teams in the league. So that puts you in the Eastern conference finals as like, yeah, that's where I thought you'd be. Um, now, you know, from there at every eventuality after that is icing on the cake and every hockey

[00:33:03] fan says, you know, I was just watching a video of Paul Maurice today yelling at, uh, who was it? Barkoff. Like, don't you touch that damn trophy, the cons my trophy. Right. Because the previous year he did, he's skating around with it. Oh, you mean not the consummate, the, uh, the Eastern conference. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah, exactly. The Eastern conference. Uh, was it the Campbell? I can't remember. I don't remember. Yeah. I think it's the Campbell cup. Yeah. The, uh, whatever the trophy is for winning the conference, you watched, uh, the Panthers

[00:33:33] this year and they did not touch it because, and I'm bringing this up because like as devil's fans, you know, and any hockey fan, that's what you want to come. And so you almost feel like, uh, well, that's the only thing that matters when your team's really good. You kind of feel like that even more. So, so to be realistic, I will say that this team, unless it has a couple of major injuries,

[00:33:57] um, should have more reason to believe there'll be in the Eastern conference finals than any other team or any other three. We're going to talk about some of the other teams in just a minute. We're going to do a quick shout out to our hockey podcast network sponsors. Like we said a couple of times, draft Kings, uh, has the devils at plus 1300 to win the cup and you can download the app. Now use code THPN and new customers can bet 150 bucks instantly in bonus bets for betting just $5 on hockey.

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[00:39:42] They basically stay the same. Well, not basically. They picked up Zdorov. So they got bigger and tougher on the defense. And they picked up a center in Lindholm. So they're a little bit stronger down the middle. They, you know, are going to arbitration, I believe, next week for Jeremy Swayman. So curious how that's going to play out. But Swayman will be the goalie. They have Corposalo backing him up now. No more Olmark.

[00:40:11] They just got past Toronto in the first round last year. Game seven. Overtime win. Beautiful goal by Pasta. Then they get beat by Florida in the second round. Can the Devils beat them in the playoffs? Yeah, I believe they can. I definitely believe they can. If we found ourselves in a series with them, we're going to throw the playoff experience, you know, win to them.

[00:40:38] They've been, you know, that core has been together with a lot of playoff wins. So they're going to have that on the Devils. But Devils are clicking the way we hope they will. Sheldon Keefe has his team playing up to potential. I think Devils are a better team. I think they're more dynamic. I think they can score more. I think that defense and the goaltending is going to be, you know, up to the task. And I think the Devils can win. I don't expect it to be a super easy series. There's other people you could draw in our conference. That'd be easier.

[00:41:07] But I put the Devils ahead of Boston. I think that the Devils are ahead of Boston, too. I'll say it's a wash on both goalies and I'll say it's a wash on defense now. Now, last year, I couldn't say that. Boston absolutely had the edge on D. Yeah, I think if we found ourselves limping into the playoffs somehow, I don't think we see ourselves getting out of first round against Boston. No, no doubt. Yeah. No, we would have folded like something that folds a piece of paper, maybe.

[00:41:37] So anyway, I do think we have the edge in our forward group. Absolutely. We have more scoring power. So that's it. I mean, even behind the bench, I'll say that's a wash, too, between Montgomery and Keefe. Neither of them have done much in the playoffs. So right now, I'll say yes, we would have the upper hand in Boston. I agree. Now, let's say Tampa Bay. Stamkos is out. Sergichov is out. And what the hell is his name is in? Oh, my God. Who the hell?

[00:42:06] They just signed. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. I'm a little hazy on everybody else's signings. No, the fucking big name. Ryan, is it Getzla? Yeah. Is that what they sign? Yeah, okay. Getzla. Yeah. Getzla. Jake Getzla. Yeah. Holy shit. Anyway, so they signed him. So Tampa Bay. What do you think? We beat them in the playoffs? I mean, very similar to Boston in that they have a lot of playoff experience.

[00:42:34] But, you know, more than Boston, they've seen a lot more depart departures of some serious character guys, heart and soul guys like Stamkos. That's going to be a tall order for them to take on and beat the Devils. I think that it's really hard to count out any team with Andre Vasileski in your goals. Good point. If not the best. If not the best, the second best, one of the top two.

[00:42:57] And, you know, if I was going into a playoff series and I could pick Sesterkin or Vasileski, that's a really tough call. So Sesterkin has been winning everything and he's been great. But Vasileski knows how to win. So I'm saying that. Right. Exactly. So I'm saying that, you know, that doesn't make this as easy as you might think when you see that Tampa has had a lot of departures.

[00:43:23] But I still say the Devils offensively, if clicking, should definitely outpace Tampa. We have super competent goaltending, you know, top 10 goaltending. Yeah. You don't have to have the number one goalie in the whole league to win a series. And so I give the Devils the edge here. I think they beat Tampa. I say they beat Tampa too. Hey, look, Tampa's been having trouble getting out of the first round of the playoffs the last couple of years. And I think they got worse this year.

[00:43:52] I don't think that Stamkos leaving helps them at all. So I'm going to say, yeah, they get past Tampa. Florida. Yeah. Now that now you're talking right. Florida is going to be the team to beat. Uh, watch that Florida team last year through the playoffs. Um, I, I will tell you this.

[00:44:17] If we found ourselves with Stevel team clicking as well as they could possibly click somehow storming back from a three Oh deficit to force a game seven. I like the devil's chances better than Edmonton's. So that's the best I can say on this for the devils. Yeah. Because I think you got to give, uh, you got to give the champs the edge right now. Yeah. You say, you know what? Maybe after we prove ourselves next year, we'll have the confidence to say, uh, straight up.

[00:44:45] We play you, uh, we're going to take you down at seven game series to with, with the Panthers. That said, you know, they've had some changes. I don't see like anything major. That's going to make me say, Oh, they're not going to be the same Panthers. No, I think they're going to be the same Panthers. I think they're going to be the team to beat. And I, I don't, I be honest with you with the way this devil's teams laid out right now. I have no idea who would win, but I want to see that series. I don't know who would win, but I got to watch that.

[00:45:14] Cause that's going to be fun. It went seven with, with Edmonton. And so in a, in that way, it was a great series, but let's face it. It was not a great series for three games, three games in a row. They got, they dominated. Yeah. Maybe got, maybe they got a little lucky winning that first one, but they really had them backs against the wall and, you know, slept walk through at least two of the next three games and then turned it on when it was time to win, uh, pretty well. In a very convincing game. And they're, you know, now with this experience after this year, they're going to be a tougher

[00:45:44] out next year. I see them like, um, with the experience, like we were just talking about Boston had, you know, they're going to be that experienced, uh, but with all the freshness that Boston doesn't have. Yeah. That would be, you know, the series for the devils, if you can get through Florida. But I mean, right now, yeah. Even with how good this devil team is, I want to watch that series, but I would give the edge to the cats. I will say this, that the devil's potential offensively is super high.

[00:46:12] And I think they look more offensively balanced. Um, if everything clicks the way it's supposed to, then most of the teams that Calar, that, um, the Panthers face this playoff series. Yeah. I mean, going what grounds one through four. So we could give them more health than, um, anybody they recently faced, you know, that's very true. I mean, this devil team, the way it's built right now, like you said, of course, everything clicking is all, you know, what, what needs to happen. Right.

[00:46:42] If that happens the way we all think it can, this team could be so scary. Yeah. Um, all right. So we'll do a couple more real quick. Toronto. Yeah. Toronto is a good matchup for us. I mean, that feels like a team we have to go through at some point. Right. Because we've been, um, well, in the, as far as playoff success behind them over the last five, 10 years. Well, they've had a lot more appearances. Right. That's for sure. Yeah.

[00:47:09] Um, when it comes down to getting out of the first round, Toronto is not very good at that. So, uh, I, as devil's fan, like right now, I kind of would love to pick them up first round and send them home again in the first round. I know shell of Keith would love to do that to his former team and show himself leaving the first round with a winning team for once. And, um, we went to Metro Toronto gets a wild card. We play them in the first round. Yeah. That'd be fun. Toronto is a tough team to figure out though. They, they, they, they,

[00:47:38] you feel like with the pieces they have, they should have gotten over the hump. So every time they make the playoffs and they're looking pretty good, regular season numbers and they easily make the play a good playoff berth. Um, everybody's like, well, this is, they seem like they got their shit together, but I'm always sitting there going, ah, it's Toronto. They'll find a way to lose the first round. But I, I do. Toronto is that team that scares me because they're the type of team that if they could somehow figure it out in the playoffs, they can win the Stanley cup.

[00:48:05] Um, I think if they got super hot, like the way, you know, Edmonton did and, you know, right. It's really took off, you know, that might be really hard to slow them down. Is Craig Berube that missing piece? Is, is he going to, you know, there's a point, it's a huge pickup for them. Yeah. What's he, what's he going to bring to that team? Um, but at the same time, I think about that and I say, this team could win the Stanley cup. And then I'm like of another mindset with Toronto. Like how many times do you have to lose in the first round before you make some significant

[00:48:35] changes? Like, uh, you know, we just said how Tom Fitzgerald kind of built around our core guys and made them better. Like Toronto's done that for like the last five, six years with these guys, you know, Matthews and Marner and Tavares and, uh, Nylander, uh, you know, at what point do you say we have to do something different? We have to maybe get rid of one of these guys and bring in some other assets to help us some other places. So I don't know what to make of Toronto too.

[00:49:05] Like I have no idea. Uh, yeah. They're, they're, they go deep into like the culture there. Like there's all different teams all around and you know, to some extent that's Canada scene, you know, like that's, that's Toronto is the big, Toronto is the New York of Canada. And, um, as far as media market and everything else goes, tons of pressure and everybody's always seems like a little tense on that team.

[00:49:34] You know, you don't get the vibe that they are like, we're playing for each other and we're, we're taking it one game at a time. We, you know, they don't have that attitude that I would say the Panthers had, or, you know, even the devils of two years ago where you're like, this team is loving life right now. And you don't get that impression, uh, when you play for Toronto, I think it works against them. So I don't know. Cause you talk about personnel. I can't, I don't see a problem with their personnel.

[00:50:01] So if it's not their personnel and they've gone through multiple coaches over the years, and this always seems to be the story, you know, you got to either believe in curses or just something in the climate, uh, that, which I think is more likely of course, than a voodoo curse. That's a good point. Never thought about it that way. Yeah. And it, but it, you know, it goes, it's a two edged sword. I think it's a little bit like the Boston Red Sox that once they did break their little curse and get that monkey off the back, they, they started being a winning team, right.

[00:50:30] You know, winning for good for quite a while. And that could happen with Toronto. Yeah. Toronto is a very interesting team. I'm waiting for it. You know, I'm waiting for them to just pop, but it can happen. Yeah. So that would be it. But matching up against them. I think we match up pretty good against them. I think, uh, I give us the edge in defense. I definitely give us the edge in goal. Um, you know, our forward group, they have amazing guys. We have amazing guys. Let's have an awesome series. I would like to see that one too. That would be fun.

[00:50:58] I don't know who would win, but that'd be a fun one. Yeah. I think it could be very good series. We'll do two more Carolina. Carolina is interesting, right? They've, they've gone through a lot of changes this off season. Um, they still have Rod Brendamore. He gets hard work out of his guys. And I think that even if you want to look and say some areas may even been downgraded, maybe they lost some people, Pesci, for instance, um, is, you know,

[00:51:28] and there's still going to be a tough team. Um, they, they are very professional, hardworking team. Um, and I think, you know, Brendamore gets a lot out of them. That said, they, they faltered quite a bit in the playoffs, you know, last year. And I think, uh, yeah, they went backwards. So given that, I think, um, again, with the teams on paper playing to potential, I give the devil's a slight edge there and it could be the Eastern conference final,

[00:51:54] you know, like that, that's, I think there are one of maybe, you know, um, three teams that free, four teams, maybe that can honestly say, yeah, maybe one of four teams that can honestly say we should be in the Eastern conference final, um, four or five team stops, you know, without being that good. Yeah. But they lost a lot of guys and I know, I know that it's a lot of, it's the system and a lot

[00:52:22] of it's the coaching and, but they really made a tough play on Jake Etzel. They wanted him back. They were putting a lot of eggs in that basket and that didn't work out. They have a new general manager. Uh, they didn't story is they don't want to spend money. They don't want to spend money and they rely a lot on analytics. They believe like, well, we don't want to pay money to a goalie because we believe that there's a lot more randomness involved in goaltending than a lot of other people. So just, uh, any slappy can do. Right.

[00:52:51] I don't know if I agree with all that shit. Um, you know, there's a reason there's five or six great, amazing goalies out there and those teams win, you know, it's just. I understand a little bit what they're saying, the way that the position has changed. And I think what they're saying is basically true for like the bottom. I don't want to say like eight, maybe 60 to 80% of the goaltenders in the league right now. I agree with that. There still is a difference. If you want to be a serious contender, that's the difference. And that's what I didn't get with them.

[00:53:21] It's like, you have everything else going into last year now and they didn't make a great play on replacing Anderson. I don't, I don't get it. You think about the team last year, right? Going into the playoffs. That was their weak point. Now imagine that team playing the Rangers just the way they were, but with Jacob Markstrom in that. Yeah. Like they win that series. I like their goaltending. Absolutely. Goaltending is a part of it. They've never upgraded it.

[00:53:50] I, and they, like you said, they've also, they've regressed two years ago, each from conference final. Yeah. They got swept, but they were there. Yeah. Look what we were talking about with Dylan coming to the team. What did he cite as a big reason that we went and got Markstrom? Yeah. You know, so that has an effect. Now look at them. They have said, no, we're sticking with our analytics and we don't need to get a goaltender. They said this yet again. And do they have any big pickups this off season? They did not.

[00:54:18] I don't know if they were looking for Brendan Dillon or anybody else in specifically, specifically, I'm just saying that, you know, like you don't look like you seriously want to get over that hump when you're not making the moves and you come out and said like, we want to win the prize for the least amount of money spent making an NHL team. And that's interesting because Brendan Dillon said he was reached out to by a lot of teams. I'm curious if Carolina was one of them. I am curious. When I read that, I was thinking, oh, I want to know who these teams were.

[00:54:46] Brendan Dillon fits in Carolina like a hand in a glove. I mean, he'd be amazing on that team. He's what they need. They need him now more than ever losing Pesci. But we got him. Yeah, we got him. But yeah, that's interesting. I'm curious if Carolina picked up the phone and he said, I'd rather go to the Devils. So he definitely had that conversation and made that choice for multiple teams by all accounts. Yeah. Yeah. And Markstrom was a big, big reason. And that's that's huge.

[00:55:15] Last team before we wrap it up for tonight, New York Rangers. Yeah. So like this is always the choice where you're like, all right, it's got to be. Yes. Yes. You know, but let's take a step back as much as we want it. Take a look objective. Look at things. Okay. Pro Rangers. They still got you. Sterkin. You know, he's one guy that, you know, okay, we feel great. We got Markstrom. Everybody would love to have Mr. Sterkin as their goalie. And he is a great performer.

[00:55:46] Counterpoint. We tore him apart two years ago in the series. And our guys did a great job lighting him up. He looked human. And at some points less than his best play was against the Devils. So when the Devils team is together and they, we, we, especially Jack owned for circuit, you know, it's going to get back there. It has to get back there. Absolutely. And then as far as like the other aspects of the game, so there's the goaltending where

[00:56:15] on paper, you might look and go, oh yeah, Sterkin gets the edge. Not so fast. Right. It's, we, we might be a team that he has a hard time playing against. Um, but look at the other aspects. And there's no slouch on the other end though. I mean, you know, that's right. Absolutely. The Rangers got to be looking at that going, you know, he can steal them a game. I mean, Akira Schmidt had to come and play as he has never played since, uh, to, in order for us to win that series on a different fucking planet. Right.

[00:56:42] And this is the kind of performance that he gave then that you you're expecting Markstrom to give you, you know, nine out of 10 nights. So that's awesome. Um, but you know, looking at what, let's look at the Rangers. They had, uh, pretty solid defense. They had, um, a very aggressive forecheck. Um, but they've taken some hits, uh, with certain players, you know, maybe being gone. Uh, they haven't had too many major losses. I guess it's still up in the air about Truba, right?

[00:57:13] Yeah. Well, who knows what the hell he turned down a trade to Detroit. Uh, so they, he didn't want to go there. So he's going to force them to just go back to the Rangers. I think that's where he'll be. Right. But I think we match up really nicely, nicely, um, with our forwards against their forwards. I think we can outscore them. I think defensively, honestly believe that we're going to be stronger than them. Uh, I think when you put them in conjunction with Markstrom, you look at your, you know, the job of the defense and the goal is to keep the puck out of net.

[00:57:41] And as a collective, your, your six defenseman, your goaltender. I like us. I like us better. And, uh, so, you know, you could say, okay, what about their forwards? Well, they had a great year last year. Um, Panarin cut his hair and he did so much better. Right. Uh, when he had that long curly hair, we, uh, tore him apart. He just was shut down. I think that, uh, we have a chance of doing that again.

[00:58:05] I look at the having, um, you know, he sure possibly having a selkie year and a series against the Rangers. We shut down these lines that let's face it. They're a little fragile. Look what happened to the Rangers and, uh, you know, in the finals, in the conference five, they, they, their top line was nowhere. They did nothing. You know, they, they fell apart. I mean, the train came to a grinding halt.

[00:58:32] They were having a great year career years, and they were easily shut down by the Panthers. I don't know if we are the shutdown Kings that the Panthers are, but I think we have taken huge steps to between the defensive pickups and the, um, the third and fourth line guys we've got now and the ability to use he sure up to his potential. I think we could shut down most teams top line and you do that with the Rangers. You're going to win. So I honestly picked them.

[00:59:01] And I think it's not pick the devils to beat the Rangers. I don't think it's pie in the sky at all. I do think that they're on paper right now. Should they live up to their potential, a better team than the Rangers. The Rangers intimidated the shit out of the devils last year. And that got them the upper hand in every game that they played. We could not, we were soft. I mean, it was glaring and the Rangers took advantage of it better than any other team. They knew exactly what our weaknesses were and they kicked our asses every single game. And it was all about their reality.

[00:59:31] Right. And a little bit similar to two years ago where that 112 point team just took the ice to teams that were not expecting it. And they were like, holy shit, this is the devils. They're going to have the opposite effect next year if they try and get too physical. And they're like, holy shit, this is the devils. They're hitting us. Their defense is, you know, locking everything down. They have a great goalie. We're better than the Rangers are right now. The Rangers have great power play.

[01:00:00] One of the best power plays I've seen all last year. That's true. That was their best highlight from last year. But if they don't get better on five on five, they're going to lose to the teams like the devils if they're up to their desk and they're playing the way they need to be. Boston, I think, can beat the Rangers. I think Carolina, if they had goaltending, could beat the Rangers. I just thought, I think last year was it for the Rangers. I'm going to be shocked if they repeat what they did last year. Yeah, I think they're not going to be awful.

[01:00:30] I don't think they're going to completely fall apart. I do pick them to make the playoffs. Oh, absolutely. But I don't think they're going to reach the level they did last year. I think a little bit of lightning in the bottle for them. And I give Lavi a lot of credit. And remember that this happens a lot. When you have a team that maybe has some deficiencies and you get a new coach in there, it can have this whole honeymoon effect. That can last a whole season, and it did.

[01:00:59] That sometimes can wear off in that sophomore year of the coach's tenure. So, you know, I look for that as a possibility, too. You know, look, we're Devils fans. We're going to look at the best possible case for the Devils and the worst possible case for the Rangers. There's alternate realities where things go bad for the Devils. They're not playing a potential, and the Rangers are looking as good as they were last year. It's not impossible. But is it likely? I don't think so. I think we made a pretty good argument why it's going to be more likely than not that the Rangers don't perform as well as they did last year.

[01:01:28] And that even if they did, if the Devils played a potential, which is something they never did last season, if the Devils stay injury-free, mostly injury-free, which is something they did not do last season, Devils are a better team. Yeah, I completely agree. And that means that we think that Florida probably has the upper hand. We think that Devils-Carolina are pretty even.

[01:01:55] We think that Devils-Toronto are pretty even. Yeah. That puts us in the Eastern Conference Final. So I'm cool with that. I like it. I like it. We can't get the trophies out yet. We've got to play 82 games, plus the preseason, and get to the playoffs before we find out if that pans out. But I honestly believe that is a very sane prediction. And it's not just us saying it as Devils fans. There are people picking the Devils to be in the top four in the Eastern. Vegas is saying it.

[01:02:25] Yep, that's right. They know something. So, yeah, absolutely. And this was awesome. Like, I cannot wait to see – he's probably – whatchamacallit, probably my favorite guy, Brennan Dillon, that I'm waiting to see next year. Yeah, I was so pleasantly surprised looking into him because I honestly did not know a lot about him. I bet you a lot of Devils fans didn't. It's a cool story guy as well. It's like, wow, that's a cool background.

[01:02:52] You know, we were playing street hockey as, you know, teenagers and stuff. And, you know, I didn't get to ice hockey until I was later than that. And, you know, I think for most people that's the story. You know, you don't always grow up in skates. And most fans out there have either never played or they started late. It can relate to somebody like that. It's such a great story. I read a couple interviews he did of, you know, just perseverance.

[01:03:18] Like, you know, you're going to have times where you're passed over and it's about how hard you work. That's the mentality that if he brings that kind of level of positivity to the team in any measure, it's going to be nothing but great news for the Devils. And a guy that worked his ass off as hard as he did to get where he's at, he deserves a cup. So let's do it. That's it. Absolutely. So wherever you're listening to us, give us a like, a five-star review, a subscription and download.

[01:03:47] Helps a little podcast that could. Thanks for checking us out. And shoot us a DM or email UnclePuckers at gmail.com. And let us know who you guys want us to do next. You know, we're going to discuss. I want to do Cotter. I want to do Pesci. So, you know, whoever else. Maybe even guys on the team if you just want to, you know, do a little background stuff on them. Let's do a little Markstrom. Yeah, Jacob Markstrom. Let us know. So thanks for checking us out and hanging out with us tonight. This was a fun conversation. We're the Uncle Puckers, and we'll see you when we see you.

[01:04:17] Puckers out. It's over, Johnny. It's over.