Who Sucks More, Bonnie Blue or Devils?

[00:00:05] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils and you're listening to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast. Let's go Devils! Hmm, yeah. We are The Uncle Puckers, Bobby, Tony, Baghead. I'm Chris.

[00:00:29] Tim is at the point now where he's just not ready to show his face. He's so embarrassed by how horrible this team has been playing. We're going to get into it, but shit is broken in New Jersey and wear your therapy session to help walk you through it and, you know, maybe we can get over this. Keep the bag on. You fucking revealed my identity. Like, I was trying to... Yeah, but we didn't want to look at your face. Just put a little hole where the mouth is. Do you...

[00:00:58] I'm struggling to breathe in there, right, guys? All right. We'll let you out. There's only four of us, really, because Dan's kind of MIA that are on the show at all. I think people could have figured it out. A special guest! It's not like the unknown comic, right? Well, yeah, you also said, and Tim, who's wearing a bag on his head. I did say that. I think he just called a baghead. I don't know how. No, I said Tim. You did say Tim? A.K.A. Baghead? I'm not Columbo, but I can piece that together.

[00:01:27] Well, guys, this was a rough weekend. This was a rough weekend for football. It was a rough week... Well, for you, Tim. It was a rough... My bad weekend was the week before. But I did find solace in the fact, before we get into hockey, that we ended up playing exactly the same amount of playoff games as the Detroit Lions. So a big fuck you to Dan Campbell, the Detroit Lions, and every goddamn Lion fan out there. A big old F you. Chris, did you see that there was a...

[00:01:55] I guess there was a post from Gibbs from the team that had the play... Like, I guess the day before the game or something, he put a picture of one of the guys on the team, and behind him was all the plays, all the Lions' plays. And they brought it up during the press conference. They said, did you see this? It was... What is it? Gibbs? I think he was getting a picture of Jefferson. But it was, like, right in front of this board, and all the Lions' plays were on this board. That's awesome. Yeah. I don't know if you saw that. That's awesome. Yeah. They deserved it.

[00:02:23] And I think we're going to have a rematch of the Super Bowl, the second one that the Bills lost. I think it's going to be Buffalo versus Washington. That's what I'm thinking. Yeah. I mean... Washington looked fucking really good, man. I guess they had all Detroit's plays, right? But who's going to beat Kansas City and all the officials? I mean, that's a hard one right there. Yeah, that's the thing. Can you beat Patrick Mahomes and every official that does...

[00:02:51] And look, I am never the conspiracy guy, but I watched that game and I'm just like, man, they are in it for Kansas City, aren't they? I would love to get to a point where my team is the team that gets all those calls and everybody hates. I want to get to that point when you win enough that everybody hates you except for your diehards. I mean, I think most people, unless you're a Chiefs fan... Like, it's gotten to that point now, right? Like, I'm not... Like, as a Yankee fan, I experience it a little bit when your team wins all the time and everybody hates you. Yes.

[00:03:20] But it's been a while. But I think if you're not a Chiefs fan, how could you root for that team? I don't know. I mean, of course, again, I'm a Raider fan, so there's a lot of hatred there. But just in general, when it was the Cowboys back when we were younger, when it was the Patriots, you know, the Astros, you just get tired of it after a while if you're not, you know, especially if you're... The Devils... Oh, no way. Like, you know, even though the Bills just beat the Ravens, like, you know, and I was absolutely crushed last night.

[00:03:50] There's no chance in hell for Kansas City. Like, absolutely not. No. No. So, I was... And I'd actually like to see the City of Buffalo get a W because I don't know which else going for them. Absolutely. I mean, to... Just so they can, like, make it through the rest of the winter, which will probably just be buried in snow and icicles for the rest of it until spring. So, at least give them something to be happy about. I hope Buffalo wins it. And, like, I don't like... I've said it. I don't like Lamar Jackson. I know he is phenomenal.

[00:04:18] I know he's such a great quarterback, but there's just... You know, when he... He just never wins in the big game and everybody talks to this guy as the greatest ever. And all this MVP stuff. And I get it. He's a really good regular season. And I was saying this to my wife last night. And she's like, well, Buffalo never won either. Why do you not feel that way about Josh Allen? I said, well, to me, it's like...

[00:04:43] I feel like Lamar always has the team around him and he ends up failing in the playoffs. Like, personally, throwing a bad pick or just, you know, not... Whatever. Where Josh Allen never has a team around him and loses because of that. Because, you know, he does crazy shit in the playoffs. And then they lose off of some stupid, you know, like that 13 seconds. They give the... You know, you give them the ball four years ago or whatever it was. And before they change the overtime rules.

[00:05:12] Buffalo's going to the Super Bowl, not Kansas City. But, you know, he's just been phenomenal in the playoffs. I love Josh Allen. I like Buffalo. I hope it's Buffalo, Washington. Because I definitely don't want to see the Eagles there. I know who Bobby's house is rooting for. I know who... I saw the colors. I know who Bobby's house is rooting for. Speaking of Eagles. Ugh. Oh, man. What's it like living with an Eagle? Bobby's in Eagle land over there, aren't you, B? It's the better of all the teams, to be honest.

[00:05:41] The other fan bases are actually worse. No, I mean, if I was in Pennsylvania, I think I would definitely be more of a Pittsburgh fan than an Eagle fan. But, well, that's... Well, if you're east of Harrisburg, you're Eagles. West of Harrisburg, you're Pittsburgh. I mean, last night wasn't on Lamar at all. I mean, he had actually a great game. He put together that drive, you know, at the end of the game.

[00:06:08] Yeah, he had a fumble, but that was after a bad snap. The pick he threw, you know, he just kind of jumped the route a little bit. And I think it was Bateman he was throwing to. But, unfortunately, he's going to get fucking murdered by the press all summer for the same thing that happened over and over. No, but it wasn't on him. I mean, the heat's going to be on Andrews for the whole offseason. He didn't even come out and take any questions after the game. And I don't blame him, man. Like, you're a great tight end. Everybody knows that Mark Andrews knows how to play. And it's just, you know, circumstance, right?

[00:06:38] It's a wet, slippery ball. It's the pressure. And, look, there's over a minute left. I'm fully confident. I wanted to see him tie it because I was like, you're giving Allen a minute 15 to go down and kick a field goal to win this thing? Like, this is over. Buffalo's going to win no matter what is how I felt. But it was very anticlimactic. People question Harbaugh a lot, too. Like, he went for two earlier in the game. I really didn't like that decision because just kicking the extra point would have tied the game at 21.

[00:07:06] But because he went for two earlier in the game, they didn't convert. Then they had to go for two at the end of the game. You know, like, so it's just, you know, compounding issues like that. It just sucks. But I go back to last year's AFC championship game where he just didn't run the ball. It was like, why did you got to that game by running all year? And then in the most important game of your season, you completely just avoid the run and put it all on Lamar's shoulders. I just, I didn't understand that. It's dumb. It's dumb.

[00:07:35] People call him for his head in Baltimore. I saw some stats today that, what, the last 15 years, it's been Brady or Mahomes in the championship. Every, without, not one miss. Wow. That's depressing. Nobody likes that. By the way, Brady's awful in the booth, man. I disagree entirely. Really? I, yes, I will defend Tom Brady as the color guy. I like him. I like that he, Romo is the worst. All right?

[00:08:03] Like, I know that Romo gets a lot of hate, but my God, he, first of all, like, if you get a game that he doesn't, he's not very interested in, he's, it's obvious that he's not very interested in it. But when you get a game like last night that he's interested in, he's like a little kid. Like, remember when I told you they were going to do this, Jim, right? I told you, when Josh Allen has the opportunity, I told you that, right, Jim? And look, this is what he did, right, Jim? Like a little kid. Chris Collinsworth sucks, man. Oh, Collinsworth is so bad.

[00:08:33] Here's a guy. Here's a guy. Here's a guy. I look at Patrick Mahomes. Here's a guy. I'd suck Patrick Mahomes' dick. You know, people can kind of understand. I don't think he oversells shit. I just think he's good at what he does. For a first-year guy, I think he's good.

[00:09:03] And I think he's done after this year. I don't think he's doing it again. I'll tell you what. Yeah, I know we talked about this, Chris, me and you. I believe, and I'm going to say this on the record, and I may regret this, but I believe that Tom Brady is going to change the Raiders organization. I think there's going to be a certain demand with that team now that he's been calling a lot of shots over there already. I think he'll bring a good coach in. I think he'll bring a good GM. I think the guys that we're going to hire, we would never get a chance to hire without Tom Brady in that office because Vegas is a mess, as we know.

[00:09:30] So I have to admit, I won't say I hated the guy when I was younger, but then I realized he was great. It took me a long time to realize he was really great. And when I did, there was a certain appreciation there for him, as much as when he went to the box and won, I was like, you've got to be kidding me. But I do believe there's a lot of respect for that dude in the league. I think he's going to be out of the booth, too, because I think it's going to be a conflict of interest. I already see people talking a bunch of trash already about it. I think I agree with you.

[00:09:59] I think absolutely that culture has to change. You can't have a guy like Tom Brady come in and not have him demand exactly what you're saying. Excellence across the board, change the culture. I don't think he'll put up with anybody's bullshit, even Mark Davis's. And I think you guys are in really good hands. I saw a picture of Brady with the haircut. My wife got me an autographed Crosby helmet for my birthday this weekend.

[00:10:29] Oh, that's awesome. That's really cool. Yeah, we got a cat, too. I broke the rule of no pets, too. We got a... That's Max Crosby, everyone. By the way. You got a what? So my wife, they wanted a pet in this house for a while. I keep on saying no, no, no. We travel, you know, back to Florida or wherever. But my wife talked me into it. So we have a new cat named Medusa that we got from Ukraine that got bombed in a shelter and they bought her here. So when I heard the story, I caved.

[00:10:58] And now we have a Ukrainian cat running around the house. That's awesome. Does it meow with an accent? It does. You know what's funny? It makes some weird ass sounds. I don't know, but you know, it's probably seen some shit. So it's a traumatic fucking traumatized cat. I love it. It's in the perfect house. Fuck, meow. Fuck, meow. Fuck, meow. I think we're here to talk about the weekend that was from New Jersey Devils.

[00:11:25] Before we get specifically into the New Jersey Devils, can we do more of just kind of a hockey complaint that I have here? Absolutely. I think we've talked about it before. But these NHL showcase games, right, where the whole point, it's a showcase game. It was Devils. It was a national game. Do they feel that it's not necessary to showcase all the best elements of hockey and they're just going to put whoever they want to call these games in like the worst possible way?

[00:11:53] I don't know who this Kevin guy was calling the game and Kevin Weeks was doing the color, but it's just brutal and it's awful. And if you're showcasing the game, like why can't they spend a little money and get like, I don't know, somebody really knows how to call a game. I mean, any local guy can probably call better than these guys. Snoop Dogg. What game are you talking about? Because they were both on NHL Network. I was able to watch the Ottawa. I didn't see the Philly game, so it was the Ottawa game. Okay. Because I watched the Ottawa game on the MSG broadcast. I watched.

[00:12:22] So I watched Bill and Danico, but I couldn't get that one. I had to, for the Flyer game, I had to watch it with EJ Heratic and I think it was Kevin Weeks. And no, it was, was it EJ? Yeah. It was EJ and Weeks for Ottawa. I don't know. Yeah. I'm with Bobby. I don't know who the guy was for Ottawa, but like he was awful. Like I think it was like his fucking thing. It was like his first fucking game. Like I don't know. He literally made hockey like seem more boring than it is. Like he brought hockey down and I was like, this is incredible.

[00:12:50] Like there's guys skating on knives on the ice and you're like making me feel like this is the most boring shit ever. I just don't understand why we don't have like a real quality, you know, seasoned kind of guy when you're showcasing this as a national broadcast. That's one element you want great as well. Like let's bring Doc back out, you know, let's get him going for one game a month or whatever. And they're not even at the game. They're in a studio. Right. From a studio. Somewhere. Yeah. It's just, I, I, maybe it was the performance too, Bobby. That made you. The point.

[00:13:20] There it is. It's definitely part of that, but it's just, it just doesn't make any sense to me. Cause you're just, you're not bringing the best of the game out when you're broadcast team and nothing. It's actually like weeks as a color guy. He's fine. But when you call the game, like you got to have a certain skillset to do that. You can't just let anybody in your, you know, office in New York city, just call the game from wherever it's stupid. Exactly. Hey, Stan from accounting, get over here. We need it. It's your turn, buddy.

[00:13:46] I mean, I'm actually getting, I'm getting like, like bang for my buck with Fubo though, because I only bought it for fucking NHL network because I don't get it on my cable system here. And, um, so I was like, Oh, the last, like four out of the last five or six games have been on NHL network. I know what they're doing too, because the NHL is a real shoestring marketing budget. And there was a report about, um, the four nations ticket sales being really bad.

[00:14:12] Um, so they use their owned and operated channels like NHL.com, NHL network to run, run the ads for the ticket sales for those games. So I'm pretty certain because nobody watches that fucking network really, except for a few sickos like Chris, um, all day. So I think they're really using those channels to try and pump up ticket sales for, for the four nations. See, I use that. I use a bootleg link. Christy, are you using the links? That's what I use. Yeah. You get many options.

[00:14:40] The biggest problem, like Saturday, I had people over the house and you got to be careful what pops up on the screen while you're hitting the links. Next thing you know, there's like a cartoon anime chick with a dick in her mouth. And I'm like, what the fuck is this? It's like lady boys all over your screen. It's like, what the hell's going on? Yeah. But yeah, it's. What's a, you guys are, you guys got to clear your cookies. What are you guys searching for? Well, I mean, I, I agree with you. The, the, the calls, uh, I think that I love PK, but I do not like him as a power guy.

[00:15:09] I thought he was really bad on the game. He did, uh, the other night for us. Um, I just, you know, I, I don't know. I don't like, I, I guess I'm just so used to our guys. Anybody else just is, is different and off and I don't like it. Like I was watching the Ranger Columbus game the other night and I had on the, I know that Sam Rosen is his, you know, historical figure in hockey. And I, but I cannot stand listening to him.

[00:15:34] He just, his voice and the call and now he's like a hundred years old. He completely lost his step. He mispronounces guys' names. It's like, oh, it was a bad job. Oh no, wait, that was Panarin. Like, yeah, let's, you know, let's get our shit together there, Sam. But I, I like Bill. I like Bill. It's a power play goal. Yeah. I like PK the way, the way he pumps the doubles tires. It's nice to have a national guy pump the doubles tires, but it is so fucking overboard, especially when they're playing like shit. Yeah. It's just like, come on, man.

[00:16:04] Like they're playing badly. Like have a critical eye on this a little bit. He was pumping Luke Hughes up. Like he was fucking Cal McCarr back there. Like, you know, all right, not yet. I get it, but you know, maybe down the road, but like, you know, let's, like you said, pump the brakes a little bit. Let's talk about how bad this fucking team actually has been over the course of 2025. 2025 this year has sucked for this team. And yeah, there's definitely something broken.

[00:16:29] And I'm real curious to get everybody's opinion on what they saw this weekend and what the heck is going on and how the hell do we fix it? We'll start with Bob, you know, go for it. You know, it's very unfortunate because I'm literally a podcast host with nothing to say here. I don't, I don't know what to say. Like, like it's, it's not, I don't know what to say because I don't know what's broken. It's just that I don't feel that I need to say anything because everything's broken.

[00:16:56] Like you just, I just read Tim's, you know, article that he just put out about the weekend. Like, yeah, you're right. You ripped them a new one. It's like every facet of the game. That's just not working right now. It could be anything from heart to crispness of plays. The defense is finally coming back around, right? But the guys don't score. Our depth scoring isn't there. We're supposed to be a strength of the team, but they just feel off. I mean, yesterday they had the 17 shots on goal in the first period. And then midway through the second, exactly a 30 minute mark, midway through the game,

[00:17:25] they were sitting at like 25. And then we all know they got like practically none in the third. And I don't get that. And I know they were bottled up and I know Ottawa just turned that game around and they just, we couldn't penetrate them, but I'm kind of tired of hearing that. Like you really couldn't muster up anything more than that. And like when you're in the middle of this swoon. So I just, I need someone with more of a critical thought like bag head over here to really break it down more because right now it's just, it's frustrating. And I don't, I don't see them trying enough.

[00:17:56] All right, bag head. Bag head. Yeah. I, you know, I've written about it for probably the past, like four or five blogs. I've thrown something in there about scoring, like, which is, we're not, we're not scoring. So, you know, in this bad stretch, we we've had what 11 or nine of the 11 games have been one goal game since that, um, that Carolina loss and they're giving up three or less goals. So that's not really defense and it's not really goal to me.

[00:18:26] It's been kind of the combo of the two. We've seen, um, the defense not be as strong as it was early on. I think it's coming back around. They did a really good job the past two games. I thought, um, but Markstrom was bailing us out, uh, before that. So we don't really have that as a complaint, but it's just really, it's scoring. We just, we have no fucking scoring and I don't understand what's going on. I don't understand why there, there are shooters are just hitting the goalie right in the fucking

[00:18:55] chest or they're shooting wide or they're getting a shots block. Like the flyers had 33 block shots. Like that's, that's a lot. So like, uh, just we need more from Timo. The guy makes $8.8 million. I've been defending him. He's getting the same kind of rates. He's getting his shots on goal. He's driving play. I think he actually looks good from a playing standpoint, like relative to last year when he was, had a mid body injury. Like he's, he's playing well. He's just not scoring and he needs to score.

[00:19:25] Brat hasn't scored in like 20 fucking games or he has like two goals in 20 games when he's not off sides. Jack has a 3.9 and then is responsible for fucking like a billion turnovers in next two. It's like, we need more consistency from him. The third line is a fucking avoid. Mercer is the softest, weakest fucking pussy on this team. Dowling ain't it. Cotter. I like Cotter. I think he actually plays hard and has actually been pretty good for us, but man, that fucking guy has rocks for brains.

[00:19:54] He makes some of the most questionable, dumb, basic hockey decisions that just make no sense to me. So it's just up and down the board. And you know what? Our fourth line was the best line for the past two games and that can't fucking happen. So that's, uh, that's my summary. Tone. You know, I was thinking about this today and I had to put these down before I even, so this is give you an idea, right? Christmas, right? So holiday season comes in. Everyone's feeling pretty damn good. We're excited. Everyone's excited. Right?

[00:20:23] So since Christmas four to two, we lose to the cane. We beat the Canes, right? That's 27th. Yeah. We lose five to two to the Canes. Then we lose to Anaheim. What? The Kings. Kings shut us out. San Jose. I mean, a boy beat Seattle. You know, I mean, and you're watching this team. I said something about two weeks ago on the show or maybe last week, actually. I don't even know. Maybe about the team being tough. And I think you guys were like, ah, I think the team did this to get tough, which they did do some, a lot of moves to get tough.

[00:20:53] But man, to be a team in contention, you got to be Florida Panther nasty like last year. And I don't see that in this team. And I know there's some moments of it. I know, you know, with Nico the other day when he gets hit and stuff like that. But I just think, first of all, I think we need a player that is that, you know, you bought up Meyer, Baghead. You bring up Meyer, right? I look at him and I like Meyer, but everyone's like, oh, he reminds me of Claude Emue. He does, but he doesn't. You know, there's some things he does not do.

[00:21:22] We need a guy who does those kinds of things. We need the Tom Wilson. We need the Claude Emue. I believe on this team. We need it. We need the Keith Kachuk. We may all think, oh, I can't believe he hit Nico the other day. But that's what your players should do in those kinds of games when you just lost two games to that team. It was a clean hit. It's too old to be hitting anybody. That's messed up. You know, but I think, not Keith. Yeah, you're right. But you know what I'm saying? Like, I believe there's balls missing on this team. And I thought so all week when I watched the games. I mean, like I said, we getting some scrums, but I mean, what?

[00:21:50] So now we're nine points behind the caps, right? Two points ahead of the Hurricanes. I mean, seven points ahead of the Blue Jackets, right? And Rangers are only 10 points behind us, which I mean, it's... Tony, that's a great point because that was one of the things I wanted to bring up. We're six points ahead of the first wild card spot, seven points ahead of the second. And we got three games. They got three games on hand on us, both of those teams. Yeah. I mean, our schedule. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of problems when I'm watching that.

[00:22:19] I mean, it's... Without Markstrom, forget about it. We'd be... Those numbers would be even worse than what we're saying right now. You know, he saved us a few games this year. But you know, we mentioned the boredom thing. The last two... I mean, the last couple games I watched... I remember when I went to the Lightning game in Tampa, I was pissed because I had seen the worst game of the year I thought the Devils had played. Well, now I've seen a few more that were worse than that, even possibly. And I don't know. I mean, there has to be some moves. You know, I think there's got to be... You know, we all know...

[00:22:46] I don't know if you guys mentioned on the last show, but with Nemitz and stuff like that, maybe some of these guys should be bought up. There's got to be some shit that has to be changed a little bit. And if it's... You know, we think we've got plenty of time left. You look at the next couple of games. You've got the Bruins, Montreal, Flyers twice. Those Flyer games aren't going to be easy. You don't think Torch is going to have that team ready? You know? You know, Sabres... I mean, we have trouble with those kind of teams. The teams we should beat, you know? You know? So, I mean, then you've got the pens. The pens aren't easy. So the Devils really got to get it together. And I think they... I don't know. I think we need to make a move.

[00:23:16] Why wait till the deadline? Like, let's do it now before the price goes up. You got to give up something to get something. I'll be bummed if we get rid of Mercer. I mean, I bought the damn jersey. I hate doing that. But he may be the guy you have to move now because, you know, he may be the guy that still has the most value because you're not going to get rid of the U's right now. You're not going to run those guys. So something has to be done. And I think it's time to... It's time because we're starting to see shades of last year starting to creep in. 100%. And before this weekend, I think my concern-o-meter was around six.

[00:23:46] And then after this weekend, it's now at a solid 10. Because here's the other thing. The entire Eastern Conference is in this playoff race right now. I mean, essentially, every freaking team believes they have a shot if they can just go on a run. So every game you're going to play in the Eastern Conference against bottom feeders, like you said, Montreal, Buffalo, they're looking at this as playoff games. So these games are going to be ratcheted up even more.

[00:24:12] And if this team doesn't show up, and they haven't been, I mean, I don't know what the identity of this team is anymore. Like, are we a fast transition team? Are we, like we were maybe in December where we were playing really good defense, we were really good on our breakouts, and we were scoring a lot of goals. Are we this, you know, dump and chase physical forward-checking team, like we were early in the season where we were kind of doing that a little bit more. Now we can't do anything.

[00:24:40] My biggest complaint right now is I had said all last year how much I hated the fact that Lindy Rupp would never let a line marinate. If you didn't do it in your first 30 seconds, he was throwing it in the blender and fucking everything up. And it really did hinder the consistency and these guys being able to work with each other and all that other shit. Sheldon Keith is the complete opposite. Change up the lines.

[00:25:09] This is not working right now. You know, and I don't know why. I would definitely split up Bratt and Jack. This is not working with the – I love when these two are going and how pretty they look. But you know what? If it's not resulting in goals, and it's not, then split them up. Have two speedsters on the first and second line and mix it up. Put Jack – you want to get Timo going? Put him on with Jack Hughes.

[00:25:35] I saw for a little while in that wire game, and I don't know if it was just because it was a delayed line change or it was after a penalty or, you know, and the lines kind of get a little wonky before they settle back in. But it was Jack centering Meyer and Nason. Why not? Let's try that. Two big bodies, two bigger physical guys. Meyer's got some hands. Nason's great in front of the net. Jack can just – you know, he's an artist out there in open ice. Let's see what they can do.

[00:26:05] But I agree with every single thing that all you guys said, and I am 100%. If I'm Tom Fitzgerald right now, I am waving number 91 to every single team going, you guys want Dawson Mercer? Because he's going to be going. We're ready to trade him. And I agree with you, Tony. Bring Nemitz up. Yeah. Bring him up. I mean, you know, Nemitz is bitching. I know it pisses people off. But you've got to realize, first of all, Utica is dead last. They're like 11 and 19. I mean, they're at the bottom.

[00:26:34] So he's probably just sitting there. And he has decent numbers. I was looking at his numbers. I mean, he's five goals, 13 assists over there in 25 games. He wants to come back up. But, Chris, don't you think – look at the Devils. Nico's definitely – I love Nico as the captain and stuff. But don't you think this team would benefit so much by a personality like some of the guys I mentioned? Like someone that just flies off that roster. And you said, this guy's going to be a pain in the ass that whole game.

[00:26:59] I mean, this guy – not only do we have to worry about the New Jersey Devils, but we've got to worry about this antagonizer who has talent. That has talent. You got it. There's – yeah. And, Tony, that's a great point. Like there's a term that people have used to describe, you know, Florida and Tampa and some of the – in Vegas and some of the past cup winners. It's hard skill. You know, like a guy like Makachuk who plays on the edge. You don't know what kind of fucking chaos monster he's going to be. But he's also putting up a shitload of points. They're all kind of unicorns a little bit. There are very few of them kind of left in this game.

[00:27:30] But you need that type of guy. Like Tampa, Kucherov. Kucherov's nasty, but he's a fucking asshole. Like he's a dirty fuck on the ice. You know, we don't have any dirty fucking players. Like I don't care. Get me a dirty fuck. I love him. I agree. Yeah. Someone that's a problem. A gnat. A gnat, you know. Someone that you just can't stand. We don't have that guy. Timo Meyer was that in the playoffs. Like for the Rangers.

[00:27:59] And when we played them two years ago, he was that. But I mean, is he a guy that only brings it in the playoffs? I mean, we don't know. We've only seen him play 12 playoff games. So as a devil. So I don't know. And I didn't follow him too much in San Jose. But is he going to be that guy? But I agree. We have to do something here. Like the lines have to change up. And even like you said, the defense, they were better this weekend with not getting caved. At least against Ottawa.

[00:28:24] Not getting caved in and spending 10 minutes in the defensive zone. At least they were able to kind of get out of that against the Senators. But the Flyers did it. Every team does it. And that's what you said about last year, right? Like this is shades of last year. When we just get pinned back there. And, you know, it's only a matter of time until they're going to score on us. And, yeah, so I would sit a guy or two. I would make some statements here that this team needs to be better.

[00:28:53] Because there is a legit chance now. If they keep going like this, they're going to be out of the playoffs. There is now an actual legit chance with the way every other team is playing. Highly unlikely. I understand that. But three weeks ago, this team was sitting pretty. And in three fucking weeks, they've managed to basically squander their entire cushion. And, you know, I don't want that to come back and bite them in the ass. So they have to make some changes.

[00:29:20] I usually use like a 600 winning percentage. It's kind of like a sort of bellwether line. That's about 98 points. As a demarcation, like you're going to make the playoffs. And you actually have a decent chance. They're now, they just fell below that with this game. And I realize, you know, we have some games in hand. And other teams are closer to us. We did find out last year that those points are often hard to make up. They have to win and we have to lose. So they are difficult to make up. And I think what do we have?

[00:29:50] We have 58 points right now. So, and how many games do we have left? We have 33 games. Yep. We could probably go 500 and still squeeze in as like the last wild card. I don't want that to happen. I want this team to finish second or third. I still think we're on a collision course with Carolina in the playoffs. I think they're going to get out of this. But something needs to change. I don't know if a trade's coming because there are so many teams in the Eastern Conference that are in it. And suddenly Montreal may be a buyer.

[00:30:19] Detroit may be a buyer. Ottawa may be a buyer. The Rangers may be a buyer again for fuck's sake. Like I just, and every single team needs the same goddamn thing we do, which is a third line center. I do think you're going to see a lot of those teams though, especially come closer to the trade deadline the next month or so. A lot of those GMs are going to have to really decide like, are we going to put our chips all in?

[00:30:45] And the off chance that we might, you know, yeah, we're playing great right now, but there's still a chance we don't make the playoffs. So GMs are going to have to really decide whether or not they are sellers and buyers. But your point is absolutely correct. Like every team right now thinks they have a shot and that's dangerous. You know, it's better to trade now than wait. Right. I mean, why wait till like, oh, I agree. But the team selling, you know, if let's say, you know, you want Jake Evans for, from Montreal, right? Is Montreal ready to pull the trigger yet?

[00:31:14] They might be sitting here going in a month. We can get more for Jake Evans than we can right now. So I think the problem isn't Tom Fitzgerald pulling the trigger. It's whoever he's dancing with, you know, pulling the trigger. I think that's it. I agree with that. What do you think of Miller? That's what I keep on. JT Miller. Well, let's talk about him in one second. Bobby had something he wanted to say. So let me. Yeah.

[00:31:35] I think that this situation is different for us because I don't think we're talking about adding that next piece or two to solidify our championship aspirations. At this point, I think we need, you know, again, my favorite thing, an actual hockey trade just to make this team viable again. Like this isn't about, okay, let's get that last sniper and now we're going for a deep run. I don't know that this team's capable of doing it without like a significant change.

[00:32:03] It may be the time where this has got to be a, you know, a big name for a big name or at least a big perspective. I'm not a hundred percent sure. I mean, Mercer has always been very protected. They were mentioning on the broadcast that he's the first person that GMs call and ask about. I would do just about anything to change the culture and make sure this team can move. We've talked about a guy like Timo Meyer before. Like I've said it a million times. I love Timo. I love his skill set.

[00:32:30] I think he should be phenomenal for this team for whatever reason. We're not really seeing it. And I've seen all the underlying stats and I've seen that his game is basically the same or even better than his best years. If you were to put him back on PP1, because that's where a lot of his other production came back. I get all that kind of crap. That's fine underneath surface level. Dude ain't scoring. Like $9 million player. Dude ain't scoring.

[00:32:59] People like Brat, like right now, we know he's streaky. We talk about it all the time. This streak's getting insane. Like, come on. Like, we need something. So I don't think it's going to be either of those moves. Like, Meyer's not going anywhere. None of the Hughes are going anywhere. He's not going anywhere. I mean, we got a legit bring in like a 3C that I believe we can do. Kind of on a more trade level. But I see another name or two or a package going out for something bigger. It has to be. None of this is working.

[00:33:28] I would love to see that, to be honest with you. I love aggressive management. I love pulling the trigger on something that pisses off half the fan base and gets the other fan base excited. The other half excited. I would totally be fine with any of that. Like, if it's bringing back something that's going to help this team better and it's, you know, it's Brad, it's Meyer, it's one of those guys. Do it. I say do it. There's only a couple of guys on this team that, in my opinion, are, you know, off limits. But not many.

[00:33:57] Tim, what about you? What do you think? What's the move that needs to get done? And real quick, like what Bobby said, like a big hockey move. Like, do you agree with that? And is there anybody that you can think that maybe we might be able to? I mean, yeah. Like in the near term, there are two guys that I think we could probably add right now that probably won't cost a lot of assets. One of them would need to.

[00:34:23] So it would be, and I hate to say this, but because I don't like the retreads, but Taylor Hall and Ryan O'Reilly, those two guys. So we put Taylor Hall with Jack Bratt, Ryan O'Reilly in that three C. Dave Taylor Hall. Again, I hate the retreads. That's, I think we're taking a roll in the dice a little bit. But if we have an immediate needs, the Blackhawks are fucking out of it. He's an impending free agent. It doesn't hurt all that much to bring him in and put him on that line.

[00:34:51] You find a third party to retain or Blackhawks retain. You know, you're looking at one of the three second round picks that we have. I think Max. Max. Ryan O'Reilly. Ryan O'Reilly. You know, he's in Nashville right now who, you know, probably the biggest disappointment of the year. But from what they've said, they're kind of treating him very respectfully and are going to give him the opportunity to go to a team that he would be willing to and want to go to.

[00:35:19] Kind of almost like a, like a courtesy, no movement clause. I don't know what the devils would be on that list. And I think he would be a guy that would be, that would solidify our third line. I think he's a pending UFA as well. So it wouldn't hurt that bad. Getting into JT Miller. I think from the type of attitude and player he is. Yeah, that's, you know, that's exactly what Tony was talking about. That hard skill.

[00:35:48] He's a big, physical, mean, passionate player. However, a decent chunk of his production comes from power play one. And he's the primary facilitator besides Quinn Hughes on the Vancouver first power play. So how does that work logistically bring him in? Do we bump Bratt down to the second power play and put him on that right flank? Because he's, I'd said incorrectly that it was a righty last show. He's actually a lefty.

[00:36:15] Um, the other issue is while he's played three full seasons, um, the past couple of seasons, he does get banged up and a guy, his size, he's 32. Um, he's on the books until, uh, hang on. He's on the books. I think for three more years. He's got a big deal. Yeah. He's on the books for three more years and that puts him or four more years. Sorry.

[00:36:39] That puts him to his 36, 37 year age, like at $8 million carrying a guy until he's 37, that there's just no chance that ages ages well. And what are we going to do? Flip him again. Um, so I, I don't know. I think I'm out on JT Miller because of those things. He, he also has some inconsistencies in his defensive game and the Canucks are getting the doors blown off from the last couple of games. And I've seen multiple clips of him. I haven't watched an actual game.

[00:37:07] So kind of take it out of context, but I've seen multiple clips of him just quit on a play. And I, you know, so I think yes, attitude, play style, that's what we need. But I, I'm not, I'm not totally sold on, on him. And I don't think if I'm not totally sold on someone that leans me to, to know. All right. Um, do a quick ad read here. And then I want to ask you guys about a couple of other guys playoffs. We're talking about playoffs. You bet.

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[00:38:34] Visit dkng.co slash audio. That's DraftKings Sportsbook with code THPN. The crown is yours. Bobby, what do you think about JT Miller? I don't get the feel for him. I think that Tim just put it pretty well too. I don't know. I guess it would help for that kind of production. Okay. But I don't know that we need to get it from him.

[00:38:57] I think if we're talking about bringing that in for a run kind of thing, then I'm kind of with Tim on the Taylor Hall type guy. If we're just looking to kind of add a sniper here and there. Again, my thing is more about like just the right piece for this team. And I, you know, some people say, oh, forget about all that locker room distraction stuff. You know, half the people say that means nothing. Half will say, sure, it does. It's all about the culture. I don't know where it really blends. I don't care, but I just know that he doesn't sit too well with me.

[00:39:28] So I would probably go another route. I think some of the questions have to come from within. Some of them have to come just by re-managing this team. And then, again, possibly just bringing in kind of an unknown factor here. Just kind of changing it up. Yeah. And just a caveat, like if JT Miller was traded to our team, I would defend the fucking wall for that guy. Like he seems like the right type of guy. And I would go to bat for him. But I don't know. Maybe I'm just kind of a pussy in terms of pulling the trigger on shit. What about you, Tom, with JT Miller?

[00:39:58] Jade, I think JT Miller is a great player. I think he's – I know I agree with what Tim was saying that with the age, getting locked in that long, it's a problem. But for this year, he's exact – maybe if it's not even him, but he is exactly what we need. I've watched him play for years. The guy is an impact player. Does get banged up sometimes. But I think he – there's the difference between him and – like, you know, we talk about Hall personalities. Hall is not what we need personality for this team.

[00:40:26] TJ Miller is more of like a – you know, that guy's – he'll straighten out some of the shit. He'll be a voice in the – I don't know who the voice is in the locker room really. You know, I'm not sure who that guy is. Like I don't even know if you guys could think about it. Like who could you picture being a voice in that locker room? I don't know who seems so Scott Stevenson or Bill Guarany or these guys who had this impact. I don't know on our team who that guy is when I look at them. You know, back then you would see – you would actually see it, you know, on the ice.

[00:40:51] So I think JT Miller or a player like him would be very – a great addition for this team this season. But what do you give up for him for, you know, and – Well, then maybe that is kind of the bigger hockey move that I'm talking about. You know, maybe it's addition by subtraction too because he's getting a roster player for that. Right? You're getting Mercer. Right. Yeah. I don't think because JT Miller are considered kind of a distressed asset right now.

[00:41:20] Like, you know, with all the shit that we're hearing about Vancouver, I don't know how much of that is actually true or not. I don't know if it's media speculation because Canadian media can be kind of like fucking jackals. You know, they get their teeth into a story and then they try and just beat the shit out of it. Again, like I think he'd be a great addition. But the one thing I think we lack, and I kind of wrote this up a little bit, is pure shooting talent.

[00:41:45] And JT Miller's, you know, he's scoring goals in the 30s, but he's more playmaker again. And we have, you know, the same 30-goal, 60-assisted guys in Jack and Brad and even Nico to an extent. You know, I want a guy that's fucking trying to get the Cy Young who scored 50 goals and has two assists. You know, just some fucking big fat meathead who sits in front of the net. You know, give me Cam Neely. Give me Tim Kerr. Just some asshole who just gets in the goalie's face and doesn't fuck around.

[00:42:14] I don't know. It's a hard choice. I don't envy Thomas Gerald right now because if he pulls the trigger on something like that, that is a massive hockey trade. And it may work out great for one year, but down the road, it may totally backfire. But, like, you know, people were suggesting Simon Nemitz for him. I don't think he warrants Simon Nemitz in a trade. I think a big problem is Hart, right?

[00:42:40] I mean, don't you guys – I think that's like we talked about this last season and, you know, we didn't need to talk about it this season until now probably. But, you know, I think there's just a – I don't know. Am I the only one that feels like when you're watching this team there's just like a certain – they don't – I heard someone else say this too. I don't know where it was that they don't want to play the style that you need to play to be in these aggressive hockey games, you know?

[00:43:06] Well, I mean, there are – look, when you want to be a good playoff team and you're going to make a run every year and have a deep run every year, you have to be the type of team that can play any kind of style no matter what. If you go up against the Flyers and they're big and heavy and blocking shots and getting, you know, annoying the shit out, you got to be able to get past that and still win that game and play that style better than the Flyers. You want to be a fast transition game up and down the ice like a Toronto or whatever,

[00:43:35] you got to be able to match speed for speed and, you know, do the things that you need to do to win these games. The Devils – and this was like last year's problem too and even a little bit the year before – they are uncomfortable – they're not comfortable in uncomfortable situations. And real contenders – I think it's relatively new though. I mean, I think that's what we were doing in the beginning half of this year. We were finding ways to win. We were playing different ways to beat different teams.

[00:44:03] We still had a problem kind of losing to the lesser team that we all say on paper we should beat. That's just kind of whatever our freaking problem is with that. But I thought that we did do a good job leading right up to the break. I thought that was one of the strengths of this team. We could beat you several different ways. You want to run and gun, we'll do that. You want to play it tight, we'll do that. That's why for me – Yeah, like we saw – The thing just got blended up. It's cool, bro. We saw it early in the season when they went down to Florida and we're dreading that trip. Yeah, that's true.

[00:44:32] They match the Panthers. There's no consistency in that. And that's a hard game to play, game to game in the regular season, especially when it's five degrees out in January and your kid didn't get the present he wanted for Christmas and you're going to fucking L.A. for New Year's. It's a hard game to play, game in and game out. And Florida has learned that lesson over their past couple years in the playoffs of playing that way. And maybe they need that hard lesson. They got the shit kicked out of them by Carolina.

[00:45:02] And they didn't get tougher until the year later, until now. And I think they brought in some of those guys. Like Cotter, I think, is a great little menace. Nason's a great kind of gritty, hard-nosed guy. But I think you need to actively learn those lessons in playing games and getting the shit kicked out of you and saying that's how we need to play to be able to win. And maybe that'll come in the playoffs. But I think we've seen them be able to elevate themselves to that level of gameplay.

[00:45:30] I agree with that. But, you know, you go back to Florida. You know, in Florida, the one thing that Barry Zito had the balls to do was make what Bobby calls the hockey trade, right? It was Huberdeau. It was getting Kachuk down to Florida. Completely changed, to Tony's point. Brought the element that they were missing, which is what I think we all agree is a part missing on this team.

[00:45:57] Is there at all – is that just an impossibility to get a guy that can do that? Because he changed the entire culture of that team as my microphone falls on my lap. Can you hear me? Yes. All right. He changed everything about that team. Everything. Everything. Every player on that team became – looked at Matthew Kachuk and said, we got to play like him. And the whole team did. And he is – I know that he doesn't wear the C, but he is the heart and soul and leader on the ice on that team.

[00:46:27] And, you know, we say – like, remember when we did preview those Florida games, we're like, okay, we're worried about this team coming in and banging us up. Do you guys really think that anybody looks at the Devils coming in and says, oh, man, I'm worried about them banging us up? I don't see that. Like, when I see teams like Florida, I think this automatically. I don't know what it is about that team. There's a couple different teams in the league, actually, that when they come to town, this is the thing on my mind. And I think it makes a big difference in the psyche. It's an important part. I see what you're saying, dude.

[00:46:57] Like, they did – the Devils did get tougher. They did get bigger and a little stronger in that way. But, no, they're probably not a team I think of, and that's a concern if I'm playing them. Like, everybody knows they got a little grittier and a little heavier. But, yeah, they don't think about them like you do a Panthers team for sure. Were you surprised when Kachuk laid out his year? I wasn't surprised. I thought it sucked. No, that's Kachuk's game. But I wasn't surprised because you knew this was coming. You knew it was – But I love the response. I love the response. Yeah, definitely, definitely.

[00:47:23] They have a two-year-old vendetta against Nico for some phantom face-off thing that happened at Parthas. That's right, yeah. It wasn't really a phantom. He did freaking take him out for a few games. It was an accident. He slipped. Well, that's what I mean. Like, yeah. Yeah. So, I think, you know, Tony brings up a good point. It's sort of a philosophical divide of how you want your team to play. And, you know, you look at leadership. And Nico has a sort of quiet elegance about his game.

[00:47:53] He can be pretty tough in the corners. And you saw him yapping at Faraby against the Flyers from the bench. And Nason got up immediately and started yapping at him, too. It was like, don't you fucking go near my captain. Siegenthaler did the same thing when, you know, that great picture that you guys put out on social that picked up, you know, like choking out Kachuk. The response is there. And it's there. But, like, you know, it may not be as loud or as vocal.

[00:48:23] Like Siegenthaler is kind of like turning into a bit of a scary little assassin. Like, he's a big fucking dude, too. You know, we saw Dougie lay someone out. I know that's not going to happen all that often. But Kovacavich can be a little bit mean. Conor's kind of a prick. You know, Nason can be a prick, too. I just, I don't know. It's interesting. But Nico isn't a vocal in-your-face type of captain. And I know there are fans that, you know, pine for Brady Kachuk as like a type of captain to be kind of a loud, you know,

[00:48:52] in-your-face, fuck-you kind of captain. And it's a philosophical divide of whether, you know, how you want your team to play. And I do think we do still miss that element. Like, they go quiet for stretches. You know, like, watching – there's no life or energy in either of these games this weekend that, you know, even fucking bringing McDermott just to kick the shit out of someone. And, you know, that'll get the boys going.

[00:49:20] Like, both games were the most afternoon fucking games of all time. Like, lying on the couch, like, you know, playing with my dick and watching hockey. You're disgusting. Did I say that out loud? Did I let the – We'd appreciate it if you turn off the camera when you do it there. Did I let the intrusion out again? I do think that, yeah, the infantry is definitely going to make some moves. We know that. But that's not going to happen before Wednesday night when we go and face the Bruins,

[00:49:49] which I think if the Devils just get their shit back together, they could – they have the opportunity to absolutely smoke Boston. Boston is not a good team, and they should. But what's going to happen is they're going to come out flying. They're going to get 20 shots in the first period. Swayman's going to stop them all. Boston's going to get one. And then we're going to put our head down and cry and then maybe tie it. And then they'll score late in the third and pull the goalie, and they'll get the empty netter, and we'll lose.

[00:50:17] That's the – What, Tom? Go ahead. So – and there's another problem that night. What is Wednesday night? I know. I know. Jacques Lemaire, Ring of Honor. How do we come out of these games every time? Well, if you remember – We've still embarrassed us in front of Jacques. The first one we did, right, was McMullen. And am I wrong that that was a flyer game? And we – like two years ago in the 112-point season, and we scored like six –

[00:50:47] I think we won like six to one. We were scoring at will. And then the Sergey Breland one, we got absolutely demolished in our barn. So I'm hoping maybe they can bring Jacques Lemaire in to kind of like give these guys a little pep talk before, maybe even hire him as an assistant or something. But, you know, yeah, you're right. It is a big game, and everyone's going to want to show up, and Boston's going to be like, let's just spoil the Jacques Lemaire, you know, celebration. But they should beat them.

[00:51:15] But you've got to change these lines up. Like if we go into Wednesday night's game with the same freaking guys in the same spots, I'm going to be frustrated because the PB&J, and that shit got stale. That sandwich is stale and needs to be thrown away for a little while. Yeah, I wonder like what the logic is. And again, we know he doesn't like to move him that much, give the boys benefit of the doubt, right? But like, are you protecting the fact that Jacques is still putting up decent, you know, production by keeping him with Brat?

[00:51:45] Or why wouldn't you say, Jesus, I really got to get Brat going? Like, so, you know, what's the thought process behind not giving it a try? It's just kind of mind-boggling. It's got to do something. Yeah, absolutely. There's a prevailing thought that Jacques and Timo don't work together. Yeah. You know, they're both neutral zone monsters and kind of, volume shooters. Before you finish that thought, though, let me ask you. I agree with you.

[00:52:15] For some reason, it doesn't work. Or at least we're under the impression it doesn't work. But am I wrong to suggest or to think that Timo Mayer was brought here to play with Jacques? Like, that was the prevailing thought when Fitz pulled the trigger on this thing. Put him with Jacques Hughes. Give Jacques a big winger that can, you know, open up some space for him. Get in front of the net. It's got a hell of a shot. You know, Jacques can set him up. Like, that to me was the prevailing thought, and it never worked.

[00:52:44] Am I wrong to think that? I think you're correct. And I think it's worth another shot. Like, Timo wasn't healthy basically all last year. Right? Like, he was, you know, he had a penis injury and, like, two torn MCLs or something like that. And Jacques wasn't healthy really kind of at all last year. And really at the beginning of this season when they tried Timo, Jack, and Bratt, Jacques wasn't really at his A game.

[00:53:11] I think he's still kind of coming back from surgery a little bit and was learning the defensive side of the game and really overemphasizing that defensive side of the game. So that's why that line didn't necessarily work. But, Chris, you and I were texting about it. It's like the last two games against the Flyers game during a shift change, they had a great opportunity. Jack, Timo, Nason. And then they had another similar thing happen in Ottawa where they had a great opportunity. They didn't get a very good shot off. But, like, give it a shot. Switch Timo and Jacques. It's a small switch.

[00:53:40] You know, you're not putting the lines in a full fucking blown blender. Like, just switch those two. Bratt has great history with Nico. Bratt and Pallott are pretty good together. And Nico has good history with Pallott. You know, Nason and Jack are great together on the power play. Like, so, like, I don't understand why it's – I'm concerned about Keefe in the sense that, like, he's not changing anything. Like, I know, you know, we all have, like, collective trauma from Ruff and his fucking Osterizer.

[00:54:11] But try something. Do something different. It's a big blend jet, but, yeah. Yeah. The green – Osterizer, yeah. The big green 50s thing with, like, two speeds on it. Yeah. Put your hand in there and your wife's opening your ketchup bottles for the rest of your life. So, Tim, I mean, what's more difficult to change short-term without a ton of practice? Is, like, one guy on a line, like, moving Timo or, say, putting Timo back on power play one for a little while?

[00:54:41] Since that's also been kind of struggling. It hasn't really been doing anything. Like, is it that big of a deal to try to, like, reinsert his type of game back to power play one in place of, like, Brad or something? I mean, why aren't they trying that? Why aren't we getting more Dougie time? He and Brad play the same spot on the power play. Right. They're that right flank one-timer spot. And for whatever reason, like, that scene pass that Jack used to do to Brad on the power play, that was just, like, so money all the time. Brad somehow has lost that one-timer.

[00:55:11] Like, I don't know where it's gone. I don't know if it's in his head, if he hasn't really been working on it a lot. He has to be in the zone before the puck for that to work. Yeah. Yeah. Don't go off sides, Jasper. That's kind of rule number one. Bobby's kid's probably learning that right now. They have to change. And Keefe has to change something up for the Boston game. You cannot. You just can't. And, you know, during the whole Ottawa game, excuse me, I'm just sitting there, just change something. Change something. Like, give these guys a bit of a spark. And I know he did, right?

[00:55:40] He was moving double-shift to Nico, I think, for the bottom, for the third line to kind of get that going a little bit, which is, like you said before, Tim, is a mess all on its own. But let me ask you guys. Tim and I talked about this a little bit on the last show that him and I did.

[00:55:55] And we were talking a little bit about, like, how next year, this time next year, there, you know, if you keep Nemitz around, you know, at some point you're going to have to make room for Simone Nemitz to get into this lineup. A year from now, do you then pull a trigger on trading Dougie Hamilton and bringing Simone Nemitz up to take his spot and get rid of that big contract or whatever?

[00:56:25] Now, my question to you guys is this. If somebody for the right guy wanted Dougie now, would you move him? Wow. I like that. I would, yeah. I would move him. I was going to ask you guys about him tonight anyways, what you guys thought about his play, because I just, you know. Oh, I will tell you. He loves Dougie. Come on, Zach, tell us. Hold on. But really hard to answer that, Chris, because you don't know what the return is literally going to be, right?

[00:56:53] And for my money, and again, listen, I'm more of a fan than like a detail-oriented how they're playing the game, X's and O's type of guy. That's just the truth, right? I didn't play him growing up. Right. But, I mean, it even seems to me on the surface, despite, and I did read Baghead's, you know, thing, it's, again, very intelligent. But, like, it doesn't feel like Hamilton's being used like he should as he has in previous years.

[00:57:21] Is that Sheldon Keefe's preference on how often he uses him, whatever? That's just what I'm seeing from the surface. I'm not seeing as much Dougie in some of these key situations as we've seen before. So, assuming you're talking about a hockey trade that brings in a really valuable piece, I do kind of feel like we could insert Nemec and not miss all that much. And that's not to say I don't love Dougie's skill set and when he was throwing up those goals. I mean, he was money in overtime, right? Guess the overtime, you know, Dougie's probably going to get the game winner.

[00:57:51] It's not that we wouldn't miss that. I just think that in a year, like you said, we could probably slide off if we're bringing in a guy like Nemec. What about you, Tim? I would do Dougie for JT Miller. I bet you would. No, trade Dougie for JT Miller.

[00:58:11] Because honestly, what that does is I think, look, I think Dougie is great and I think, you know, kind of gets killed by our fan base who for very micro-specific instances and 97% of his game is actually elite from the defensive end. It's just when he makes a mistake, it's fucking huge or he looks like he's not really trying. Like, I get that. I do. I do.

[00:58:38] But if you look at like some of his just underlying metrics and even like his basic metrics, his shot, his shooting, his shots on goals, the amount of rebounds he creates, his goals, his assists, his and some of the more fancy stats, like his expected goals, his course, his Fenwick. Like, he's first on our team by a fucking mile over every other defenseman on the team. Even defensively, he's not nearly as bad as people give him four, particularly when you look at some of his numbers like hits.

[00:59:07] He's only 10 behind Kovacevic and that's Dylan, Siegenthaler, and then Kovacevic and then Dougie. So he's ahead of Luke and ahead of Pesci. Block shots, he's third, tied with Dylan, which is actually, I was actually kind of surprised by. The shot attempts against him, he's actually only second behind Luke. Luke, I still think is our best defenseman. The high danger shots against, he's third. He's ahead of Kovacevic and Pesci. So he's giving up less high danger shots than those two guys.

[00:59:32] His expected goals against for 60, so that's kind of like generally his overall play and the amount of chances that he's giving up. He's very close to Kovacevic and he's ahead of Pesci. And his overall goal differential, not as plus minus when he's on the ice, his overall goal differential, he's plus 29. And I get he doesn't play on the penalty kill. And we know why, because he's not great defensively. But that's sixth in the NHL, like his actual goal differential. So he's still very much a net positive.

[01:00:01] However, I do think his contract is going to be an albatross come in the coming years. And if Miller contract is the problem in my mind coming in, you swap out problematic potential contracts and you fill a void that we need up front and you take away an issue. And honestly, people can stop looking complaining about Dougie. The other thing about Dougie, he's not as slow as you think he is. He's actually in the 75th percentile in speed in the NHL.

[01:00:30] He just looks slow because his stride's a little weird because he's very tall and upright. But that would be the trade I would make because it solves all those problems. And we can bring them a chance. Hold right, Hamilton. Then we can bring them a chance to Vancouver. I like it. Hold right, Hamilton. I mean, that is the definition of a hockey trade, right? Yeah. For big money. It's exactly that. Exactly that. And Dougie, you know, big, soft, quiet Dougie.

[01:00:58] You know, he's not he's not the voice that Tony was talking about. And, you know, he he's never worn an A. He's never worn a C. You know, he's just kind of a veteran who likes to go to museums and shoot the puck. Yeah. Yeah, I would definitely do it. I would do it. And, you know, if there's somebody else out there that's not JT Miller but does fit that that spot that we need. And yeah, I would pull the trigger on anybody. I wouldn't have an issue with that whatsoever.

[01:01:25] So what about before we wrap up tonight, the other guy in Vancouver that is attached to the hip as far as the speculation? And that's Elias Pettersson. Now, Elias Pettersson could possibly be going to or or one or the other if they they do trade one of them. Now, Elias Pettersson's got, I think, three years, four years left at like 11 and change. I think he has a huge contract.

[01:01:52] Does that does anyone have an appetite for EP 40 on this team? Everybody is shaking for the audio audience. Every single person is shaking their head left to right. So, OK, I agree. So that's done. All right. Contract's too big. He's another soft Swede. You know, we don't we don't need another guy like him.

[01:02:13] You know, the guy that may be interesting from Vancouver that is kind of lost in the shuffle of all this a little bit, but still is Brock Besser. Yeah. He's an he's an upcoming UFA. He probably wants to stay there. That guy is so good looking. Holy shit. Like he would give Nico a run for money for handsomess for 60. No, I'm just kidding. But he's he's a sniper. We couple that with how you play with yourself during games. I'm really getting bad visuals here.

[01:02:46] So, I mean, there was I did hear talk about Brock Besser possibly being on the move as well. Now, let me just take a look at Brock Besser's numbers here this year. So Brock Besser this year has 15 goals, 13 assists. Career wise, 194 goals and 218 assists. It's seven a decent year.

[01:03:13] Again, you know, you put him where do you put him with Jack again on the right way? Yeah, I put him on the wing with I put him on the wing with Jack and Pratt. And that return would probably be you'd have to give up a lot less. I'm sure. Yeah, because he's an pending UFA. For some reason, I'm looking him up on Puck PD to see what his actual contract is. And Brock Buka boom came up. I don't know. Who the hell is Brock Buka boom? I remember Buka boom. Brock Buka boom.

[01:03:42] Yeah, but it wasn't Brock Buka boom. I'm guessing it might be related. That's not exactly like the last name Wood or Baghead. So, I mean, all right. So, Vancouver is definitely going to be a seller. And I think the Devils have some pieces that could be moved. So, I would definitely be down with Brock Besser. And I would definitely be down with JT Miller. But I don't think that I would be down with all the guys. And Brock Besser has that right shot. And he has like the stat line that I like.

[01:04:11] He had 40 goals and 33 assists. He's like, fuck your assist, motherfucker. I'm not passing you the puck. I'm going to shoot. Right. He's a right shot, which I have a hard on for a right shot to get Jack. So, anyway, yes. He's the guy that I want. Plus, like I mentioned, he's very, very handsome. Anybody, anything else you guys want to bring up? You know, I have something. Since we have Tim's talking about stats. And me and my wife were having this conversation earlier. And I'm going to get your guys' advice. I figure it's later in the show where all the kids have went to bed. So, Bonnie Blue.

[01:04:40] You know, since we don't do news anymore on here. Me and the wife. You know who Bonnie Blue is, huh, Tim? No. Me and my wife were talking about this. So, this chick, Bonnie Blue. She's 25 years old. She slept with 1,057 men in 12 hours. Broke the record, right? The record was she beat Lisa Sparks, who was 919 in 24 hours in 2004. Good for her. The conversation comes up. Yeah, the conversation comes up. Me and my wife. And she's like, you know, how many? Did you? Is it? I don't think you tell your wife, right?

[01:05:10] You don't tell people how many anymore at this age. Did you guys? I mean, you know. What do you guys think about? We're all married, right? Everyone's married. I was. If you have. Not because he told his wife how many. I didn't. Yeah, trust me, guys. Don't have that conversation. If you have as. I mean, I'll be honest here. If you if you have as as few as me. Yeah, you have no problem telling your wife because she kind of laughs at you and goes, really?

[01:05:40] Yeah, that's about right. Bonnie Blue is pretty good looking, though, man. I mean, I mean, I mean, if you walk past her, you might fall in. But like, you know, for her. Good for her. Imagine being the last guy in line now. That would be pretty depressing. You know, yeah. Then you wear a bag over your head. I mean, is she just like swiping on her Kindle during the whole thing? Because it cannot be enjoyment after. I don't know. Two, three hundred. Like there's just got it. I mean.

[01:06:09] I know that they I did read about it. I didn't know that was her, but I did hear that that record was broken. And like you had to show up with your negative HIV test and you had to wear protection and everything. I think my question about this whole thing is, is was it till every dude finishes or is this just a in and out next in and out next? I think there's someone to finish at the end. There's like a like a flop. The last guy, he gets the he gets the pop. Right. Imagine being the mopper.

[01:06:40] Here's my question, though. So because because I'm a stat nerd. So I like to look at rates. Right. So one thousand fifty seven men in twelve hours, twelve hours of seventy two minutes. Right. Yes. So that's that's one and a half minutes per guy. No, twelve hours is not seventy two minutes. Seven hundred twenty. Oh, OK. How much is that? Seven twenty. A minute, a minute and a half.

[01:07:10] I told you it's normal. Good. See, there you go. See, that's why stats are good. That's why stats are good. So normal, normalize, normalize a minute and a half and then give me a sandwich. It has to be in and out and then on to the next. And literally this can't be. Yeah. Because otherwise she'd probably. Yeah. There's no way. But good for her. You know, it's good to have goals. Yeah. Imagine being the father of that, though.

[01:07:40] Oh, my God. Yeah. Your friends are probably in line at one time. A couple of. If I were to. If I were to. Look at what Bonnie did. If I were to gamble, I'm pretty certain the father would not be in the picture on that one. Yeah. I think that there's definitely some serious daddy issues hinged onto this decision making here by Miss Blue. I hope she got paid shit done for that. When I was listening to you guys, like one of my favorite segments was your new segments. We definitely need to bring those back.

[01:08:09] Like, that was the fucking best. Yeah. This is fantastic. Fantastic information here. Just don't have to. It's either death or, you know. Yeah. When you bring up your number to your wife, just don't say before or after you. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Well, six before, but since we've been married, three, four, five. Yeah. That's not going to work. Or if she stands up afterwards and goes, gotcha beat. You're like, fuck. That's it? That's it.

[01:08:38] But Chris, I'll end it on a hockey note for you too. We were talking about Jacques Lemaire, obviously, you know, the Ring of Honor coming up. And I pulled it up. Actually, if you guys want, I could put it on the Twitter page. I have pulled up. I have a scorecard. I don't know if you can see this. It's actually, you probably can't. I'll put it on the Twitter if you got. But it's filled out by Jacques Lemaire, actually, at the game. And this is the roster from April 6, 97. Just to hear some of the names on this roster. Okay. This is awesome. Yeah. So, you know, they used to hand these over to the timekeepers. And I actually picked up a few of them back in the day. That's cool. Yeah. I'll put it up on the Twitter.

[01:09:07] But it's, so Dunham and Brodeur are your goalies. So, Dunham started this game, I guess. It was April 6, 97. Danico, Stevens, Peterson, Garron, Ralston, McLean, Holique, Carpenter, Pandolfo, McKay, Anderchuk, Odeline, Zellipuken, Needlemyer, Chambers, Thomas, and Gilmore. Some names for you right there, right? I'll get Gilmore, man. Let's do a quick thing here. Go through those names again slowly and see if we can pick what number each of those wore when they were playing. Okay.

[01:09:37] Because they're here, actually, on this roster sheet. Well, obviously, Ken Danico. Three. One for me. And what was he wearing that year? Was he wearing anything that year special? Like an A or a C? He was definitely wearing an A. Scott Stevens. Four and a C. Two and a C. Two and a C. Two and a C. Just so you guys know, there's two A's on this team this year. So, Peterson. Ten. Yeah, you're correct. Wow. Really? Look at that. That is some autistic shit right there.

[01:10:08] I'm surprised you don't do better in the devil you know, man. I know. Just don't add jersey numbers and we're good. Yeah. Who? Billy Guerin. 12? 12. Yeah. Loved Guerin. Brian Ralston. 14. 28. 28. What happened? No. 14. Was he 28? No, I think that was Kevin Dean back in those days, the last 28, I remember, in that period of time. But no. What number was he? He was 12. Oh, he was 12? And Ralston's 14. No. Yeah, Ralston's 14. That's what Bobby never said. Yep.

[01:10:38] What the hell? You said Rufalski. 15. He said Rufalski before, didn't he? No, I said Ralston. Ralston. I heard Rufalski. I'm sorry. Yeah. Oh, I knew that. Okay. So let's move on. Johnny Mac. 15. 15. And he was the other A. Exactly. Bobby O. 16. 16. Bobby Carpenter. 18. 27? No, no, it's Niedermeyer. Niedermeyer. You both are wrong. 29? Wait, wait, wait. Bobby Carpenter, 25?

[01:11:08] Nope. 19. 19? That's my number, too. I should have known that. Jay Pandolfa. 20. Yep. Randy McKay. I don't want to know this. Okay. Maybe don't do him in number order. What's wrong with you? 22. Scott Gomez, 23. Anderchuk. 25. Oh, 23. 23. No? 23. Yeah, someone screamed out 25. That was me. I think that was sack. I'm just blurting out numbers from the sack.

[01:11:37] Straight from my bag head. And Odeline. 29. 20. Yep. 22? 27. Hold on. Ricky Henderson had the same number with the Yankees. 24. Yep. 24. Zelipukin. 25. Yep. 25, yeah. Yep. Yep. Scotty Ann. 27. We knew that. We all know that one. Chambers. 29.

[01:12:08] 29. Chambers, 29? Okay. Yep. Chambers, 29. Steve Thomas. 32. Correct. Wow. Nice. And Gilmore. 93. There you go. 93. Mike Donald was one, right? Yep. Donald was one. Yep. What was that pro door guy? What do you wear? Number 30. He was 29 to start his career. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, he was. He was. All right. So we're over an hour.

[01:12:35] Guys, are we turning us around on Wednesday night when the Bruins come over to the Rock for Jacques Lemaire's induction into the Ring of Honor? I am going to say that they are going to play a good game. They beat Boston. I'm not going to give a score because it'll probably be a one goal game. But I do think they're going to play better and they're going to start turning this thing around. But it has to be now and it has to be with some line changes and mix some shit up. What do you guys think? Tim, you go first.

[01:13:05] I think we're going to do 3-1 with an empty netter. I think they turn it around. The defense has been better. I think we'll still see some offensive struggles. I have no confidence that Keefe is going to change anything with the lines. But this has gone on long enough and we cannot fucking – please don't embarrass us in front of Jacques. Yeah. That's the idea. Don't embarrass us. Tim, what do you think? Every time I predict these games, if I listen to the show the next day, I'm always wrong on these things, man. But it's not next day. Sorry. Tell me. Yeah.

[01:13:33] I'm going to go – I'm going to go Devils 5-3. I think it's going to be some goals in this game. All right. I like that. I think it's going to get nasty finally, damn it. I think it's going to get nasty. Oh, yeah. It's going to be nice to have something to root for. And we'll finish up with you, Bobby. Yeah, we're going to start winning again. We're going to win the next two before splitting with the Flyers. And we're going to do this one in the shutout fashion. Let's go 4-0. There you go. Bobby the brain, bringing it. I like it. All right. What does Chris the autist think?

[01:14:03] We are going – if I have to give a score, I'm going to say – did we do a 4-3 yet? No? I'll take 4-3. No, it was 5-3, right? Okay. That's what I'm going to go with. 4-3, tied up late in the third. And we get, you know, the go-ahead goal. Some 10 minutes left in the game, and we shut it down. And that's what I think is going to happen. And we miss, like, four open nets, empty nets. You're going to kill me. I have one more lineup suggestion that we can end with.

[01:14:33] Yeah. We bring Nemech up. We go 11-7 and sit the 3C and rotate Jack and Nico in the 3C spot. Yes. Okay. Why not? Yeah. Why not? Yeah. What are you going to do, Lewis? We can spell Pesce, who's been pretty rough recently. You can give Dougie some rest like everybody wants. You know they're all fucking wrong. All right. Love you, Dougie. Love you, Dougie. I'm in love. All right. We're going to wrap this thing up, and we will be back during the week.

[01:15:03] Probably after. You think he's got graves over here. I know. Is it? I know. Buckley Blue. Yeah. I think so. I think Tim would definitely be lining up if it was Dougie in Blues. Do you have a Dougie sock next to your bed, Tim? Do you? You got a Dougie sock? I just go wrong. Come on. Who doesn't have a sock anymore? I'm an adult. On that note, for Baghead and Bobby, Tony Zamboni, I'm Chris.

[01:15:31] We are the Uncle Puckers, and we will see you when we see you. Bye-bye.