X-Mas Comes Early as Devs Beat Down Rags

[00:00:03] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils, and you're listening to The Uncle Puckers, New Jersey Devils Podcast with Chris, Dan, Bobby, and Tony, The Uncle Puckers. Let's go Devils!

[00:00:20] Let's go Devils! Yeah, this is the skeleton crew version of The Uncle Puckers. It's just Chris and Tim today on Christmas Eve.

[00:00:29] Everybody else is doing their family and festive bullshit, but I'm glad that everyone is here to listen to us talk about the wonderful, amazing ass-whooping that New Jersey put on the Rangers yesterday afternoon.

[00:00:46] We're going to talk all about it, but before we start, just remember that I put the Chris in Christmas, Tim. It's all about me, okay?

[00:00:55] And, Tim, can you hear me?

[00:00:57] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, that just froze up for a second.

[00:01:01] Tim, you were supposed to laugh at my joke.

[00:01:03] I missed your joke because I froze up for a second.

[00:01:05] Ha ha ha!

[00:01:06] Damn it, Tim.

[00:01:07] Ha ha ha! That's funny, dude.

[00:01:10] Sorry, like that?

[00:01:11] No, no, forget it. It's over now.

[00:01:13] I don't even know if I want to do this podcast anymore with you.

[00:01:16] All right.

[00:01:17] I'm sorry.

[00:01:19] I'm still not over your slander of rush.

[00:01:22] All right.

[00:01:23] So, Tim, Merry Christmas.

[00:01:24] How are you, buddy?

[00:01:25] Merry Christmas, man.

[00:01:25] I'm good. I'm good.

[00:01:26] I am one of those annoying people that kind of is organized and ahead of the curve about Christmas.

[00:01:33] So, I've been done and dusted for a couple of weeks, present-wise.

[00:01:37] Everything's ready to rock, ready to go.

[00:01:39] So, I have a little bit of, some have called it OCD when it comes to organizing packages and presents and stuff like that.

[00:01:48] And, you know, I've gotten into a pretty good rhythm with my kids in terms of them just adding stuff to an Amazon wish list.

[00:01:56] Sorry, Liza, you're not getting the Audi.

[00:01:59] You're not old enough.

[00:02:02] But, other than that, yeah, I'm good.

[00:02:04] I'm excited.

[00:02:05] You know, I'm going to go be in Annapolis with my family.

[00:02:08] It's pretty small.

[00:02:09] You know, eight or nine people.

[00:02:10] And, have a nice little dinner.

[00:02:13] Starting to get, actually, not starting.

[00:02:15] You know, it's been about 20 years of the presents for me dwindling.

[00:02:19] You know, it becomes more about the kids.

[00:02:20] You get that.

[00:02:21] And, I've started to get, like, the one random thing that I, like, really need as opposed to anything that I want.

[00:02:29] And, except for yesterday.

[00:02:31] I got what I wanted.

[00:02:32] What did you get?

[00:02:33] An absolute fucking beatdown of the New York Rangers.

[00:02:37] Just embarrassed the shit out of them.

[00:02:39] Kicked them out of our building.

[00:02:40] Sent them back to their ghetto-ass train station.

[00:02:42] Had to deal with Lincoln Tunnel traffic.

[00:02:45] 9th Avenue traffic.

[00:02:46] Pulling into the train station.

[00:02:47] I lived in the city.

[00:02:48] It's fucking atrocious around that time of year when they had to pull in.

[00:02:51] I hope they hit every goddamn car on the way back in just stewing on that loss.

[00:02:55] They should be fucking embarrassed for themselves at how bad of a hockey team they are.

[00:03:00] And, it is, just feeds my cold, dead heart with how bad they are.

[00:03:05] Let's talk about, let's talk about the Rangers for a few minutes.

[00:03:08] Because, you're 100% right.

[00:03:10] I mean, if they are not spending this Christmas crying into their eggnog with embarrassment,

[00:03:16] it really is just that.

[00:03:18] Like, there is, this is a team that won the President's Trophy last year.

[00:03:22] They are a bunch of fucking frauds.

[00:03:27] To the highest degree, that's what this team is.

[00:03:29] Like, when you come in, this is the arch rival, right?

[00:03:33] We are, what, 12, 13 points ahead of them in the standings.

[00:03:36] Shit, it froze again.

[00:03:37] The whole thing flipped over, you know, from last year.

[00:03:40] Tim, your internet connection blows.

[00:03:42] But, yeah.

[00:03:44] Dude, like I said, you know, I live on a farm.

[00:03:46] Right, move to civilization.

[00:03:49] I'm trying.

[00:03:51] Well, you're going to Annapolis, so that's civilization.

[00:03:53] That's civilization.

[00:03:54] Naval Academy.

[00:03:55] This is true.

[00:03:56] I have a friend of mine that moved out there years ago.

[00:03:59] Her and her husband.

[00:03:59] So, if you see him, tell him I said hi.

[00:04:02] So, yeah.

[00:04:03] This was, they should be embarrassed.

[00:04:06] Like, this, you're going into our building.

[00:04:08] You're coming off just a horrible loss against who they lose to last time.

[00:04:14] They got shut out by.

[00:04:15] The Rangers?

[00:04:16] Yeah.

[00:04:17] No, who they played before us.

[00:04:18] Didn't they lose?

[00:04:19] Because they beat Dallas, and then they went and lost to somebody, and then to us.

[00:04:24] Or maybe, I thought that it was.

[00:04:27] They beat Dallas.

[00:04:28] And Carolina they lost to, right?

[00:04:30] It was Carolina, yeah.

[00:04:31] So, the two teams that are above you in the standings.

[00:04:34] These are four-point games.

[00:04:36] Like, okay, I get it.

[00:04:37] Things are shitty.

[00:04:39] But this team still has talent on it.

[00:04:42] And to go out these last two games, especially against us,

[00:04:46] and play the way they played after that first period.

[00:04:49] It was amazing to just see this team's fall from grace.

[00:04:53] It's been so much fun to watch.

[00:04:56] And then, we'll talk about the sideshow.

[00:04:58] You know, the sideshow freak that they brought in.

[00:05:01] That this guy is going to save their season.

[00:05:03] And I keep on seeing on X, like,

[00:05:06] Oh, it's crazy after the eight-game suspension.

[00:05:08] He'll be ready for the devil game.

[00:05:10] If any Ranger fan is, like, just deluded enough to think that

[00:05:14] Rempey's going to be in the lineup, I think, ever again this year.

[00:05:17] Like, they'd be fucking crazy to put this idiot back in the lineup.

[00:05:21] But, you know, their shadow GM, Sarah Palin, seems to think he's...

[00:05:28] That's right.

[00:05:30] Sarah Palin is putting out pro Rempey.

[00:05:32] From the clouds.

[00:05:33] So, I had no fucking idea that she was actually dating Ron Duguay.

[00:05:38] Who's Ron Duguay?

[00:05:39] He's like a Rangers analyst for a while.

[00:05:42] He played for them in, like, you know, 80s, 90s.

[00:05:45] Like, 70s hair, wears, like, you know, stylish shirts.

[00:05:49] Stylish.

[00:05:50] I use that term loosely.

[00:05:51] Buttoned down to, like, his chest.

[00:05:53] He's like...

[00:05:53] He's a...

[00:05:54] He's who you expect.

[00:05:55] But how Sarah Palin and him met and are somehow dating, like, just...

[00:06:02] We're living in the strangest timeline for that to happen.

[00:06:05] Yeah.

[00:06:05] Because she's a hockey mom.

[00:06:07] Remember that whole thing?

[00:06:08] Yeah.

[00:06:08] What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?

[00:06:11] Hockey moms wear lipstick.

[00:06:15] Well, you know, she couldn't see Russia.

[00:06:17] So, you know, there's that.

[00:06:18] Oh, my God.

[00:06:18] I don't know what a fucking ding-dong that one is.

[00:06:21] But, you know, them...

[00:06:22] Like I said, the President's Trophy made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

[00:06:26] What was that?

[00:06:26] Two of the past three years, he made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

[00:06:29] You know, except for the one year that we knocked him out.

[00:06:33] Yeah.

[00:06:33] And they're running back the same team.

[00:06:35] And just everyone on that team has suddenly fallen off a cliff.

[00:06:40] Kreider's fallen off a cliff.

[00:06:41] Mika's advantage at it.

[00:06:42] I don't know what happened to this guy.

[00:06:43] He is awful.

[00:06:44] But it was the same kind of demoralizing thing that would happen to us last year.

[00:06:49] Yeah.

[00:06:50] Like, they...

[00:06:51] The Rangers were actually playing pretty well in the first period.

[00:06:55] And they were actually controlling kind of the game.

[00:06:56] They were forechecking well.

[00:06:58] One thing I think, you know...

[00:06:59] And if you remember, like, back, you know, in our incredible season,

[00:07:05] when we played Carolina, they just forechecked the shit out of our defense

[00:07:08] and really kind of caused a lot of turnovers.

[00:07:10] Like, the Rangers did a good job.

[00:07:12] So, they were sending two forwards in.

[00:07:14] And one thing that the Devils have been doing a lot really well

[00:07:17] is slowing down the pace of things.

[00:07:19] They go D-to-D.

[00:07:20] They pass the puck D-to-D behind the net

[00:07:22] to really kind of slow down the pace,

[00:07:24] kind of create layers in their zone exits and breakouts.

[00:07:28] And we break out pretty consistently.

[00:07:29] We're one of the best breakout teams in the league.

[00:07:31] The Rangers were sending two guys in that kind of cut off that pass.

[00:07:34] And we were having a hard time getting it off the wall

[00:07:36] because then they'd have a defenseman pinch and kind of cut that off.

[00:07:40] So, they were actually doing that pretty well in the first period.

[00:07:42] And then Jack scored.

[00:07:44] And the fucking wheels fell off.

[00:07:45] Like, those guys look so miserable on the bench.

[00:07:48] And I was just sitting on my couch on a Monday afternoon just like,

[00:07:52] I'm having the fucking time of my life watching this.

[00:07:56] Seriously.

[00:07:57] Yeah, you're exactly right.

[00:07:59] The amount of energy after Jack's goal that just got, you know,

[00:08:04] let out of that fucking bench.

[00:08:05] They had nothing.

[00:08:06] And I know Trocek, I give him credit.

[00:08:08] Like, okay, you know, you're going to stand up and to Cotter,

[00:08:11] try and light a little fire under your team's ass.

[00:08:13] Absolutely.

[00:08:14] Trocek is one of the only ones.

[00:08:16] Him, Will Cooley, Berard, is that the kid's name?

[00:08:19] I like him.

[00:08:20] Yeah.

[00:08:21] These guys are playing good.

[00:08:22] I think, you know, Philippito's playing well.

[00:08:25] But you're not going to win a Stanley Cup with Philippito and Will Cooley.

[00:08:30] You're going to win it with Panarin and Zibanejad and Kreider and Trocek.

[00:08:34] And those guys were invisible.

[00:08:36] And like you said, Panarin and Zibanejad, I barely heard their fucking name yesterday.

[00:08:41] You know, it was like the second period when I finally heard Panarin's name.

[00:08:44] And I was like, oh, I thought he was still injured or something.

[00:08:46] I didn't even know he was in this game.

[00:08:49] This is just how lifeless these guys are.

[00:08:51] And full marks to the Devils.

[00:08:53] Like, they are doing what they've done now over the course of this season.

[00:08:57] Now they're getting – now you're starting to see the form of this team take shape.

[00:09:02] And it's like, holy fuck, if this is what our team is moving forward,

[00:09:06] this defensive juggernaut that can essentially score at will,

[00:09:10] have solid goaltending when called upon.

[00:09:13] It's a very – it's a recipe that Devil fans, especially ones our age, know works.

[00:09:20] It's a recipe that wins Stanley Cups.

[00:09:22] Except this team, as opposed to the teams that won Cups,

[00:09:28] offensively I don't think that – maybe 2000 you can say the 2000 team had the offensive firepower.

[00:09:33] Yeah, we were pretty good that year.

[00:09:36] I think we were like second or third in the league in gold.

[00:09:37] Yeah.

[00:09:38] And in 2001 we were first when we lost the finals to Colorado.

[00:09:43] But those two years were an outlier of the Devils' decade of dominance as a whole.

[00:09:50] Those two – we were never the offensive team.

[00:09:53] We were boring.

[00:09:54] We were a trap team.

[00:09:56] You know, nobody wanted to watch us.

[00:09:58] Like, if there is anybody that gets bored watching this Devil team,

[00:10:02] you need to get your fucking heart rate checked because this team is exciting.

[00:10:07] And they – this team that Sheldon Keefe has built so far, it took, you know, what,

[00:10:13] three months to kind of get it in the form.

[00:10:15] This is a team that by all measures can win a Stanley Cup this year with the way that they're playing.

[00:10:21] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:10:22] Like, you know, and let's say – you know, be clear, Fitz built it.

[00:10:25] Like, he – again, you know, we'll go back to this.

[00:10:28] Like, he does a very good job every offseason of identifying needs and filling holes with the right players,

[00:10:35] finding issues and filling holes with the right players.

[00:10:37] You can complain about individual players, but as constructed and with what keeps getting out of this team,

[00:10:42] we're one of the most complete teams in the league, if not the most complete team in the league.

[00:10:47] And just the defensive game that they're playing, like I was talking about just now,

[00:10:51] like with the Rangers forecheck, it didn't matter.

[00:10:55] Like, you know, it was kind of a bend but don't break.

[00:10:58] Like, yeah, they were kind of getting on top of RD,

[00:11:00] but they still only had five shots in the first period.

[00:11:03] Like, it's just the shot suppression masterclass these guys are putting on.

[00:11:07] They don't allow high-nature chances.

[00:11:09] The Rangers had, like, one decent chance, and it was on a power play that Brat squirted it out.

[00:11:15] You know, another person's name that I didn't hear yesterday was Chris Kreider.

[00:11:20] I wonder what he was doing.

[00:11:21] I think I saw him eating a hot dog up in the press box.

[00:11:26] That was about it.

[00:11:27] Like, Health Bomb and Chris Kreider, who is their net front power plant guy.

[00:11:32] He's a devil killer.

[00:11:33] He's the closest thing they have to a devil killer on that team.

[00:11:36] Yes.

[00:11:36] He's the only guy that scored on us last game when we won 5-1.

[00:11:40] Like, he's the only guy who scored a goal on us in this season so far.

[00:11:43] And to Health Bomb him when the problems are so deep, I don't know what they're doing.

[00:11:49] You know, they shipped off Kako for whatever reason, and the guy that got back, Will Borgen,

[00:11:54] got absolutely fucking caved in against us.

[00:11:56] That was just a delicious little subplot, too.

[00:12:00] Honestly, fuck them.

[00:12:02] I don't even really want to think about them much anymore because they are so much a bad team.

[00:12:06] They are.

[00:12:07] Let's worry about the Caps.

[00:12:09] Let's worry about Carolina.

[00:12:11] Like, those are our rivals right now.

[00:12:12] Absolutely.

[00:12:13] But we're not done with the Rangers yet.

[00:12:16] There's just one more thing I want to touch on, and then we can move on.

[00:12:19] But I have to ask you, because I thought about this a little bit with Kreider being the healthy

[00:12:24] scratch.

[00:12:25] Is this trying to light a fire under the team's ass, or is there a trade that's on the blocks

[00:12:32] as soon as the no movement gets lifted after the holidays and Kreider's out?

[00:12:37] Because I'm thinking that could very well be why he sat last night.

[00:12:41] It could be either.

[00:12:42] You know, they are freeing up a ton of cap space.

[00:12:46] And, you know, they may just be writing off this year.

[00:12:49] Moving Kreider, I think, would be a huge mistake on their part.

[00:12:52] That guy, you know, he has been a ranger for life.

[00:12:55] He's a guy who should have his numbers in the rafters at MSG at the end of his career.

[00:13:00] Shipping him out, just, I feel like that would be a devastating mistake.

[00:13:03] And it could be, you know, he and Mika have been connected at the hip for five years,

[00:13:09] ten years, something like that, however long it's been.

[00:13:10] And I just, maybe it's the light of fire under Zibanejad.

[00:13:15] I don't know.

[00:13:16] I don't know what the logic is.

[00:13:17] But they're not identifying the root problems of their issues.

[00:13:21] You know, Keandre Miller hasn't progressed.

[00:13:23] Adam Fox hasn't.

[00:13:25] You know, he's taking a step back.

[00:13:27] I don't even know who some of these fucking guys they were playing last night are.

[00:13:30] Like the guy that Brat buried in the second period.

[00:13:33] Yeah, I don't know who that guy was.

[00:13:35] I was like, you know, he has like a ten-letter Finnish last name.

[00:13:38] And I'm just like, who the fuck is this guy?

[00:13:41] I have no idea.

[00:13:42] And it's just, I'd say it's sad, but I am so just delighting in their end.

[00:13:48] And, you know, ranger fans think, I think that you need to really come to terms with the fact that you're not making the playoffs.

[00:13:54] It's not happening.

[00:13:56] You're, you know, the mess that is the bottom of the Eastern Conference right now,

[00:14:00] fighting for those two wildcard spots.

[00:14:03] I mean, I just think that there's, actually, I'll say that there's one wildcard spot available.

[00:14:08] Because I think that Boston and Tampa, who's ever three and four right now in the Atlantic,

[00:14:14] I think it's Boston and Tampa.

[00:14:16] I think that they're in.

[00:14:17] And they're going to, you know, one of them will take the third spot.

[00:14:19] The other one will take wildcard one.

[00:14:21] So that's going to leave you one wildcard spot.

[00:14:24] That now you have to jump, I think, the Islanders, the Flyers, and Pittsburgh.

[00:14:29] Pittsburgh, yeah.

[00:14:30] So I'm looking at the standards right now.

[00:14:32] Yeah.

[00:14:32] Florida, Boston, Tampa have put a little bit of daylight between themselves.

[00:14:39] You know, they could all fall off a little bit and have a run like the Rangers and fall out of it.

[00:14:43] But I don't see that happening.

[00:14:44] Boston's been playing great recently.

[00:14:47] Florida continues to do what they're doing.

[00:14:49] Toronto's been about 500.

[00:14:50] But they lost Stolarz, you know, who is really doing it.

[00:14:53] They're going to be fine.

[00:14:55] I think they're going to be fine.

[00:14:56] And Tampa just, they have, I think Tampa has the biggest goal differential in the league at plus 36.

[00:15:02] They scare the shit out of me.

[00:15:03] But, you know, I think it's really going to come down to Ottawa and Pittsburgh in those last couple spots.

[00:15:07] It'd be interesting to see how that works out.

[00:15:09] You know, that Pittsburgh team was coming on.

[00:15:12] You know, they did the same thing that the Rangers did to us.

[00:15:14] And they're kind of noticing this pattern of how the Devils are playing where the first period is a little bit of a feeling out.

[00:15:20] It's a bend, but don't break.

[00:15:21] And then the second period, they slowly kind of choke out their opponents.

[00:15:24] And the third period, they just slash their growth.

[00:15:27] Yeah.

[00:15:27] That's been the MO since, well, basically all season.

[00:15:32] Whenever they've gotten any of these winning streaks together, it's the first period.

[00:15:35] Okay, we're going to figure out what works well against you guys, what doesn't work well, what you can do against us, can't do against us.

[00:15:41] We're not going to make any mistakes to get ourselves too far behind the eight ball until we figure it all out.

[00:15:46] And then second period, it's just, all right, guys, we know what we have to do.

[00:15:49] We're the better team.

[00:15:50] And they go out there and just maul you.

[00:15:52] They get a two-goal lead.

[00:15:54] You go into the third.

[00:15:55] You're not getting up off the mat.

[00:15:56] Not when you're allowing 12, 15, 16, under 20 shots a game.

[00:16:01] You're not crawling out of it.

[00:16:03] We scored three.

[00:16:04] You're done.

[00:16:05] And this is how the Devils won Stanley Cups, except like I said, this team is much more exciting.

[00:16:11] I mean, those teams had Nico Hesher, Timo Meyer, and Jack Hughes on them, and Luke Hughes.

[00:16:16] I mean, look at all the firepower this team has.

[00:16:18] And a lot of the guys said it in the locker room after the game.

[00:16:22] It's, you know, we were running a trap.

[00:16:25] We were.

[00:16:25] You know, I mean, there's no getting around that.

[00:16:27] The reason we were able to run the trap is because Mario was so good with the puck.

[00:16:30] So we eliminated dump-ins, and then we clogged the neutral zone for transition.

[00:16:33] And that's how we wind up with 12 shots.

[00:16:35] We're just doing an all-around incredible job right now with a five-man unit in the defensive zone.

[00:16:41] Just suppressing shots, blocking shots, getting in lanes, sticks in lanes.

[00:16:46] They're just so well coached and such a well-oiled machine.

[00:16:49] We're not letting off the gas pedal at all offensively.

[00:16:52] Like, we're not falling back into a trap.

[00:16:54] We're not falling back into a 1-3-1 or a 1-2-2.

[00:16:57] No, I was just going to say, like, our defense is offense.

[00:17:02] It's just control the play.

[00:17:04] And that's it.

[00:17:05] And when you're a better team, then you have better players out there.

[00:17:08] You can do that.

[00:17:09] And, of course, you know, we're going to lose games.

[00:17:11] It's going to happen.

[00:17:12] You know, we're not going to go however many games left there are this year.

[00:17:15] You know, 51-0, whatever it is.

[00:17:17] It's not going to happen.

[00:17:19] We are going to lose games.

[00:17:20] But this team bounces back.

[00:17:22] They do look like now, okay, take away that Merzliken's amazing show that he put on against the Blue Jackets.

[00:17:30] And this team is, I think, about to go on a run.

[00:17:34] Now we have a couple of really tough games.

[00:17:36] And these next two games are going to kind of, I think, really set the tone of what to expect moving forward.

[00:17:43] And that's the home and home.

[00:17:44] What is that, Friday and Saturday?

[00:17:47] I'm trying to look.

[00:17:49] I believe that's that.

[00:17:50] I think it's Friday and Saturday.

[00:17:52] But Carolina hasn't been all that great.

[00:17:55] I mean, they just lose Nashville yesterday, too.

[00:17:57] What a day, also.

[00:17:59] You know, like the Islanders got smoked by Buffalo, which is hilarious.

[00:18:02] You know, Buffalo had to fucking win at least one more game, right?

[00:18:06] I mean, and just shame on you, Islanders.

[00:18:09] Like, you are so bad.

[00:18:10] Like, there's another team that it just, you know, we can talk a lot about.

[00:18:13] But we don't, I don't hate them nearly as much as I hate the Rangers.

[00:18:17] So it's much more fun to watch the Rangers go down the journey like this.

[00:18:21] I've forgotten about the Islanders sometimes.

[00:18:23] Right.

[00:18:23] You know, when you get, like, a trivia question.

[00:18:25] Like, you know, all the New York teams.

[00:18:26] And, like, the Rangers and Buffalo.

[00:18:28] And then I'm like, the Devils?

[00:18:29] And then I'm like, oh, fuck the Islanders.

[00:18:33] Yeah.

[00:18:34] It's just, you know, we're so well positioned right now.

[00:18:36] And fuck this schedule guy again.

[00:18:39] Like, Friday, Saturday.

[00:18:40] It's Friday, Saturday, home and home.

[00:18:41] But the good thing is it's the same team.

[00:18:43] So they're going to have the same circumstances as we are.

[00:18:46] So we're not, you know, the back-to-back is not an excuse.

[00:18:48] The travel is not an excuse.

[00:18:50] They're going through the same thing we are.

[00:18:51] But we're the better team right now than Carolina.

[00:18:53] Does it start in Jersey?

[00:18:55] Or do we start down there?

[00:18:58] They're at us first on Friday.

[00:19:00] Yeah, that's good.

[00:19:01] They have to travel.

[00:19:02] We don't.

[00:19:04] Yes, that's actually a good point.

[00:19:05] Yeah.

[00:19:05] So, you know, who knows?

[00:19:06] You know, they had a little bit of a Thanksgiving hangover this year

[00:19:10] coming out of that.

[00:19:12] So, you know, who knows?

[00:19:13] But we have enough of a cushion.

[00:19:14] If we split or even lose both, like, it's going to be okay.

[00:19:19] Like, I won't like it.

[00:19:21] But, you know, it's always a weird time of year.

[00:19:25] But, you know, the past two years we've had these pretty bad slides in December.

[00:19:29] You know, like last December, last year was really put the nail on our coffin.

[00:19:33] Two years ago was when people like Keith Yandel were saying, like,

[00:19:37] I don't think this team is for real.

[00:19:39] And we kind of dug ourselves out of that.

[00:19:42] But we've been just so fucking dominant.

[00:19:44] Like, the record they set.

[00:19:45] You know, that record they set.

[00:19:47] You know, seven straight games, under 20 shots.

[00:19:49] That has been done since, like, they started tracking shots in 1959-60.

[00:19:53] It really is ridiculous.

[00:19:56] And, you know, it goes a long way to talk about, you know,

[00:19:59] what the opposite of the Rangers are, right?

[00:20:02] Like, everyone's talking about Peter LaViolette and should he keep his job

[00:20:06] and this and that.

[00:20:06] Now, I don't know if LaViolette getting rid of him is the answer there.

[00:20:10] But whatever he's saying.

[00:20:12] And he seems just as defeated as everybody else on the bench.

[00:20:15] Like, he has no answers.

[00:20:17] The team has no answers.

[00:20:18] I think there's a huge rift between Chris Drury and the dressing room

[00:20:23] and management in general.

[00:20:26] And I think that that's – but yet you're not going to –

[00:20:29] I don't see them firing Chris Drury.

[00:20:31] I do see them firing Peter LaViolette.

[00:20:34] And if that does happen, I think the team is really going to check out

[00:20:37] because I think they like Peter LaViolette.

[00:20:40] But that's – the other – what I'm going with, though,

[00:20:43] is the Devils and Sheldon Keefe is the buy-in.

[00:20:46] How mature this team has been to buy-in to – it's not just about –

[00:20:52] and you saw this, you know, you see this with young players,

[00:20:54] like guys like Jack's age and even, you know, Brad's age and stuff.

[00:20:58] Like, these guys are concerned about their own stats.

[00:21:02] They're concerned about their own numbers.

[00:21:04] Yes, they want to win.

[00:21:05] But you see them, you know, not sticking to the game plan.

[00:21:10] You know, they are absolutely sticking to the game plan.

[00:21:13] They're absolutely – I mean, and to see what Sheldon Keefe is doing

[00:21:16] with Jack Hughes is fucking brilliant.

[00:21:20] Like, he's taking one of the best players in the league

[00:21:22] and making him so much more dynamic and lethal.

[00:21:26] We have now – Jack Hughes is playing in every situation on the ice.

[00:21:30] Mm-hmm.

[00:21:32] Lindy Rupp never would have thought about putting Jack Hughes on a penalty kill.

[00:21:36] And not only is Sheldon Keefe putting him on the penalty kill,

[00:21:38] he's thriving in that position.

[00:21:40] He's going to be a fantastic penalty killer.

[00:21:43] And, you know, a couple of years down the road, this guy, him and Brad,

[00:21:46] when they start – you mentioned it before, when they start taking off,

[00:21:49] forget about the – the shorthanded goals are going to –

[00:21:50] they're going to lead the league in short.

[00:21:52] Yeah, lead the league in short.

[00:21:53] Like, you know, the old Oilers of the 80s used to do the same thing.

[00:21:56] They put, you know, Gretzky and Glenn Anderson and Gary Curry on the penalty kill

[00:22:00] because they were like, why should we automatically assume

[00:22:03] that we should fall back?

[00:22:04] Like, why can't we still be an aggressor?

[00:22:06] If our two forwards are better than their three combined,

[00:22:09] like, why can't we put the – why can't we put the gas pedal down?

[00:22:12] They got some great opportunities as well against the Rangers.

[00:22:15] They had a nice two-on-one.

[00:22:16] And Jack is just such like a – we used the term ninja before with his stick.

[00:22:21] And he's always been pretty good at that.

[00:22:24] You know, like, he's been very good at stripping a defenseman, you know,

[00:22:27] when they're not looking in the offensive zone.

[00:22:30] But why not – why can't that translate?

[00:22:32] You know, he made, like – against Pittsburgh, he made, like,

[00:22:34] four or five incredible back-checking plays where he picked off passes.

[00:22:38] And he's so quick and so – and just so good in transition

[00:22:44] that he can turn that puck back up the ice in a heartbeat.

[00:22:47] And that's going to lead to so many amazing transition wrestlers.

[00:22:49] Once he really starts to kind of, like you said, figure it out –

[00:22:53] like, he's only played 10 games on the penalty kill.

[00:22:55] He's probably played, like, eight minutes in his career on the penalty kill.

[00:22:59] Once he starts fucking figuring this out.

[00:23:02] I agree.

[00:23:03] I agree.

[00:23:03] It's awesome to watch.

[00:23:04] I love what Sheldon Keefe is doing right now with this team.

[00:23:07] And I love the buy-in.

[00:23:09] And I just love how everybody has each other's backs.

[00:23:12] Everybody knows where the other person's going to be.

[00:23:15] They're all responsible.

[00:23:16] They're just sticking to the system and playing amazing hockey.

[00:23:19] And it's been a ton of fun to watch.

[00:23:21] And if I'm the rest of the league, I'm telling you,

[00:23:24] I don't want to play this team in a seven-game series.

[00:23:26] I just would not want to do it.

[00:23:28] No, no, absolutely not.

[00:23:28] Because they're just going to wear you the fuck down.

[00:23:30] They're going to frustrate you to the point that by game three,

[00:23:34] you're just going to be throwing your hands up in the air going,

[00:23:36] I don't know what the fuck we have to do.

[00:23:37] We can't get more than 17 fucking shots on goal.

[00:23:40] And that's what's going to happen.

[00:23:41] And it's going to be a help.

[00:23:45] Yeah, go ahead.

[00:23:45] I really, you know, let's get to the playoffs first.

[00:23:49] You know, like that's what I've been telling people.

[00:23:51] People are like, oh, when we're in the playoffs, you know,

[00:23:53] the marks from softies are going to cost us.

[00:23:55] It's like, how do you know?

[00:23:57] Like that's ridiculous.

[00:23:58] But have you watched this team over the past two weeks?

[00:24:01] It takes for goalies need to understand the defenseman's tendencies

[00:24:07] and what they're doing.

[00:24:10] And you can kind of see marks from slowly kind of understanding

[00:24:14] what those defensive tendencies are.

[00:24:16] The goalie is part of the system as well.

[00:24:18] Like if he stops the puck behind the net and there's a four checker,

[00:24:22] if he can feed it to Siegenthaler,

[00:24:23] could then reverse it back to Kovacevic and then we're out of the zone.

[00:24:26] Like you start to see that happening a little bit.

[00:24:28] Markstrom got a little loose a couple times in the Ranger game playing the puck,

[00:24:32] but he's breaking the puck out himself.

[00:24:34] He had like three or four like breakout passes.

[00:24:37] Like it was like, all right.

[00:24:38] Trying to keep himself as involved as possible.

[00:24:40] Yeah, exactly.

[00:24:41] Like a fucking guy could probably crack a beer and like sit in a lazy boy.

[00:24:45] Exactly.

[00:24:46] But if we keep suppressing shots like this,

[00:24:48] all he needs to do is make the saves that he's making.

[00:24:51] And I think falling into this nice little rhythm that we have here

[00:24:57] is just an absolute recipe for success.

[00:24:59] But let's get to the playoffs first.

[00:25:01] Like I'm enjoying this ride, man.

[00:25:02] This is fucking fun.

[00:25:03] This is a ton of fun.

[00:25:04] And I want the Metro.

[00:25:05] I want to win the Metro.

[00:25:06] I want to win the President's Trophy.

[00:25:09] Devils have never won the President's Trophy.

[00:25:10] I want it.

[00:25:11] And I don't believe in President's Trophy jinxes and bullshit like that.

[00:25:14] I don't believe in that.

[00:25:16] I also think that this team has kind of,

[00:25:20] this team's been through a lot.

[00:25:21] I mean,

[00:25:22] I know we have a lot of new guys,

[00:25:23] but you take the core group of guys and where these last three seasons have gone.

[00:25:28] I don't think that they're taking anything for granted this year.

[00:25:31] I think that they are fully aware that it can go as fast as it comes.

[00:25:37] And,

[00:25:37] you know,

[00:25:38] next year we might be injury riddled and bullshit like that.

[00:25:42] And maybe next year doesn't have,

[00:25:44] these opportunities don't come all the time where your team is as good as they are with a clear path to the postseason to do something that no devil team has done since 2012.

[00:25:55] And that's,

[00:25:56] you know,

[00:25:56] go deep in the playoffs.

[00:25:57] And I think that they're going to be able to do it.

[00:25:59] I don't think they're going to take anything for granted when the president's trophy and then go win the Stanley Cup.

[00:26:03] And then,

[00:26:04] you know,

[00:26:04] you can be that team that,

[00:26:06] you know,

[00:26:06] since the Blackhawks that you can say,

[00:26:08] yeah,

[00:26:09] no,

[00:26:09] there's no jinx here.

[00:26:10] We're just fucking better than everybody.

[00:26:12] Exactly.

[00:26:12] And honestly,

[00:26:13] that's,

[00:26:14] that's,

[00:26:14] it's a myth,

[00:26:14] you know,

[00:26:15] because some president's trophies winners haven't won,

[00:26:18] but 16 teams make the playoffs every year.

[00:26:20] And like 20% of the time,

[00:26:22] the president's trophy winner has won the actual Stanley Cup.

[00:26:25] So it's,

[00:26:25] it's really not,

[00:26:26] you know,

[00:26:27] if one of 16 teams win and 20% of the president's trophy winners win the cup,

[00:26:32] then yeah,

[00:26:33] mathematically that there is no such thing occurs.

[00:26:36] Yeah.

[00:26:36] Winning,

[00:26:36] winning the Stanley Cup is extremely difficult.

[00:26:38] And,

[00:26:39] you know,

[00:26:39] there's a whole lot of factors that go into it,

[00:26:41] but I can't wait.

[00:26:43] I cannot wait.

[00:26:45] All right.

[00:26:45] We're going to do a little housekeeping here.

[00:26:47] And then housekeeping.

[00:26:50] Actually,

[00:26:51] I don't know if we,

[00:26:52] I don't know if we are going to do any housekeeping because I don't know if I have my other scripts.

[00:26:57] Oh yes,

[00:26:58] I do.

[00:26:58] Look people just get your fucking tickets to game time.

[00:27:00] I got it.

[00:27:01] Yeah,

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[00:27:02] You guys know about game time,

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[00:29:14] All right.

[00:29:15] Sure.

[00:29:16] So,

[00:29:16] you know,

[00:29:17] I'm a,

[00:29:17] you know,

[00:29:18] that this,

[00:29:18] um,

[00:29:19] under 20 shot thing is going to be difficult to keep,

[00:29:22] uh,

[00:29:22] against Carolina.

[00:29:23] They just love to shoot the frigging puck.

[00:29:25] Oh my God.

[00:29:26] What the,

[00:29:29] I was holding up Joe,

[00:29:31] boo the entire time you were reading that.

[00:29:33] I gotta say,

[00:29:34] our advertisers must be happy with your focus.

[00:29:37] Cause I held them up the entire fucking time.

[00:29:38] I was reading the script.

[00:29:40] I don't,

[00:29:40] I have it somewhat memorized.

[00:29:42] Um,

[00:29:42] like when I'm listening to like the NFL network on XM and stuff and they do the

[00:29:46] same read,

[00:29:47] I can recite it verbatim with them,

[00:29:48] but,

[00:29:49] uh,

[00:29:49] yeah,

[00:29:50] just do it off the cuff.

[00:29:51] I still need my script with me.

[00:29:52] That's all.

[00:29:53] Yeah.

[00:29:54] But Joe,

[00:29:54] Joe approves.

[00:29:55] Fuck you,

[00:29:56] Joe.

[00:29:56] I do it myself.

[00:29:58] So I do want to talk about Matt Rempe.

[00:30:00] I do just want to dive into this fucking sideshow freak that he is.

[00:30:06] Right.

[00:30:08] So again,

[00:30:10] an eight game suspension for the hit on Miro Hayskin and the other night

[00:30:13] against Dallas.

[00:30:14] Um,

[00:30:14] and I,

[00:30:15] I,

[00:30:15] I've been kind of going back and forth with Matt Rempe.

[00:30:17] Like,

[00:30:18] is he a dirty player?

[00:30:20] All right.

[00:30:21] Or is he just really bad at hockey?

[00:30:25] Or is he just an idiot that doesn't get it?

[00:30:29] Like there's,

[00:30:30] and I think there's a little bit of everything.

[00:30:32] Like,

[00:30:33] I don't necessarily know if I think he's a dirty player.

[00:30:36] I don't think he intentionally goes out there.

[00:30:39] It's like Lenny and the rabbits to me.

[00:30:41] You know what I mean?

[00:30:42] It's like,

[00:30:42] he wants to hit you and he wants to do his job,

[00:30:46] but he just can't help,

[00:30:47] but take the little bunny and while he's petting it and just break its

[00:30:50] little fucking neck.

[00:30:52] That's,

[00:30:53] that's Matt Rempe.

[00:30:54] And I don't,

[00:30:55] I just,

[00:30:56] so it's like,

[00:30:57] he's a complete liability.

[00:30:58] Like devil,

[00:30:59] I mean,

[00:30:59] now Ranger fans that,

[00:31:00] that love this guy,

[00:31:02] I cannot figure it out because if he was on the devils,

[00:31:04] I would want him off of this fucking team.

[00:31:06] I would not want him on this team.

[00:31:09] He does nothing to,

[00:31:11] Oh,

[00:31:11] well,

[00:31:11] he brings a energy.

[00:31:13] No,

[00:31:13] he,

[00:31:13] he gets you five minute majors.

[00:31:17] He's injuring guys,

[00:31:18] hurting them.

[00:31:19] You know,

[00:31:19] this is not a league.

[00:31:20] I get it.

[00:31:21] I don't,

[00:31:21] I don't ever want to see hitting leave hockey.

[00:31:23] I never want to see fighting leave hockey,

[00:31:25] but when you have a guy that just,

[00:31:27] and in this,

[00:31:28] well,

[00:31:28] his elbow keeps getting up close.

[00:31:30] He's tall.

[00:31:30] I stop.

[00:31:32] That's the dumbest.

[00:31:33] There have been tall people in this league forever.

[00:31:38] All right.

[00:31:38] It does not give you an excuse.

[00:31:40] Like if,

[00:31:41] you know,

[00:31:42] if Theo Fleury,

[00:31:43] every time he checked somebody nailed them in the nuts,

[00:31:45] you know,

[00:31:46] elbow them in the balls,

[00:31:47] you'd say,

[00:31:47] well,

[00:31:48] he's short,

[00:31:48] you know,

[00:31:49] no,

[00:31:49] it's,

[00:31:49] it's,

[00:31:49] you can't have it both ways.

[00:31:51] Like this is,

[00:31:52] this guy is just not a good hockey player.

[00:31:55] And I think that people need to realize this eight games is

[00:32:00] completely acceptable.

[00:32:01] And probably the good amount.

[00:32:03] Like,

[00:32:03] I mean,

[00:32:04] how many times does he have to get thrown out of games?

[00:32:07] How many times does he have to get elbowing majors?

[00:32:09] How many times does he have to get fucking suspended before you

[00:32:12] realize the guy's not good at hockey and he comes out.

[00:32:16] And I mean,

[00:32:16] you watch these clips of him actually playing hockey,

[00:32:19] not hitting people.

[00:32:20] He's hysterical.

[00:32:22] He's flying into boards when nobody's around.

[00:32:24] He's falling on the ice.

[00:32:25] He's like Bambi on the fucking,

[00:32:27] he's like,

[00:32:27] he's like a fucking giraffe learning,

[00:32:29] like a baby giraffe learning how to walk.

[00:32:31] Like it just,

[00:32:32] I agree with you.

[00:32:33] And I think it's kind of all those things mixed in together.

[00:32:37] I think one,

[00:32:37] you know what?

[00:32:38] Look,

[00:32:38] he is a young guy trying to make the NHL and he knows what he brings.

[00:32:43] That's being physical and doing his best with his limited skillset.

[00:32:47] And he's going to be a fourth liner.

[00:32:50] You know,

[00:32:50] that's his,

[00:32:50] his absolute ceiling.

[00:32:54] I think he is just fucking stupid.

[00:32:56] Like he,

[00:32:57] and can't control himself.

[00:32:59] And he needs to be able to learn how to control himself because yeah,

[00:33:04] he is bigger than everybody,

[00:33:05] but that doesn't mean that isn't just an excuse to like fucking take guys heads

[00:33:09] off with your elbow.

[00:33:10] Like you need to be able to work within the confines of what your physical

[00:33:13] limitations are.

[00:33:14] And he,

[00:33:16] or physical gifts are.

[00:33:18] And,

[00:33:18] and again,

[00:33:20] and again,

[00:33:20] and again,

[00:33:21] what's he been suspended?

[00:33:22] Like for 18% of the games that he's played in,

[00:33:24] he has,

[00:33:25] you know,

[00:33:25] 22 game suspension.

[00:33:27] He's been,

[00:33:27] or 22 games.

[00:33:28] He's played in like 25.

[00:33:29] He's been suspended for,

[00:33:31] like,

[00:33:31] he's not learning his lesson.

[00:33:33] And what really pissed me off.

[00:33:34] Well,

[00:33:35] a,

[00:33:35] you know,

[00:33:36] that was,

[00:33:36] that was three things in one,

[00:33:38] you know,

[00:33:38] it was square in the square in the numbers of Haskin in.

[00:33:41] Like,

[00:33:41] you can't do that like that.

[00:33:42] You see the numbers,

[00:33:43] you got to back off.

[00:33:44] Yeah.

[00:33:45] Like I played against Travis Roy,

[00:33:47] who,

[00:33:47] who got paralyzed playing,

[00:33:49] playing at BU.

[00:33:50] He was probably one of the more famous guys.

[00:33:51] And he was one of the best players I've ever played against in my life.

[00:33:54] And it's a fucking shame that happened.

[00:33:56] He didn't necessarily get paralyzed by a hit from behind,

[00:33:58] but that angle that he was at where your chin is right at the dasher is one of the most dangerous and prone positions you can be in.

[00:34:06] And you cannot hit a guy from behind when they're in that position,

[00:34:10] because they,

[00:34:11] someone is going to get paralyzed if that happens and they're trying to take it out in youth hockey.

[00:34:15] They put little stop signs on the back of jerseys to warn kids like,

[00:34:20] Hey,

[00:34:21] think about this.

[00:34:22] Don't hit them from behind.

[00:34:23] So that's thing.

[00:34:23] One thing to sign.

[00:34:25] You got to lay up,

[00:34:26] see the sign.

[00:34:27] Stop.

[00:34:27] Yeah.

[00:34:28] Thing.

[00:34:28] And I don't want to take hitting out of hockey.

[00:34:30] I don't want to take big hits at hockey,

[00:34:32] but there's a way to do it.

[00:34:33] Like look at our little five foot 10,

[00:34:35] and Jasper Bradt fucking drilled some guy who's twice the size yesterday.

[00:34:39] Like,

[00:34:39] like there's a way to do it.

[00:34:40] Thing.

[00:34:41] Number two is his elbow came up after he started lining up.

[00:34:46] He's getting in from behind and his elbow.

[00:34:48] He needs to be able to control his elbows because every elbow.

[00:34:53] Now,

[00:34:53] when you clip someone in the head,

[00:34:54] that is concussion protocol and probably a concussion.

[00:34:57] It happened to Siegenthaler last year.

[00:34:59] Like,

[00:35:00] like you cannot keep getting your hub.

[00:35:02] Like keep that elbow talk to put your shoulder into shoulder.

[00:35:04] If your shoulder hits the guy's head because he's in a prone position,

[00:35:08] that is kind of the one gray area that I don't think the league really has a

[00:35:12] solution for.

[00:35:13] And it's a difficult solution.

[00:35:14] You can't ask a guy to let up,

[00:35:16] but he needs to keep that elbow talking.

[00:35:18] And third,

[00:35:19] it looked like he jumped a little bit.

[00:35:21] And if you're already six foot seven and 10 feet on skates,

[00:35:25] like you can't jump into that hit because that provides a lot more force

[00:35:29] into the guy on the board.

[00:35:30] So just the mixture of all those things,

[00:35:32] it's extremely dirty.

[00:35:33] He needs to learn how to control himself.

[00:35:36] And what really pissed me off is when he was skating off the ice,

[00:35:39] he put his head up to his ear.

[00:35:41] I wanted to talk.

[00:35:42] And I'm like,

[00:35:43] you know what?

[00:35:44] Like I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he's a big,

[00:35:47] dumb fucking oaf and needs to learn.

[00:35:49] But that shows me someone who is never,

[00:35:51] ever,

[00:35:51] ever going to fucking learn their lesson.

[00:35:53] Like,

[00:35:54] it's like,

[00:35:55] um,

[00:35:55] for all the teachers out there,

[00:35:56] it's like that dumb fucking kid in the back of your classroom that disrupts

[00:36:00] the class all the time.

[00:36:01] He's just a fucking asshole.

[00:36:02] And he thinks it's funny.

[00:36:03] And that kid's going to be in jail.

[00:36:05] He steals cop cars and kill small animals for fun.

[00:36:07] He's a fucking asshole.

[00:36:09] He shouldn't be in the league at his current state.

[00:36:11] If he can learn something great.

[00:36:13] But what he did over the summer was learning how to fight.

[00:36:16] He didn't learn how to skate.

[00:36:17] He didn't learn how to hit properly.

[00:36:19] And they have,

[00:36:19] yeah,

[00:36:21] they have Michael Pekka who is one of the biggest assholes on the ice as an

[00:36:24] assistant coach.

[00:36:25] Michael Pekka needs to take this guy aside and teach him how to hit before

[00:36:30] actually he does break someone's fucking neck.

[00:36:33] And that's,

[00:36:34] that's the problem.

[00:36:34] And exactly what you said was when I was going back and forth about,

[00:36:38] is he dirty?

[00:36:38] Is he not?

[00:36:39] The thing that I kept going back to,

[00:36:41] and I forgot to bring this up was exactly that.

[00:36:43] When you're coming off the ice and you're doing your fucking,

[00:36:46] Hulk Hogan,

[00:36:47] head into the ear thing to the crowd in,

[00:36:50] in Dallas's barn after you just fucking creamed one of their superstars.

[00:36:56] That shows me that,

[00:36:58] yeah,

[00:36:58] you know what?

[00:36:59] This isn't just that this guy is not good at what he does.

[00:37:02] It's the fact that he loves hurting people and this is what he wanted to do.

[00:37:07] This is,

[00:37:07] you know,

[00:37:08] he,

[00:37:08] and to go and do that to the fucking crowd just shows what a fucking complete

[00:37:12] scumbag you are because Haskinen could have been laying there.

[00:37:15] Like you said,

[00:37:16] unconscious with a concussion,

[00:37:17] whatever this motherfucker doesn't care.

[00:37:21] So last year,

[00:37:22] we heard it with him,

[00:37:23] you know,

[00:37:24] Oh,

[00:37:24] he's,

[00:37:24] you know,

[00:37:25] he's going to learn.

[00:37:25] He's young.

[00:37:26] He's this,

[00:37:27] he's it.

[00:37:27] Now he's back in the lineup.

[00:37:28] He's doing the same shit to me.

[00:37:30] He's not going to learn.

[00:37:31] I don't care how many people you take.

[00:37:33] And I mean,

[00:37:33] he gets,

[00:37:34] he does a hit like this again.

[00:37:35] If you're the Rangers,

[00:37:37] how do you put him back in the lineup this year?

[00:37:39] How can you trust him?

[00:37:40] I don't,

[00:37:41] I wouldn't.

[00:37:42] Yeah.

[00:37:42] How do you trust him to not do it again?

[00:37:44] Because the league,

[00:37:45] if he does this shit again and does another high elbow,

[00:37:49] five minute major thrown out of a fucking game,

[00:37:53] I think that,

[00:37:54] you know,

[00:37:54] what's the next suspension indefinite at that point?

[00:37:56] Like you can't have a guy that just keeps on doing this.

[00:38:00] You know,

[00:38:00] at some point you have to say,

[00:38:02] okay,

[00:38:02] enough,

[00:38:03] you know,

[00:38:03] go to the ECHL and figure your shit out because what pisses me off is also is,

[00:38:09] is the kind of tribalism and it exists in all walks of life.

[00:38:12] We just saw it a couple months ago when a certain big thing happened.

[00:38:16] Like you need to be able to admit when someone on your team does something stupid and wrong,

[00:38:22] you know,

[00:38:23] like we're,

[00:38:23] we're dealing with that now,

[00:38:25] you know,

[00:38:25] with like what I said,

[00:38:26] you know,

[00:38:26] and,

[00:38:27] and you need to be able to admit that the tribalism,

[00:38:29] when Rangers fans come up and be like,

[00:38:32] you didn't do anything wrong.

[00:38:33] It's like,

[00:38:33] yeah,

[00:38:33] he did like fucking admit it.

[00:38:34] Like I'll admit,

[00:38:35] like when McDermott fucking elbows someone off,

[00:38:38] you know,

[00:38:38] I'll admit that,

[00:38:39] you know,

[00:38:39] like I've admitted when,

[00:38:40] when we've made stupid,

[00:38:42] stupid fucking penalties,

[00:38:43] like the amount of stupid stick infractions at hollow takes,

[00:38:46] like fucking knock that shit off.

[00:38:48] You need to be able to admit when,

[00:38:50] when,

[00:38:50] you know,

[00:38:50] your guy is doing something wrong.

[00:38:53] Being a fan of the team does not mean that you have this complete blinders,

[00:38:59] they can do no wrong bullshit.

[00:39:01] Like we were not experts.

[00:39:03] We're not,

[00:39:03] you know,

[00:39:04] in the media per se,

[00:39:05] we're a bunch of big hockey fans who love the New Jersey devils that like to get together and talk about it.

[00:39:11] And if the devils look,

[00:39:12] you listen to our shows last year,

[00:39:14] we were so critical of this team from every,

[00:39:18] from management on down.

[00:39:20] It was just because that's what you were seeing.

[00:39:23] And exactly what you said,

[00:39:24] I wouldn't sit here.

[00:39:25] You can't just sit here and take the side of your team because you like them when they are allowing this guy to go out there and actually fucking hurt people.

[00:39:35] Now,

[00:39:35] all these people like,

[00:39:36] Oh,

[00:39:37] there's hockey's getting soft.

[00:39:39] You know,

[00:39:39] now you can't hit people that there's,

[00:39:41] there's,

[00:39:42] it's night and fucking day.

[00:39:43] This isn't a referendum on checking in hockey or physicality in hockey.

[00:39:47] It's about one dumb motherfucker that can't control himself.

[00:39:50] And I don't want to see anybody get fucking hurt and to the point where they can't play anymore or anything like that.

[00:39:56] And that's going to happen.

[00:39:57] Like you said,

[00:39:57] he's going to take somebody out and he's going to ruin somebody's career.

[00:40:00] And NHL lost Haskinen.

[00:40:04] Like that's,

[00:40:05] that's terrible,

[00:40:06] right?

[00:40:06] That's a terrible thing to happen.

[00:40:08] He's one of the bright,

[00:40:08] long stars.

[00:40:11] Like,

[00:40:12] like if Rempe were to somehow take out Jack Hughes,

[00:40:15] like that is fucking devastating for the league.

[00:40:18] And,

[00:40:18] and that is not good for hockey.

[00:40:20] Like this is not good for hockey.

[00:40:22] We want physicality in it,

[00:40:23] but we want it good,

[00:40:24] clean physicality.

[00:40:25] The other thing,

[00:40:27] sorry to go on a rant again,

[00:40:29] but please rant away.

[00:40:30] You've seen this too.

[00:40:32] When people are like,

[00:40:32] you devil's fans watch Scott Stevens for 20 years.

[00:40:35] The two are nothing compared to each other.

[00:40:39] Scott Stevens played within the rules at the time.

[00:40:41] Only got like nine elbowing penalties in his phone.

[00:40:44] No,

[00:40:44] I think it's like two.

[00:40:45] Is it really?

[00:40:46] I think it's,

[00:40:47] yeah,

[00:40:47] it's,

[00:40:48] it's super low.

[00:40:49] I think he only had like two,

[00:40:50] but Stevens led with his shoulder and fucking annihilated people.

[00:40:53] That's it.

[00:40:54] He hurt people.

[00:40:55] He definitely did.

[00:40:56] And,

[00:40:57] you know,

[00:40:57] like Marchand said last year,

[00:40:58] like,

[00:40:58] yeah,

[00:40:58] maybe we're trying to hurt people in the playoffs,

[00:41:00] but he's doing it cleanly.

[00:41:01] And within the,

[00:41:02] within the rules,

[00:41:03] like,

[00:41:03] you know,

[00:41:04] that I don't,

[00:41:05] that it's not even a comparison.

[00:41:07] 100%,

[00:41:08] 100%.

[00:41:08] It's night and day.

[00:41:10] And yeah,

[00:41:11] no,

[00:41:12] and you're a hundred percent.

[00:41:12] Right.

[00:41:13] He had four elbowing penalties in his entire career.

[00:41:17] Really?

[00:41:17] Scott Stevens.

[00:41:18] Yeah.

[00:41:19] So I just used my dyslexia to come up with nine.

[00:41:22] Yeah.

[00:41:22] He had a four elbow.

[00:41:24] And so Stevens has says here,

[00:41:26] 2785 penalty minutes in his career with only eight of them being for

[00:41:31] elbowing.

[00:41:32] Yep.

[00:41:33] Yeah.

[00:41:34] And if Rempe can harness that and become a good fourth line for checker

[00:41:39] and scare the shit out of defensemen with big hits behind the net that

[00:41:43] are legal and clean,

[00:41:44] or maybe toe in the line just a little bit,

[00:41:46] you can't fucking jump at someone's back with a flying elbow.

[00:41:49] Like that's some fucking Randy Savage type of shit.

[00:41:52] Right.

[00:41:52] You can't do that.

[00:41:54] My issue though,

[00:41:55] with Rempe being an actual NHL player is just the fact that he can't skate.

[00:41:59] Like I just put that right in there.

[00:42:01] Like you can't skate.

[00:42:02] Like if you want to be a fourth line grinder that,

[00:42:05] like you said,

[00:42:05] goes behind the net,

[00:42:07] lays some big hits out on some D men and this and that,

[00:42:09] like you have to be able to get there.

[00:42:11] You have to be able to line that up.

[00:42:12] You have to like,

[00:42:13] Hey,

[00:42:14] Haskin in was the easiest check he had.

[00:42:15] I mean,

[00:42:16] he was facing the boards.

[00:42:17] The numbers were clear as day.

[00:42:19] He had just gotten rid of the puck and you just saw fucking a green light to

[00:42:23] go and drill this guy.

[00:42:24] You look at the hit on Segent dollar last year skating completely off of

[00:42:29] Segent dollar's blind side,

[00:42:31] getting the elbow up and cracking them.

[00:42:32] Like Segent dollar didn't even see him coming.

[00:42:34] Like this guy just can't skate.

[00:42:36] Like that's his other,

[00:42:37] like I don't see him ever being a valuable piece in any NHL lineup.

[00:42:42] I just don't see it.

[00:42:43] And maybe I'll be wrong,

[00:42:44] but he hasn't shown me that he's even remotely capable of,

[00:42:50] of playing that part and,

[00:42:52] you know,

[00:42:53] worked on his fighting.

[00:42:54] Okay.

[00:42:55] This and that,

[00:42:55] whatever you needed to work on your fucking skating.

[00:42:58] Right.

[00:42:58] Go work with Jessica,

[00:42:59] go work with just a rat skating coach,

[00:43:01] man.

[00:43:01] Right.

[00:43:02] What are you doing?

[00:43:03] And,

[00:43:03] you know,

[00:43:03] he's a,

[00:43:04] he's a fucking sideshow and it's just perfect to me that like,

[00:43:09] he's a ranger.

[00:43:10] Like it's perfect.

[00:43:12] Right.

[00:43:12] It's perfect.

[00:43:13] Without their,

[00:43:14] just with how their season's going,

[00:43:16] having this idiot out there for an eight game suspension.

[00:43:18] But all that being said,

[00:43:22] if Peter lobby,

[00:43:23] let us coaching this team,

[00:43:25] eight ranger games from now,

[00:43:27] when they play us again,

[00:43:29] I bet Rempe is in the lineup.

[00:43:31] Absolutely.

[00:43:31] And we'll put McDermott out there.

[00:43:33] And,

[00:43:34] you know,

[00:43:35] like what,

[00:43:35] what are the,

[00:43:35] like,

[00:43:36] that's,

[00:43:36] that's kind of the,

[00:43:37] I think the problem with hockey cultures,

[00:43:39] the Rangers will now look at this,

[00:43:41] like,

[00:43:41] what do we have to lose?

[00:43:42] Right.

[00:43:43] I'd be surprised if Laviolette was still coaching by then,

[00:43:46] but you know,

[00:43:47] I,

[00:43:47] I think,

[00:43:48] you know,

[00:43:48] we,

[00:43:48] you mentioned earlier,

[00:43:49] I didn't really weigh in on it,

[00:43:51] but getting rid of the coach is easiest,

[00:43:53] easiest way to kind of try and correct,

[00:43:55] correct a sink and shit.

[00:43:58] I very rarely,

[00:43:59] and I don't know how often it's actually happened.

[00:44:03] An actual GM in the NHL has been fired mid season.

[00:44:06] I feel like it happened once recently.

[00:44:08] Oh,

[00:44:08] it's Columbus when Yarrow,

[00:44:10] Yarrow Kekalainen got fired.

[00:44:13] That's right.

[00:44:14] They did fire Kekalainen.

[00:44:15] But other than that,

[00:44:16] other than that,

[00:44:17] I don't think it really happens ever.

[00:44:20] I'm trying to think.

[00:44:22] I,

[00:44:22] I,

[00:44:22] I agree with you.

[00:44:23] I don't think that there has been,

[00:44:25] that I could remember.

[00:44:26] I think Kekalainen was the last one.

[00:44:28] And then they brought Don Waddell in now,

[00:44:30] but I don't know who,

[00:44:32] trying to think,

[00:44:33] like,

[00:44:33] was it Rob Blake?

[00:44:34] No,

[00:44:34] he's still there in LA.

[00:44:35] I know there was talk of him getting fired last year and stuff.

[00:44:39] And,

[00:44:40] um,

[00:44:40] he's made some,

[00:44:42] yeah,

[00:44:42] he's made some bad.

[00:44:43] The Kings are,

[00:44:43] the Kings are nasty.

[00:44:44] So getting out of what,

[00:44:45] what Blake did was he admitted a mistake and dumped PLD.

[00:44:48] Right.

[00:44:49] And he fixed it the best he could.

[00:44:51] Yeah.

[00:44:51] I think we still have the best GM in the league.

[00:44:53] I do have,

[00:44:54] I agree right now.

[00:44:55] Absolutely.

[00:44:56] I do have one more.

[00:44:57] This is kind of becoming a show of just Ranger hate,

[00:44:59] which I'm fine with.

[00:45:00] But there's now this talk of like Sean Avery,

[00:45:06] Sean Avery as either the new GM or the new head coach.

[00:45:11] Does Sean Avery have any experience doing either of those things?

[00:45:15] So I mean,

[00:45:17] this is a guy before Rempe was the biggest sideshow clown in the NHL,

[00:45:22] especially against the devils.

[00:45:23] And now this guy's,

[00:45:25] you know,

[00:45:27] chirping on,

[00:45:27] on,

[00:45:28] on social media that he can turn his team around and he's going to be this

[00:45:32] or that.

[00:45:32] And then like,

[00:45:33] it's actually has legs.

[00:45:35] Like,

[00:45:35] did he just get thrown into the conversation because he said on social media

[00:45:39] that he can fix this?

[00:45:41] Like,

[00:45:41] I don't know.

[00:45:42] I don't understand any of it.

[00:45:44] Like he hits man.

[00:45:45] Like I would love for that to see that to happen because that would just be an

[00:45:50] absolute fucking sideshow.

[00:45:52] But Avery,

[00:45:53] I guess has a pretty good relationship with Dolan and obviously it's,

[00:45:56] it's Dolan's decision.

[00:45:57] And Dolan is such a casual kind of Ranger hockey fan,

[00:46:01] you know,

[00:46:01] even though he owns the team,

[00:46:03] he's such more of a,

[00:46:03] so much of a bigger Knicks guy.

[00:46:06] Right.

[00:46:06] That Avery is,

[00:46:08] is the kind of name that resonates with him from a Rangers because of,

[00:46:11] you know,

[00:46:12] big tough raw guys.

[00:46:13] So Avery had a somewhat of a proxy interview on spitting chicklets this week

[00:46:20] where he basically talked about the things he would do.

[00:46:24] And Avery,

[00:46:24] Avery does know the game,

[00:46:26] you know,

[00:46:26] he does know,

[00:46:27] you know,

[00:46:28] kind of the X's and O's of the game.

[00:46:29] And he,

[00:46:30] he does this thing with with like this little laser pointer that's,

[00:46:33] that are actually pretty funny.

[00:46:34] If,

[00:46:35] if you check them out,

[00:46:36] I think mostly on Instagram where he just points out all the soft,

[00:46:40] lazy shit that the Rangers are doing.

[00:46:42] And,

[00:46:42] you know,

[00:46:42] Mika's advantage.

[00:46:43] Jad has been a target to him.

[00:46:44] Crider's been a target to him.

[00:46:45] Kendra Miller's been a target to him.

[00:46:47] So I think from a special kind of assistant and a coaching perspective,

[00:46:52] that's what he knows.

[00:46:53] That's probably where his value is.

[00:46:55] But being a GM,

[00:46:56] it's not a fucking video game.

[00:46:59] Like,

[00:46:59] like I,

[00:47:00] I did an internship with,

[00:47:02] with a certain GM for a certain team that is on 33rd street.

[00:47:06] And you cannot,

[00:47:08] it's much,

[00:47:09] much more than just making fake trades up and sending them to your buddies.

[00:47:13] There's so much more that goes into GM,

[00:47:15] particularly now with analytics and hockey operations and player development and

[00:47:19] knowing what's going on in the HL and the ECHL and where everything is,

[00:47:22] you know,

[00:47:23] it's not just,

[00:47:23] you know,

[00:47:24] swinging a trade for a guy,

[00:47:25] you know,

[00:47:26] there's what's going on in the locker room.

[00:47:27] How are you communicating with your coaches?

[00:47:29] Like there's so much more that goes into it.

[00:47:31] It's not just moving,

[00:47:32] moving pieces around on a chessboard and sitting back in the,

[00:47:35] in the press box.

[00:47:37] Like it's,

[00:47:37] it's a very difficult job.

[00:47:39] These guys are on the phone all day,

[00:47:41] like throwing out speculative trades.

[00:47:44] But.

[00:47:45] Well,

[00:47:45] no,

[00:47:45] no,

[00:47:45] no,

[00:47:46] I was just going to say like Sean Avery has,

[00:47:47] I was just looking at,

[00:47:48] if you guys want to see what kind of fucking real scumbag this guy is,

[00:47:52] just go on Wikipedia and read his Wikipedia page.

[00:47:55] Like this dude is a special kind of fucking douchebag.

[00:47:58] So.

[00:47:59] And he has no experience running a team,

[00:48:01] whether coaching or managing,

[00:48:03] he has no idea how to do it.

[00:48:05] And it would be fitting that Dolan would name him either head coach or GM.

[00:48:09] I would love to see him as GM,

[00:48:10] because I think 90% of the GMs in the league would not fucking do business

[00:48:15] with this guy.

[00:48:16] And,

[00:48:16] you know,

[00:48:17] there are,

[00:48:17] there are a ton of GMs that stick together.

[00:48:20] They like each other.

[00:48:21] They work with each other.

[00:48:22] And Tom Fitzgerald has a great relationship with most of the GMs in the

[00:48:25] league,

[00:48:26] but there are other guys.

[00:48:27] That if the teams are more reluctant to deal with,

[00:48:31] because they like,

[00:48:32] this guy has been suspended a shitload.

[00:48:34] He's like constantly just this,

[00:48:36] like.

[00:48:37] So on November,

[00:48:38] he was a menace.

[00:48:39] On November 1st,

[00:48:40] 2008,

[00:48:41] I'm just going to read this a little bit off Wikipedia.

[00:48:43] Following a game with the stars against the Bruins,

[00:48:45] Avery was accused of shouting obscenities at a fan who had been heckling him

[00:48:49] during the game.

[00:48:49] A report of complaint was filed with the NHL,

[00:48:52] but no action was taken.

[00:48:54] On December 2nd,

[00:48:55] 2008,

[00:48:56] prior to the stars morning skate in preparation for a game against the flames,

[00:49:00] Avery approached the assembled,

[00:49:02] assembled,

[00:49:03] assembled,

[00:49:03] assembled,

[00:49:04] assembled reporters in the dressing room and stated,

[00:49:06] I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds.

[00:49:12] I don't know what that's about,

[00:49:14] but enjoy the game tonight.

[00:49:15] At the time,

[00:49:16] two of Avery's ex-girlfriends were dating fellow NHL players.

[00:49:20] Actress Alicia Cuthbert was dating flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf and model Rachel Hunter was dating King Center Jared Stoll.

[00:49:28] So within hours,

[00:49:29] the NHL suspended Avery indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the league or the game of hockey.

[00:49:35] His comments were met with near unanimous condemnation by the stars organization.

[00:49:39] Fellow players and fans alike,

[00:49:41] stars owner Tom Hicks said that he played for the stars.

[00:49:45] Stars owner Tom Hicks said that the team would have suspended Avery had the NHL not acted first.

[00:49:50] Avery apologized the next day,

[00:49:52] calling his actions inappropriate and a bad attempt to build excitement of the game.

[00:49:58] And then on December 5th,

[00:49:59] the NHL fixed the suspension to six games.

[00:50:02] So yeah,

[00:50:03] that was just one of the things that he did.

[00:50:06] He had to,

[00:50:07] he agreed to undergo anger management counseling due to what the NHL called it.

[00:50:11] Unacceptable and anti-social behavior.

[00:50:14] Commissioner Gary Bettman noted that both he and league's disciplinarian Colin Campbell had warned Avery several times before about his behavior.

[00:50:22] And on December 14th,

[00:50:24] after the last game of Avery suspension,

[00:50:26] the stars announced that Avery would not return to the team and they got rid of him.

[00:50:31] One factor to the stars decision was that coach Dave Tippett and several of the players,

[00:50:35] including Mike Madonna and Marty Turco,

[00:50:37] let it be known.

[00:50:38] They weren't willing to take him back on the team.

[00:50:40] Tippett had warned Avery not to talk to the media about his former girlfriends and was outraged when he did so.

[00:50:45] According to TSN's James Duthie,

[00:50:48] Avery's teammates soured on him not long after he arrived.

[00:50:51] The sloppy seconds incident was the last straw.

[00:50:54] And Hicks had been actively looking to cut ties with him while the suspension was underway.

[00:50:59] And that's one story.

[00:51:01] All right.

[00:51:02] There's the Wikipedia pages filled with this shit.

[00:51:05] That's who the Rangers want to run their team.

[00:51:08] Please,

[00:51:09] please fucking go.

[00:51:10] The anger management thing is hilarious.

[00:51:11] Like,

[00:51:12] and he actually mentioned it in his,

[00:51:13] because I listened to that little interview with Chicklets and he's actually made some reasonable points.

[00:51:17] I was like,

[00:51:17] huh?

[00:51:17] Um,

[00:51:18] he was actually the one that talked about Michael Pecca teaching Rempe how to hit.

[00:51:21] And he had a reasonable take on Rempe.

[00:51:23] He was like,

[00:51:24] he's like,

[00:51:24] this guy needs to fucking like,

[00:51:26] like clean it up.

[00:51:27] Like he's,

[00:51:28] he's just,

[00:51:29] this isn't,

[00:51:29] this isn't good.

[00:51:30] So,

[00:51:31] um,

[00:51:31] not meat kettle.

[00:51:32] I still,

[00:51:33] I still would just,

[00:51:35] just for the sideshow of it,

[00:51:37] it would be hilarious.

[00:51:38] I know.

[00:51:39] I would love Rangers are circling the,

[00:51:40] the Rangers are circling the drain.

[00:51:42] I'm loving it.

[00:51:42] Merry Christmas to us.

[00:51:44] Um,

[00:51:45] but speaking of Rempe and fourth liners,

[00:51:47] I,

[00:51:48] um,

[00:51:48] I wrote this up in our,

[00:51:49] in our little recap.

[00:51:50] I'm not sure when Bobby's gonna be able to post it to know he's running around,

[00:51:53] but,

[00:51:53] um,

[00:51:54] our fourth line as currently constructed,

[00:51:57] the Tatar Dowling bastion fourth line,

[00:51:59] isn't playing great.

[00:52:00] Like they're doing exactly what you want fourth line to be.

[00:52:03] Um,

[00:52:04] I know,

[00:52:05] you know,

[00:52:05] a lot of people kind of don't really jive with analytics,

[00:52:08] you know,

[00:52:08] but their expected goals for has been above 90%,

[00:52:12] meaning they're controlling over 90% of zone time and chances when,

[00:52:16] when they're out there.

[00:52:16] And that's what you want from your fourth line.

[00:52:18] You want them to be in the corners behind the goal line,

[00:52:21] hammering their day,

[00:52:21] just,

[00:52:22] just pounding that day.

[00:52:24] Just like a teenager in a,

[00:52:25] you know,

[00:52:25] just discover the Sears catalog,

[00:52:27] just pounding the shit out of the day.

[00:52:29] Nobody knows.

[00:52:30] Most of our listeners have no idea what Sears catalog means.

[00:52:33] Are you sure about that?

[00:52:35] Oh,

[00:52:35] I think that most of them that are in their twenties and thirties don't.

[00:52:38] Fine.

[00:52:39] They've found fine.

[00:52:40] They found fucking porn hub with their own iPad.

[00:52:43] Yeah.

[00:52:44] Or the ones in their thirties and forties,

[00:52:46] they found their dad's playboy collection.

[00:52:48] There you go.

[00:52:49] Yeah.

[00:52:49] So no,

[00:52:50] I'm equal opportunity for everybody.

[00:52:52] All of our,

[00:52:53] all of our listening.

[00:52:54] I'm with you though,

[00:52:55] about our fourth line.

[00:52:56] They've been playing great.

[00:52:57] Dowling has been so much fun to watch.

[00:52:59] He's,

[00:53:00] works his ass off.

[00:53:01] That line played great yesterday.

[00:53:04] And I just,

[00:53:04] you know,

[00:53:05] I mean,

[00:53:06] when Lazar comes back,

[00:53:07] it's going to suck that Dowling is going to have to go,

[00:53:09] but I just really do enjoy watching it.

[00:53:12] I like them on this team.

[00:53:13] I was actually kind of surprised he cleared waivers.

[00:53:15] I wasn't,

[00:53:16] you know,

[00:53:16] there wasn't anybody that needed a fourth line center to just get him in

[00:53:19] there.

[00:53:20] I didn't realize he's 34 years old.

[00:53:22] I didn't realize that.

[00:53:23] Yeah.

[00:53:23] He's been around.

[00:53:24] He's been around.

[00:53:26] Honestly,

[00:53:27] the,

[00:53:27] what I would do.

[00:53:29] And I'm not by any,

[00:53:31] you know,

[00:53:31] in this position to do this at all.

[00:53:34] I think you rotate Lazar and Bash in on the right wing,

[00:53:37] leave Dowling up,

[00:53:39] move Cotter to the fourth line,

[00:53:41] put to tar on the third line.

[00:53:42] And you have to tar,

[00:53:44] holler Mercer on the third line.

[00:53:46] Then you have Cotter,

[00:53:47] Dowling,

[00:53:48] Bash and Lazar rotating in and out.

[00:53:50] And then McDermott can continue watching from the press box and play

[00:53:53] against ramping.

[00:53:53] And that's it.

[00:53:54] Yeah.

[00:53:54] That's fine.

[00:53:55] That's the thing.

[00:53:56] And it's like,

[00:53:56] you know,

[00:53:57] talking about,

[00:53:58] you know,

[00:53:59] our depth scoring still kind of is a bit of a problem.

[00:54:01] We're still getting,

[00:54:02] you know,

[00:54:02] lights out production from our top two lines,

[00:54:04] but like,

[00:54:06] we don't have any money to bring anybody in,

[00:54:08] which means money would need to go out.

[00:54:11] And at this point with these guys having so much fun and just,

[00:54:14] you know,

[00:54:15] with the way they're playing,

[00:54:16] like,

[00:54:16] I,

[00:54:16] I don't,

[00:54:17] I don't think it's necessary.

[00:54:19] I don't think it's necessary right now to,

[00:54:20] to bring in a new piece to send somebody out.

[00:54:23] I really think there's a lot to a close knit room.

[00:54:27] And I,

[00:54:28] you know,

[00:54:28] I just don't think there it's necessary to bring someone in right now.

[00:54:31] I agree.

[00:54:32] We'll probably see maybe a piece come in at the trade deadline,

[00:54:35] you know,

[00:54:36] $1.5,

[00:54:37] $2 million depth center wing type,

[00:54:40] you know,

[00:54:40] maybe Fitz will get some retention,

[00:54:41] but I don't see any kind of big swing for the fences.

[00:54:45] Well,

[00:54:45] that's most likely what you said is a depth piece coming in,

[00:54:49] giving up minimal,

[00:54:52] whatever form and a minimal asset form and have them come in to help the

[00:54:56] team out.

[00:54:56] But there's also that piece of me that if a deal or for a guy fell into

[00:55:03] Fitzgerald's lap and it was maybe one of our,

[00:55:06] you know,

[00:55:08] I don't know.

[00:55:08] It's maybe top six guys,

[00:55:10] top nine guys to go the other way.

[00:55:12] If it's felt okay,

[00:55:13] this is for term.

[00:55:14] This can build our team out better and longer,

[00:55:16] you know,

[00:55:16] for,

[00:55:16] for a couple of years to come,

[00:55:18] I'm getting a better return on my assets here.

[00:55:21] I think he would pull the trigger on a bigger move,

[00:55:23] but I,

[00:55:24] but I don't in any way,

[00:55:26] shape or form think that that is a necessity of anything.

[00:55:29] He's going to try and do if something falls into his lap and he says,

[00:55:33] Oh shit.

[00:55:34] Yeah.

[00:55:35] You know what?

[00:55:35] I could get Alex Tucker.

[00:55:36] I can get somebody to play with,

[00:55:38] you know,

[00:55:38] I'd like,

[00:55:39] I'd like a lot there,

[00:55:40] but maybe somebody younger that can do a little bit.

[00:55:43] Maybe I'm just saying,

[00:55:44] I can see something like that,

[00:55:47] but I'm with you right now.

[00:55:48] It's very minimal.

[00:55:49] If anything at all,

[00:55:50] if anything at all,

[00:55:51] because you said it,

[00:55:52] this,

[00:55:52] you know,

[00:55:53] we were looking at Mercer's fucking goal last night.

[00:55:55] Like that was a beautiful freaking goal.

[00:55:58] Like I'm watching.

[00:55:59] Okay.

[00:55:59] Wow.

[00:55:59] Okay.

[00:56:00] Mercer alone in the net and just having that hand-eye coordination and knock

[00:56:03] that thing out of midair,

[00:56:04] right over quick shoulder,

[00:56:06] you know,

[00:56:06] and I've been hard on him and I've been hard on Palat this year because I

[00:56:10] felt like they expect more,

[00:56:11] but if these guys are on this team moving forward,

[00:56:14] I have no problem with this.

[00:56:15] I love how they've been playing all of them.

[00:56:17] Yeah.

[00:56:17] Yeah.

[00:56:18] I agree.

[00:56:18] Like,

[00:56:19] and it's just cohesion and depth and up and down the lineup,

[00:56:22] you know,

[00:56:22] they're,

[00:56:22] they're all,

[00:56:22] you know,

[00:56:23] yeah.

[00:56:23] I'd love to see Hala contribute a little bit more.

[00:56:27] You know,

[00:56:27] I think,

[00:56:28] you know,

[00:56:29] Mercer has been,

[00:56:30] been a little bit light on production as well,

[00:56:32] but,

[00:56:33] you know,

[00:56:34] and I think with Mercer,

[00:56:35] there,

[00:56:36] it's almost like,

[00:56:38] like,

[00:56:38] what is the appropriate deployment for him?

[00:56:41] You know,

[00:56:41] is he a first line guy,

[00:56:43] you know,

[00:56:43] with Timo and Nico,

[00:56:45] or is he a third line guy?

[00:56:47] I think he's more of the third line guy that could put in 20 goals.

[00:56:50] And if that's what he becomes and plays good defense,

[00:56:53] we're not paying him $8 million,

[00:56:55] you know,

[00:56:55] or the team isn't paying him $8 million.

[00:56:57] Like he's making four,

[00:56:58] like,

[00:56:58] that'll be a pretty good deal in a couple of years when the cap goes up.

[00:57:02] You know,

[00:57:03] you mentioned Palat,

[00:57:04] you know,

[00:57:04] he does,

[00:57:05] you know,

[00:57:05] he's,

[00:57:06] he's gelling pretty well with Jack and Jack and Jasper.

[00:57:09] Like,

[00:57:09] you know,

[00:57:10] it took him a little bit to figure out what he needed to do to succeed on

[00:57:13] that line.

[00:57:13] And now he's producing.

[00:57:15] So if Palat is,

[00:57:17] gets moved and I don't think he will,

[00:57:19] but if it's not going to be because of his production or lack thereof,

[00:57:24] it'll be because of the age and the contract.

[00:57:27] Yes.

[00:57:27] It'll be a better,

[00:57:29] better contract coming in.

[00:57:30] And for a younger player that fits feels can do the same job.

[00:57:34] That's,

[00:57:34] that's about it.

[00:57:35] It will not be for his play.

[00:57:37] I think he's been fantastic.

[00:57:38] These last two weeks or so that he's been really showing up offensively and

[00:57:43] doing now those little things that they keep saying,

[00:57:46] well,

[00:57:46] Palat does now they're much more noticeable.

[00:57:49] He's starting.

[00:57:50] You said how hard it is to play with Jack and Brat.

[00:57:54] And it does take a good chunk of games,

[00:57:57] 20 or so games to figure it out.

[00:57:59] Like,

[00:57:59] okay,

[00:57:59] these guys don't play like 90% of the dudes in the NHL.

[00:58:02] These guys are so fast,

[00:58:04] so quick with the puck.

[00:58:05] They have three different,

[00:58:06] they know what they're doing three moves ahead before they do it.

[00:58:09] You have to be able to anticipate that stuff and learn from them.

[00:58:12] And Palat is veteran and seasoned enough that he has figured it out.

[00:58:16] So,

[00:58:17] I mean,

[00:58:17] I'm fine.

[00:58:18] That line stays where it is.

[00:58:19] And I think that line would end up being extremely dominant with Palat on it come playoff time.

[00:58:25] Yeah.

[00:58:26] Like if we're getting,

[00:58:27] I mean,

[00:58:28] Jack and Brat have,

[00:58:29] you know,

[00:58:29] 47 points or something.

[00:58:31] Both are on pace for a hundred points.

[00:58:33] If we're getting a hundred points out of two guys on one line and the third guy's more of a passenger and cleans up every now and then,

[00:58:40] but he's there to,

[00:58:41] to provide,

[00:58:42] you know,

[00:58:43] a little bit of space,

[00:58:44] which he supposedly does still not entirely seeing that,

[00:58:47] but I'm fine with,

[00:58:49] with that.

[00:58:49] I'm fine with how they're constructed.

[00:58:51] Nason,

[00:58:51] Timo and,

[00:58:52] and he sure are a fucking incredible line.

[00:58:55] Like that goal they scored last night where Timo bullied him.

[00:58:59] Timo's been a fucking beast by the way.

[00:59:00] Like the way he's just been,

[00:59:02] he just looks so much faster,

[00:59:03] so much bigger,

[00:59:04] so much more of a menace.

[00:59:05] Like he's really kind of becoming the guy.

[00:59:07] Like I think he's,

[00:59:07] he's got four or five goals or four goals in his last five games,

[00:59:11] seven points in his last five games.

[00:59:12] Like he's really coming on.

[00:59:13] But when he came into the zone,

[00:59:15] spun off,

[00:59:16] found Nico,

[00:59:17] who then found Nason.

[00:59:18] Like that was a perfect goal for that line to score.

[00:59:21] Absolutely.

[00:59:21] I realized,

[00:59:22] I realized it was against,

[00:59:23] you know,

[00:59:23] a peewee level defense from the Rangers,

[00:59:25] but yeah,

[00:59:27] there were a lot of cracks in that defense last night,

[00:59:30] but yeah,

[00:59:30] but it's just,

[00:59:31] I'm fucking happy,

[00:59:32] man.

[00:59:32] This team is fun to watch again.

[00:59:34] We're having fun.

[00:59:36] This is fun.

[00:59:37] Our goalies are good.

[00:59:38] Contrary to people's opinion.

[00:59:40] All of our four lines are rolling.

[00:59:41] Our decor is incredible.

[00:59:44] There are no holes.

[00:59:45] No,

[00:59:45] no.

[00:59:46] As of now,

[00:59:46] there are not.

[00:59:47] And we are going to wrap this thing up because it is Christmas Eve and I

[00:59:51] still have shopping to do.

[00:59:52] So my wife and I are going to head out to a couple of stores and maybe stop at a

[00:59:57] Applebee's in the mall for a shot or two of tequila and then finish our shopping.

[01:00:02] So that's,

[01:00:03] that's going to be the game plan.

[01:00:04] Maybe a nice,

[01:00:04] maybe a nice little sampler.

[01:00:06] Yeah.

[01:00:06] Maybe a nice little sampler,

[01:00:08] some boneless wings,

[01:00:09] but yeah.

[01:00:10] So guys,

[01:00:11] thank you so much for checking us out,

[01:00:13] hanging with us this Christmas.

[01:00:14] Merry Christmas.

[01:00:14] Happy holidays.

[01:00:15] All that other hoopla that goes along with it.

[01:00:18] We will probably be back Thursday at some point,

[01:00:21] or maybe Friday after the Canes game.

[01:00:24] We'll figure it out.

[01:00:26] And then wherever you're listening to us,

[01:00:27] a like,

[01:00:28] a subscription,

[01:00:28] a five-star review,

[01:00:29] a positive comment,

[01:00:31] download helps the little podcast that could.

[01:00:34] He's Tim.

[01:00:35] I'm Chris.

[01:00:36] Where do you uncle fuckers?

[01:00:37] And we'll see you when we see you.

[01:00:38] Merry Christmas.

[01:00:39] Happy holidays,

[01:00:39] everybody.

[01:00:40] Except for you,

[01:00:40] Valicette.

[01:00:41] Bingo.

[01:00:55] Happy holidays.

[01:00:56] Want to give your host a gift?

[01:00:58] Consider subscribing,

[01:01:00] rating,

[01:01:00] and reviewing the show this holiday season.

[01:01:02] It really helps the show grow.

[01:01:05] From all of us at Believe,

[01:01:06] have a Merry Christmas, everyone,

[01:01:08] and a happy holiday.

[01:01:09] a merry Christmas, a

[01:01:09] engines. Until then, we'll

[01:01:10] How do we, ᴍ�,