Real Kyper & Bourne - All In with Patrik Allvin

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne start with Canucks GM Patrik Allvin (3:37) to discuss the trade for Elias Lindholm. He shares insight into the negotiation process, their long-term plan for Lindholm and whether we should expect more moves out of Vancouver. They regroup with Sam McKee for a chat about how Lindholm changes Pettersson's extension negotiations. Later, an early Off-The-Rails Friday appearance from Doug MacLean (26:19)! He shares his thoughts on the Lindholm trade, whether the Flames' fire sale will pay off long-term, who to keep between Hanifin and Tanev, and this year's shaken-up All-Star festivities. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

let's welcome everybody into the real kipper and born show we are live on sportsnet sports at 650 in vancouver sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee as we get you ready in about an hour towards NHL All-Star Weekend officially beginning with the draft. Great. I think Willie's the favorite. That's the betting odds the last I saw was the most likely to get drafted first. So this is something that you could really put money on.

Yeah. That's interesting. Sure is. It's so arbitrary, right? Is there a betting odds? Is there betting odds on the last guy to be picked? I don't know. We're going to have to go to bet 365 for that, Sammy.

You can give us a heads up in game time. I'm just looking at some of the, they have posted for like the passing challenge and all that stuff but i'm looking for first overall here just quickly but you in a few minutes patrick alveen general manager of the vancouver canucks will join us of course he was supposed to join us yesterday but he had better things to do trading for another all-star so what he was doing up the canucks total from four to five. So good on him for coming back 24 hours later.

And then in about a half an hour, we're going to welcome in Doug McClain, a fan favorite here on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. If you ask him, it's yes. Fair enough. I'm just going based on what he tells me. Works. So we're going to have some fun with him before we conclude this week in the studio,

because as of tomorrow, we'll be coming to you live from the Metro Convention Center. I heard a little birdie told me that one of the all-star captains that isn't playing might be joining us tomorrow on the show. Really? Yeah. It's not Justin Bieber. Well, they all sing. They sing.

This guy sings. They all sing. Well, one's funny. I bet you Will sings, too. I almost certainly sing. Will will not be joining us. You're really narrowing this down here. Is it Tate McRae?

In fact, I'm going to go even further and say Will Arnett will never join us ever. The rest of our lives. He's never coming on this show because someone apparently has bugged him a little bit too much. Poor Disco Dan is the best producer in Canada. And he just pushed once.

He got an email back and it was... Now we got Will Arnett mad at us. Now he's mad at us. And we love him. With Buble. I will say that I love Will Arnett so much. Me too.

We're just crushed right now. I love it. Do you really love that show? I also love Buble. Yeah, that's who's scheduled to join us tomorrow is Buble. You're not going to ask him to sing for you or anything like that. You're not going to embarrass me, are you? Would that be embarrassing?

It depends on what song. One of the Christmas tunes would embarrass me. He truly does seem like the man, though. Yeah. Like, every time I see him interviewed, he loves hockey. Wasn't he, like, part owner of the Giants for a while? Like, is he still a Vancouver Giants, the CHL team? Yeah, he wore a Giants jersey the other day.

He still do that, maybe. Loves hockey. I like his drinks as well. Yeah. Quality. Nice. All right, from Buble in Vancouver to Patrick Alvin, general manager of the Vancouver Canucks,

now joining us. Patrick, really appreciate it. We're kind of wondering where you were yesterday, and then we found out where you were yesterday. Yes. Sorry about that, guys. I got a little bit busy there, so I missed out on my appointment with you guys. Apologize.

No apology necessary. Can you tell me how busy it got within the final decision to let the deal go through? Because the sense is that this happened rather quickly or it escalated quickly. Which one was it? Well, I don't know if it went that quick

Craig Conroy and I have talked since actually since he got the job and we started the training camp and I told him our interest in Lindholm and even Sador

back then and we kept in touch here. And, you know, sure, over the last week or so, it started to get more serious here. And we talked about the framework and all that. And finally, yesterday, actually, I around when when you guys uh when i was when i was going to be on your call there or sorry on your show uh that's where we uh finally got the fine-tuning of the deal in place so with the the lindholm deal is it a matter of you know we are looking for a guy who's a call call it whatever you want, a 2C or someone in that role?

Or is it just when a player of that caliber comes available, your interest grows? Like, it is a matter of your shopping for a player like that or a player like that becomes available and you put some thought into it? I think it's a little bit of both there. You know, obviously, with a caliber of a player, Elias Lindholm over the years, what he's shown

and what it brings, right shot center, which is hard to get, and how good he is on a 200-foot game and his face-offs, for us, it gives us more flexibility. I think we want to get a little bit harder to play against, and he provided that. He can play both special teams. So I would say it's a little bit of a mix to your question there. When it comes to Lindholm, correct me if I'm wrong,

but Jimmy Rutherford drafted him in Carolina, and I assume that he's had his eye on him one way or another from afar, either admiring him since he left Carolina to this point. But my question to you, Patrick, is this isn't necessarily should be seen as someone that's just waiting to go to UFA here. I imagine that you've already had discussions on if we can find a way to sign you, we will. We want you here for much longer.

Yeah, you know, correct. It's great going full circle there for Jim. I drafted him in Carolina and the player he has become. And the conversation, I had a quick conversation with Elias last night when he arrived back in Calgary. He was excited to join the Vancouver Canucks, and we played them two times this year. And he liked the way our team is structured and liked the way our team was playing.

And I agree with Jim. My hope here is that this is giving us, it's giving Vancouver Canucks a chance to get to know Elias and Elias a chance to get to know Vancouver Canucks. And I sure hope that we can find a way to continue the partnership here moving forward. But as of right now, the focus, I'm happy for Elias being part of the All-Star Game, an event in Toronto, getting to know our players and our coach there. And we're going on a big road trip, so he will have a chance to interact with our players

and coaching staff right away. But our focus is to get him up and going and get his family in place here in Vancouver. And when the time is right, hopefully we can talk to his representative. Patrick, was there a moment or a weekend or a trip or something where you came to realize that you guys were legit you know like every year teams come out and have decent starts i look at a team like the capitals who are i think second in the metro a month into the year and who

are now second last and they fall off was there a moment where you guys sustained your success where you're like oh boy this is maybe something different than just a good start? I think the players and the coaches deserve a ton of credit here. I think their approach from Rick Tockett and his coaching staff to

have the next day mentality and coming in here with a great attitude to form a partnership with the players so the players understand what the coaches want and how we want to play. And you started to see the buy-in from the players early on in camp. You know, has it been a smooth ride up to this point? No. And it's just going to get harder, but that's what Toc and his staff are preaching to the players. So I don't think we, as boring as it sounds,

Toc and I are process-driven people and we don't really look at the standings. We're looking at the process of getting our team better every day. And when you have that mindset, that will just dictate the outcome of the season i i wasn't did i anticipate us being point wise as good as we are right now no i didn't uh but i was well aware of what certain individuals were capable of in terms of performing on our team. But I will say, again, credit to Toc and his staff, how they have got the individuals to play as a team.

And that's where I've been most pleased with. We're talking to Patrick Alvine, general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. Big trade yesterday with the Calgary Flames. So, Patrick, you look again at not only the body of work manager of the vancouver canucks big trade yesterday with the calgary flames so patrick you look again at uh not only the work of the body of work that you and jimmy have done this season but uh you know off season last year as well and moving forward now so you added the door off plays anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes a night You added a top six player who's going to play 18, 20-plus minutes a night here. Moving forward to the trade deadline,

is there a sense, too, that you don't want to overdo it here? You finally got enough time to let these guys settle in. Can we expect more? Should we not expect more? Are you feeling like this is the team right now that you want moving forward to push for a Stanley Cup run? I think now

it's up to the coaches to get Elias on a line and finding chemistry and then for myself and Jim to sit back and watch our team here over the next couple weeks and see where we are

and how we perform. And obviously the conversation with talk is important. And then we continue to evaluate and see what is out there and if it makes sense or not to add something. Well, I guess the next couple of weeks we'll see where we are. When you look back a year ago, so 11 months ago, you guys are sixth in the Pacific and you decide to trade a first and a second round pick

to get Philip Peronic, which at the time, I think, had people scratching their heads a little bit about the direction you guys had chosen to go. How do you look back at that moment, that decision, and what went into it? Did you sort of see the potential to get where you are now? I think when Jim and I got in

here right away, we felt that we needed to improve on the right side. And we addressed our scouting staff that that was a priority for us. And also preferably someone that we could control in a good age. And, you know, it's not easy to get right shot defensemen or guys who are tracking Phillip.

I wasn't sure if he would become available or not. At the point where we made the Bo Horvath trade and got a first run pick in and back in that deal, we felt that that was something we were willing to, you know, pay that asset in order for us to get a right-shot defenseman.

And Ronak came available. But we felt in order how we wanted to play moving forward, it was critical for us to get a right shot defenseman that could move the puck and the ability to skate. And I think the actual deal was that it wasn't just a first and a second. We actually got a fourth round pick back there. Patrick, Justin just mentioned the Hiron heronic trade and then we know the pieces that were involved to get lindholm uh where are you overall with your your assets your prospects

some teams like toronto every once in a while mention that their cupboards aren't as as full as they'd like them to be at this point and uh where are you with your cupboard right now you know what that this is something we always discuss and uh especially with my uh developer staff and and getting a sense of where uh or young players are in the in the development path and we all know that every single player has has their own path. I was fortunate to be around when Teddy Bluger, who is on my team here right now, when he was drafted in two, I believe it took him almost seven years until he played his first NHL game in Pittsburgh.

So it's not a sprint for those guys. And we're very pleased and happy how we have built up our board in terms of younger players in a deal like this, not having to give up a player out of Abbotsford where we clearly are pleased with their performance. And several players are knocking on the door to deserve to get a game up here in Vancouver. But we also, in the last couple of years of the draft,

have been able to have first-round picks in Lekermackie and Tom Willander that we're excited about as well. So I think we felt at this point with uh potential uh later first round pick uh talking to your amateur staff here todd harvey and shots were what kind of player that potentially would be available later in the first and and uh you know with as i said with our prospect we felt that that this was the year uh that we people comfortable giving up a first round pick and and the players uh and the younger players we did you know i'm sure you guys are just so uh grateful and excited to see the potential being reached in guys like quinn hughes and demko and petterson

and besser everyone having such tremendous years at the same time uh as it goes with your role fan bases are never fully content without everything being perfect all the time. I'm sure you've answered a lot of questions about Pedersen's contract and where that stands these days. Is it just a matter of now you kind of play out the end of the season and deal with it from there? Well, we'll see.

I mean, Elias and his representative knows our position, and we think highly about Elias and his representative knows our position, and we think highly about Elias and the potential he has to take to another level with the coaching staff and the resources we have. And getting another piece in here in Lindholm,

I think that will help Elias and give us more options on the power play and in our top six. So the direction the team and the organization is heading, I'm hopeful that Pettersson will continue to be part of the Canucks

moving forward. Well, they say things come in threes, right? You get a three-year extension, you trade for Lindholm, and now you re-sign Patterson. Over the All-Star weekend. Yes. Again, I'm going to follow the talk's

mantra here of the day-by-day mentality. There you go. Well, listen, congratulations on the new deal and the big trade to get Vancouver Canucks very excited for a great second half and hopefully a fun spring. Thanks for doing this, Patrick. Thanks, guys.

I appreciate it. Sorry for yesterday again. No, no. Thanks for coming today. We appreciate it. You were again. No, no. Thanks for coming today. We appreciate it. You were busy. Okay. That's a Galvin.

Exactly. General manager of Vancouver Canucks. And right now, man, there's a lot of people excited in Vancouver as they should be. Yeah. That was interesting. What he said right at the end there. About Pettersson and Lindholm, right? Like bringing a Swedish guy who's another offensive weapon.

He has the same name you can't leave now but the idea i think is to show petterson right the direction they're going to yeah it's hard to kind of figure this one out because much like what we went through Willie Nylander in Toronto, how much can you negotiate? How much, where's the back and forth? And as we, well, I mean, there was no real negotiation for Willie Nylander. It was like, here's my number. You want to match it, match it.

Is that what's going on here? Because I don't get a sense that that's entirely it. It's like the opposite. It just feels like we're trying to be patient with you, Petey, but eventually you got to let us know. You want to be here or don't want to be here.

We're the first place team in the NHL now. We've offered you a lot of money. Is it a money thing? I don't get a sense. This salary cap, with willie okay 10 5 to 11 2 5 to 11 5 we're talking about a million dollars a year we're not talking about five so i'm sure they've got peterson in a in a in a healthy here, and it can't be about squeezing another half a million dollars. It just has to be you feeling good about committing the next seven

or eight years here. No. But, I mean, he's a controlled asset after this year, right? He's an RFA after this season. I don't count that because. You're buying all the UFA years? Yes, you're buying the UFA. But he can't just leave is my point.

No, he cannot just leave. But what he can do is act like a UFA. And Vancouver's talking to him like he's a UFA. So they don't want to delay. They don't want to go into the last year. And maybe it's a Willie Nylander scenario where you... Offer sheet. No, no, no, no, no. Here's the difference.

Here's the difference. Here's the difference between, I think, Pettersson and Willie Nylander is that, you know, for the Leafs to be convinced that he's worth 11 and a half, they needed to see a level. And I don't think. Which has not been seen since. Which, well, stop it.

Okay. Anyways, continue. He's not saying. He's just saying. Continue. Don't bail on Willie because he's had a calm two weeks. Me? I would never

does does pd need to hit a level here for vancouver level that's that's my point that's my point that he's not me lander where you're just not convinced you're that guy until he strung together 40 games not peterson's eighth in the league in scoring. 27 and 37 for 64 and 49 games. Plus 16. So Vancouver doesn't need to prove, to convince themselves that he's an 11 and a half, $12 million player.

They don't have to convince them. Pedersen take the Willie deal? To me, if you're Pedersen, say, give me half a million more than that. I play center. Listen, if it's the difference between keeping Petey or watching him walk out the door for half a million dollars, you're going to take 12 all day long. Yeah, he's 25 years old. Yeah.

You're doing it. So what is it now? He needs to go to 12-5 or he wants to see what else is out there or like what is it if it's a 12-5 thing i think that's crazy like i i know we've discussed me being sucking and negotiating before but like just pay me what i'm worth like this is pd we got the window here there's comparables here's about your window do you want to be here okay well then what do we Okay. Would he leave over $4 million? Over

eight years to be where he wants to be? I hope so. Okay, so what you're saying is that it may come down to Petey just not wanting to be in Vancouver. I mean, that's the only alternative, which I guess is the thing that no one's saying, is that he either doesn't want to be there or he's asking for

a ton of money. I would never do that what are beloved canucks friends what i'm just what we're talking about is it not what the conversation is where are the dynamics here yeah for willie it was i love it here just show me the money pay me like i don't but with pd is there more yeah i don't to the story game time oh i Oh, I also want to... We solved nothing in that conversation. No, hold on. Melvin said something else that was really interesting. The Heronic thing, which I thought was really interesting.

A, he definitely wanted to know. We also got a fourth back for him, by the way. They got Heronic in a fourth for that first and a second. But the idea that you got a 25-year-old right-handed D-man who can play on a top pair in the NHL... With a bomb of a shot. Our team's not falling all over themselves. It doesn't matter where you are in your cycle.

Just get that guy. If the guy's 24 and he's at the time and a right shot D you can play, get the asset. I remember people being like, I don't get that. It's like, you need good players. Good player.

Anyway. That's true. Game time? Game time. All right. It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary.

Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, I was looking through Bet365. I can't find anything for who's going first overall. I don't have that. But what we do have here is we have the game MVP for the NHL All-Star game this weekend. And to me, the favorite is Austin Matthews, which makes a lot of sense.

Got it. He's halfway decent. The home crowd's going to will it. And 9-1. That's what it pays? Yeah, you couldn't. That's a good bet. That's a pretty good bet.

You make worse bets than that. Two in the net. Yeah, and his team does well, which maybe they won't and he doesn't win it. But to me, 9-1 for Matthews to be All-Star Game MVP in Toronto is a really good bet. What else am I looking at here? For the

PWHL showcase tonight, you can bet on that too. I love this one. Probably the best player in women's hockey. Marie-Philippe Poulin, plus 750 to be the All-Star Game MVP tonight. Three on three? Get it. That's a great bet. That's almost a guarantee.

The most clutch athlete, not named Christine Sinclair. I mean, she is the best, and she's probably going to score some goals, and everyone loves her the most, and she's probably going to be the MVP. So plus 750 is a really good bet. And you can also bet on all the different events tomorrow night. Like, so, you know, Pachinac's the favorite for the one-timer at plus 500 matthews plus 500 uh barzell is a long shot there so if you want to get in on the action and you know incentivize yourself to enjoy some all-star skills competition you can go to bet365 and find all the different odds call me crazy this is when betting's the best when it's like

a nonsensical can i throw this balled up piece of paper in that garbage can type of bet that's all this is. Yeah, so go on there. You'll be able to find some value. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play it responsibly. Okay, let's take a break so we can bring Doug McClain in as early as we can. I'm not even going to ask him anything when we start. I'm just going to go. Turn the mics on. Hey, Mac. And then he's going to talk for 20 minutes. We can go get a coffee.

We can go grab a bite to eat. And by the time he's done, we'll say goodbye to everybody. Three books have been promoted. His book's been promoted three times. All right. Our special early edition of off the rails friday with doug mcclain coming up next big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the leafs jays raptors and the nfl the jd bunkin podcast subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back into the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. It's special Thursday edition. Specialist. Let's bring him in. Former NHL president, GM, head coach, author of Draft Day, How to Pick Winners or Get Left Behind. Ladies and gentlemen, Doug McLean. An aura around him today. He looks positive. Hi, Doug. Very positive. How you doing, guys?

No, no. We ask the questions around here. So I listened to you guys after I went off the air the other day and I heard Bourne chirping me about, you know, you don't even have to ask him a question. He just takes over. I mean, like, well, I'm trying to, as my good friend Jeff Rimmer said to me, and he's an expert media person, he said, thank God you livened that show up.

Hey, you didn't have to liven it up patrick alveen livened it up patrick alveen and jimmy rutherford um yeah you know what interesting interact i liked it both ways you know i liked it for vancouver uh you know if they win the cup or get by the first round uh you know and they you know they've had a great year they look good they look solid we were excited about them three years ago if you recall nick three or four years ago when petterson was a kid oh out of the bubble. Remember? Yeah. Right. And Travis Green was leading the way. Quinn looked great. Miller looked great. Demko was an up-and-comer.

Demko was great. So now we see the big test when they go into the playoffs. And Lindholm, I like the pickup. It solidifies their top six. He's a character-quality guy that gives him a really good look and and he plays in all zones you know there's not much not to like about him so we'll see what happens at playoff time and i love what jimmy did and i love what conroy did he picks up the kid from kitchener young defenseman right D, puts up lots of points. Who knows where he is down the road?

And Kuzmenko is a scorer. I guess he's a scorer. He was one year. So, you know, I think Craig did well in a big deal, in a pressure-packed big deal situation. I want to know where Hannafin's going to go and Tanev's going to go and Markstrom's going to go. That's what i want to

see now and whether your team there in toronto gets involved or ottawa they're talking taniff but you know we'll see i liked it i thought it was it added a little excitement to my day you know i mean i was good in pickleball and then that that just solidified my day. Mac, what about Jimmy Rutherford's reputation now for just pulling off these type of trades or more importantly, looking like he's getting ahead of other general managers? I'm sure there was some interest out there for Lindholm, but his ability to get things done faster

or just making decisions quicker, is there something to be said about that? Well, yeah, I think there is. And look, if you were 75, you'd probably be a little more aggressive on the show. Rush this along here. Seriously. I mean, between him and Lamorello at 70 whatever and 80 whatever like

seriously go for it weird i'm all in again yeah jump on it the rest of us were trying to survive you know trying to get another contract he's you know i know, I mean, so anyway, I like what Jimmy did. You know, and let's not forget, he did it in Pittsburgh and had success. And then, you know, one of the reasons, why did he leave Pittsburgh? Was it because the cupboard was starting to look pretty bare? Or, you know, what was the reason there? So this is a, Jimmy's never been afraid. Am I wrong?

Did he not draft Lindholm in Carolina? Yeah, he did. So, you know, he knows him pretty well. Anyway, I liked it. I liked what Jimmy did. Look, this franchise was in dire straits a year ago. We were actually chuckling about this franchise, weren't we? A year ago.

No, we were very concerned, Mac. It was a mess. It was a mess. And all of a sudden, you make a coaching change. Tockett comes in. Tockett's never had great success in coaching because he's had lousy teams. All of a sudden, he gets some talent.

He's handled the situation really well and all of a sudden uh you know they they you know they is your door off that was an interesting move that really solidified a big back end almost similar to what uh vegas did when they're putting the size on the back end so it's a little bit taken from that model. So now you get to the playoffs and you've got to beat Vegas and you've got to beat Edmonton and you've got to beat some pretty good teams. And that's going to be fun playoff time. But, you know, how do you not like it? Not look, not every GM can jump in on Lindholm here because he's a he's a UFA

and he's going to make a lot of money. And where do people fit? How do you fit? Where, how do you fit this guy in, in a cap situation? This allows Patterson to stay in the wing. It allows Lindholm to fill in, in the top six. Tough not to like the move.

Doug. I think it's a relevant question to ask. When you look at how Vancouver didn't really bottom out, they did the old retool. I, my, like my one hockey stance is that i feel like completely tanking is just not the way to go you look at buffalo finding your way back can be hell

you know new jersey did it and you're not sure they're back yet is detroit back like these teams are still they never really dig out of this pit what are your thoughts on the flames now who are talking about selling off anyone who's any good you're you do it today, you're in la-la land because you're right. Ottawa have been rebuilding for five, seven years. And all of a sudden, they've got the worst pool of prospects out there because all their prospects are on the big team and they're really young. So now, you know, you've got these teams. You know, Stevie Y was going to bottom out too and then all of a sudden stevie y said uh i can't take the heat here in detroit

because they want to see us in the playoffs so what does he do he does a retool as well good prospects you know good prospects but he also started to retool with some veteran guys and now all of a sudden they're in the playoff race. So you, you can't Chicago. Like I talked to friends of mine that live in Chicago. They said like, seriously, it's torture. It's torture. So we'll see.

Mac, there is a sense that Hannafin may be sitting on a, should I sign it or not sign it a weekend with a contract. And some have speculated, at least to me that it might be as much as 60 million dollars over eight years uh but he is as i'm reminded 26 years old on an eight-year deal looks a lot better than any 29 or 30 year old signing a a seven or eight year deal so where are you on keeping hannifin and moving tan of i i i like i like hannifin because he's a he's a skater he this guy can move this guy's wheels are not gonna fall off does he have a lot of miles on the body no versus a tanv who's played so hard. To me, Tanev is a great guy to pick up as a character leader on a team, short-term. Tanev, to me, is a long-term guy with limited miles on his body,

and he's a great skater. Is he a great player? I thought he was going to be a great player, and so did Babcock when he wanted him ahead of marner but look uh he's been good he hasn't been great but he's still a great pickup for a lot of teams and calgary have got to try to keep him i think if he wants to stay there um are you good on the trade if i turn the page here yeah go wherever you want to go often you get a guy who's coached in two NHL All-Star games on your show on All-Star Weekend.

I wanted to ask about the gift bags, Doug. What did they give you? The big gift bag was $10,000 for each win each year. That's what the big gift bag was. And the rest of the stuff I gave away. Did you win both years? Like, seriously, do your homework. The big gift bag was, and the rest of the stuff I gave away. Did you win both years? Like, seriously, do your homework.

I don't think they keep records on that online, Matt. So listen, just go back and check the last two years where it was a real game. Okay. When it was a real game in Boston, i think it was not in 95 or 96 right boards game winner ray bork gets the winner in the last minute of the game that's the game i had the bench hammer like to win you know because he was so god awful and i love the kid i like and roman every time roman would see me in the morning skating, he'd shake his head and laugh. But listen, that was a real game. It was end-to-end hockey. Then the next year in San Jose, that was when Nolan pointed at the net,

and it was, like, unbelievable. It was a high-scoring game, but it was really competitive. And then it's become whatever. It's become three-on-three. And now we're giving a million dollars to millionaires a million dollars if you win the ice sports you get we used to get a ribbon for winning the ice sports and pei now you get a million dollars if you win the ice capades. And, like, I mean, seriously. Okay, do me a favor.

Whoever wins a million dollars, donate it to charity. Come on. Hold on, hold on. Buddy, if you win 10 grand, you can give it to charity a million dollars? No chance you'd be giving that away. If you win, if I won 10 grand because I wanted to get that new BMW 300 series. Because I had an 87 Volvo. I wanted to upgrade. So, you know, but anyway, look, it's great.

I'm really, I'm excited for them getting their million. And I might watch to see this Czech presentation. I used to get excited about the Hyundai they used to give them for the most valuable player. So you didn't donate your 10 grand so you could get your car, and these guys won't donate a million so they can get their plane. What's the difference? Yeah.

Oh, well, that helps you know it gives them another 10 years of net jets it's great i love it you know anyway look that's how we fix our all-star game we give the players another million dollars we give them a million for the winning team that wasn't good enough in the three-on-three ice capades. And now we're going to give a million for the hardest shot and the fastest skater. And 100 grand to the goalie who stops the most shots. I hope the great hockey player, Poulam, is in the race and maybe she'll have a chance to win it. They're not really lucky.

Do they have a chance to win any money tonight? I would hope so. I would certainly hope so. I haven't read that, if that's the case. I love your... By the way, I don't watch you guys that often. Yeah, thanks for the support, by the way. You're hard to get down here.

But I did love Cujo saying, like, what about the goalie? That's not a deal. I loved it. I thought that was right on. That would take the All-Star game to another level. We've got deals being done. Better than the draft is the on-ice

deal. I loved it. I thought it was great commentary by Cujo. So would a trade like Vancouver and Calgary put a little bit more pressure maybe on Brad Tree Living and Brendan Shanahan moving forward to do something, Mac, because there's a lot of people going, are they buyers?

Are they sellers? Where are they? I mean, can you put pressure on Shani and Brad? I mean, Brad's a first-year GM, so there's zero pressure, really. And Shani, he's a first year GM. So there's zero pressure, really, you know, and Shani, he's immune to pressure. You know, it's like, the most pressure Shani's had in a long time was when a girl I knew applied for his job as an administrative assistant, and he phoned me and asked me for a reference on her. That's that scene. He was under the gun then to get that decision off his off his table off his desk i gave the girl a great recommendation and she didn't get the damn job

why did you bother me i was at i was at the uh the little bar down the street here the little outdoor bar and i have to leave the damn bar and go and discuss this lady who was terrific and Shani didn't hire her. So, you know, he – Just the fact that she knew you maybe lost her the job. Sure. Exactly. No, listen, I think there's got to be pressure. We'll jump in on –

Look, boys, we've talked since day one of your show about their defense. You know, we said it in day one of this show this year that the blue line wasn't good enough. It hasn't changed. Now the problem is Walgett hurt and Sam Sonoff, whatever his problem is, I can't figure it out. He's been good lately, Mac.

He's rebounded. Oh yeah, he said two good games. Yeah, great. Yeah, okay. I mean, him and Merzlikan should go away for a weekend on an escape weekend somewhere figure this out figure it out you know but anyway what team what team could most benefit from your consultation by bringing you on staff what team out there is most in the need of your touch your old know, well, yeah, that ship sailed. They could use a little help, to say the least.

But, you know, I keep looking at Buffalo guys, and I told you I interviewed for that senior advisor job a couple of years ago there, and I look at them, and I'm thinking, wow, there's some great talent there. I'm not sure, you know, they're as good as they think they are, but there's some good talent there. I think Donnie's a pretty good coach. I've known Donnie since he was with the Columbus Chill in the East Coast Hockey League.

He's a superb guy. I just think Buffalo is a team that is in a world of hurt. This will be 13 years in a row without making the playoffs. Am I wrong? Seriously. Sounds right. L.A., they finished the other night with a win, but it's not been a very great feeling to be an LA King lately.

Mac, what would Todd McClellan be feeling over the all-star break here? Just on a team that got off to such a great start, set records for consecutive road wins to start the season and then fall off like they have in the last, what, three weeks, month? Well, he'd be really concerned about Drew Dowdy's comments, number one. You know, what does Drew mean here? And obviously Drew would explain it to him, that he's got some big boys there that aren't putting it all together.

And you look right away at a guy that, Nick, you and I loved this guy three years ago, Pierre-Luc Dubois, when he was playing against Torontoonto in the playoffs he was a horse yeah he was he looked like he looked like he was gonna take his game to a whole nother level and what has happened to him what has happened to this guy copetar is the guy that is the guy that just continually does great things for them dano fine. But their center ice should be a dominant center ice. And this is a team that I thought halfway through the year would really challenge.

I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs still, but they've got to figure this out. Todd McClellan's a pretty good coach, I think. Funny, I did an interview in Syracuse the other day, you know, for the Crunch. I got to tell you this story. I interview in Syracuse the other day for the Crunch. I got to tell you this story. I interview in Syracuse and they asked me about when I hired Gary Agnew for the coach of the Syracuse Crunch.

Actually, it was Jim Clark that hired him. You know who we interviewed for that job? Gary Agnew, Todd McClellan, and Babcock. Those were the three finalists for the Syracuse Crunch job. Wow. We hired and we hired Gary Agnew, who I had. Gary had been my assistant at University of New Brunswick. He went to the London Knights and worked with the London Knights, became a head coach in the OHL in Kingston. And I Gary was a great, loyal person to me all through my career.

And I gave and Jimmy Clark and I gave Gary the job who did a great job in Sy me all through my career and i gave and jimmy clark and i gave gary the job who did a great job in syracuse by the way but the two the three finalists were mcclellan babcock and gary agnell pretty cool when you do an interview for a coach are you actually like you asking x's and o's general philosophy or is it personality based you know what you, it's interesting. I interviewed Paul Maurice. I've interviewed Hitchcock. I interviewed Andy Murray, all those guys over the years.

Brian Sutter, Dave King. Not a lot of X and O's because, you know, they've got a real grasp on that. We talk systems. What type of style do you like to play? You know, what do you like to do in the neutrals? I mean, because I coached, I asked more coaching type questions, I guess. But it was really about, you know, who do you think you can really jive with? And who do you think is going to be a real good manager in your dressing room?

And, you know, I was lucky to interview some really good coaches. Here's the amazing thing. I interviewed Andy Murray and I interviewed Hitchcock. I interviewed Dave Tippett and Dave King. I go to my owner. I said, it's down to Dave Tippett and Dave King for the first coast of the Blue Jackets. Mr. McConnell says, I'd hire Tippett. I hired Dave King.

Next, I interview Andy Murray the next round and down to Hitchcock for the two finalists. I said, I'm going to hire Hitchcock. And he said, I'd hire Murray. You wonder why I don't have a job. You know, I go against him on both those hires. And you know what? In hindsight, they were all good coaches, but he probably was. He might have been right.

How different would you go into an interview today than you would have 15 years ago? 20 years ago? I don't know that it would be a whole lot different. I think you still want to hire somebody that you can you can work with and that's part of the team and is going to grow the organization i i really don't think it's all that different i'd be shocked if it's that different you spend you spend two three days with the guy and you you and you know them to begin with you check them out you talk to people you talk to guys who had had them before so you know everything about them so i don't think it's

a whole lot different i don't know i mean coaches get fired for checking players phones now i mean it's way different mac um is that different i i I would never have checked Ben Beesbrook's flip-top phone. Let me go through your email inbox. Flip phone. Cell phones that just come in, man. Cell phones that just come in. I would not have checked it. So, no, it's not that different.

I don't think it is. I really don't. I believe you. All right. So, no, it's not that different. I don't think it is. I really don't. I believe you. All right. Okay, ask me a question. Again, I've controlled the conversation. You guys are nervous. No, Sammy's trying to get Kip to say goodbye.

We're running out of time here, but it's not too late for you to leave Florida and catch a flight and come to Toronto for the weekend for All-Star. It's not too late. Hey, listen. Hey, i hey listen here's the deal i'm like the players i was in toronto last week for arrow electronics and microsoft and you know why i was there they paid you i'm not going to the all-star game for no pay sorry i'm like the players okay Okay. Fair enough, man. Fair enough. Maybe we'll get somebody to put up a million dollars for you. Somehow, some way.

Mac, great job on a Thursday, man. You didn't let us down. Thanks, Mac. Hey guys, really appreciate you having me on the show.

It's really, it just makes my week. And I, I absolutely love the opportunity. That's so offensive. Good stuff. Doug McClain, everybody. Thanks, Doug.'s so offensive. Good stuff. Doug McClain, everybody. Thanks, Doug.

We love you. All right. He was, I thought like he needed the whole week to have all this pent up frustration. But if you call him back right now, you get the same juice. Yeah. Probably even on a Monday or Tuesday. Yeah. I love listening to you when I'm on.

He's just like this machine that doesn't stop Just the man he is Just looking at the team that Doug McClain coached Quickly run through it for you Starting lineup Scott Stevens, Martin Berdour, Mario Lemieux Yarmir Yager, Ray Bork, Brennan Shanahan The starting lineup for the other team was

Paul Correa, Brett Hall, Ed Belfort, Paul Coffey Wayne Gretzky, Trish Chelios Hey, you better win You better win with that lineup. Scotty Bowman was the Western Conference coach and Doug McClain was the Eastern Conference coach. And how many of those guys would beat up their mom to win? That's just

the starting lineup. The bench is... This is a crazy all-star game. I'd fight my mom to win another game. They would fight their mom. Yeah, Roman Hamerlick does stick out here, though. I'm going through the name. Poor guy.

I hope he doesn't listen to the show. I guess Mac told them in between periods, second and third, listen, if you don't want to play, I'm not playing you. Apparently, Roman kind of giggled and laughed and said, yeah, he's not serious oh yeah he was serious he was serious unbelievable he did that beamer okay our thanks to patrick tomorrow boys hey patrick steinberg and doug mclean we pass the baton over to sportsnet for the NHL draft.

Skills tomorrow night. Game Saturday afternoon. Enjoy your All-Star weekend. We will be at the Metro Convention Center. If you get a chance, come by. Say hello. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Enjoy your night