WEBVTT
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I'm not a professional like you guys.
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Oh, believe me, the timing. That wasn't me. I'm listening
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to somebody in my ear. All right.
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Welcome back to Game Day Live Intermission Report. We have
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none other than Bruce Driver and Ken Danico with us. Gentlemen,
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I know we have a short window to talk about this.
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Let's just jump right into it. That was a pretty
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wild second period.
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Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.
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I want to get your thoughts on how that went
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because coming into it, 1-1, they go down 2-1. All
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of a sudden, they're chasing a.
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Little bit, it feels like.
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Look, they came out. I mean, love their first period,
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and it's 1-1. And that's frustrating. And sometimes even I
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have to check myself, just like our passionate fans, and
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what a turnout we have here of Devils fans at.
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The viewing party.
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But for me, and me and Bruce talk a lot
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about this, but he might have a different opinion, is
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it's going to take a little time. It just does, unfortunately.
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You want everything to click. We like some of the
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moves in the offseason. And for this game, you come
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out and play the way you did in the first half.
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Frustrating that it.
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Was 1-1 at the time, but you're going to win
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more than you lose. Yeah.
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You've got the mistakes, getting caught, outnumbered situations.
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You've got to clean those up sooner than later. But
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sometimes with.
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Different players and things, not an excuse reality, different system,
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players haven't played here, getting acclimated. Sometimes you get caught
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a little bit watching, and we saw a little bit
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of that, but You can't complain. The second period was wild.
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They go down 2-1, still dominating, not scoring, but I'm
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glad they're finishing. Because all year long, it's only sixth game,
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they have had plenty of chances to win more games.
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So the tall short of it, I'm still kind of
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trying to stay even-keeled because they need more time, Bruce.
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I don't know.
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I'm a mess. I'm a mess watching this game. He
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is a mess today, that's for sure. It's a lot
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different with him being here. Because I root like a fan.
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I'm one of you guys.
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It's true. And listen to the broadcast.
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It was a great period in that we were able
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to put the puck in the net.
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There's no doubt.
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And Kenny and I talked. We love the pressure game
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the Devils have.
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But they really just need to balance that pressure with
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recognizing when there's danger.
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And that's what.
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We're seeing today. That's where the mistakes are being made.
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We saw it last night on the goal right off
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the start of the second period. You know, we drifted
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two defensive holes to the puck here. All of a sudden,
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the backside's open.
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It's in the net.
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Yeah.
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And that goal, I mean, literally turned the game on
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its head quickly. Very quick, yeah. Because it's 1-0.
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We probably should have had a lead in that game,
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played pretty well in the first period. And we go
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up that second one, and now we're coming from behind,
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and we're down by two.
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Yeah.
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Same thing happened tonight again, too.
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You know, we go up, we go down, we go down.
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They tie it, we go down again, battle back. But
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as Kenny said, it's great. You know, Nico right in front.
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And that's where we've.
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Got to be.
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We've got to penetrate.
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I was listening after the game to Jesper Brett talk about,
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you know, we need to get to the inside.
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And I think they all know it. It's just a
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matter of committing.
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Plenty of shots, but too many perimeter. It's committing to.
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Be that team that's going to get to the middle
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of the ice and get to the front of the net.
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I mean, we're a very skilled team. We can control
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the puck all we want on the outside. And, you know,
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In our era, we used to allow that to happen
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all day long.
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We let them play on the outside.
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They're not going to score from back there.
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They're going to score when the play comes to the middle.
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Of the ice.
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Good habits. It's patience and good habits. I think what
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Bruce is saying, I agree with wholeheartedly. Any team that
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has success, the game's evolved. The skill, the speed, get it.
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You want these guys to be creative, but away from
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the puck, it hasn't changed in 50 years. You've got
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to have commitment of all five guys. I like to see,
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I say it on the screen when we're calling the game,
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when you see five guys in the picture when you
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don't have the puck, it's a good thing because you're
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trying to take the middle away. Whether it's in the
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offensive zone, neutral zone, if they're connected and all there,
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but too often one guy strays and it breaks the
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whole chain down of being a good team structurally they're
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the best team structurally right now to start the season
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so we couldn't afford that mistake you talked about Bruce
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nine seconds into the second period of just a mental
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lapse don't get me wrong it's a game of mistakes
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we all made them but in our championship years and
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when we were continually a team that could win it
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all you cover for each other We know somebody's going
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to make a mistake.
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If I cheated, well, Bruce is already, he's already reading that.
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I've got to be the safety valve.
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You can't just think it's going to happen that, well,
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he's going to get the puck or he's going to
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poke that guy. We always would think in the defensive
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mode of, you know, you've got to stay, you know,
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more to the middle and just kind of, connected that
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he might make a mistake kind of attitude, right? That
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I can cover up for him, and then you do
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it for each other because we all make mistakes.
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Yeah, Grant was saying before about when you guys all
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used to have a voice in a room, held each
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other accountable, that everybody was pulling in the same direction.
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Having a lot of new guys on this team, do
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you feel like that's going to take a little time
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for that to kind of gel into the mix of it?
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There's certainly an adjustment any time you're adding new players.
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There's no doubt about that.
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But as Kenny said, the game really hasn't, it's changed
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a lot, but more from the defensive standpoint, it really
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hasn't changed.
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The word I was looking for, Bruce, was staggered.
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Right?
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Staggered.
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I couldn't figure out, my mind was going, I'm focused
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on this game, but he's right.
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But the majority of the goals are scored inside the dots, right?
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That's where we're, I mean, the players talked about it
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last night. We need to get inside the dots. So
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we need to prevent the other team from getting inside
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the dots, right? So we don't want to stray too
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far outside the dots. And like I said, I love
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the pressure game. You know, we're pressuring the puck, but
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we need to realize pressure the puck when we can,
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when the other options are taken away. And we're pressuring
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a little bit too hard in situations where we're giving
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up a dangerous opportunity.
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And dangerous opportunities in this game, the guys are too skilled.
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They're going to put the puck in the net.
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Oh, yeah. Yeah.
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You know, it's so funny. I keep catching you looking around.
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This place is incredible.
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There's a TV every... five feet, which is nice for
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my ADD.
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All 32 teams are playing there.
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That's pretty awesome.
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Frozen frenzy.
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We brought Grant.
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Marshall back into the mix. No headset, but that's okay.
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He can hear us.
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Bruce is a guy I listen to too because he
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was a student of the game. He understands it. What
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we all do, we go back.
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In our memory bank and when we had success and
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when we didn't at times.
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The last.
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Handful of years of my career was Stanley Cup or
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bust because we had a group. Doesn't mean it's always
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going to materialize, but you just read off each other,
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play for each other.
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And what does that mean?
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It sounds like a cliche, but I mean exactly what
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I was saying. We'd cover up for each other. And
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if I fell or I turned the puck over, I
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got my partner bailing me out and vice versa.
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And that becomes contagious, right?
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But if everybody's on their own page and I'm going
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to cheat, keep going, Which goal was it that, you know,
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Luke Hughes in that game turned it over?
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Everybody wants to point to Luke in that play. Everybody's
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blowing the zone. Yeah. It's 3-2. We've got to get
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control so we can pull the goaltender. Yeah.
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Because we're losing 3-2 to Utah, and he's been playing
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his best hockey, and he's going to continue to grow.
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He had no options, so he's in a vulnerable position.
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Yes, he turns it over. I get it. Maybe should
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have moved it quicker, but he had two guys on him.
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I'm going, where is everybody? They're all hiding. Don't hide
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from the puck.
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So that's what I mean, connected and playing for each
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other and just recognizing time of game, situation. We needed
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to get puck control, hang on to it, and then
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get a change, whatever we needed to get an extra
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attacker and pull the goaltender at the time. But everybody
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was already just thinking offense before we had complete control.
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He had two guys hounding him from behind.
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He's like NJ Devil.
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Look at him.
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He's like picking up your Ken Danico bobblehead.
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You don't have a bobblehead, do you? Marshy, do you
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have a bobblehead?
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Hello?
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Do you have a bobblehead?
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I don't have a bobblehead either.
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But what a great perspective from exactly what you're saying.
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From a fan's point of view, when we're looking at it,
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all we see is Luke, right? So from our perspective,
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we're not seeing that whole play develop because you're focusing
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on where.
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The puck is. Of course, you look at the.
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Actual mistake, usually you can go 10, 15 seconds before,
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and there might have been two mistakes prior, but we, naturally,
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that's sports, that's fans, all of us, we looked at that,
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but since we played for a little bit, we kind
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of look at, God, five seconds before, you make a
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better pass, you make a better play, he's not in
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that position, what transpired, right? That's how we thought, we
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were trying to bail each other out, And these guys
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want to win. They've got a good group of guys
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with the Devils, and I've got a lot of faith
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in Sonny. That, if there's tweaks that need to be made,
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and there will be, like every team, I think he's
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smart enough to do it at the right time, whatever
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has to happen. But these guys want to win. I'd
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preach to them if they were sitting here. Just play together.
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Believe in each other. Trust each other. And when you
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don't have the puck, Bruce always, don't cheat, right? Take
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the middle away.
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Kenny and I talked about that goal. The one that
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Luke turned the puck over. I'm hard on Luke because
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that's where he needs to sense the danger.
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I get it.
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I can't do too much and I've got to make
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a play.
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But I can tell you that I'm coaching a boys
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team right now and I'm constantly preaching when they come
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to the bench you guys are hiding from the puck
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like our defensemen have the puck they want to make
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a pass but you're nowhere like yeah you need to
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be all four guys need to be available on the.
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Ice gotta give them an outlet to receive a pass.
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And if you're not moving to get open if you're
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standing beside one of their teammates you're not helping out
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the defenseman so in Luke's defense as Kenny.
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Said I didn't think he had an outlet he didn't
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have an.
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Outlet his outlet was get rid of the puck. But
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his thought process is, we want to get the goalie out.
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He doesn't want to give the puck away. So it's
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kind of a double-edged sword there. Because they score, we're saying,
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he should have moved the puck, but who does he
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move the puck to?
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Because nobody was open.
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And I know they're getting ready to wrap up and
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get back into the game.
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My good buddy Ray Ferraro.
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He's got Ken Danico's job tonight.
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Here, come say hello. Because I'm on too much. I
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wanted to get Mark Sheehan. He's already come on. All right, good.
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So the game's just started, so we're going to wrap
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this up. Real fast, prediction for this third period.
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Don't ever ask me for predictions.
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I never make predictions. A good game.
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I hope they play a good, smart third period. You
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can't sit back on a one-goal lead.
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No.
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But exactly what Bruce was preaching, be an outlet. Take
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the middle away. When you don't have the puck, Make
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sure you play underneath it and you're supporting each other, right?
270
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Here's what I will say. If Detroit has three at
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the end of the game, we win.
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That's your prediction. I like it. That's what I want.
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That's a good prediction. That's what I want.
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Well, thank you both for coming on. I really appreciate it.
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Thank you very much. Always good to see you guys.
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Great to see all the wonderful fans here. Always, always.
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Hang tough, man. These guys are going to work through
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whatever they have to. Always, always. Thank you, guys. Thank you.
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I'm not a professional like you guys.
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Oh, believe me, the timing. That wasn't me. I'm listening
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to somebody in my ear. All right.
4
00:00:27.289 --> 00:00:29.929
Welcome back to Game Day Live Intermission Report. We have
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none other than Bruce Driver and Ken Danico with us. Gentlemen,
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I know we have a short window to talk about this.
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Let's just jump right into it. That was a pretty
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wild second period.
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Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.
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I want to get your thoughts on how that went
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because coming into it, 1-1, they go down 2-1. All
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of a sudden, they're chasing a.
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Little bit, it feels like.
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Look, they came out. I mean, love their first period,
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and it's 1-1. And that's frustrating. And sometimes even I
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have to check myself, just like our passionate fans, and
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what a turnout we have here of Devils fans at.
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The viewing party.
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But for me, and me and Bruce talk a lot
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about this, but he might have a different opinion, is
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it's going to take a little time. It just does, unfortunately.
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You want everything to click. We like some of the
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moves in the offseason. And for this game, you come
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out and play the way you did in the first half.
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Frustrating that it.
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Was 1-1 at the time, but you're going to win
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more than you lose. Yeah.
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You've got the mistakes, getting caught, outnumbered situations.
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You've got to clean those up sooner than later. But
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sometimes with.
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Different players and things, not an excuse reality, different system,
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players haven't played here, getting acclimated. Sometimes you get caught
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a little bit watching, and we saw a little bit
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of that, but You can't complain. The second period was wild.
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They go down 2-1, still dominating, not scoring, but I'm
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glad they're finishing. Because all year long, it's only sixth game,
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they have had plenty of chances to win more games.
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So the tall short of it, I'm still kind of
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trying to stay even-keeled because they need more time, Bruce.
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I don't know.
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I'm a mess. I'm a mess watching this game. He
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is a mess today, that's for sure. It's a lot
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different with him being here. Because I root like a fan.
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I'm one of you guys.
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It's true. And listen to the broadcast.
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It was a great period in that we were able
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to put the puck in the net.
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There's no doubt.
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And Kenny and I talked. We love the pressure game
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the Devils have.
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But they really just need to balance that pressure with
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recognizing when there's danger.
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And that's what.
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We're seeing today. That's where the mistakes are being made.
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We saw it last night on the goal right off
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the start of the second period. You know, we drifted
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two defensive holes to the puck here. All of a sudden,
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the backside's open.
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It's in the net.
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Yeah.
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And that goal, I mean, literally turned the game on
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its head quickly. Very quick, yeah. Because it's 1-0.
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We probably should have had a lead in that game,
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played pretty well in the first period. And we go
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up that second one, and now we're coming from behind,
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and we're down by two.
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Yeah.
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Same thing happened tonight again, too.
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You know, we go up, we go down, we go down.
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They tie it, we go down again, battle back. But
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as Kenny said, it's great. You know, Nico right in front.
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And that's where we've.
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Got to be.
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We've got to penetrate.
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I was listening after the game to Jesper Brett talk about,
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you know, we need to get to the inside.
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And I think they all know it. It's just a
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matter of committing.
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Plenty of shots, but too many perimeter. It's committing to.
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Be that team that's going to get to the middle
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of the ice and get to the front of the net.
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I mean, we're a very skilled team. We can control
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the puck all we want on the outside. And, you know,
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In our era, we used to allow that to happen
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all day long.
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We let them play on the outside.
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They're not going to score from back there.
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They're going to score when the play comes to the middle.
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Of the ice.
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Good habits. It's patience and good habits. I think what
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Bruce is saying, I agree with wholeheartedly. Any team that
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has success, the game's evolved. The skill, the speed, get it.
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You want these guys to be creative, but away from
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the puck, it hasn't changed in 50 years. You've got
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to have commitment of all five guys. I like to see,
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I say it on the screen when we're calling the game,
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when you see five guys in the picture when you
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don't have the puck, it's a good thing because you're
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trying to take the middle away. Whether it's in the
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offensive zone, neutral zone, if they're connected and all there,
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but too often one guy strays and it breaks the
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whole chain down of being a good team structurally they're
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the best team structurally right now to start the season
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so we couldn't afford that mistake you talked about Bruce
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nine seconds into the second period of just a mental
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lapse don't get me wrong it's a game of mistakes
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we all made them but in our championship years and
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when we were continually a team that could win it
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all you cover for each other We know somebody's going
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to make a mistake.
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If I cheated, well, Bruce is already, he's already reading that.
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I've got to be the safety valve.
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You can't just think it's going to happen that, well,
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he's going to get the puck or he's going to
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poke that guy. We always would think in the defensive
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mode of, you know, you've got to stay, you know,
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more to the middle and just kind of, connected that
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he might make a mistake kind of attitude, right? That
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I can cover up for him, and then you do
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it for each other because we all make mistakes.
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Yeah, Grant was saying before about when you guys all
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used to have a voice in a room, held each
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other accountable, that everybody was pulling in the same direction.
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Having a lot of new guys on this team, do
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you feel like that's going to take a little time
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for that to kind of gel into the mix of it?
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There's certainly an adjustment any time you're adding new players.
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There's no doubt about that.
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But as Kenny said, the game really hasn't, it's changed
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a lot, but more from the defensive standpoint, it really
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hasn't changed.
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The word I was looking for, Bruce, was staggered.
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Right?
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Staggered.
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I couldn't figure out, my mind was going, I'm focused
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on this game, but he's right.
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But the majority of the goals are scored inside the dots, right?
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That's where we're, I mean, the players talked about it
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last night. We need to get inside the dots. So
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we need to prevent the other team from getting inside
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the dots, right? So we don't want to stray too
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far outside the dots. And like I said, I love
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the pressure game. You know, we're pressuring the puck, but
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we need to realize pressure the puck when we can,
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when the other options are taken away. And we're pressuring
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a little bit too hard in situations where we're giving
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up a dangerous opportunity.
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And dangerous opportunities in this game, the guys are too skilled.
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They're going to put the puck in the net.
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Oh, yeah. Yeah.
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You know, it's so funny. I keep catching you looking around.
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This place is incredible.
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There's a TV every... five feet, which is nice for
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my ADD.
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All 32 teams are playing there.
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That's pretty awesome.
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Frozen frenzy.
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We brought Grant.
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Marshall back into the mix. No headset, but that's okay.
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He can hear us.
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Bruce is a guy I listen to too because he
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was a student of the game. He understands it. What
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we all do, we go back.
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In our memory bank and when we had success and
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when we didn't at times.
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The last.
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Handful of years of my career was Stanley Cup or
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bust because we had a group. Doesn't mean it's always
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going to materialize, but you just read off each other,
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play for each other.
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And what does that mean?
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It sounds like a cliche, but I mean exactly what
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I was saying. We'd cover up for each other. And
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if I fell or I turned the puck over, I
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got my partner bailing me out and vice versa.
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And that becomes contagious, right?
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But if everybody's on their own page and I'm going
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to cheat, keep going, Which goal was it that, you know,
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Luke Hughes in that game turned it over?
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Everybody wants to point to Luke in that play. Everybody's
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blowing the zone. Yeah. It's 3-2. We've got to get
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control so we can pull the goaltender. Yeah.
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Because we're losing 3-2 to Utah, and he's been playing
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his best hockey, and he's going to continue to grow.
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He had no options, so he's in a vulnerable position.
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Yes, he turns it over. I get it. Maybe should
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have moved it quicker, but he had two guys on him.
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I'm going, where is everybody? They're all hiding. Don't hide
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from the puck.
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So that's what I mean, connected and playing for each
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other and just recognizing time of game, situation. We needed
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to get puck control, hang on to it, and then
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get a change, whatever we needed to get an extra
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attacker and pull the goaltender at the time. But everybody
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was already just thinking offense before we had complete control.
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He had two guys hounding him from behind.
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He's like NJ Devil.
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Look at him.
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He's like picking up your Ken Danico bobblehead.
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You don't have a bobblehead, do you? Marshy, do you
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have a bobblehead?
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Hello?
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Do you have a bobblehead?
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I don't have a bobblehead either.
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But what a great perspective from exactly what you're saying.
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From a fan's point of view, when we're looking at it,
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all we see is Luke, right? So from our perspective,
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00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:05.250
we're not seeing that whole play develop because you're focusing
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on where.
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The puck is. Of course, you look at the.
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Actual mistake, usually you can go 10, 15 seconds before,
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and there might have been two mistakes prior, but we, naturally,
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that's sports, that's fans, all of us, we looked at that,
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but since we played for a little bit, we kind
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of look at, God, five seconds before, you make a
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better pass, you make a better play, he's not in
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that position, what transpired, right? That's how we thought, we
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were trying to bail each other out, And these guys
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want to win. They've got a good group of guys
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with the Devils, and I've got a lot of faith
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in Sonny. That, if there's tweaks that need to be made,
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and there will be, like every team, I think he's
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smart enough to do it at the right time, whatever
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has to happen. But these guys want to win. I'd
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preach to them if they were sitting here. Just play together.
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Believe in each other. Trust each other. And when you
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don't have the puck, Bruce always, don't cheat, right? Take
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the middle away.
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Kenny and I talked about that goal. The one that
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Luke turned the puck over. I'm hard on Luke because
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that's where he needs to sense the danger.
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I get it.
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I can't do too much and I've got to make
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a play.
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But I can tell you that I'm coaching a boys
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team right now and I'm constantly preaching when they come
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to the bench you guys are hiding from the puck
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like our defensemen have the puck they want to make
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a pass but you're nowhere like yeah you need to
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be all four guys need to be available on the.
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Ice gotta give them an outlet to receive a pass.
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And if you're not moving to get open if you're
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standing beside one of their teammates you're not helping out
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the defenseman so in Luke's defense as Kenny.
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Said I didn't think he had an outlet he didn't
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have an.
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Outlet his outlet was get rid of the puck. But
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his thought process is, we want to get the goalie out.
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He doesn't want to give the puck away. So it's
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kind of a double-edged sword there. Because they score, we're saying,
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he should have moved the puck, but who does he
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move the puck to?
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Because nobody was open.
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And I know they're getting ready to wrap up and
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get back into the game.
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My good buddy Ray Ferraro.
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He's got Ken Danico's job tonight.
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Here, come say hello. Because I'm on too much. I
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wanted to get Mark Sheehan. He's already come on. All right, good.
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So the game's just started, so we're going to wrap
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this up. Real fast, prediction for this third period.
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Don't ever ask me for predictions.
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I never make predictions. A good game.
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I hope they play a good, smart third period. You
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can't sit back on a one-goal lead.
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No.
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But exactly what Bruce was preaching, be an outlet. Take
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the middle away. When you don't have the puck, Make
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sure you play underneath it and you're supporting each other, right?
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Here's what I will say. If Detroit has three at
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the end of the game, we win.
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That's your prediction. I like it. That's what I want.
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That's a good prediction. That's what I want.
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Well, thank you both for coming on. I really appreciate it.
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Thank you very much. Always good to see you guys.
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Great to see all the wonderful fans here. Always, always.
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Hang tough, man. These guys are going to work through
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whatever they have to. Always, always. Thank you, guys. Thank you.
