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00:00So, what do you look for as more people get involved here after January 1st?
00:05One of the advantages that the Puck heads have, like you, me, is that we've been in
00:10it since the beginning and can see the ebbs and flows of different things.
00:13There are people that, you know, the NBA season starts on Christmas and the NHL season starts
00:19for people with the Winter Classic, usually on New Year's Day, but it was on New Year's
00:22Eve this year.
00:23I don't know if it's going to be on New Year's Eve again.
00:25That didn't work out so well, but it was a weird day, just on a Wednesday.
00:29Christmas has messed everything up, your schedule, my schedule, the kids' schedule,
00:32everything.
00:33But you've got to look at the schedule and see how many games teams have played against,
00:38I think, division games.
00:40So, you start to look at that, and then you look at the standings, and you look at the
00:44Eastern Conference standings, and there's not a person walking planet Earth or skating
00:51on ice anywhere that would have told you or me or anybody that the Washington Capitals
00:55would have the most points in the NHL, in the Eastern Conference, as of this point
01:00in the season.
01:02They're playing way above expectations.
01:04Their lines aren't being adjusted.
01:06I think there's been a value on them a lot.
01:08The Ovechkin points, he's back.
01:11He's going to break that record.
01:12I mean, it is, so you start to look at things like that.
01:16You look at health, and then you also really look at bad teams, Mike, where, you know,
01:21you see the Eastern Conference odds, and they're not really adjusting as much for a team like
01:27the Capitals.
01:28Like, look at that.
01:29There's a team like even the Senators and your Rangers and Islanders, I mean, the state
01:33of New York hockey or tri-state area hockey is all about the Devils.
01:38That's the best team in that city, Mike, isn't it?
01:40The Devils are by far the best team in the tri-state area.
01:44There's not even a question about that.
01:47And the weird thing is, is that obviously the Rangers have been, you could say, maybe
01:52the biggest disappointment in hockey this year.
01:55When you think about the expectations that they had, losing in the Eastern Conference
01:59final last year, still having a team, you know, that's relatively some superstar players
02:04on it.
02:05But for them to be this bad, Dave, has been a surprise.
02:09I'm not as surprised about the Islanders being where they are.
02:12I am surprised about the Rangers being where they are.
02:15But yet they still have the Rangers booked, obviously, ahead of teams like the Penguins.
02:21And the Penguins are closer to the playoffs right now than the Rangers are or the Islanders
02:26are.
02:27But the Capital thing does give me some question because it's 10 to 1 now for them.
02:32They've got five teams ahead of them on that board.
02:36Everyone loves this Carolina team.
02:38They're always right at the top.
02:40And they're always at the top of the season.
02:43This is like four years in a row now.
02:44The Carolina's at the top of this board and they never win anything.
02:49And every year they're at the top of this board.
02:50And I don't even think this team's as good as their team from the last couple of years.
02:55I would argue you're probably right, but they lurk around and they get that.
03:00I don't think anybody watches them play.
03:02And they get a lot of money backing them because they're going to be in there and they're going
03:08to need a, you know, tremendous goaltending performance from somebody to just carry them
03:11through to get maybe to the Eastern Conference Finals or the Stanley Cup Finals.
03:17You mentioned the Penguins.
03:18I don't know if they're the biggest disappointment as well, but they've been bad.
03:23In the Western Conference though, Mike, I think it's pretty obvious who the biggest
03:28disappointment is there.
03:29And look at the bottom of that list, the Nashville Predators.
03:31How are they favored today?
03:33They stink, Mike.
03:34That's the dog of the day.
03:37Four favorites, one dog today.
03:40Four favorites win, the Canucks beat Nashville.