PorkFest

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[00:00:45] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three time Stanley Cup champion of the New

[00:00:51] Jersey Devils.

[00:00:52] You're listening to the Uncle Puckers New Jersey Devils Podcast with Chris, Dan,

[00:00:56] Bobby and Tony, the Uncle Puckers.

[00:00:59] Let's go Devils!

[00:01:00] Kenny screwed up, Tony's not here tonight.

[00:01:03] You should have just said Chris, Dan and Bobby.

[00:01:06] You know, Ken, you get this wrong a lot actually.

[00:01:08] I know he does.

[00:01:09] I wonder if we can have him record it in four different ways?

[00:01:13] Yeah, that'd be good.

[00:01:14] I'm not really sure how that would work.

[00:01:17] And with special guests, and just do a blank in case we ever have anybody.

[00:01:21] That'll be a fifth way.

[00:01:22] We could just dub over him like...

[00:01:26] Jersey Joe!

[00:01:29] Good programming note there, segue Dan.

[00:01:32] We were supposed to do our draft show tonight with Jersey Joe.

[00:01:35] He does have work early tomorrow morning.

[00:01:37] So since we're coming on late, we rescheduled for Tuesday.

[00:01:42] So Tuesday, it'll be nice and early.

[00:01:45] Everybody should be able to get on board and Joe will be here and we'll do our draft

[00:01:48] show.

[00:01:49] So sorry if you were expecting that on this show.

[00:01:52] It's not happening but...

[00:01:53] Not yet.

[00:01:54] What did you guys do today?

[00:01:55] Bob, you got a story?

[00:01:56] I had an awesome day actually.

[00:01:58] So we had PorchFest.

[00:01:59] Oh, PorchFest.

[00:02:00] Let me say it again.

[00:02:01] It's called PorchFest.

[00:02:03] So we live in an old borough, very happy and very busy borough.

[00:02:06] What's it called?

[00:02:07] Porch.

[00:02:08] Porch, like your house?

[00:02:09] Porch.

[00:02:10] PorchFest.

[00:02:12] Say it again.

[00:02:13] PorchFest.

[00:02:14] PorchFest.

[00:02:15] Why are you making me do this?

[00:02:17] So there was a lot of bacon and...

[00:02:20] Porch.

[00:02:21] Chops.

[00:02:22] PorchFest.

[00:02:23] PorchChops.

[00:02:24] PorchChopFest.

[00:02:25] I'm starting to really question why I come on this show.

[00:02:31] So you're right there at PorchFest.

[00:02:33] Go on, I don't want it to really...

[00:02:34] It's not PorchFest.

[00:02:35] It's PorchFest.

[00:02:36] I think he's gonna pork her, Dad.

[00:02:38] He's not gonna pork her, Rod.

[00:02:40] He's not gonna pork her, Rod.

[00:02:45] All right, tell us about PorchFest.

[00:02:48] So it's literally over 50 bands spread out throughout the downtown borough on people's

[00:02:54] porcs, on people's porches.

[00:02:58] It's everything from jazz to rock and roll to oldies to newie, like you name it,

[00:03:03] and there's a map and there's food trucks and there's children's activities and it's

[00:03:07] all day.

[00:03:08] And of course it's not open container, but police kind of turn their head for that.

[00:03:13] And you just go from house to house and again, it's an old borough so a lot of the houses

[00:03:17] are late 1800s or early 1900s.

[00:03:20] There's twins and that kind of thing.

[00:03:21] And you just walk around from porch to porch listening to all these different bands.

[00:03:26] At some point during the first hour, I think there was like 14 different bands

[00:03:30] going on within that 60 minute segment.

[00:03:33] So you got time where you want to go, what time of music you want to listen to.

[00:03:35] It's like a giant walking music festival.

[00:03:37] That sounds like an awesome fun day.

[00:03:39] It really was.

[00:03:40] Like I said, it's running with food trucks, all different areas.

[00:03:44] You know where you're going.

[00:03:45] You just meet up with a bunch of people and it's just a hell of a day.

[00:03:49] That's awesome.

[00:03:50] It's fun, yeah.

[00:03:51] That's awesome.

[00:03:52] They'll play Porch from Pearl Jam.

[00:03:53] Yeah?

[00:03:54] That's a good song.

[00:03:55] I bet that's all they played.

[00:03:56] That's it.

[00:03:57] Every single band.

[00:03:58] Just Pearl Jam covers on every porch.

[00:04:00] That's awesome.

[00:04:01] My neighborhood is very lame by comparison.

[00:04:04] There is no Porch Fest.

[00:04:05] Even Trick or Treat kind of sucks.

[00:04:07] It's kind of lame.

[00:04:08] So it's not our neighborhood per se, but it's the downtown borough which is about a mile

[00:04:12] away and then once you get off the main kind of drag of the restaurants and bars

[00:04:16] and all that happening stuff, then you just kind of get into the deeper neighborhood

[00:04:20] there and that's where it is.

[00:04:21] But yeah, a lot of walking bars.

[00:04:23] My neighbors are extremely stuffy and they would not like that.

[00:04:29] They don't even know.

[00:04:30] Sure.

[00:04:31] And they're all racist.

[00:04:32] I'm convinced every one of my relatives is racist.

[00:04:35] I'm convinced every one of my relatives.

[00:04:36] My neighbors are racist.

[00:04:37] We just got a Porch Fest.

[00:04:38] It brings up a good point that you say they're stuffy because I was ignorant to this event

[00:04:41] and I just assumed that every band that was playing, that was their house.

[00:04:46] And I was like, wow, we've got a shitload of musicians.

[00:04:49] Look at all the musicians that live here.

[00:04:52] They donate their porch to the band and then the band comes and you can't just play

[00:04:57] on somebody's porch for a couple hours without going to their house.

[00:05:00] Well no, I would think the owners would have to okay that.

[00:05:02] Right.

[00:05:03] So it's really cool that they do that.

[00:05:04] I'm going to use the bathroom.

[00:05:05] Well, okay.

[00:05:06] But I did see some drinking.

[00:05:07] I got to tell you, they might need to take them.

[00:05:08] Charge them for the bathroom.

[00:05:09] They're going to get in bed pants.

[00:05:10] There you go.

[00:05:11] So that sounds awesome.

[00:05:12] I didn't do anything fun today, but I'm having fun now.

[00:05:13] Yeah.

[00:05:14] So let's, I guess, you know, we're, I don't know why I turned off the Edmonton-Vancouver

[00:05:27] game at the end of the first.

[00:05:28] It was 1-1.

[00:05:29] I don't know where it is now.

[00:05:31] Do you want to know?

[00:05:32] Yeah.

[00:05:34] 3-1 Edmonton when I came down for the show.

[00:05:36] Damn, I was really hoping this thing would be wrapped up tonight so we would get our

[00:05:39] finals and talk about it.

[00:05:40] But we can talk about, we could go over our finals on Tuesday.

[00:05:45] We did, so I had the abs in seven.

[00:05:49] Bobby nailed it.

[00:05:50] Stars in six.

[00:05:51] Yeah.

[00:05:52] Yeah.

[00:05:53] Dan had the abs in six.

[00:05:54] Tony had the abs in seven.

[00:05:55] Tim had Dallas in seven.

[00:05:57] In this series, I took Vancouver in six.

[00:05:59] So unless they come back, and Bobby did too.

[00:06:02] So unless they come back.

[00:06:03] Is it now the third period you said?

[00:06:04] Or second?

[00:06:05] And the second, and it's still 3-1.

[00:06:06] Okay.

[00:06:07] So Vancouver comes back, which they've done many times these playoffs, and finish it.

[00:06:13] Dan took the Oilers in seven, which is a definite possibility.

[00:06:17] Tony is done.

[00:06:18] He said Edmonton in six, so that can't happen.

[00:06:20] And Tim said Edmonton in seven, so he's still alive as well.

[00:06:24] I kind of need the, you know, the Dallas game was kind of my fix for the Boston

[00:06:32] debacle that I picked earlier, which obviously did not happen.

[00:06:35] So being one of the few people who've picked Dallas, hopefully that helps me in the overall.

[00:06:40] Well, you did nail that one.

[00:06:42] You did get Dallas, I mean the Florida Boston series.

[00:06:48] You took Boston in seven.

[00:06:50] Dan took Florida in seven.

[00:06:52] Me, Tony and Tim all took the Panthers in six, so we nailed that.

[00:06:57] I took the Rangers in seven.

[00:06:58] They did it in six.

[00:07:00] Nobody took the Rangers in seven.

[00:07:02] Bob had Canes in seven.

[00:07:03] Tony had Canes in seven.

[00:07:05] Dan had Canes in six.

[00:07:07] Tim had Rangers in seven, so nobody won that one.

[00:07:11] I don't think you got anything right.

[00:07:15] Well you got the winner right, just not the games.

[00:07:17] Yeah, I didn't call the amount of games on anything.

[00:07:21] I am the biggest Florida Panther fan in the world right now.

[00:07:23] I can tell you that much.

[00:07:25] Yeah, stop.

[00:07:26] Let me tell you.

[00:07:27] I was a huge Carolina Panther fan and I'm a Carolina Hurricane fan, and now I'm definitely

[00:07:31] switching over to the Panthers.

[00:07:33] Football guy.

[00:07:34] It's going to be a good series.

[00:07:35] Yeah, yes.

[00:07:36] I do think it's going to be a good series.

[00:07:39] I just don't know if the Rangers are going to be able to handle the Panthers.

[00:07:46] The Panthers, they are the most put together team.

[00:07:49] Them and Dallas, like I said, I would be disappointed if that's not the final

[00:07:52] because I really want to see that.

[00:07:55] I know we're going to make our official picks.

[00:07:57] I thought we might be doing them tonight, depending on the Edmonton game and whether

[00:08:00] or not Tony was going to be here.

[00:08:04] Right now I was going to say though, Florida in five.

[00:08:07] I do think that Florida just might be too much to handle for the Rangers.

[00:08:13] I expect a guy who's been relatively quiet these playoffs to come alive in that series

[00:08:21] and that's Matthew Kachuck.

[00:08:22] I think Kachuck has a big series, Florida and Dallas.

[00:08:25] And if it's Florida and Dallas in the final, I'm probably going to go with the Panthers.

[00:08:30] Yeah, I was thinking six just because they had such a slow start with Boston.

[00:08:35] You know?

[00:08:36] Well, yeah, they dropped a game one, but then they won three in a row.

[00:08:39] That's true.

[00:08:41] So yeah, they could do it.

[00:08:43] I like the aggressiveness of picking them in five, that's for sure.

[00:08:46] Just fuck the Rangers.

[00:08:49] Because look, guys, we got to be realistic here.

[00:08:52] If the Rangers win the next series, they end up in the finals.

[00:08:55] Right.

[00:08:56] There's a really damn good chance.

[00:08:58] We can't let it get there, right?

[00:09:00] You got to stop this now, this madness.

[00:09:04] Yeah, well that was Carolina's job and they fucked it up so I don't expect Florida

[00:09:09] to mess up.

[00:09:10] And yeah, definitely we don't want that.

[00:09:13] The Devils fans, nobody needs the Rangers doing anything other than going down in flames

[00:09:18] here.

[00:09:19] I love picking five.

[00:09:21] We're going to have a lot to talk about this offseason because I was looking at all the

[00:09:25] free agents that the Hurricanes have.

[00:09:28] Yes.

[00:09:29] I'm not like this team might, that window might have shut.

[00:09:34] I don't know.

[00:09:35] I mean, but there's a very good chance.

[00:09:37] There's articles about what's next for them because it looks like it just has

[00:09:40] not worked.

[00:09:41] You have something up there with their free agent spot?

[00:09:44] I saw you going in there.

[00:09:45] Well, I am going to look at that.

[00:09:46] First, it seems like it was just announced that Bryndamore and staff has been extended

[00:09:52] and accepted multi-year.

[00:09:56] As we really knew it would probably happen, it was kind of a pipe dream to think that

[00:09:59] he might slip through.

[00:10:00] It doesn't mean it's official yet.

[00:10:02] It was Weeks who did that, who likes to put out some cryptic shit.

[00:10:05] I was expecting something today for the Devils because of Kevin Weeks.

[00:10:11] So he's good.

[00:10:12] No, the point I wanted to bring up is we were kind of texting before the last

[00:10:15] show.

[00:10:16] We didn't touch on it, but Chris, you had an idea of talking about some of the people

[00:10:21] that we want to get that we could realistically get.

[00:10:26] So like you couldn't say, okay, next year's Conor McDavid is going to be there, but

[00:10:29] somebody who's either possibly tradeable or free agent.

[00:10:32] I was only looking at it.

[00:10:34] I started preparing for that and I was only looking at it from a standpoint of

[00:10:37] UFAs.

[00:10:38] I kind of misunderstood your text.

[00:10:40] I wasn't looking at possible trade.

[00:10:43] And I started looking at Carolina.

[00:10:45] And yeah, there are quite a few.

[00:10:47] Well, Marty Natchez's dad, did you guys see this?

[00:10:51] Marty Natchez's father came out and basically said that he will not be back in

[00:10:58] Carolina.

[00:10:59] Said he wants to be a first line center, a winger.

[00:11:02] He wants to play on the number one power play.

[00:11:04] He doesn't do that there.

[00:11:07] That's guys that I love Marty Natchez.

[00:11:09] He's a heck of a player.

[00:11:11] Again, like I don't know what we really need.

[00:11:15] Are we really looking for, are we going to go back to Jack centering the second

[00:11:19] line or is Jack a winger and he's going to stay there because that changes things?

[00:11:25] Personally, I would keep Jack on the wing.

[00:11:29] It just is.

[00:11:30] I'm sure that if he had a whole another year where he was a 2C, I know he'll

[00:11:36] get better on his face-offs.

[00:11:38] I know he will eventually become probably one of the best in the league at it

[00:11:42] because he's just that kind of player.

[00:11:44] But right now, I don't know.

[00:11:47] I think I'm kind of comfortable with him on the wing.

[00:11:49] What do you guys think?

[00:11:51] I mean, I don't know somebody talented like him, that level of talent,

[00:11:56] usually they want to be in a natural position.

[00:11:58] I'm trying to think somebody who was that mega successful and went through

[00:12:03] and where the center of the whole career and then got put to the wing

[00:12:07] and did great.

[00:12:07] That's a story for a lot of guys on like a normal tier, but like, you know,

[00:12:11] a first round picks, I think most of them kind of stay in their natural position.

[00:12:15] Maybe can you think of another one?

[00:12:18] I'm not sure.

[00:12:18] Maybe I'm not at the top of my head.

[00:12:20] It's kind of what I said a couple shows ago too is that I don't care

[00:12:24] where you line them up on the card.

[00:12:27] If you want somebody to come in with a better face-off prowess, fine,

[00:12:31] do that, let Jack start on the wing.

[00:12:33] But when the game's in motion, I think Jack has to be a center.

[00:12:36] That's just what he does well.

[00:12:39] So I wouldn't be surprised if that's set up.

[00:12:41] So you can put it on paper and say, Jack's a left wing, but come playtime,

[00:12:46] I think he's going to be roaming center.

[00:12:48] It just fits him.

[00:12:49] He's been doing his whole life and he is, I mean, he's a top tier superstar.

[00:12:55] Right.

[00:12:55] You know, I mean, sure.

[00:12:56] He's slightly above like a McDavid, but he's, he's up there.

[00:12:59] If you grouped it, that's where he belongs.

[00:13:01] Right.

[00:13:02] So you do have to let him do his natural position.

[00:13:04] And I'm biased to that.

[00:13:05] I am biased to natural position.

[00:13:07] I've talked about it for the last year or two that we've been doing this.

[00:13:10] That's where these players who have played for, you know, 15, 20 years

[00:13:14] are comfortable regardless of their shot.

[00:13:17] Yeah.

[00:13:17] And that's where I think they belong.

[00:13:19] That's how they got to where they're at.

[00:13:20] All different ways of doing it.

[00:13:21] But like the general thing is the wingers are going to be, have

[00:13:26] different kinds of strengths than what Jack has.

[00:13:28] Jack's like, you know, he beats people by having, you know,

[00:13:33] exploiting the room that, you know, is available to him, you know,

[00:13:36] leading them around and that is favors him being in the center position.

[00:13:40] Whereas like, you know, it's not like his shot per se he's got a great

[00:13:43] shot, you know, but he's not like, he's like, you know, Ovechkin

[00:13:47] parks in one place and buries the puck in with, you know, really

[00:13:51] give a great one timers.

[00:13:52] That's his deal.

[00:13:53] That's, you know, he's a natural winger.

[00:13:55] He's like not a natural center.

[00:13:57] Jack is, you know, beating people and being in the center.

[00:14:02] To make, to have that extra room to do that is probably better to his game.

[00:14:06] But you know, like you said, the face-offs are a problem.

[00:14:09] There is a workaround, you know, and you have somebody else

[00:14:12] take the draw and you swap out.

[00:14:13] Yeah.

[00:14:14] I mean, when I was texting about like, yes, I have my Brady

[00:14:20] Kachuck, you know, fever dream and yeah, I want the guy, but look,

[00:14:25] I don't think it's going to happen.

[00:14:27] I don't think it's even a possibility of it happening.

[00:14:31] I'd love for it to.

[00:14:31] So like, if we were looking at, and I texted you who I thought, like

[00:14:35] if I was going to build this team right now, like, what do I think

[00:14:38] we need?

[00:14:39] Like, I like our number one line.

[00:14:40] I think he sure would Mercer and Brad.

[00:14:42] I mean, Meyer and Brad is a good line.

[00:14:44] Let's keep them together.

[00:14:46] If you're going to go out and free agency, we have $20 million.

[00:14:49] Let's not forget that.

[00:14:51] I didn't a little bit on the tick under 20 million.

[00:14:54] Um, I like a guy like Chandler Stevenson or, um, saw him on a hand.

[00:15:00] Sign one of those guys.

[00:15:02] If you could put them in the two C with Jack and Dawson Mercer third

[00:15:08] line, Holla with Andre Palat.

[00:15:11] If you can somehow move Andre Palat this off season, I would, I would,

[00:15:16] if you can find a team that believes that he brings something

[00:15:20] that they need and they're, even if you have to absorb some of his salary.

[00:15:26] Yeah.

[00:15:26] So I'm not half maybe.

[00:15:27] No, no, no.

[00:15:28] Or something like that.

[00:15:29] You know, million, million, million too.

[00:15:30] Yeah.

[00:15:31] I would be okay with that.

[00:15:33] Um, but probably not going to happen.

[00:15:37] So a lot, I'll, uh, I like Nolan foot on that right side.

[00:15:42] Uh, on the third line.

[00:15:44] I love that you said that because I started thinking ahead to our

[00:15:47] eventual line predictions.

[00:15:49] And there's been a lot of talk about the McDermott signing and some people are

[00:15:53] claiming that's going to block a guy like foot and my, you know, answer to

[00:15:58] that is I believe that foot when right is at least a third winger.

[00:16:02] So it doesn't block into me.

[00:16:03] Okay.

[00:16:04] Let's, let's jump into that before we finish up this.

[00:16:07] Um, cause like we don't, we post our show on X we, you know, we, we,

[00:16:15] we have our, our listeners now that I, I'll say it become, you know, our

[00:16:20] friends who, uh, you know, we'll talk to on DMs here and there, you know?

[00:16:24] And, um, those guys, but like, we're not in the devil's Twitter.

[00:16:32] Yeah.

[00:16:33] That kind of mainstream post all the time.

[00:16:35] But I go on, I go on and I'll read stuff and they are a fickle

[00:16:41] fickle crew aren't they?

[00:16:42] A devil's Twitter.

[00:16:43] Um, and this hate to McDermott and this three year deal.

[00:16:50] I cannot wrap my hand around it.

[00:16:52] It's very heavily weighted to the hate too.

[00:16:54] It's not like this is one of those 50 50, 60 40.

[00:16:58] This is like mostly hate for this deal.

[00:17:01] And I absolutely love the signing.

[00:17:04] I love it.

[00:17:05] I think that Curtis McDermott, like let's just try and put it

[00:17:10] like as, as simple as possible to where maybe people can understand.

[00:17:16] You have this really nice, beautiful car, right?

[00:17:19] And it's souped up and it is a gorgeous car.

[00:17:23] And you know, when you get this car out on the road, it can drive almost

[00:17:28] better or as good as any other car out there, right?

[00:17:31] This is a pristine car.

[00:17:34] All right.

[00:17:34] You took last season.

[00:17:36] It was a little dinged the last year.

[00:17:37] That car was a little dinged up, but you got it running good.

[00:17:40] Are you going to go take that car to a speedway or anywhere

[00:17:45] without insurance on that?

[00:17:47] You're going to put insurance on that car.

[00:17:50] Curtis McDermott is insurance and he's a cheap insurance.

[00:17:54] I mean, the guy's like 1.2 million a year.

[00:17:57] I don't care that I heard all this shit about three years.

[00:18:00] Look, it's a super movable contract.

[00:18:02] If you decide in a year or two that, you know, you don't want them

[00:18:06] or whatever, you can move on from them.

[00:18:08] This isn't a guy who's going to be playing top six minutes.

[00:18:11] It sounds like they're acting like he's going to play every game

[00:18:14] and take all the minutes.

[00:18:16] And it's there's no way that's happening.

[00:18:18] He's going to sit.

[00:18:19] He's going to be out of rotation more than any other regular forward.

[00:18:23] And that's that's normal, you know, in games where you won't need

[00:18:26] that insurance policy as much.

[00:18:28] He might be sitting. That makes sense.

[00:18:30] And, you know, look at some other pros, right?

[00:18:32] The lot the dressing room loves this guy.

[00:18:34] They look, you know, these guys really do like him.

[00:18:36] And we saw the change in the team when he arrived.

[00:18:41] Let's also turn around and look at how he arrived.

[00:18:45] The dude gets traded. Devils are out West, right?

[00:18:49] Finds out, oh, shit, I'm not on this, you know, Colorado team,

[00:18:53] which we had Stanley Cup aspirations.

[00:18:55] Now I'm going to New Jersey, comes in, gets in to the L.A. game,

[00:18:59] which was the last game, Lindy Ruff coach flies back.

[00:19:03] So now this guy in a matter of three days has three separate coaches.

[00:19:07] He's on his second team.

[00:19:08] Things are in fucking disarray.

[00:19:10] This team was a disaster.

[00:19:12] And, you know, what do you expect from the guy?

[00:19:14] He's been in the best he could and he did the best he did his job.

[00:19:17] Well, what he came here for, he did it.

[00:19:20] And I just it doesn't make sense to me.

[00:19:22] Like, I just don't understand the hate.

[00:19:25] It's not eight million a year.

[00:19:27] It's not, you know, it's it's pittance.

[00:19:30] It's an A.H.L. contract, essentially for a guy that's going to play

[00:19:35] like you said, then minimum minutes, right?

[00:19:38] Minimum games.

[00:19:39] And it was important when he played last when needed.

[00:19:42] That's who Curtis McHarvey and we needed him when we faced the Rangers

[00:19:45] that second time after, you know, dirty, rumpy hits.

[00:19:48] And like, what are you doing?

[00:19:50] We just had no answer for a lot of this shit.

[00:19:53] Do you think we have that, you know, that the whole line,

[00:19:57] you know, erupting in a fight in the beginning of that game

[00:20:00] to try to get some kind of dignity back if he's not in the lineup?

[00:20:02] Not at all. Absolutely not.

[00:20:04] I mean, it added toughness to the whole team.

[00:20:07] And that's what I mean.

[00:20:08] It's beyond him just throwing knuckles.

[00:20:10] You know, what's the salary cap now or what's it going to be?

[00:20:15] Is it is it like 80 or my way off there?

[00:20:19] You know what, Bobby, you could be way off or you could be dead on.

[00:20:22] I don't know, but I will find out in two seconds for you.

[00:20:24] Yeah, you look at what a small percentage of that he is, right?

[00:20:29] Not just what the small percentage close eighty three and a half.

[00:20:32] OK, eighty three.

[00:20:35] Right. Yep.

[00:20:36] So the problem people are having is not necessarily that he signed

[00:20:41] and some have a problem with the term, which realistically at that low money,

[00:20:44] I don't know why two and three years is such a big deal.

[00:20:46] It's not a superstar making another nine million dollars.

[00:20:49] They're saying like this is a league minimum seven hundred

[00:20:52] and seventy five thousand dollar player.

[00:20:54] So OK, so he got four hundred thousand more dollars a year than that.

[00:20:58] We count is divided by eighty three million like his

[00:21:02] his percent of that is it's so minimal.

[00:21:05] And like you said, it's movable.

[00:21:07] You can dump them if you wanted and pay it out.

[00:21:10] You can trade them to a contender that just wants a fighter.

[00:21:13] And I just think that I don't think he's a league minimum player.

[00:21:15] I think he's got to be a league minimum player.

[00:21:17] He's a Stanley Cup winner.

[00:21:20] I'm not saying he's, you know, a blue chip player,

[00:21:22] but he's definitely, you know, got something.

[00:21:25] You're also talking about a salary,

[00:21:28] a term that's going three years into the future. Right.

[00:21:31] So what is one point one five million three years from now?

[00:21:35] Is that the new seven hundred seventy five thousand anyway?

[00:21:37] Like let's stop arguing over a few hundred thousand dollars

[00:21:40] for a guy who the players on this team want

[00:21:45] because they do feel more comfortable knowing he can go out there

[00:21:48] and deter some of the bullshit that has happened for years,

[00:21:52] not just this year, but for years.

[00:21:55] Devils have been for the last two seasons minimum,

[00:22:00] the weakest team in the league.

[00:22:03] They get pushed around like crazy.

[00:22:06] And when he got into the lineup that I go back to the first home game

[00:22:11] he played against the Panthers

[00:22:14] and the Panthers were nowhere near how they used to.

[00:22:18] They usually treat us.

[00:22:20] They were not looking to, you know,

[00:22:23] get the extra shot in or do this or do that.

[00:22:26] And which they've done every time we played them.

[00:22:28] They weren't all Curtis McDermott had to do was be on the team

[00:22:32] for that to happen because you know what?

[00:22:34] He might not be in the lineup tonight, but if we do something stupid,

[00:22:37] we got to play these guys in two weeks.

[00:22:39] He's going to be in the lineup and we're going to have to answer for it.

[00:22:41] And it's just it's it's still a part of the game.

[00:22:46] It's a big part of the game.

[00:22:47] And like I said, why would you not spend what?

[00:22:51] Like, you know,

[00:22:53] what is it, 8%, not even right now?

[00:22:56] I'm sorry. What is it like?

[00:22:57] Oh, it's 8%.

[00:23:00] Like less than if it was one million divided by three,

[00:23:04] it's it's 1.2%.

[00:23:06] OK, so yeah, you're paying 1.2%

[00:23:09] of your salary cap for a really good insurance company, insurance policy.

[00:23:13] Why would you not say so?

[00:23:15] The fourth line, another guy that I want to see resign is Thomas Nocey.

[00:23:20] I liked what I saw from him

[00:23:23] the last couple of weeks of the season when he was healthy.

[00:23:26] And I think that he deserves another chance.

[00:23:29] I think this team is I really liked how he played him.

[00:23:32] And and what's it called?

[00:23:34] Those older guys the last couple of weeks of the year

[00:23:37] really were playing hockey the right way.

[00:23:39] Guys like Hala and even Palat and Nozick when he was healthy,

[00:23:43] they were playing the right way. They were doing the right things.

[00:23:47] Everything was so far gone by then.

[00:23:49] It didn't really matter.

[00:23:50] But the guy missed three quarters of the season, probably more.

[00:23:55] I want to see him healthy.

[00:23:56] So I'd be fine with with him centering line four with Lazar on one wing.

[00:24:01] And if you have to have McDermott in and out with Bastion or,

[00:24:05] or, you know, maybe Bowers or Highland in, I don't know.

[00:24:10] But I don't think that Nozick will be coming back

[00:24:14] just because of the younger guys like we said, like Bowers and Howland.

[00:24:19] Is Bowers a center or a winger? We know.

[00:24:22] Now is a center. He is.

[00:24:25] Yeah, yeah.

[00:24:26] He might have a really good shot of getting that four season restricted

[00:24:31] till 2026.

[00:24:34] Yeah, like you said, Nozick, he's a USA.

[00:24:38] We've touched on this before.

[00:24:39] I kind of feel like he's gone.

[00:24:42] I don't mind if they sign him. I do like him as a player.

[00:24:45] I just kind of feel like they're kind of reinvent

[00:24:47] that lower six a little bit.

[00:24:49] And he could be replaced by maybe a younger guy.

[00:24:52] But we'll see.

[00:24:53] I think you're probably that's probably more likely.

[00:24:58] So who would you want them to get for their forward group?

[00:25:03] Like, what position do you think that they need?

[00:25:06] Because if we're going to really sub in some young guys like Bowers and Foot

[00:25:10] to kind of revamp that bottom six or whatever, like where else do you think?

[00:25:15] Like I said, 2C.

[00:25:17] So a guy like Stevenson or Monahan,

[00:25:19] that's where I would be looking to get in free agency.

[00:25:24] But I don't know if I would do too much more than that

[00:25:27] as far as my forward groups go.

[00:25:31] Yeah, I don't know.

[00:25:33] For me, it's more about

[00:25:35] kind of depth on forward hockey players, as you would say, right?

[00:25:40] Instead of like a big splash.

[00:25:42] Whereas the D is where I'm looking for that one kind of big shutdown guy.

[00:25:48] Late games, penalty kill specialist.

[00:25:52] Are you big on the like, I know that you, you know,

[00:25:56] like right handed guys on the right side and left handed guys on the left side.

[00:26:00] But is that a deal breaker?

[00:26:01] No, it's not.

[00:26:02] In fact, one of the guys I was looking at on Carolina is Brett Pesci.

[00:26:07] Brett Pesci, yeah, he's probably gone too.

[00:26:10] Yeah, he's probably gone. He's a UFA.

[00:26:12] He's 20 minutes a game, at least.

[00:26:14] He's a shutdown specialist.

[00:26:16] He's a penalty kill specialist.

[00:26:17] He's not a fancy name that you think of.

[00:26:20] But this is the literal example of a guy who does his job perfectly well.

[00:26:26] I don't I didn't write down his salary, but I think it's like a manageable,

[00:26:30] like a three, three, five. I think it's something in there.

[00:26:33] And he's the one guy I looked at and said, I believe he's

[00:26:38] he's a right D.

[00:26:41] And I would be willing to displace his partner to get him.

[00:26:47] You know what I mean?

[00:26:48] Because I feel like the benefit outweighs the negative of doing that.

[00:26:51] And I think in my scenario, I'd have to go back through it.

[00:26:54] But depending on who we got, it could be like a Marino out situation.

[00:27:00] But that, you know, that's that's for later to discuss.

[00:27:02] But yeah, he is a guy that I think would be under the radar.

[00:27:06] That's super solid on a team like Carolina that's been

[00:27:10] very functional in their approach.

[00:27:14] You know what I mean? He just seems like a perfect fit that

[00:27:17] we would sign him and have people be like, OK,

[00:27:19] I don't really know who he is, but it sounds good.

[00:27:21] And I think he'd be legit perfect.

[00:27:24] Four million twenty five.

[00:27:26] OK, so he's going to get a little raise from that.

[00:27:28] But yeah, I mean, I like that.

[00:27:32] Dan said a guy, a guy named Pesci should be in New Jersey.

[00:27:36] Oh, yeah, I like Pesci should be in New Jersey.

[00:27:39] So it says here he signed a three year.

[00:27:42] Wait a second to.

[00:27:44] When was this?

[00:27:48] So that was his rookie contract.

[00:27:50] I'm sorry.

[00:27:51] But track every sport track has every contract that he signed.

[00:27:55] I'm like, wait, 800000 a year.

[00:27:56] No, that was his first contract.

[00:27:57] OK, it's going left.

[00:27:59] Left. Yeah, I would put on the right side.

[00:28:01] We got to 40 grams of.

[00:28:02] Oh my God.

[00:28:02] Oh, are you drinking a lot of protein?

[00:28:05] I don't know what the hell I had.

[00:28:07] You get more lad popped up.

[00:28:08] I was looking at Brett Pesci's contract.

[00:28:10] But yeah, I like I like Brett Pesci a lot.

[00:28:14] That would be so you get rid of Siegs, right?

[00:28:17] Well, preferably you get rid of Siegs, of course.

[00:28:20] But if you start to draw out kind of the lines going down,

[00:28:25] you got to realistically think about where you would put them.

[00:28:28] I have them kind of penciled in with Hughes

[00:28:31] and still debatable on who exactly goes up with Hamilton.

[00:28:35] If we could still get another left defensive shutdown guy.

[00:28:38] But see, I like put Marino out is what you were thinking, right?

[00:28:42] Yes, yes.

[00:28:45] I like the Alex Martinez

[00:28:48] right from Colorado.

[00:28:50] I mean, Vegas.

[00:28:52] So let me see what he gets.

[00:28:55] While you're doing that, I kind of made a note to myself

[00:28:58] and I said in this scenario, that's if we can move Marino.

[00:29:02] If we couldn't move Marino, then there's a situation

[00:29:05] where we could move Luke Hughes up to the left side

[00:29:08] with Hamilton on the right side to allow Pesci to slide in there

[00:29:12] on that second defensive pairing.

[00:29:15] Alex Martinez, he's a left defenseman.

[00:29:18] How old is Brett Pesci?

[00:29:21] And what's his size?

[00:29:22] I'm just curious.

[00:29:26] See if I still have enough bigger than Joe.

[00:29:30] Yeah, he's definitely bigger than Joe.

[00:29:32] He takes dumps bigger than Joe.

[00:29:35] So Alex Martinez is he makes three million a year.

[00:29:42] Oh, no, I'm sorry, three nine.

[00:29:43] So close to, you know, they're real similar in contracts.

[00:29:48] But but Alex Martinez is thirty six.

[00:29:50] He's six one, two hundred nine pounds.

[00:29:53] You know, so but he's thirty six, but he is a shut down gritty

[00:29:58] defenseman like I like the idea of Alex Martinez

[00:30:02] and Dougie Hamilton together, Marino and Hughes together

[00:30:07] and then Nemech and Ball.

[00:30:09] Pesci is six three, two hundred pounds and is twenty nine.

[00:30:15] All right. So let's go with Brett Pesci.

[00:30:17] I think it's like as perfect a defenseman

[00:30:21] you can slot into the Devils as there is everything considered cost, size,

[00:30:26] defensive prowess just seems like the right type of hockey player for the team.

[00:30:31] I like it.

[00:30:32] I can definitely get behind Brett Pesci and.

[00:30:36] But again, what's real quick, is something going on?

[00:30:40] Like there was supposed to be some announcement today, am I wrong?

[00:30:44] Yeah, but we all was wondering if maybe they were talking about

[00:30:48] a formal McDermott announcement, right?

[00:30:51] Because McDermott really weren't a formal announcement.

[00:30:54] No, it really doesn't make sense to me.

[00:30:57] Like, I don't know.

[00:30:58] Like, it seems like I kind of got the feeling today

[00:31:00] like there's going to be a coaching thing, right?

[00:31:02] It should have been like I thought it was going to be.

[00:31:05] And then when it wasn't what's going on, it did start to feel like

[00:31:10] everybody knew that the Ruby

[00:31:12] momentum slowed down when Toronto lost because we knew he had desire to go there.

[00:31:18] Right. And he did.

[00:31:20] So you would think now would be the natural time to say,

[00:31:23] here's our other choice or our first choice all along.

[00:31:26] Now, that's the key business about,

[00:31:30] you know, possibly wanting to take time off already is really bizarre to me.

[00:31:35] This is a young guy

[00:31:36] who's coached superstars in the biggest market in the NHL.

[00:31:41] There's only so many jobs like I can't imagine saying,

[00:31:45] I'm good for a year like to me, you hop right back on the train.

[00:31:48] And when you got a team like New Jersey that's just waiting to pop,

[00:31:52] somebody say, please just direct us on how to do this.

[00:31:55] Like, why would you wait?

[00:31:56] John Cooper can take a year off if he left Tampa and then come back in

[00:32:00] and stuff. I don't know if Sheldon Keefe has earned that equity yet.

[00:32:02] I don't know if he's garnered that where he can do that

[00:32:05] and then just get right back into coaching.

[00:32:07] If the debt was come to you with a marketable contract,

[00:32:10] whatever that is for coaches from where he comes, you should jump all over that.

[00:32:14] I completely agree.

[00:32:15] Especially in this day and age, because God forbid something happens to you.

[00:32:19] You're basically getting double paid anyway.

[00:32:21] And it actually reminds me of something that my kid wanted me to bring up.

[00:32:26] And I think we kind of discuss this in a roundabout way,

[00:32:28] but I don't think we ever actually put it out on the air like this.

[00:32:33] But he's said, Dad, do you realize that two of the three

[00:32:37] Jack Adams finalists from last year lost their jobs this year?

[00:32:43] The only one who maintained it was Jim Montgomery with Boston.

[00:32:47] But Lindy Roth and Dave Haxdahl both got fired during the year.

[00:32:51] That's true. And Jim Montgomery won it.

[00:32:52] We kind of like we announced that this happened,

[00:32:55] but we never really put it in that context.

[00:32:57] Yeah, all the runners up got fired.

[00:32:59] Yeah. It's like when the Jack Adams are else.

[00:33:01] Pretty much.

[00:33:03] That's a little crazy.

[00:33:05] I mean, yeah, I just hope that they don't like

[00:33:11] if Berube would have been the guy like I just worry now, like Keefe says,

[00:33:14] OK, we're going to not play for a year and then

[00:33:18] you know, I'm going to take a year.

[00:33:19] Am I was my it was my video.

[00:33:21] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:23] Is it just went away? It's back now.

[00:33:25] I just worry that like Keefe says, I'm going to take a year off

[00:33:28] and like we could have maybe had Berube and now where, you know,

[00:33:32] we're going to get Todd McClellan just because he's the only guy around.

[00:33:35] That kind of worries me a little.

[00:33:36] It does feel like we're losing a game of musical chairs right now. Mm hmm.

[00:33:40] Let me throw a name at you guys.

[00:33:42] And I know this is a you know, we're not huge on the guys

[00:33:46] that have had no experience in the NHL, but a college coach

[00:33:51] who's got a hell of a record and a heck of a reputation as a coach

[00:33:57] in college.

[00:33:59] And he's one of ours, so to speak.

[00:34:03] About J.

[00:34:03] Pandolfo. Wow.

[00:34:07] Well, I know if Lou is the GM here,

[00:34:11] he might get a shot because he loved Fando.

[00:34:13] He had a shot and he got he took Patrick Watt.

[00:34:16] So that's true.

[00:34:18] That's true. But yeah, I mean, I I do think it's interesting.

[00:34:24] I would love to see him on the coaching staff and maybe get a shot in the future.

[00:34:29] I think it's kind of weird to dump a, you know, head coaching duties on,

[00:34:34] you know, like, I don't know.

[00:34:36] I would rather break them in a little bit.

[00:34:37] It's never going to happen.

[00:34:38] But I thought about him today and I was like, hmm,

[00:34:41] why isn't he getting a shot in the NHL?

[00:34:45] He always had the best work ethic.

[00:34:47] And so that's something I think about, like he was a hardworking player

[00:34:51] and in a vein very similar to Brendan Moore.

[00:34:53] When you think about it, he was not a clown who rested on talent only.

[00:34:56] He he was a hardworking guy.

[00:34:58] Just didn't have Brendan Moore's hands.

[00:35:01] That's very true. Very true.

[00:35:02] Yeah. But I got says a guy like that isn't ready, but that is so biased

[00:35:07] because it's really based off of the type of player that he was,

[00:35:11] which is a terrific player and a player we needed who knew his role.

[00:35:14] And maybe he did it to the best that you really could.

[00:35:18] And he was literally a scorer at every other league until

[00:35:23] kind of getting, you know, to the professional leagues.

[00:35:26] So he knows the game of hockey.

[00:35:27] But yeah, I still see him as this one dimensional shutdown.

[00:35:32] Here's my role type of guy.

[00:35:33] Which is totally wrong.

[00:35:35] If J.Pen Dolfo had

[00:35:39] the goal scoring touch in the NHL like he did.

[00:35:42] And I know a lot of it was that he was playing his part

[00:35:46] the best he could, and that he was not dependent on to score goals.

[00:35:50] I completely understand that.

[00:35:53] But if he did like this is a guy that would have been

[00:35:57] every year a selkie candidate, he would have been Patrice Berger

[00:36:00] when with the talent that he had and how good he was at shutting down

[00:36:04] closing forwards some of his goals.

[00:36:07] The guy was still there.

[00:36:09] That college level scoring was still there.

[00:36:14] But like a lot of devils of that era, he had a role and he

[00:36:17] he fell right into that and played that role.

[00:36:19] He was not looking to live up to his score.

[00:36:21] Back in the day when you really did what it took to win,

[00:36:24] like to do your part, like you do hear a lot of lip service about that now.

[00:36:28] In all sports too, not just hockey.

[00:36:30] And then you wonder how much they really mean that,

[00:36:34] because you really do have to change your game, your approach.

[00:36:38] Everything you've done your whole life for the greater good.

[00:36:42] And that can't be easy.

[00:36:43] No, I've been nowhere near this level of especially my life.

[00:36:48] The money that the top scorers in this league are getting right.

[00:36:52] You know, we're 10 more goals a year.

[00:36:54] I'm getting three million dollars a year versus 750.

[00:36:57] Yeah, that's a big push.

[00:36:59] But I will see how if you're an agent, you know, you'd be like concerned,

[00:37:02] like, OK, you're going to take this role,

[00:37:03] but you know, it's going to hurt your next contract. Right.

[00:37:05] And you see that, you know, the one thing I have to say after watching these

[00:37:09] playoffs and just seeing the teams that are still around and how they got here.

[00:37:14] And it's like even the Devils in two years ago, I'm like,

[00:37:17] you know, we didn't do it. We lost in five.

[00:37:20] It's like so much has to change about their play

[00:37:24] for this team to win a Stanley Cup.

[00:37:26] And I know that that has to do with, you know, certain.

[00:37:29] And I don't think it's something that can never happen.

[00:37:33] I just think you have to put the right pieces in place.

[00:37:36] And a lot of that is the coach.

[00:37:38] A lot of that is having actually like some tough guys on this team

[00:37:42] that, you know, can let these guys.

[00:37:45] Maturity willing to sacrifice.

[00:37:47] Yeah. And we get that from all our guys.

[00:37:49] We don't know. We don't.

[00:37:50] No, we don't. And it's it's worrisome.

[00:37:54] And I hope that the next coach and I hope whoever the next

[00:37:57] coach is has really good assistance with them.

[00:38:00] Like, I want to see somebody like you look at the Rangers, right?

[00:38:04] It would fill how's he how's Lee coaching their defense like their defense

[00:38:07] is probably the best it's been the last four or five years.

[00:38:10] You know, like bring somebody back like that.

[00:38:13] Like, you know, isn't much more Paul Coffey, I think,

[00:38:17] is in like Vancouver somewhere.

[00:38:19] I think he's doing something with Tuckett up there like coach.

[00:38:21] You know something about running a defense.

[00:38:23] Yeah. Like like bringing the right coaches to help them.

[00:38:27] I mean, look.

[00:38:30] Luke is having a great series

[00:38:32] in the tournament out in Europe, so the devils are.

[00:38:35] Yeah. So is he sure like, you know how those tournaments go?

[00:38:38] That's not that's not NHL.

[00:38:40] Oh, no, it's definitely not playoff hockey.

[00:38:42] I get people say like, oh, that term is like a playoffs.

[00:38:45] No, it's not. No different.

[00:38:47] Now, it is not.

[00:38:47] You know, they're throwing them all together.

[00:38:49] It totally relies on individual talents

[00:38:52] and they all work together for a short time.

[00:38:54] You need a much more discipline to have success over 82 game season

[00:38:59] into a long playoffs.

[00:39:01] It's a different thing.

[00:39:02] And I'm not surprised our guys are talented.

[00:39:04] We knew they're talented.

[00:39:05] Question is, can they play as a serious team in NHL?

[00:39:09] I agree. Tim, Tim had a little

[00:39:12] blowback for the Heescher

[00:39:15] Brady Kachuk thing that he sent us like no way, never would.

[00:39:20] Cannot do it.

[00:39:21] He's no he was like absolutely not like he's our best face off guy.

[00:39:25] And I believe his exact words were after what happened with

[00:39:30] Mikey, Mick Gangbang was the term he used.

[00:39:36] All right. Really funny.

[00:39:38] But, you know, he's like, we can't lose him.

[00:39:41] I mean, it just no matter what, I get where Brady comes from.

[00:39:45] But, you know, look at Jack's face off numbers,

[00:39:47] look at everybody else's face off numbers on this team.

[00:39:49] Like you lose the middle.

[00:39:51] You're not going to be a contender.

[00:39:53] He makes good points.

[00:39:54] He does make a good point.

[00:39:55] And like just to back up on that, nobody wants that to happen.

[00:39:59] You know, it was a hypothetical that I don't think necessarily

[00:40:02] we're going to be faced with.

[00:40:03] But if we were, that was the question.

[00:40:06] Yeah, we do.

[00:40:07] I mean, I still stand by it because

[00:40:10] of all the reasons we mentioned

[00:40:12] that like what he brings to this team is exactly what we need.

[00:40:16] But I'm hoping there's other ways to get that where maybe it's

[00:40:20] if it's not through Kachuk, it's other ways we get to that plate.

[00:40:23] And and if it is with him, I would love to keep he sure.

[00:40:26] Believe me, it's you know,

[00:40:28] there is an outstanding question, though, about captaincy.

[00:40:32] Like, I don't know where Tim fell out on that.

[00:40:34] He's a great face off guy.

[00:40:35] He's a great character guy.

[00:40:36] Is he the best captain material?

[00:40:39] You know, he's had been captain for a few years now.

[00:40:42] I don't know if any doubles fan could say he is the best possible

[00:40:45] captain we could have.

[00:40:47] And I, you know, I'm not saying he's a bad captain,

[00:40:49] but is he the best possible captain?

[00:40:51] Here's the thing, too.

[00:40:52] If you just kind of look back, like kind of into our archives

[00:40:56] in the last couple of years, it's come up

[00:40:59] multiple times as a discussion point,

[00:41:03] which is kind of something in itself to tell you like,

[00:41:06] why does it keep kind of coming to the surface?

[00:41:08] We all agree he's a great player.

[00:41:10] We all agree. He's even a heart and soul player.

[00:41:12] We saw what happened when he wasn't in the lineup.

[00:41:14] Nobody here doesn't love Niko Hescher.

[00:41:17] But on several shows, we've talked about captaincy

[00:41:21] and what that means.

[00:41:22] And I think we're of an older generation.

[00:41:25] We've seen what Scott Stevens can do.

[00:41:28] We're jaded in what that type of captain is.

[00:41:32] So we see a Kachuk type player

[00:41:36] as more of the mole or the model for a captain.

[00:41:40] Maybe we're completely off base.

[00:41:41] Maybe he's just fine in the room and everybody absolutely adores him

[00:41:44] and follows him and listens to him.

[00:41:46] But we just see it slightly different.

[00:41:47] And that's OK.

[00:41:49] And other people are going to see it a different way

[00:41:51] and maybe think we're crazy for even questioning it.

[00:41:53] But the fact that we've questioned it

[00:41:55] multiple times in the last couple of years should tell you something.

[00:41:59] I don't know.

[00:42:00] Like you said, you don't know what he's like in the dressing room.

[00:42:02] I don't know.

[00:42:04] I get that he leads by example,

[00:42:07] and he always does or works harder than anybody else out there.

[00:42:11] He's very smart. He always makes smart plays.

[00:42:14] He's not like a buffoon.

[00:42:15] He's very good with dealing with, you know,

[00:42:17] this guy was captaining this team when they're really bad

[00:42:19] and having to go out there every single night

[00:42:22] and talk about the things they got to do better and all that stuff.

[00:42:25] Like he does take it on the chin a lot.

[00:42:27] And I give him credit.

[00:42:28] But you're right. The intangible, the Steve Iserman had it, right?

[00:42:32] Mark Messier, Scott Stevens, these guys just all fucking look in your eye.

[00:42:36] Yeah. You know what I mean?

[00:42:38] Sometimes they all had it like, you know, they're.

[00:42:42] I think we're not totally out of line saying

[00:42:45] there's a little bit of a North American bias here.

[00:42:47] I agree. I was just going to say that. Is this a European thing?

[00:42:50] I'm trying to think of my favorite European captains.

[00:42:53] Now, yeah, like what? Matt Sundin. Perfect.

[00:42:57] I mean, what I mean, he didn't get the results in the end,

[00:43:01] but he was a good captain, I guess.

[00:43:03] And I don't know.

[00:43:05] I mean, I'm just trying to think of great captains that came to Europe.

[00:43:10] He was a hell of a player. Was he a hell of a captain?

[00:43:12] I don't know. They were Toronto fans.

[00:43:14] Our perception and bias here.

[00:43:17] Yeah, that's not fair.

[00:43:18] It's very possible because I do think he's got the best of intentions.

[00:43:22] He's a smart guy and he's a hard worker.

[00:43:24] So in a lot of ways, shouldn't that be enough?

[00:43:26] But you said the word intangible. There's something about it.

[00:43:30] I kind of get like maybe that's where

[00:43:34] this bias isn't just ours, it's the other players to some extent.

[00:43:37] And, you know, they respond to a captain

[00:43:40] who fits that mould maybe more naturally.

[00:43:44] I don't know. Let me throw this out there, too.

[00:43:46] Maybe Nico is in fact the perfect captain.

[00:43:50] But what he's needed all along is some toughness support

[00:43:55] with him or behind him. Very true.

[00:43:56] Very true. You know, what you say, I'm trying to be in.

[00:43:59] I mean, people literally attack him,

[00:44:02] you know, when any chance they get with nobody sticking up for him.

[00:44:06] Maybe if we finally get that mentality to stick up for our captain, our team,

[00:44:10] maybe he is the perfect captain for this.

[00:44:12] Yeah, like Dermott, somebody like that might have a real good

[00:44:15] positive aspect on his captaincy, too.

[00:44:19] Now, only three Europeans

[00:44:24] have captained their team to a Stanley Cup.

[00:44:28] OK. Nick Lindstrom with Detroit.

[00:44:31] Great coach. Was a great captain.

[00:44:33] Yes, absolutely. Zedena Chara.

[00:44:36] Oh, wow. I totally forgot that he was a captain.

[00:44:39] Alexander Ovechkin.

[00:44:41] Eh. Now, but there's also, you know, you have Zetterberg.

[00:44:46] He was the captain.

[00:44:47] Yarmir Yager, Peter Forsberg, who apparently was the captain

[00:44:50] for Philadelphia for one season, which I don't remember at all.

[00:44:53] Yeah, not with Colorado.

[00:44:56] It was Sackett.

[00:44:58] Yeah. And this actually article that I'm on is about Nico Hescher

[00:45:03] and just that he so he was named captain.

[00:45:08] Excuse me, February 20th, 2021.

[00:45:13] 22 years and 44 days.

[00:45:15] He immediately became the youngest active captain in the NHL.

[00:45:19] And so a lot was thrust onto him at a young age.

[00:45:25] Matt Sundeen is on there.

[00:45:27] He was there.

[00:45:29] He was the first European, actually, captain to ever go first overall.

[00:45:34] Him and Ilja Kovalchuk and Alexander Ovechkin.

[00:45:36] But, you know, maybe he'll grow into the role.

[00:45:39] We have seen some progression of that.

[00:45:42] I would love nothing better to.

[00:45:44] I would love it because I did so much I like about him.

[00:45:46] I do want to see him get tougher, though.

[00:45:48] I mean, he's great at board battles and he's good at that.

[00:45:52] But when it comes to actually the grittiness and, you know,

[00:45:55] decking somebody once in a while or, you know,

[00:45:58] being a prick on the ice once in a while, you need that.

[00:46:01] And I don't see that in him and maybe he'll grow into it.

[00:46:04] And I know you can't like really change who you are, but

[00:46:09] we've mentioned before, like if he could kind of look less hurt sometimes,

[00:46:13] you know, it always looks like he's in pain.

[00:46:15] He does kind of look like he's like he's getting beaten up

[00:46:18] instead of just getting fucking mad about it.

[00:46:21] You know what I mean?

[00:46:22] I think that might go a long way, too, but I'm not faulting him for that.

[00:46:26] No, I don't mean to hurt him.

[00:46:28] It's OK.

[00:46:29] If you take that to the other extreme and you got a guy who's

[00:46:32] like visually intimidating, don't tell me that doesn't have an effect.

[00:46:36] We all can picture in our minds

[00:46:38] Scott Stevens facial expressions.

[00:46:40] You're next.

[00:46:41] That's legendary.

[00:46:42] And that, you know, you could say, oh, come on.

[00:46:45] Being a cat's got to be more than just throwing threats.

[00:46:48] You can look, you know, read off the telecast.

[00:46:51] It sure is.

[00:46:52] But I'm telling you that the whole league saw that.

[00:46:55] And that was a big deal.

[00:46:57] Sure did.

[00:46:58] They made it look like a serious team.

[00:47:00] You can't change your personality overnight,

[00:47:02] but I think there's things he could probably add to his game that would help.

[00:47:06] And you know what is more important than just what he does?

[00:47:09] That kind of example of playing with more grit.

[00:47:12] If he sets it, it's going to be more contagious to and.

[00:47:15] Yeah. And that's that's important because we need that all around.

[00:47:18] Now, the next question, of course, is, though, if it wasn't him, then who?

[00:47:26] You mean of our existing players?

[00:47:28] The team we have an answer for that.

[00:47:30] Yeah, I don't think you got necessarily a better guy to pick from this team

[00:47:35] as it sits right now.

[00:47:36] We were talking about, you know, Chuck coming in,

[00:47:40] maybe taking that role would be a plus because they could see him doing that.

[00:47:43] Give me another year.

[00:47:45] And this year in particular, because I think we're going to see

[00:47:49] what we've always wanted to see.

[00:47:50] I can see a Timo Meyer emerging as that player next year.

[00:47:55] Now, you know, you who has the A's now?

[00:47:58] It's Jack and Jesper, right? Right.

[00:48:00] Yeah. Yeah. Jack. Absolutely.

[00:48:03] You know, he's he's getting that he's keeping that

[00:48:07] and just for Brad, too.

[00:48:08] I mean, just for Brad has shown me I have become

[00:48:11] to a guy that was so just fucking.

[00:48:15] Had really no.

[00:48:19] Feeling about Jesper Brad either way, you know, I was.

[00:48:22] But last year, I became a fan of him.

[00:48:24] Like how he played all last year.

[00:48:26] And we know, you know, we talk about some of the things he does.

[00:48:29] Especially the last quarter.

[00:48:30] But yes, he really did come on strong.

[00:48:33] And there were times last season where I watched him and I thought

[00:48:38] this guy might be the first devil to have 100 points.

[00:48:41] It might not be Jack Hughes.

[00:48:43] It might be Jesper Brad.

[00:48:44] Now you can also look at this team and say, with Timo on it,

[00:48:47] like maybe he's the first guy to have 100 points.

[00:48:50] He did that on a bad team.

[00:48:53] A bottom third team.

[00:48:55] Like we're still all kind of in this window of, oh, we were so good.

[00:48:58] We should have like just we didn't just make it.

[00:49:00] We were closer to the bottom than the line.

[00:49:04] That's a bad team.

[00:49:05] You know, those points, it's more impressive.

[00:49:08] I was listening a little bit to Sunday brunch to the weekend

[00:49:11] brunch or whatever on XM this morning.

[00:49:14] And I forget the guys that are hosting it, but, you know,

[00:49:16] they were talking about the playoffs and, you know, the Rangers were brought up

[00:49:20] and how like, you know, they they were basically like, look,

[00:49:23] Washington was a nothing.

[00:49:25] Like I don't even know if you can count that series.

[00:49:27] And the one guy goes, just think about this, right?

[00:49:30] You know, Dougie Hamilton with New Jersey, you know, how much he was out,

[00:49:34] how much Jack Hughes was out, Niko Hesha was going over everything.

[00:49:37] And then his words like how badly they blew it

[00:49:41] by not getting a goaltender, you know, two months later,

[00:49:45] too much later than they should have.

[00:49:47] What made a huge difference?

[00:49:48] He goes, he goes, there's no doubt in my mind that if Jake Allen's

[00:49:53] on the Devils two months earlier, yep, them not Washington are in the playoffs.

[00:49:57] Like I completely agree with that.

[00:49:58] And that's a totally different first round matchup.

[00:50:00] A Devils team that was playing as solid as they could be at that point,

[00:50:04] even with injuries they had would have been a tough out for the Rangers.

[00:50:07] I agree. At best.

[00:50:08] At a minimum. I agree.

[00:50:11] There's no reason we couldn't have repeated, you know,

[00:50:13] upsetting them last year, like we did last year.

[00:50:15] But man, you guys, you know, I'm just anxious.

[00:50:18] It's something to hire the coach like this thing is all going to be.

[00:50:21] You know, we're halfway done with the playoffs, right?

[00:50:23] And the next half, the next half goes pretty quick.

[00:50:27] So we're going to be done with this thing in like, what, three weeks, maybe

[00:50:31] the draft is then what, like a week later.

[00:50:34] And like he wants to hire it's got like a month, four to five weeks here.

[00:50:38] Like hire your coach, get them in, get the personnel in here.

[00:50:41] Let's start moving.

[00:50:42] Let's see what this team's going to look like,

[00:50:43] because he's still going big game hunting for a goalie.

[00:50:46] And so is Toronto and Los Angeles and maybe Carolina.

[00:50:51] And, you know, it's this is not going to be a market.

[00:50:55] I think Carolina is going to increase that search capacity,

[00:51:00] because let's face it, that last game,

[00:51:04] if ever there was a game where you could say, oh, they let us down.

[00:51:07] That was the one.

[00:51:08] And, you know, if you got a goaltender gives you one solid period there,

[00:51:12] you're going to game seven.

[00:51:14] Dude, that game was Carolina outplayed the Rangers for 95% of this fucking game.

[00:51:21] Yep.

[00:51:22] They were a better team.

[00:51:24] And after two goal lead with what, 11 minutes?

[00:51:26] Last goal I didn't think was that, you know, he looked way out of position.

[00:51:31] Yeah.

[00:51:32] And he played terrible even when they were up three one that one goal

[00:51:35] should have been up three nothing.

[00:51:36] Yeah, I can't say Chris Kreider.

[00:51:38] I just don't like his face when he scores.

[00:51:40] Me neither.

[00:51:40] And I'm watching the pregame and he did an interview.

[00:51:44] And, you know, I had Carolina, I saw Carolina winning

[00:51:47] in the way he did this interview.

[00:51:48] I don't know why I walked away from that going,

[00:51:51] holy shit, this guy's going to have a game.

[00:51:53] I just felt he knows like he was calm.

[00:51:56] He was going to take over this game.

[00:51:58] But then I'm watching the game.

[00:51:59] It was all Carolina.

[00:52:01] And honestly, it was three one.

[00:52:03] And my wife and I kind of turned it off.

[00:52:05] I was kind of watching the score at that point, but wasn't watching the game.

[00:52:08] And then Kreider just came alive and it was my nightmare.

[00:52:11] Exactly what I thought would happen to my mind.

[00:52:13] But yeah, a lot of that was on the goaltending.

[00:52:15] So I mean, their biggest problem in that third period

[00:52:18] was what our biggest problem was all year.

[00:52:20] Nobody to make a big save when needed to be made.

[00:52:23] Oh, and just make the one big save and you win the game

[00:52:27] and you push a game seven.

[00:52:28] And, you know, who knows what happens at that point?

[00:52:30] But, you know, they they they were just

[00:52:34] the Rangers are just that kind of team.

[00:52:36] They can they got such good goaltending that they can weather your storm.

[00:52:41] They can handle whatever.

[00:52:42] And then you give them one opportunity and they don't fucking miss, man.

[00:52:46] They even when their goaltending

[00:52:49] is letting in goals and isn't superhuman,

[00:52:53] then Shasturkin will eventually shut it down.

[00:52:56] Like he still let in the three.

[00:52:58] But he was like, that's it.

[00:52:59] Like, I'm going to win this game.

[00:53:01] Give me a solid game. There's no meltdown. Right.

[00:53:02] Yeah, I think Shasturkin is better than Bobrovsky. I do.

[00:53:07] But I also look at the Panthers as a much deeper team.

[00:53:12] I just see that Bobrovsky is better than Anderson.

[00:53:14] And maybe that would have been enough for Carolina. Yeah.

[00:53:19] I think that, like I said, Matthew Kachuck, who's been

[00:53:23] in as compared to Matthew Kachuck of the past, he's been relatively quiet

[00:53:27] these playoffs. So it's only a matter of time.

[00:53:29] So I do expect him to take this like, OK,

[00:53:33] I get to go to New York and show off now.

[00:53:35] I'm going to piss off everybody in that fucking building.

[00:53:38] And I expect him to have. Yeah.

[00:53:41] And I think they're going to go back to the finals.

[00:53:44] It's going to be interesting to see what happens with Vancouver and Edmonton,

[00:53:47] because I'll tell you, Vancouver impresses me.

[00:53:51] Edmonton does not impress me.

[00:53:53] I just watched that team and I'm like, you stop

[00:53:56] Dry Saddle and McDavid and it's an easy win.

[00:54:00] Well, that's been the story for them for years.

[00:54:03] You know, this is not there.

[00:54:05] But I mean, I don't know.

[00:54:06] I feel like they had depth, you know, even like at some point,

[00:54:10] like have they always just been this pathetic?

[00:54:13] The one guy on the brunch was actually said,

[00:54:15] I feel like the Edmonton Oilers are built to beat the Los Angeles Kings.

[00:54:19] And that's it. After that, you just can't beat anybody else.

[00:54:23] It's rough. You know, but I'll tell you, man,

[00:54:27] you're going to go another year.

[00:54:28] Like what happens in Edmonton if they lose this series?

[00:54:32] Did the game end?

[00:54:33] You know, yeah, it did. Five one. Five one.

[00:54:36] It was a beat. So we're going to game seven.

[00:54:38] In Edmonton, you got to remember up until the last couple years,

[00:54:41] you know, kind of the joke about Edmonton was like,

[00:54:43] how many number one picks are you going to build around

[00:54:46] and still not be fucking good? Right. Right.

[00:54:48] And now they finally look like and I'm one of them early in the year.

[00:54:51] I think I picked him to go awfully far, if not possibly win it.

[00:54:54] They're just not.

[00:54:56] Kind of getting over that last hurdle, kind of like Toronto,

[00:54:59] they're not putting it together properly,

[00:55:01] which is again something I fear for the devils.

[00:55:03] I don't want this purely offensively talented fun to watch team.

[00:55:08] I throw all that away for a goddamn Stanley Cup.

[00:55:10] Well, especially when you're a team for J.

[00:55:11] Pandolfos, I don't care.

[00:55:13] Well, especially when you look at the last two years,

[00:55:15] especially like what's won the cup or going to win the cup this year.

[00:55:18] It's not the way that we play.

[00:55:21] That is not what gives you deep runs in the playoffs.

[00:55:24] Like, yeah, you got to be able to score goals.

[00:55:25] Your superstars have got to show up like you can't have a Stanley Cup

[00:55:29] run without Jack Hughes,

[00:55:31] Jesper, Brad, Nico Hescher, Timo Meyer putting up their points.

[00:55:34] But you also have to be willing to sacrifice a hell of a lot.

[00:55:39] And we've been about the third and fourth lines to. Yeah.

[00:55:42] I know it like that's just hockey.

[00:55:44] That's for the timely goals.

[00:55:46] That's for the, you know, where you weren't expect.

[00:55:49] That's the just that little extra that gets you over that hump.

[00:55:53] It's John Madden's. Right.

[00:55:54] Like, yeah, when your boys are all doing what they're supposed to do

[00:55:58] and then Lazar gives you that overtime winner

[00:56:01] or that late third period goal or something like that, you know,

[00:56:04] Hala, Nozick, maybe if he's on the team.

[00:56:08] But that's the guys that you need that for anybody.

[00:56:10] When you have a deep team

[00:56:11] and the deepest teams in the league right now all year,

[00:56:15] we're Florida and Dallas and we're down to the final five

[00:56:18] and they're still standing.

[00:56:20] And I will be surprised if it's and look, the Rangers are pretty deep,

[00:56:23] but they're not as deep as those two teams.

[00:56:25] Vancouver is pretty deep.

[00:56:27] Nowhere near as deep as those two teams and Edmonton is not deep at all.

[00:56:30] So I got to look at this and say it's going to be Florida and Dallas.

[00:56:35] Yeah, on the surface, that's that's what we have officially done it.

[00:56:37] But that's the same thing I'm looking at.

[00:56:39] Yeah, I get it.

[00:56:41] You know, I had Colorado and I think, you know, obviously

[00:56:45] under has to be a Dallas there a little bit.

[00:56:47] But there's no doubt that, you know, they take that pick from,

[00:56:51] you know, by having defeated Colorado's by that virtue alone.

[00:56:54] And they showed me what I didn't see in the first place.

[00:56:57] Well, I have a tough time picking between those two.

[00:56:59] If it is, in fact, the stars and the Panthers.

[00:57:02] Thankfully, I got time to think about it if it even happens.

[00:57:05] But I don't think that's going to be a cakewalk either way.

[00:57:07] No, I think the surface, I think a lot of people would probably say Florida

[00:57:11] because of kind of the Matthew Kachuck effect,

[00:57:13] even though he's not having the series he maybe had last year.

[00:57:16] But I think that'd be a major disservice to Dallas.

[00:57:18] I think they're just quietly just

[00:57:21] to their shows as good as Florida is on the Western side.

[00:57:24] They're really good.

[00:57:25] And, you know, they have like Ottinger.

[00:57:28] I mean, I know he's not great.

[00:57:30] I know he's not your typical like, you know,

[00:57:33] he flops around a little bit and he's, you know, out of position.

[00:57:37] But when you're six five, I guess you can be

[00:57:39] pulled in the fan and asked for the top 10 goalies in the league.

[00:57:42] They're not going to mention his name.

[00:57:44] But yeah, he because of that, he reminds me.

[00:57:48] He reminds me of Brodor in his early career, where he just did great things

[00:57:52] and nobody paid any attention to him.

[00:57:54] And then after like, you know, five or six years,

[00:57:57] you had to stop and look at it go, holy shit,

[00:57:58] this guy is one of the best playoff goalies ever.

[00:58:01] And I have a feeling that Jake Ottinger is going to be right up there.

[00:58:04] That's high praise.

[00:58:05] Yeah, it's high praise. I like Ottinger.

[00:58:07] I do. That's pretty good.

[00:58:08] He's got to win some cups, though.

[00:58:09] Yeah, that's true. But so it could happen.

[00:58:12] Yeah, we're getting close to the end here.

[00:58:14] So I want to bring something up.

[00:58:15] Did everybody get a chance to listen to Marchal talk about

[00:58:20] this hit that he took?

[00:58:23] Yeah, we tried to hurt each other.

[00:58:25] That's part of the game.

[00:58:26] So basically, he came out and said nobody talks about this.

[00:58:30] But in the playoffs, everybody does try to hurt everybody.

[00:58:35] Everybody we can take out the other team is an advantage

[00:58:39] to our team to win the series.

[00:58:41] I think we all kind of know this in our heads,

[00:58:44] but like he said, you don't say it.

[00:58:47] He just said it.

[00:58:48] What do we think about that?

[00:58:50] I give him credit for saying it.

[00:58:51] They know, like they asked the question.

[00:58:53] He didn't like, oh, you know, he didn't act all indignant.

[00:58:56] He should have done that.

[00:58:57] He just basically said I would have done the same thing.

[00:59:00] But do you agree with that?

[00:59:01] Pretty like, do you think that that happens?

[00:59:04] I do think that's the case.

[00:59:05] I do think that's the case.

[00:59:07] Now, look, is he speaking a little bit more for himself?

[00:59:09] I guess so.

[00:59:10] I mean, but I mean, let's look at the hit he took.

[00:59:13] That was definitely intent to end your look at all this shit,

[00:59:16] you know, true, you know, head missling, you know, like, oh, come on.

[00:59:20] There is that aspect out there.

[00:59:25] I guess sometimes even the fans of the team that's doing it,

[00:59:28] they don't want to believe it

[00:59:30] because they want their guys to be somehow virtuous.

[00:59:32] My guy's good. Your guys are dirty player.

[00:59:35] And they're kind of living in fantasy land.

[00:59:37] OK, if you have a successful team, you have one or more players

[00:59:40] who are willing and desiring to hurt the other team

[00:59:45] and take out guys they can't.

[00:59:47] They talk about who's don't think for a second.

[00:59:50] They don't get in the locker room

[00:59:51] talk about who's got an injury, who you need to hit.

[00:59:53] We don't let this guy beat you that kind of thing.

[00:59:56] And right. Right.

[00:59:57] And like who you can get, you know, some

[01:00:00] who you can throw off their game by, you know, hitting

[01:00:03] maybe more likely than others.

[01:00:05] And and then, you know, sometimes it does get personal.

[01:00:08] Right. These guys, you know, get hit and they're looking to give paybacks.

[01:00:11] And there's an ugly side to hockey.

[01:00:13] There always has been that you're going to

[01:00:15] I think the NHL would like to sanitize that.

[01:00:17] They don't think they want Marshaun to say that stuff

[01:00:21] because, you know, it just makes it look a little bit more like

[01:00:25] the gladiators and highly skilled.

[01:00:28] Yeah, exactly.

[01:00:29] A little bit more like slap shot, to be honest.

[01:00:31] And then the image they're portraying as NHL.

[01:00:34] But it's true.

[01:00:35] I think that's true what he said there.

[01:00:37] And, you know, so I kind of I like that he was at least being honest about it

[01:00:42] and not being a bitch about it.

[01:00:44] A lot of guys, you know, will complain like I can't believe the league let

[01:00:48] this let's just go on and, you know,

[01:00:51] well, he didn't because he's as dirty as they come.

[01:00:53] So he said that to some extent, I would have done the exact same thing.

[01:00:57] That's not the exact words he said, but basically like,

[01:00:59] you know, turnabouts for a play.

[01:01:00] I get that.

[01:01:03] We have a guy like that on this team.

[01:01:05] And that's and I'll tell you, the other day I was just on my TV.

[01:01:10] I went over to YouTube.

[01:01:11] I put on a 16 minute mashup of round one series against the Rangers.

[01:01:20] And I just had to watch some devil playoff hockey, right?

[01:01:23] So I'm watching this and there's I don't I didn't remember this in the game,

[01:01:28] but there's like this goal, Mount Scrum and I think it's Timo Meyer and Truba.

[01:01:33] And they're kind of going at it.

[01:01:35] And Timo's got this look on his face and he's got his fucking teeth green.

[01:01:40] And he's just pissed.

[01:01:41] And he just you could tell, like if this was outside a bar,

[01:01:44] he would be swinging like he wanted to just boy.

[01:01:46] And I'm watching this and I'm like, yeah, I want Timo back in the playoffs.

[01:01:51] I want the big Timo just go start head on.

[01:01:54] And yeah, but that's what they do.

[01:01:56] That's what the playoffs are.

[01:01:58] You know, I think we all want to be.

[01:02:02] I don't want to see anyone get hurt.

[01:02:04] Right. And just say the right nobody wants to see anybody get hurt.

[01:02:06] And it was an Anson Carter said it, you know, on the interview,

[01:02:09] the postgame, whatever.

[01:02:12] But yet he's saying, I don't think Marchand saying he wants to hurt him.

[01:02:16] I'm like, no, like literally, John just said, I want to hurt him.

[01:02:20] I want to take him out.

[01:02:21] Like I'm with you.

[01:02:22] Like part of me goes, I don't want to see anybody get hurt.

[01:02:24] But if I'm being honest, I do.

[01:02:26] I just don't want to be the kind of person that likes to see people.

[01:02:30] Any any serious?

[01:02:32] I mean, if you're playing the other team, you want to see your guy hit.

[01:02:37] I mean, did anybody have regrets when Stevens like basically

[01:02:41] nearly ended careers with clean hits?

[01:02:43] But now I do the words like kind of older

[01:02:47] that I am and knowing what these head injuries do to these guys.

[01:02:51] Yeah, that is kind of like it does.

[01:02:54] It's like it's the price you pay.

[01:02:56] I mean, that's the sport.

[01:02:57] I understand.

[01:02:58] They take out hitting, you know, if they want to do that.

[01:03:00] I just I and I have no problem with hitting

[01:03:02] and I have no problem with open eyes hits.

[01:03:04] I just get a little like when I see a guy just laying there lifeless.

[01:03:09] Right.

[01:03:10] You know, that's like a couple of minutes.

[01:03:12] Like a simpler explanation.

[01:03:14] If if you're getting ready to go into a game or a series

[01:03:18] with, you know, Team X and they say like if you're going to the Rangers

[01:03:21] and they say, oh, she's nursing a knee injury today.

[01:03:25] She's not playing.

[01:03:26] You're happy about that.

[01:03:28] Like, you know, I don't have to go against the best goal in the world.

[01:03:31] I'm going against sub B.

[01:03:33] So, you know, also another side of it, like by saying that, yes,

[01:03:37] we want to injure people like.

[01:03:41] To me, it does that mean that you're just going to make sure

[01:03:44] that you line everybody up for a hit, like you're just going to put

[01:03:48] everything behind everything you do, or is that I'm going to go

[01:03:52] knee on knee on this fucker and take them out?

[01:03:54] I'm going to cross check them in the back of the head.

[01:03:56] You do have rules that I don't agree.

[01:03:58] I got it.

[01:03:59] I get it.

[01:03:59] I agree with you there.

[01:04:00] You're right.

[01:04:01] And we've always kind of respected the players who could play hard,

[01:04:04] finish every check, which is your kind of answer to question.

[01:04:08] Are you trying to hurt people?

[01:04:10] Well, I guess, you know, if you're going to finish that check

[01:04:12] and the guy's in somewhat of a vulnerable position, but it's a legal hit.

[01:04:15] Yeah, you're going to hurt him.

[01:04:17] Even just this guy through the boards, but I won't go

[01:04:19] knee on knee with him like I'm not trying to intentionally hurt him.

[01:04:23] I'll hurt him on a legal play as much as I can.

[01:04:26] And that's, you know, that's hockey.

[01:04:28] You know, there's a difference and we saw it this year.

[01:04:30] Like Matt Rempey was going out to hurt people.

[01:04:33] That's not hockey to me.

[01:04:35] That's not hot.

[01:04:36] That's just you being a Bush League douchebag.

[01:04:38] Now you want to finish a hit and you drill somebody into the boards

[01:04:42] and if they're, you know, maybe not coming back for a couple of games

[01:04:45] because of that should happens.

[01:04:46] That's it.

[01:04:47] Right.

[01:04:47] I have no reason.

[01:04:48] Some of these rules are there.

[01:04:49] Like you honestly don't have to.

[01:04:53] It's a lot harder to throw a good shoulder that's going to do injury.

[01:04:56] It's a lot easier to throw a good elbow that's going to do injury.

[01:05:00] Yeah.

[01:05:00] And that's why they take that out, because you have that extension,

[01:05:03] that last minute control with your elbow and you can clip somebody's

[01:05:06] head and end their career.

[01:05:07] So there's no elbows.

[01:05:08] There is no knee on knee.

[01:05:10] There's, you know, no spearing.

[01:05:11] There's, you know, there's no, we, we realized that even if it's

[01:05:15] with the shoulder, if the guy's got his back to you and his head

[01:05:19] towards boards, that's boarding.

[01:05:20] You know, we've got those rules are there for a reason.

[01:05:24] So I get it.

[01:05:25] They're playing right to that line and sometimes people go over

[01:05:28] and they got to pay the price if they do that.

[01:05:29] But even for a much honest comments, like for a guy who plays as hard

[01:05:34] as he does in the type of game that he plays, you're not seeing

[01:05:37] him taking his stick and whacking a guy's legs out or anything like that.

[01:05:40] He's still doing it to his ability within the parameters of the rules,

[01:05:44] but he will take you out.

[01:05:46] That is what he's saying.

[01:05:47] Brad Marshawn used to be a very dirty player.

[01:05:50] Yes.

[01:05:50] And he has kind of grown up and been now he's just a really good

[01:05:55] player and a really tough pretty player.

[01:05:57] I still feel like Jacob Truba is a dirty player.

[01:06:00] Absolutely.

[01:06:01] I mean, he swings the stick.

[01:06:03] He throws the elbows, you know, Matthew Kachuk is just a

[01:06:06] really gritty, hard nose player.

[01:06:08] You know, he's not, maybe not going out to quote unquote, try

[01:06:13] and hurt somebody, but if he lays you out and you get hurt, shit happens.

[01:06:19] Sometimes people think you'd be in a prima donna.

[01:06:21] If you're like, I don't like this guy because he's a dirty player.

[01:06:24] No dude, here's what you don't realize.

[01:06:25] It's easy to have an effect and take guys out if you're

[01:06:29] going to go around the rules.

[01:06:30] Yeah.

[01:06:31] So like anybody can just go and crack in the unassuming

[01:06:34] dude with an elbow and take them out.

[01:06:36] Yeah, exactly.

[01:06:37] I mean, I could go there if they let me on ice and nobody hit me

[01:06:40] first and hit some player across the face with my stick and take them out.

[01:06:46] I have no NHL skill.

[01:06:48] It doesn't take any skill to be a dirty player.

[01:06:50] And it doesn't make you tough.

[01:06:51] And it doesn't make you gritty.

[01:06:52] It doesn't make you any of those things.

[01:06:54] It makes you a dirty player.

[01:06:56] And I think to me, like that's one of the, there's two things you

[01:06:59] don't ever want to be called in the NHL, one's dirty and the other one's soft.

[01:07:03] And I, third one is a ranger.

[01:07:08] On that note, we're going to wrap it up.

[01:07:10] I agree.

[01:07:11] Um, so anything else you guys want to talk about tonight?

[01:07:14] Or we're just going to, man, that covers.

[01:07:16] We're good, man.

[01:07:16] This was fun.

[01:07:17] Um,

[01:07:18] looking further to Jersey Joe on Tuesday, right?

[01:07:21] Yeah.

[01:07:22] Tuesday we'll do our draft show.

[01:07:23] So looking forward to that.

[01:07:25] Check out some possible prospects.

[01:07:27] Any guys I'm real curious to hear who he brings up.

[01:07:29] Also, we're curious to know like any of these guys and his opinion

[01:07:33] are any of the guys that we're going to talk about guys that could

[01:07:37] possibly jump in this year.

[01:07:39] These guys that all need seasoning and stuff like that.

[01:07:42] And you know, there's a lot of, you know, you really think about it

[01:07:46] and we'll get into this later, but like that bottom six of our team,

[01:07:51] like with the amount of money that we have with all the guys that

[01:07:56] we do have younger guys and all the free agents that are out, like

[01:08:00] you could basically revamp this entire bottom six if you want to.

[01:08:03] I mean, it shows that last year he won the best top nine.

[01:08:06] He still has a chance to do that.

[01:08:08] He didn't do it last year, but he does have a chance to do it now.

[01:08:11] So I mean, first line has got to be McDermott, Heesher and Brat, right?

[01:08:16] No, it means paying this guy big money.

[01:08:18] There's no reason to break that up.

[01:08:20] Yeah.

[01:08:20] No McDermott's got to be on the top line 20, 25 minutes a night.

[01:08:25] So listen, devil fans, you're going to be happy that we have this guy.

[01:08:30] In the long run, he's going to pay for his salary in his term tenfold.

[01:08:36] We are going to be very, very happy.

[01:08:38] We have him.

[01:08:38] He's not going to hurt your team.

[01:08:39] I really doubt that.

[01:08:40] No.

[01:08:41] And so that's nothing to get crazy about, but all right.

[01:08:46] So we're going to wrap it up wherever you're listening to us.

[01:08:48] A like a download subscription, a five-star review, a positive comment,

[01:08:54] whatever goes a long way to push the Uncle Pucker's podcast

[01:08:58] a little bit further along.

[01:09:00] So for Bobby and Dan, I'm Chris and we'll see you when we see you.

[01:09:05] Love yous out.

[01:09:06] Bye bye.

[01:09:12] It's over, Johnny.