Puckin Around – New Jersey Devils ft. Singsy

Puckin Around – New Jersey Devils ft. Singsy

all right guys welcome to another episode of pucking around I’m Cody pucks and uh today we’re going to be talking New Jersey Devils uh first I want to shout out um Max Air Jordan he’s been helping me a lot with the thumbnails on these videos I also want to shout out Dan from Australia uh he’s been helping me with the banners all the artwork uh this is like I said this is the first time I’ve done something like this so I need all the help I can get so I appreciate those guys today we have I got my devil shirt on today we have we have uh some New Jersey Devils analysis and we have our guy singy here singy how we doing I’m doing great Cody man I listened to uh the first two episodes you know as this thing gets going it’s so funny like the way you were talking about it and getting the community together over the summer where I mean uh clearly we all need to break from hockey I put this jersey on I’m like kind of smells a little bit it’s a little musty it was in my closet for a couple weeks uh but brother it’s wonderful to be here and sight for the show and I really appreciate you asking me to come on yeah well I appreciate you um I guess let’s get started uh how I kind of realized who you were um so I was always a big spit and chicklets fan I watched their episodes every every Tuesday morning I couldn’t wait to fire it up on the way to work listen to work and then kind of throughout the week I just go back and forth and sometimes I’ll I’ll be hanging out with a girlfriend I’ll say hey I need to go for a drive finish up the episode singi is famously known for the spit and chicklets chat moderator um he does that and he also does Game notes on Fridays with Merl and Colby uh kind of talk about how you got into that how you started listening to spit and chicklets and uh just your experience you know coming up throughout that whole experience yeah I mean th those guys are so great I think like a lot of people I kind of notionally known about chicklets this is preco you know listen to episodes you know whenever I could and then covid came around and I think all of us were like just kind of starved for connections and connectivity you know for for me I was working in Silicon Valley out of my house here in Virginia so I was very isolated and I was walking and exercising but if you remember you couldn’t really contact people too much you had to keep your distance um so through that isolation I really got into chicklets more and more and went back and everything was on Spotify and I was I kind of listened to you know episode one all the way through got really engaged you know currently with what was going on and then at the same time I started kind of going back and forth a little bit uh messaging with Merl who I just think the world of he’s just a wonderful human being he’s the glue guy he’s just great you know because like you Cody I I also like to cockey gamble right so mer is just a great Gambler so you know we made a connection a couple New York guys and we kind of became friendly um and then I had heard this thing um about Game notes and I think this is where you and I first connected where that was two years ago during the playoffs they just wanted to have this gambling show um so they kind of started it not really knowing what it would be and then just because that it was such a great show and the community is so strong and Colby and grenell and merels and uh you know everyone it just became this or it organically grew into this Behemoth with just uh tons of you know connection with the fans and they they would shout out and they would bring guests on and uh you know Biz came on and Whit and then all the you know different Keith Yandle and all the you know the regular guys that we just love and then we had this whole Chat thing and you’re in there and a whole bunch of folks and you know I’m a little boisterous at times so I would kind of try to you know do moderation you know keep it Lively keep it fun you know sometimes people get a little out of control and you know whatever it’s like yeah come on be cool we’re here for fun and and for bets and uh yeah I just became this this great community of people and I’ve made so many friends like yourself uh and other people and uh it’s really grown into something special so I hope they can keep going next year and since then you know now Kobe’s on TNT and and Biz has grown up he’s the biggest thing I think he he’s going to take over for bman when bman retires Biz is gonna be let’s hope so yeah you know you’ve seen the maturation of grenell and obviously Whit’s always been successful but you know he’s really kind of the creator of this thing so it’s it’s super nice to see and and they’re all great guys I know ra um you know shout out ra he’s our brother he’s our friend I’m going through a little bit of a tough time um you know like I messaged to him you know you got to take care of yourself sometimes you know get healthy you know physically spiritually mentally get to the place you want to be and I’m sure he’ll be back around um but yeah man it’s just uh this has been just a lot of fun for me personally and then meeting people like you and connecting with just this great Community it’s it’s been really fun and special yep yep and I I kind of want to go off that too with with the whole thing with ra I was kind of in myself I was kind of in a tough time you know I switched up jobs and and spitting chicklets that that really got me you know got my day started and when I finished work it got me you know back up and going um but it’s it it truly is amazing how being from Cincy we don’t have a lot of true hockey fans so just hopping on Twitter I everybody always says like oh I’m going to do this I’m going to do that but actually just putting myself out there and getting into it and then just kind of seeing it balloon and meeting people like you said and it’s it’s a bunch of internet people but we’re all buddies and and at the end of the day as guys that’s that’s all we need in life is is just to there’s nothing that I enjoy more than talking hockey with the guys so dude 100% you said something important you know you kind of put yourself out there because you have to risk a little bit of vulnerability right not everyone’s going to be this chest th thing we’re all kind of human beings you got to be a little vulnerable there’s the the Twitter ATI or who for your on Instagram people are GNA talk a little but at the end of the day you know what I found is that hockey people especially are very genuine you know I was in the military for a long time I did 21 years in Air Force and there’s a lot of correlation between the hockey community and the military community that Bond you know you kind of a mission orientation you know you have some shared kind of beliefs you know integrity and fair play and I mean you see hockey guys they shake hands at the end of the game right you don’t see like you see a couple of football guys getting in the prayer circle baseball guys are like fingering each other but the hockey guys you know as tough as it is and as as battling as it is and as brutal as it is and look as fans like I hate some of those guys in the opposition but what kind of warms the old cop tles is at the end of the game like the guy I hate and the guys I love are mutually respecting each other it’s a great life lesson and now I’ve got my own little grandson playing hockey and and we and it’s bond for us too you know I can talk about values and fair play and doing the right thing so yeah dude I just I just absolutely love this community I’m thankful for it every day yeah same here um so let’s get into the Devils uh last year we’ll start with last year plagued by a lot of injuries uh the year prior made the playoffs maybe a little bit of a surprise to make the playoffs and maybe even a little more of a surprise coming back against the Rangers in that series won a playoff series Jack Hughes was flying around put the league on notice 99 points I think that year sorry posha um talk a little bit about that season or this past season uh you know just kind of going from maybe maybe being a year or two ahead to injuries this year and kind of falling back down yeah I went on the empty betters podcast you know another couple of just great guys that are part of our community um you know and we had a really nice convers the Devils went from being the best story in the NHL right the young upstarts everyone was thinking you know maybe a playoff spot and they come out and they and they just dominate the offense is clicking Lindy Ruff is in his element you know there was there was relative Health there there was good enough go tending although you could kind of see a little in the armor with gold tending two years ago but we all thought those young guys would get better and and certainly you know with with Nico kisher the year he had um just such an allaround player and douge was healthy and yeah it was just a fun team it was a high energy team uh and then when they went on that one winning streak of course the league kind of screwed him over with Toronto but that was just like the best two weeks of my life like like other than really cool family stuff that’s happened I do not remember a better time it was just win after win so you’re you’re just soaring then my daughter my one and only child I have a daughter she gets married during the playoffs and she got married during game five night so um yeah I went on Game notes you know and uh you know I’m like I I was kind of like I was hoping the devil would lose in a way that I could come back and see the win and yeah then they had that just that great win over the Rangers so they were done by the time you know that series was over and that was like okay that’s as far as this team’s going to go but you really thought coming into this year that they’re a cup Contender I mean they had a good off season everybody was healthy you know offseason everybody is super excited right but you basically had that same core and then they added a couple of pieces here and there and you’re just thinking it’s just going to be this special special deal but then in hindsight you know it just didn’t work out the injuries dude were the killer you said it when you lose douge Hamilton you’re number one D when you lose Jack Hughes and I was at that Hughes and Bard game when they both got hurt you know and then you know Nico went down for a period of time Sean Haller Seth was like breaking his foot and and then you know everyone turned on Lindy and God it was just uh and goalies were just brutal so we went from the being the best story in the NHL to being the worst story in the NHL I don’t think any fan base felt worse about their team than the Devils fans this year because we all had such high expectations like to the end I’m like I know they’re gonna turn it around I know they’re gonna turn around finally you’re like okay they’re not gonna turn toole’s gone and like holy it’s really over and then you know you’re just kind of like crying those last couple weeks getting into the playoffs that’s right and it was a great NHL season like I love this season it was so much fun but man it would have been 10x better if the Devils were would have made the playoffs that’s right yeah and and before so the year prior when the Stanley Cup finished uh when Vegas won it all and my my pick was Edmonton New Jersey in the Stanley Cup for last season and but like you said like like I said uh injuries plagued them it and I think douge Hamilton is so important to that group more important than just your regular NHL fan May realize because even when they still had Jack Hughes when douge went out things kind of started to get a little uneasy and uh New Jersey is one of my favorite teams to uh not only watch but to bet on because not only do they score a lot of goals for Mr ice but they got a lot of talent they have a lot of good players uh that I like to bet the the point scores so they got a lot of good odds at the middle of the road guys um so hopefully you know no Jinx let’s let’s stay healthy this year and uh let’s see what they can do I mean what do you think about their offseason moves and what’s the roster looking like season yeah I think I think it’s really good you know you made a good point on douge you know the challenge with with with when douge went out is then you had that much more pressure on on nebuch and Luke Hughes who look they both had phenomenal rookie Seasons you know Hughes was a cter finalist nit you know he he he really impressed us all but losing douge that was like that’s like the king of the decor you know so it was massive so so what did the Devils do in terms of the offseason moves you bringing uh peshy right great stayhome defender he never turns the puck over he plays against the tough guys because look as much as I I love douge Hamilton and I love that guy he’s he’s a Difference Maker he’s not the strongest Defender I mean he he gets beat he He Cheats a little too much sometimes gets beat behind him you know so we’ll see what that pairing if it’s going to be douge and seenall or again which by All rights it should be but seeing has got to stay home he tried to get up in the offense too much last year when dou got hurt you see all these compounding effects so terms of the offseason moves they short up the decor they got guys who were big they got guys who were steady you know the Devils had way too many turnovers last year and then of course you know the two Jakes man you get you know Jake Allen who came in last year then you add markstrom in Gold that was really the biggest deficiency I think almost like if douge would have out Jack’s out everybody’s out but if you would have had that rockar goalie back there just you know stealing games for you some nights or keeping you in it so you can get to overtime and and steal a point and and maybe even get the win we just didn’t have we had like go tending collapses and you can’t blame those guys I mean it was like a hodg podge of young tired old it just didn’t never felt right and it was compounded by the the defense got the young defense then the defender not staying home and then look I know it’s not easy to talk about but Mikey McLoud was the best defensive Center the Devils have had last year and probably in the last 10 years that guy as much as I love Nico’s defense and he’s a sky McLoud is another level just because of that speed element so look you took him out people don’t talk about it but you know that guy was chewing up a lot of minutes he was playing the PK when he was out there he was often matched up against the Sydney Crosby like like Crosby would come out and then boom there’s McLoud right on him you know when we had last change uh and he would just do that night in and night out and that would free up Jack and Nico and bradder and others to have more uh space in the offense and more time in the offense so so it’s just like there’s a lot of little things that people may may or may not notice about the composition of a team and how it comes out through the year so to your question you know what did Fitzy do I really think it was like replace but better we all love John Marino right great guy smart as hell I really like him yep yeah I really liked him but you know he regressed last year so boom you know he gets replaced right so he’s he’s not out of lineup now we got we got peshy um you bring in Cotter from Vegas right so is that a Mikey McLoud replacement you know maybe obviously the goal tending shorted up so they didn’t go out and get a scorer I think Fitz looked at the line line up and said look guys when you have Jack Hughes and Nico heser and and brat and holla and you know you need other guys Step Up No SI you know scored some goals and um obviously Andre plot needs to step up you know get Dawson Mercer back into goal mode and figure those lines out under a Sheldon Keith which is another big move we didn’t talk about yet what’s he gonna come in and bring in for an offense Lindy had a very different system you know Lindy system I really liked it when it worked but when the you don’t have the players that system is not one that’s very repeatable you have to really have your Frontline guys all knowing it we would bring in new guys and you saw it right team o Meer you bring team o Meer and oh he’s floundering because the system is really hard it’s it’s a different system than most teams play so Sheldon Keefe I think you know plays a more traditional offense you know it’s very fast-paced um it’s very rapid passing it’s moved the puck up and I think that’s going to play well into the the way that that fits this constructive team look I’m a fan so forget half what I say but if the Devils get 110 points next year it wouldn’t shock me I I think they are truly gonna maybe not dominate from day one to the end but they are going to be one of the best teams in the league no no question about it yep yep getting healthy obviously is going to be um you know a breath of fresh air for the Devils this year uh but what I liked about you about what you said is that uh if if this team is going to you know buckle down and go on a run in May uh take it into June the defense has to be there and I won’t lie I have a soft spot for highflying offenses you know when when Jack when Jack’s out there zipping it around with Jesper brat and and Nico’s getting mix my my guy Dawson Mercer is out there who you know he I think he had what 56 points and then down to like 30 something this past year yeah um but like you said the defense it it starts on defense and then you know that’ll create your offense you kind of saw it with Edmonton in the Stanley Cup all the goals that Edmonton scored against Florida were breakouts it felt like right so um yeah it it but boy do they have the players Jesper Brad is a stud uh Jack obviously is a stud what’s your overall opinion on teimo Meyers since he’s come over from San Jose yeah I was kind of a little bit down on Teemo you know initially when he came in I mean he struggled you know he he definitely struggled it was funny when they would pair him with Jack they would each go to the same spot like so they have the same Instinct you know and I watch obviously every minute of every Devil’s game so they would constantly go to the same spot so I was like you cannot play Team am Myer with Jack Hughes they’re they’re not really maxed up but then when you played them with Nico and look I’m probably overanalyzing this but Nico you know grew up kind of idolizing Teemo they played together um but you know Nico was like two or three years behind Teo so it seemed like Nico was like overly differential to Teemo sometimes like dude Nico take the pop dude you got it like you can take that shot like you don’t have to look for Teemo here he’s fine um but then you know and then things kind of you know went South when he got injured in the playoffs you know uh with the jaw injury so he had a really kind of a rough start to the year and and I was a huge Sharon goic fan and and and some of those other young guys you know some just like and zerland I’m like did we get this right you know bringing in Teemo and tley and but then he kind of turned it around I’m like something clicked and it was around January you could really start noticing it I think it was a combination of Health a better line combo for him um really making him shoot on pp1 where he was like the primary shooter I mean he would come out and have like five shots on a power play you know it was great because the power plays weren’t really mixing when you have you know Nico and Jack and brat and then Teemo and then Mercer it’s like you know the Devils you know they they struggled a little bit in pp1 and pp2 and figuring it out but I think teimo really figured it out he had a bunch of goals last year he looked great he would take games over he was a true power forward uh to steal M Merl’s word he was getting the mixer and challenging down there where I think that maybe the injury had kind of made him a little gunshot about a lot of contact um so look for this year in a Sheldon Keef offense you know another new offense right I I I wouldn’t shock me I’ll throw it out there now would not Shock me to see Teemo you know touch 50 goals this year yeah yeah and I agree with that I think the combination of you know youth that the Devils had uh bringing the new guys in and then all of a sudden you get a new coach everybody’s healthy I’m with you I expect a big year out of New Jersey um and markstrom markstrom’s over what’s markstrom where’s he at on your uh tier of goalies um around the league yeah he’s a top guy like like he’s not like he he’s like a top three to five goalie which for us you know is incredible just because we haven’t had it um now he two years ago I know he had a bit of a rough season but I was looking at all the analytics from this year and and really he was like a winds above replacement kind of guy where his his differentials were incredible I just think he just needs to be markstrom he doesn’t need to stand on his head every day there’s going to be a lot of good defenders in front of him now stay-at-home def Defenders plus you know guys jumping up we’re going to score a lot of goals which takes a lot of pressure off the goalie right you’ve heard all the goalies say that look I I think he’s gonna potentially be a vzna finalist uh if not you know a finalist he’s gonna be like yeah you know he’s gonna be an All-Star he’s gonna have all those kind of things and he’s going to be the guy we want look he’s 33 I think years old um but he’s got a good backup now we’ve got a backup we can trust if he needs a breather or they you know get into a regular routine he wants to be in Jersey he seems like very happy here and yeah I just I like the way he plays he’s a big dude he’s like six5 66 I mean he’s a big goalie he’s Nimble and he’s got a good glove he’s got a good blocker I like the way he plays goal like he’s not like the best goalie but he’s damn close to the best go I think yeah yeah and I think that I think there’s yeah everybody always I’m I’m not huge on you know a an A1 goalie um per se you know a shesterkin or I don’t I don’t think you necessarily need that to win a Stanley Cup because all that matters is how are you gonna you make the playoffs and then how are you gonna play for the next two months and well look what happened this year with huk I mean huk was my favorite regular season goal Le perfect example perfect example love that guy love him love them love him gets in the playoffs and you know I don’t know if it was him or the team a combination and you know guys weren’t scoring maybe guys were dinged up but that was not a very strong playoff performance there off of the guy that that won the hardware you know it’s uh it’s a tough one it’s a tough position it really is yeah well he probably had a sore net whipping it around trying to keep up with the speed of Colorado I mean but yeah uh so um before we go give us give us a player or two um for the Devils this year that maybe somebody doesn’t know about or maybe they do that you expect to either bounce back or show up and make a pretty big impact on the team yeah I think I think you know it’s not going to be a surprise to you clearly because because he’s your guy as well but look Dawson Mercer you know he had a down year I think a lot was expected of him I think they move moving him down to the Third line was just a mistake they put him with like a slow line um you know would you put him back you know what was it the Tatar heser Mercer line was great I don’t think that’s gonna get happen again but I want to see him in a top six role you know comfortably in the top six um I think he does he’s a 200 foot player uh he’s a good scorer he’s a finisher he plays down low he gets in the mixer um and he’s got a decent shot so I think Dawson Mercer is one for for sure and then look for me I’m really looking forward to see the you know the maturation of Luke Hughes you know that’s a guy that could potentially come in and look at his brother and he’s a freaking specimen he he’s way bigger than brother yep yep so you know is luk Hughes I think he had 55 or 56 points as as a rookie um you know not being the number one guy kind of sliding back where um you know so I’m not sure how the power play is going to work you know for the the top Defender um but I think partnering him with pesi who’s a stay-at-home Defender freeing Luke to jump up free him up y dude like I just W to watch Luke Hughes this year like like if you said you can only watch Luke Hughes for the first 10 games of the season your eyes cannot watch other player I’d be like I’m down with it you know I want to see this kid I think he’s uh he’s M he’s the next marar we’ll say I I really like Luke Hughes game and and I said earlier I have a soft spot for uh scoring defenseman that put the puck on net because I I look at those Point score odds and boy does Luke Hughes look good to get a point at plus 120 every night oh dude I had so many PP uh points on him last year it was great because those were like you know 280 300 plus 280 plus 300 and yeah he he was amazing and yeah he’s he’s a real talent he he knows how to move that puck around and move it quickly so I expect a lot of scoring you know I’m not saying he’s GNA be a 100 Point scorer but yeah certainly I think 70 is a possibility this year yeah all right well um good luck to your Devils this year um I I will be watching they I probably my two favorite teams other than the Senators are the devils and the Canucks the first two uh teams that we feature in this series uh before we go the spit and chicklets you know uh wit has a bet with with posha this is the last year will Jack Hughes eclipsed the 100 point mark you know he stays healthy and it’s a it’s a walk you know he’ll hit a 100 points like at the end of end of March um because he had 99 you know before just you know Jack Hughes you know he came up to the league super early he’s not the biggest guy and then he didn’t have the Defenders to protect him so I think that’s part of what Fitz is saying like hey you’re not gonna with Nico or bradder or or or Jack you know because we got these you know stallions back here they’re going to take care of business um so I’m hoping he stays super healthy this year and he will 100% uh Eclipse 100 points that that bets a loser for Whitney knows it I hope so man because I love watching him skate around and and I’ll be taking him over one and a half points hopefully a lot this year if he’s healthy um again thank you singy this was fun uh we will be in touch for sure this year and uh talk to you soon brother great thanks a bunch Cody I really appreciate it man talk to you

Cody Pucks talks New Jersey Devils with Singsy for the upcoming NHL season