Real Kyper & Bourne - All-Star Asterisks & Prospect Pressure w/ Eric Lindros

Episode Date: January 5, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne, and Sam McKee begin by breaking down Team Canada beating Team USA in the World Juniors semifinal, the controversial dissalowed goal and how much they miss USA vs. Canada at the highest level.  Stanley Cup Winner and  and TNT broadcaster for the Seattle Kraken Eddie Olczyk joins the show (22:02) to discuss the Kraken's season, their upcoming game agains the Leafs and which teams he thinks will make the playoffs out west. Later, they chat about the newly announced All-Star voting system (47:01), and debate who deserves to be there from each team and if they can even be called 'All-Stars' anymore. Then, former NHLer PJ Stock from The Player Cast shares his thoughts (1:07:12) on the Montreal Canadiens', Boston Bruins' and Maple Leafs' seasons, and who is 'built' for the playoffs. Finally, NHL legend Eric Lindros breaks down (1:19:36) tonight's World Juniors final, what it's like to be the headline prospect at the tournament and how the tourney has changed.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.

This is Real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van. That it is. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Derek Brandeo, Jen Rolnick, Sammy McKee for the next two hours. Plenty to get into in this show. This will be a fun show. Yeah. We got a lot of topics out there we do people be crushed we're not in a two-shot though kipper they were in boxes again unfortunately we are why i don't know i thought we look great in the two the glitch is over the glitch is over okay eddie old chuck will be joining us in about 20 minutes former nhler currently currently now Seattle Kraken analyst for Roots Sports.

Of course, we also know him for his great work south of the border for TNT. Be great to get his thoughts on this Seattle Kraken team that the Leafs will see tonight. I, for one, didn't see their success at the halfway mark here. No. They are much deeper than i thought anyways yeah you know i would say they're one of the teams that's taken advantage of a soft pacific division like a lot of teams are worse than we thought seattle is deep play four lines and three pairs and so that's good enough to win a lot of nights in the pacific so we'll look forward to Eddie Olchuk. We've also got an old friend in PJ Stock in the second hour.

Yes. I don't know where he's been, but he's got a lot of explaining to do. I think he's the only guest we've ever had in studio. Stewie came in once? Yeah, I think he was close to coming in. I don't know if he actually did. No, Stewie did come in last year. We hadj on deadline day i think he popped up last year we are also gonna um hunt down eric lindros he's in philadelphia uh doing a few things for the uh alumni i believe

or the organization whatever the case is we're hoping that we can track him down long enough to ask him about connor bedard and what is going on there and we we knew he was really good but what we've seen in the last week and a half as taking the conversation to one of the best prospects in history. And that is, now you're in Sidney Crosby, Mary Lemieux. Eric Lindros. Eric Lindros territory. There's only a few people on earth who you can go,

what does that feel like to? Who can answer the question? Eric is one of them. And we will track them down and get that answer, JB. Yes, I'm looking forward to it okay so uh one thought on uh uh last night canada usa before we uh get to uh to the leafs and and what was a great start for the u.s team that looked in the first two minutes like this was their night ended up being anything but yeah we had bukalon yesterday who was talking about the u.s team had a lot of these sort of

darting players who are going to make it hard on uh canada's d and there certainly were a few moments where you go oh they just might be better than canada but conor bedard gets on the boy on the board and the boys started rolling pretty good. I think the biggest takeaway would be that Canada versus USA at any level of hockey is simply the best. There's just no feeling. You can talk about

Sweden, you can talk about Russia, you can talk about any sort of natural rival that they have but there's nothing that brings out the best in both fan bases like playing each other air quotes on best yes yes big time air quotes i went to i actually went to an establishment last night uh in the gta i won't give to a give a free ad but the best wings in the world i think outside of buffalo unbelievable no free ad huh yeah it's an ajax portly piper i'll give him a shout out my

wife's favorite spot so anyways i gave him a shout out but we went there the place was ripping loud everyone was really excited for it i don't think you get that in any other in any other no we love rivalry we love international competition and yes uh u.s canada has taken over canada and russia because we've seen them more than anyone else yeah and that includes the women, right? Because that's really, that's all the women's had for really hard competition is each other. And anything, in any sport, your nearest neighbor's your biggest rival.

That's just the way it goes. That's, you know, living in Kelowna, they're like, oh, you know how they are in Penticton. You're like, what? You know. 30 minutes down the road. There's something, though, like once you strap on the Canadian

flag, we love it. And I've always said this. You could paint Canadian American flags on the back of turtles in a race. And I think I can get a million people to watch it in Canada. Canada's minus 110.

That's just the way it is. The heart-breaking thing though, about watching that a million people to watch it in Canada. Canada's minus 110. That's just the way it is. Betting line, yeah. The heartbreaking thing, though, about watching that last night is how long we've been robbed of that at the highest men's level. Imagine being from the NHL and watching that and just being like, oh, man, we should probably do a best on best before 2025. I'm not the only person that probably has this thought or this takeaway today. I'm probably sure it's a pretty popular one but it just that thought was just going through my mind saying

all these people are here to watch the canadian children go up against the usa children and we are all incredibly fired up about it's like oh my god this badard guy might be really good it's like how about we see the guys that are really really good play against each other at this level like i can't even imagine what a usa canada game right now with the players that are available for both sides we're missing some great americans by waiting two more years what it would look like at the highest level is unfathomably great to me and it's just it's we're nowhere there's not even a conversation about it happening it's heartbreaking just one final thought yeah before we move on and that is the disallowed goals and how that really struck a nerve with a few people south of the border i don't know if you saw ryan whitney uh calling it one of the biggest disgraces ever

i saw washinsky saying that if that happened in reverse canadian people would be calling for a council with the un a referendum referendum yeah and here's the thing about the the goalie interference calls guys they were goalie interference by international rules yes that's the key that's right the the call wasn't wrong correct the rule is yeah now we're talking okay yeah it's a it's a horrible rule. Well, the one where he pushes the goalie's pad, that's no goal in any league ever. That's NHL. No goal.

That's NHL. And Mike Johnson does a terrific job. He's great. He's worked here at Sportsnet, now is doing the games in TSN. He was leaning towards NHL rules when he spoke. Talk about the head clip one. The interference.

Yeah. And it is, and that's what the majority of the country or the U.S. have. That's what we know. That's their gauge. Yeah. And it is. And that's what the majority of the country or the U.S. have. That's what we know. That's their gauge. Yeah. Is that's not a goal in the NHL. But we know international hockey is vastly different.

And you cannot touch a guy. Standing in the crease. In the crease. In the head. And listen, I don't think the goalie makes a save in any scenario there if he doesn't touch him. It has nothing to do with the play. So. But. I don't. I don't. Sorry. Go ahead a save in any scenario there. If he doesn't touch him, it has nothing to do with the play. So, but I don't,

I don't, sorry, go ahead. Change the rule. Okay. Come on. There is, there can be some incidental hockey players too.

They should have to play their position in the hockey game. Tell me when they step out of their blue paint and they make contact with a guy in front of the net. Yeah. It's the net. Yeah. It's no different. Right. Coming into the player's eyes or the player's coming into your eyes. How about pushing him off or giving him some taps on the shin pads? Or perhaps the cup region.

Let there be a little bit of a battle without feeling like the interference. Was the contact the reason why he didn't stop the puck on the first disallowed goal? Absolutely not. That was in no matter what. It's just a crappy, crappy rule. I don't want, like, I really don't want to live in a world when I'm watching hockey that that doesn't count. Like, he got him, made a great play, got the puck, spun, shot in the net. He happened to hit him with his butt.

But, I mean, the final score is 6-2. Yeah. You know, it's not. No puck spun shot in the net he happened to hit him with his butt but i mean the final score is six two yeah you know it's no bearing on it and the final you know but the thing is that you know i know in the in the flow of a game that makes it three three that's a completely different kettle of fish canada goes down gets four two one kind of changes the game a little bit but um yeah i uh but dart in that game, it just wasn't even, I wouldn't even say he was that dominant. Like, I think he was noticeable the whole night, but I wouldn't say it was his most dominant performance. He still gets the goal to get them on the board,

gets an assist to set up one of them. Loved that he went right to the paint there, too. That's a great sign. One of the guys I was with last night said it's like, he can get you any way you want, and it's bang on. Like, he can fire it from the top of the circle. can deke out your whole team goes to the front of the net with a stick on the ice puts one in like it was just a really that's a good canadian hockey goal stick on the ice in the crease i love the guy so much man i just hope he doesn't go to the

i love him all right as we said in about uh 11 minutes eddie olchuk will be joining us and we'll tee up seattle as well in about uh 25 minutes we're gonna have a little bit of some all-star fun here the nhl has vastly changed uh rules on how they name the nhl all stars this year and you love it miami you're thrilled can't wait let's just wait for that conversation we'll pick who we think that the league picked and if there's any of my sources out there that could tell us who actually got picked, we'll be happy to share it with all the listeners. Yes. I don't think I'll pick Shane Wright in my picks.

No, probably not. Hey, should we mention that he is on Team Canada? Do you notice him last night at all? Okay. All right, move on. All right, move on. Sorry. Also, it's Thursday. Both of us have written written pieces out there you're sportsnet.ca i'm the

toronto star uh want to talk a little bit about your article which uh i found fascinating to be I did. And it's about Justin Holl. And it really supports a different look at him, which, again, I find fascinating. And I'll tell you what I found the most fascinating thing about your article is that if you left the name out and you put in all your your factual statistics and of course we're talking analytics here yeah i'm listening to you talk about a six million dollar defenseman in the national hockey league that's why it's so baffling that people dislike him so much because he doesn't make any money you know like he said you can only keep all the highly paid guys when you have guys who outperform their cap hit. And he does that very well. So tried to make that point because you don't see what he does well. It's not sexy, but you do see the errors.

Anyway. All right. That's all. Which leads me to one more question for you. Oh, boy. And that is, is your article this week a prime example of me, maybe a few Leaf fans thinking that he's not as bad as we thought? Or is this an example of analytics just playing fool's gold with justin hall great great question you know this is uh you can find a stat for pretty much any player that will show they're useful like if i

wanted to find dennis mulgan i'm sure i could break it down to actually at four on four uh against you know playoff teams there's a number for everyone. If you want to find it, there's just so many numbers for Justin Hall that support his usefulness. So I'm of the belief that the team sees the value they get out of them, but fans don't. And I hope that that's the point of the article to hopefully illuminate what the team sees in them.

And yesterday I asked, stats aside, do you trust him in the playoffs? And Sammy, I think you answered that. I said, I said. A no. I said. I think, honestly, a lot of what it comes down to is, it's hard, like, it's hard to love again.

Like, it's hard to go into this, what you're going to be doing. And Kipper, you're an excellent article today as well. A bunch of Johnny journalists around here. I've got to start writing articles. We're going to start wearing press hats with the tags on. Maybe that's a bad idea if I start writing articles. But it's just, you know, you're going into a playoff series

against the same team that beat you last year. Close. But are you going to go into it with the same guys that underperformed last year to cost you said series? Because that's the question. Do you have enough faith in those guys that every year it's like... Kip's article today was really great too because one of the things he points out is their power play percentage

over the last two series, which to me is much more relevant than when he justin hall yeah justin hall or team toughness yeah or goaltending right like those are the questions that needed answering so today i wrote for the toronto star uh and and really the the big picture of my article today was uh pretty much a lot of similarities to last year where they're going to end up with a very good record and have a ton of strong analytic. Oh yeah. It looks great. Boxes checked and they're heading into a,

but collision course, as Sammy has alluded for a very long time, we're going to watch them maybe play 41 exhibition games here because they're playing Tampa Bay, unless you feel like they can still catch boston so that was the gist of my article today uh boston goes into california this weekend the leafs have detroit and philadelphia on the road by monday will we have a very good idea if this is a reality that it is possible the leafs can win the atlantic still i don't know you

think boston's gonna go into california and lose a bunch of hockey games this isn't 2014 boston's coming out with five or six points yeah they they're gonna go down there and just beat the brakes off all those california teams probably just like they've been doing all year like i i haven't seen one thing from them to say that they're gonna take a step back like what part of their game is it that you're concerned about? Allmark's not the best goalie in the world. That's the one that you think is going to flip. But how much?

That's exactly. Well, you're right. How big of a drop-off? Is he coming back to being the sixth best goalie in the league instead of the first best? If you were a betting guy, and I think both of you guys are, would you bet on Allmark's game dipping more so than samsonov and matt murray's no no i would not you could talk you could talk me into you could talk me

into murray but not samsonov like i think i think it's interesting you're more on murray than samsonov yeah there's just a more of a track record and that he's shown me yeah he's just that's such a relationship like wife thing. I just did too. I just think it's interesting that you, that you like him better than the other guy. It's fine. It's fine.

It's just interesting. I think it's funny. Stylistically to me, I can see Matt Murray being better in a playoff series than Ilya Samson, which leads me again in my article. I, I didn't focus so much on trades because we've done that. We've beaten it up. So what is the focus now on where do you put your energy on

in the next 41 games if, in fact, you are married to the fact that you're going to play Tampa Bay here? Where's the number one focus? I had it in the conversation you just had seconds ago, establishing one guy. And how do you do that but by playing both guys you know can't well then how do you know who's the guy you got to give him enough chances uh string games together that's all if a guy looks good for a couple put him back in disagreed coming out of colorado with a big win against the stanley

cup champions nate mckinnon back in the lineup and matt murray doesn't get the next start which isn't a back-to-back that is a lost opportunity for matt murray to string together games and that's got to stop in my opinion yep yeah that's you know that's interesting in trying to find one of the guys and give them the chance to get into a rhythm you know i think matt murray's injury history looms over all this because yesterday on the show we're talking about why not pull samson all that when it's three you know they're down three goals four goals whatever a lot of it is do you want to put matt murray in cold a lot of this is you know coming out of the christmas break do you want to play matt murray when he hasn't practiced you think you can win

rounds and play for a month and a half every other night if you're scared in december with this guy this is a huge question and so to your point maybe you should find out now don't wait okay you win i like it yeah the flip side of it is if you want them to play every other night in the spring as your starting goalie, maybe you don't need to do it in December when you have all these points accumulated and you're probably going to be playing the team that you know you're going to be playing in the first round of the playoffs. Right? Yeah.

That's the flip side of it. Like, do you really need to push them? If they've banked all these points they're like i said probably in the spot they're going to be maybe drop down maybe get passed by tampa but to me if you want to establish them maybe you do it in the playoffs as opposed to right now another one that i wrote about is good point and you touched on it uh the power play and locking in and solidify that this thing is dangerous and you know your five guys that you are throwing out there and you have some idea of of of the different looks that they were able to pull off right now

it's it's it's a crap shoot all over the map so two years ago the leafs i think they're second in the nhl and power play percentage maybe 30 like they're really really good last year i think they're 25 like it was good again but top 10 at the most important time so in the 14 games of the of the last two first rounds you had their percentage at what you remember what it was 14.9 14 to 16 i think yeah four i think it was 14.9 was the number so less than 15 which you noted was worse than the worst team in the nhl right now which is i think montreal is like a 15 power play or something like that and then that conversation goes to why why so after the

first year the thought was predictability matthews is on the flank it always looks the same they know what shot to take away but the next year i think they mixed it up they didn't have the same looks and they still couldn't produce. And then you watch Tampa Bay go out there, talk about predictability. Victor Hedman at the top, he worked at Dekucherov, who shoots one in the net. You know, he does that fake half-slapper pass thing.

Like, they're predictable in their unpredictability. Toronto hasn't found an answer. They haven't found something consistent yet. They're searching still. Even though they're scoring at a high rate, because they have a lot of talented players they haven't found it yet well it kind of goes down to the whole conversation about this core in the big games that they've played in like that goes down to the power play right like they've gone through a lot of these games where they haven't scored look at the series against um the first one against tampa where they cooled off last year or starting the one

before against montreal where they cooled off in the big games and then last year against tampa it's yeah i'm not saying but i'm saying here yeah yeah you know what i mean one more on the power play yes i'm giving you three choices. Morgan Riley? Yeah. Sandin? Mm-hmm. Or other? So it's Morgan Riley for me in thinking about it a little bit. You know, a lot of experience up there.

Trust him to break it out. I just feel safer, and maybe safe is not the answer, but Rasmus Sandin, God, they put Rasmus Sandin on the power play two years ago for Riley in the playoffs, right? Yeah. Yeah, they did. And this season he didn't seem to claim it. I hated it.

Yeah. I just think it's like. I liked it at the time. It's a Hail Mary. I wish we were doing the show together then. I really liked it. A Hail Mary, a last ditch effort. I'm out of ideas.

I'm out of chances uh right it is a criticism of mine is keith is too quick to in playoffs panic and change all i saw was a guy that was put in a position not to succeed in that scenario for sandin yeah so well this year though he he didn't claim the spot by any means. If it's Morgan for you, and I'd say right now it's Morgan for me until somebody else pops up, it has to be Morgan Riley. But the beauty is use the back half of the season now to take whatever flaws that you see out of him or the power play as a five yeah guy unit and and just you got you got

three months to shape it you got three three break it down and build it back up you've got the time yeah you know what kills me about the this is my own little like internal beef for my time there is sheldon keith at aj mclean in the minors you know paul mclean's son and running the power play their power play is always humming always so good this year again doing great um you know they brought up everyone in every position and that that was kind of keith's right hand man age has been in the minors for like i don't know seven eight years now and their power play still can't get done in the postseason, that one kills me and surprises me that they haven't brought him along. Okay, let's welcome in Eddie Olchuk.

Eddie, busiest man in hockey, no question. Thanks for making time. How are you, pal? Hey, Kipper. Justin, nice to be with you guys. Hope you had a great holiday and happy new year. And appreciate you guys having me on. I got to ask the question because I've been out of the loop here the last,

I don't know, couple of days. I just watched the last three and a half minutes of the Bucs-Raptors game. Okay. Can you just tell me? I'm watching it right now, and it's tied going into overtime. I can't believe what the hell I just saw. I mean, how would you compare? Justin, you're the numbers guy around here, what would you compare that and a hockey game?

Like, what's the score with five minutes left to go in a game? Is it coming back from three goals? Is that reasonable? No way. More? No way. Really? Seven? I thought at least way. Really? Seven?

I thought at least five. Really? Five. That's what I thought. Yeah, I don't know. They could make a shot, eh? Let's split the difference. We'll say four, but oh my gosh, unbelievable.

So it's good to be with you boys. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. No defense anymore. Who cares about defense? It's all an be with you boys. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. No defense anymore. Who cares about defense? It's all an all-star game. Right? Remember us?

Remember how petrified we were to come back minus one? Now it's like, yeah, big deal. I'll get it today, tomorrow. Might as well just open up the Zamboni door and just skate right in. Take your crap off. It's about the end of it. So all good. The gig's going well.

Apparently the only thing missing from Seattle's game last year was you calling the games because it's made all the difference in the world. We've seen a few names for sure change the look and the feel of this roster, but there has to be more than just a couple of individual performances so far. What is the number one thing that you've seen out of Seattle that's holding themselves as a legit playoff team? Yeah, well, I mean, I think there's a lot to it, but I think that the one thing is, you know, they have the puck

and they have guys that can make plays and not just shovel it zone to zone and put themselves in a spot where they're always chasing all the time. So when you look at the upgrades by Ronnie Francis, the general manager of the Kraken, bringing in a guy like Berikoski, bringing in Bjork Strand, bringing in a guy like Justin Schultz, there is something for guys that have been around the block a few times. And then you've got kind of, you know, you've got Schwartz Healthy,

which they missed the majority of the year last year. And you had Matty Beneers for only 10 games at the end of the regular season last year. So when I name all of those guys, you've got Schultz's in the top five as far as on the back end. And then the other forwards I mentioned, those five guys are playing in your top nine. And Tanev is probably, you know,

a back and forth between nine and 10 or whatever. So they've really upgraded and gotten healthy and they have the puck way more and when they like they really can scoot like they can really check and they can really skate and their defense has been relatively healthy so there's just been just a lot of good things it's just honestly it's just not one or two I mean their power play carried them early and then their power play went dry for a long period of time. Their penalty kill got off to a really tough start and, you know, has pretty much been, you know, a struggle all year long.

But I think they went one first. They were three for four the other night, I think, in Edmonton. And, you know, look, if you can keep the Oilers to only one goal in a game, you probably got a hell of a chance to win because they're clipping at, what, 32%, 33%. So I know there's a lot there. But they just have the puck way more. They can skate. And there is an unbelievable confidence amongst this team here.

And, look, last year they had 60 points in 82 games. And they've only played 36 to this point and they've got 44 already so they are going to be playing meaningful games come uh you know trade deadline and then into march and i would anticipate in april as well you know people probably assume it's a lazy comparable to look at vegas but i do see something similar with the bottom of the roster in that everyone is a player. It's almost like they have past the top guys, the third and fourth line are kind of second, third lines.

A lot of depth there for this team. Eli Tolvanen hasn't been there long. How has he looked so far? Does he look like someone that can give them plus minutes? Yeah, I mean, only a couple of games. But, you know, I mean, he's a guy that really never got a sniff, Justin. And, you know, in Nashville, really kind of play in a top role. Like he hasn't, you know, at least to this point.

I mean, he's only played a couple of games. I mean, he's not, you know, he's not slotted in the top two lines offensively and playing with their more skilled guys, but, you know, he's getting some power play, and he could really drift the puck, but I think to your point, and I think it's an outstanding one, is that they've got some guys there that can

go up and down and can play in a third or fourth line role and give them what they need, and they can chip in and chip in offensively and find a way to finish and find a way to contribute. So it's been, you know, it's been a, it's been an interesting dynamic, but also like I said, they're just, there's, there's a, there's a feel and a confidence and a swagger that, you know, look at, I mean, they're,

I think they're plus six and on a swagger that, you know, look at it. I mean, I think they're plus six on the road this year. You know, it's not easy to play in the league, let alone play on the road. And they've gone in some buildings. And when they're playing well, their game is north-south. Like, it's not an east-west type of game. When they start getting east-west, that's when they start giving up four, five, six, seven goals. I mean, that's just the reality of it still. They've got some role players on the bottom six, so to speak,

that have really gotten off to terrific starts. And when guys have struggled, some of the bigger guys, the depth guys have stepped up, and that's a sign of a team that I think really gets it and understands how important depth is on a club on a nightly basis. We're talking to Ed Olchuk who calls the games for the Seattle Kraken.

You've never called me Ed in your life. What are you doing here? Edward Olchuk joining us now. This is my poor attempt of being a professional host. Ed's all. Just be a host. my poor attempt of being a professional host. Yeah, yeah. Edzo.

Just be a host. Don't try the professional part. Thank you. Leave that to the professional. Okay, I'll leave this answer to a professional analyst. And that's you. So we're watching interesting times to be a goaltender here. And we're watching some amazing performances in the first half.

Allmark's the one that stands out the most for us for obvious reasons. The best news for Boston is that this guy isn't like a pending free agent. You can only imagine how difficult it would be to say, okay, what would Allmark's next contract be? They got him two more years, I think, for $5 million. Thank goodness. But then you got your Seattle Kraken that you've been watching and covering, and it's not Philip Grubauer who they paid an exorbitant amount of money

to leave Colorado. It's Martin Jones who's played 80% or has won 80% of 16 to 20 here. So, like, what is going on with goaltenders in general? And will anyone ever pay a goaltender big bucks ever again? Well, to answer your question, yes. I don't think there's any doubt that teams are going to look and see what guys are viable and doable and to be able to fit in within the structure of their budget

or what have you. But you guys know this. It don't matter. If you get it, it doesn't matter what the salary is. If you get goaltending, you got a shot to win every night. Do you need two goaltenders? I believe we are in a time where I think you do need two. And whether it's, you know, you're talking about Hallmark

or you're talking about the situation in Seattle or, you know, I mean, how much, like honestly, how much talk has there been about how much powder is in the blue paint down in Florida with the Panthers? I mean, think about those two contracts. That's crazy. That they got down there, right? So look at them. In some nights, you're going to need your guy to be the guy.

Like there are very few Vasilevskys. There are very, very few Hellebuyts as far as I'm concerned. Like, as far as what I see on a nightly basis, and some guys are going to be able to, you know, going to play the 60 games or, you know, play 55. But if it ends up being a 50-32 or, you know, play 55, but if it ends up being a, you know, a 50, 32, or, you know, 45, 37, whatever the number is, you got to get it. So, you know, Kipper, look, yeah, you'd like to get, you know,

you'd love to be in that situation where you got to go to the national football league, where you have a, you know, a guy that comes in and he's under the you know the the rookie um contractual status right he's in his first contract and you don't have to worry about going from you know paying him three four or five million dollars to all of a sudden paying them 25 or 30 like yeah you'd like to find a couple of guys that are making three schmill each and and then you can allocate to other positions but you know sometimes you know you just it's a feel and you got to think the guy's going to be able to come in but you know when you start spending and in totality when you start putting you know eight ten twelve million dollars into two guys um you know that makes life

really difficult but um you know you mentioned all mark I was at the Winter Classic the other day, and he gave them a chance to win, like he really did. I mean, the Penguins, they were the better team early, and Allmark was able to give his team an opportunity to get it done. And, look, you see what's going on in Edmonton, right? I mean, you've got Campbell going there, and Skinner gets the opportunity, and they give him an extension. So, hey, you know what?

Whoever's playing, you've got to put the guy in net. It doesn't matter if he's making five or 500. Edzo, spending more time watching the Pacific Division this year, there's some teams, I think, that have disappointed a little bit in terms of their expectations, which opened the door up for Seattle. Still, though, it has to be a little uncomfortable with Calgary and Edmonton nipping at their heels there, the two teams that had high expectations.

How do you think those teams stack up against the Kraken? Well, I mean, I could see, I mean, I think it's a competitive matchup with both of those teams. And I mentioned Justin. I think everybody's waiting for both those teams, being Calgary and Edmonton, to go on a heater. I think everybody's waiting for that. Everybody's expecting that.

But at some point, aren't you what you are when you play 38, 39, 40 games? So I don't, you know, look at it. I don't think, as you mentioned Seattle, I don't think they look at that and go, wow, you know, like these two teams are way better than us. Or, you know, they're, for the majority of this year, I mentioned in Calgary, but looking up at the Seattle Kraken, and they got a bunch of games that are there.

I don't think there's a team in the West that has played fewer games than the seattle kraken i mean la has already played 41 games and seattle's got five games in hand on them and i know you got to win them and you got to play your games and if you play you win okay you get your two points but um i look at i've seen edmonton a lot We've done a lot of their games down in the States on TNT. And, you know, I saw them play in a game in Dallas. I think it was right before the Christmas break. I can't remember. But it was their dad's trip.

And they went into Dallas there. And, I mean, they checked a lot of them. I mean, they played really well. Jay Woodcroft changed the lines up a little bit. He split up McDavid and Dreisaitl. They played an unbelievable road game, and they gutted it out late. Then watched them play at home here recently, and for 8, 10, 12 minutes, they looked like they could do that again.

And then they just can't defend or they're not going to get a save. So I think there's a lot of unpredictability, especially in Edmonton. And I've only seen Calgary a couple of times, and I thought Calgary would, you know, obviously with the major changes that they made, you know, over the course of the summer. But it just, you know, they just haven't been able to really go on one of those monster runs here,

I think, that everybody thought about, especially with a guy like Markstrom in goal. And I don't know what you guys think of him, but I thought it was an unbelievable signing for the Calgary Flames when they got Markstrom, because I always have thought of him as a, you know, a top three, a top five goaltender in the entire National Hockey League. So Seattle's right there with him. I, you know, like I, at least the right now, I, you know, if you're the Seattle Kraken and you're the organization and the players, you know, I mean, you're not, you're not afraid of anybody, but you know,

I think the divisions, the divisions there, and they've proven that they can go into buildings and play and get points. And you know, when, when the games really become magnified, we'll see how it all washes out come, you know, when the games really become magnified, we'll see how it all washes out come, you know, the trade deadline and on. Okay, let's assume for one second here, Seattle gets in. I think we're all comfortable to say

that we think Colorado's still getting in. Yep. Edzo, based on what you've seen in the first half and if you believe it is what it is after this many amount of games, who's out? Edmonton Calgary or St. Louis I mean

St. Louis would be would be the team because it just I mean obviously they got the big injuries right now obviously O'Reilly and Tarasenko, I believe, but they just haven't been able to really show. I mean, you know what, I guess I shouldn't say that. I think I lumped them in more so with Edmonton and Calgary

than I would with, you know, with Seattle. I just don't see the consistency there with St. Louis. And, you know, it's a great question, but I would probably, when you posed the question, I wasn't sure where you were going, Kipper. And then when you brought in St. Louis into the picture, I thought, well, wow, you know. And look, they've dug themselves a massive hole here.

I mean, they really have. You're right. Is Colorado going to get healthy enough to be able to get back? I'm sure every team in the Western Conference is looking, going all great. They're going to end up as a wild card.

Thanks for coming. It's one of those welcome to the playoffs. Here you've got Makar, McKinnon, Ranton, and Landis-Goggin go on and on and on. So right now I'd probably be leaning more towards St. Louis on the outside looking in. But I would more put them in the team picture with Edmonton

and Calgary than I would with Seattle. Edzo, have a great call tonight, man. Always a pleasure having you on our show. Hey, anytime, you guys. Have a great night. Appreciate it. Thanks so much. Eddie Olchuk. You got a few minutes here. You want to go to a Sheldon Keefe clip on Seattle? Sure.

Let's hear it. Let's hear it. They score. They score a lot, honestly. I know over here in the East, we wouldn't, maybe we wouldn't be paying all that much attention, but number one team in the NHL with 5-0-5 goals.

It's coming from all four lines and their defense. So, yeah, great depth. That can make you pay when you make mistakes. They come in ways. There's lots of quickness and skill, and they play very well as a team. So, you know, there's significant challenges there at five on five. You know, special teams haven't gone as well for them,

and that's an area we need to be better than we were the other night and try to get an edge there. You know, but that's a team that we statistically look at. We look at them on video. We have lots of respect for them. We have lots of respect for the coaching staff. But our focus will be on our game and how we can play. 16 players with 10 or more points in that roster. Interesting.

How many do the Leafs have? They're not that – they wouldn't be that far. Maybe a dozen. The Seattle Kraken. You're correct. 12. Oh, wow. Baker's dozen or dozen? Oh, wow.

Can you name them? Yeah. The Kraken have led the NHL in goals for a five-on-five. That's interesting. I mean, would not have expected that little nugget. I love how Keith completely called us out and nailed it. He's like, a lot of people over here in the East would know that they lead i was like yeah you're right yeah you know why you're right because who's watching them no yeah it's that's not something i would have known their fifth in

the nhl and goals for presumably because their power play is not very good but yeah interesting and looking for a good response off of that st louis game for me yeah well and you know what we've talked about how they've been a little bit more stout defensively they've given up as i said yesterday 21 goals in the last four games five games sorry so there's work to be done here they need to tighten back up and find a way through obviously scored enough last game would you like to play the clip of sheldon keep seriously talking about the decor do we not need to go to break no okay we don't have a guest on the other side.

It's perfect. We've got lots of time. Let's stretch our feet here. All right. Yeah, we'll see. We're talking about it. Obviously, this is the group we're going with again here tonight, and this is the group we believe in.

It's a group that, by and large, started the season with. So we're going to give this some time give time for things to settle back in here now with Sandin and Riley coming back and Brody not too long ago wasn't an option for us so just kind of getting back to it

here we like a lot of things that Timmons has done and Ben in time he's come in and done a good job for us too so we're well aware of that. We do have some back-to-backs approaching. But that said, I think it's also important that we give our group some time to, I use the term, recalibrate the other night. And I think that is important, both in terms of the pairings and how that goes and the individual players that are coming back in to find their rhythm. So, you know, we don't want to let guys sit for too long.

At the same time, I do think it's important to allow our guys some time to really get their game going. The more I hear Sheldon Keefe, the more I feel like the organization loves a lot of their players. And the less I think that something major could happen. Oh, really? Yeah. Or else they're really keeping their cards very close.

Because, and I can only go by my experience, and we had a pretty good one in 1994. Yep. And Mike Keenan would tell anybody who was willing to listen how much he hated his roster that was leading the league in regular season. Sounds like a great guy. And can't win. Can't win. Can't win with Tony Amante.

Can't win with Mike Gardner. Can't win with blah, blah, blah. Can't play with him. Can't win with him. Can't not coach with him. Can't win with Mike Gardner. Can't win with blah, blah, blah. Cannot play with him. Cannot win with him. Cannot coach with him. Can't do it. Well, I don't know how public. I want winners.

I don't think Keno is that public. Where's that from again? Mike Singletary. Oh, yeah. I was going to say Herm Edwards. Yeah. Herm Edwards is, you play to win the game. Hello.

It doesn't, like, they just got Hunt, of course. And you hear from Sheldon, it's like, well, we're going to give this time. It's not like they're going to shop for another guy. You don't get that sense that they're going to go shop anytime soon for another guy. No, in listening to Sheldon, he's talking about their D pairs tonight.

Riley Brody, Deardano Hall, Sandin Lilligren as game one of the playoffs. Game one against Tampa Bay Lightning. This is as it's constructed. So before the show. Dubas' loyalty concerns me. Yes, it should. Before the show, I had a note I wanted to ask you guys. I don't think we've talked about it on the show in quite a while.

I was thinking, is this going to be game one, game one? All of a sudden it occurred to me, you know, Jake Muzzin's probably healthy by then. Jake Muzzin's done. You don't think there's a chance Jake Muzzin wants to come back and play? No, I don't. Okay. That's great. I'm happy to hear that.

I agree. That's just me. That's not a definitive source. That's not me reporting anything i don't think he should like he is done i don't think he should play that's i'm 100 on your page there i know that these guys are competitive and they want to play and you see guys coming back who has a guy in uh in colorado is wearing a pink visor because the lights hurt his eyes. Anyway, whoever it was, stop.

Stop. Your brain does not want you to play at that point. So, yeah, maybe Muzzin shouldn't play. But I don't think it's past him to think he would want to. If that's the case, then you take the summer and... Matt Calvert's the name. Right? For me, if he has any inkling of playing again yeah resuming his career it has to start next september i agree with you that was the

sn gotta ask yeah portion of the show whoa do you remember that i do i do do you remember how that originated no okay we'll leave it there um Is that like a burning question or something? You know what? Honestly, I think it came from someone who worked here. It was like, is Jose Bautista on steroids? And everyone was like, what? No, that's a burning question. He was like, I got to ask. Just asking.

That's a hot one. It's so bad when you're like teeing up something as the burning question. And it's like, you know, what's his favorite color? I know. Well, yeah. Come on. That's a burning question and it's like uh you know well what's his favorite color i know well yeah come on on the other side of the break i have a burning question who is the toronto maple leafs all-star this season oh okay we're gonna take a quick break and then we'll take a look with that conversation uh the nhl set to announce at least one player from each team tonight i think espn's doing it uh in their washington columbus game the twist now is that the league only names one player

per team so that means the remaining divisions will be rounded out selected by johnny bunch of numbers on twitter the internet by the internet. By the internet. Do we think we like this idea? John Scott, anybody? Or don't. The same people who named that boat Boaty McBoatface and elected John Scott to the All-Star Game are going to be selected.

You are not going to want to miss this conversation when we come back from break here on the NHL All-Star Game. And can we still call them All-Stars if they are voted in by the fans? Good question. Real Kipper and Bourne back after this. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. We'll also catch up to PJ Stock in the second hour, and we're going to track down Eric Lindros,

talk about Conor Bedard and the hype. Yes, I mean, who could relate? Certainly not me. I was not good. Okay, before the break, we touched on National Hockey League set to announce at least the league picks, 32 of them, one from each team for the NHL All-Star Game. That goes, I guess, early February? Sure.

Sure. In Miami? We agree on our All-Star Game feelings. We're going to talk about it. Yes, in Miami. So people will go. When you do hear that the league and Emily Kaplan wrote an article for ESPN that goes into great detail about the NHL wanting more fan influence.

NHL chief officer is Heidi Browning. She's behind all of this. So this is really, I think, this is Heidi now saying, you want it, you got it. As many as three votes will go to each division. Yep. Two skaters and a goalie that the fans pick. Before, we've heard of voting for captains and maybe a starting lineup,

but this is next-level stuff here because we are talking about a strong portion of what we'll watch in Miami will come from a popularity contest? Yeah. Well, I think we have to start at the start, which is to acknowledge that the All-Star Game is not for you and me. It's not for diehard fans. It's not for us.

It's not for Sam McKee. It's for... Although I do like the skills comp. All right. It's for kids. It's not for Sam McKee. It's for... Although I do like the skills comp. All right. It's for kids. It's for potential fans. It's for sort of fans who want to be entertained. You know, an all-star nomination used to be something

that used to help you get into the Hall of Fame or people to consider your career credentials. It was meaningful. That's not a thing anymore. Okay. meaningful that's not a thing anymore okay if it's not a thing anymore can we please not call them all-stars anymore because when i hear all-stars i think of great players yeah like he's an all-star great player the first beef is probably having to have a guy off every team that's my first first beef. Can we just change it to NHL Weekend Showcase? Because that's what it is.

It's a showcase. Yes. It's for your sponsors. It's for some people that want to mingle and rub elbows with some of the players, either at a fan fest or in the hotel lobby, get pictures. And it's a fantastic weekend for people that love that. Yeah. But to start calling as many as three guys from a division

who got voted in by the internet all-stars. I love the disdain in your voice when you say internet. That's not right. Can I start the, we're going to get this, because I mean, John Scott got in last time because of this. Let's start with Pontus Holmberg for this show. Let's get Pontus Holmberg. We're going to start the push to get Pontus in the All-Star game.

Push for Pontus. The push for Pontus. Get Pontus in the All-Star game so that Kipper can be happy about the fan vote. Thoughts? I am curious to see if fans do try to have a push for a certain guy. Hashtag push for Pontus. It works so well. The one thing, like, it's interesting.

New York City would be one of the biggest markets in the NHL. Yeah. It's hard over the years for the Rangers to get people to have put in those votes. They're just not interested. You got other stuff going on? It just is it's never the one thing that uh i heard from the rangers was that it's just it's it's not something that's important to them or they really care about so does that leave that leaves other markets they're

in a position to put more votes in players i mean it's new york city even if more people find it less inspiring there's just such a vast volume of people surely they can vote the volume wasn't there how about from toronto i i don't know i only know that someone said that uh it it didn't resonate with our fan base like surely you can talk everyone in columbus to voting for whoever you like on your team you can get everyone but still if 10 of of people at the Toronto fan base is interested in doing this, it should still. And when we talk about traditional skills competitions

like hardest shot, you know, even the skate, the lap around it, I'll watch. I love that stuff. Oh, yeah, me too. Can I be honest? I just wish to just play a hockey game again. Not a three-on-three. It's a nostalgic NHL All-Star game where it's five-on-five.

It's 60 minutes. And the coaches or, you know, some people with good reputations for picking teams do this. One year. One year. Can we have like a five on five? I actually like the idea of a throwback using like the jerseys. A throwback to real hockey games? No, like Owen Nolan the year he scored four.

Was it four he got the one year? With the point? With the point. Like I love that. So wear those jerseys. Play a hockey game. Sammy, you also love the Zegers coming out blindfolded and doing all that? Love that. Because that's really, I think coming out blindfolded and doing all that.

Love that. Because that's really, I think. I know how you feel about that. It's not that I. I hate it. It's not that I hate it. It's not. I love that.

I hate watching. You know what? I find it cringy. Like, I just, like, I don't know. I just don't have any. We can't have a dunk contest in our game. It's not the same. We can't pretend it is. We're trying to be the NBA.

It's nothing to me now. It's like I don't have any emotion when I watch it, but I know the kids must love it. You're dead inside. That's what it is. I'm all-star dead. I'm all-star dead. I think maybe that's what it is that I like,

that they're trying to appeal to that side of, I guess, for children, like the All-Star game is. But I'm with you guys. I love the fastest skater around the ice. Yeah. I love the hardest shot, the four targets, the four targets, the saucer passes into little nets. Love that. What?

No one on earth likes that. What? That's the worst event in history. Passing is the best part of the game. That's the most exciting part of the game is passing. I like the passing. As a skills contest, you won't find anyone who thought that was fun but you. Really?

I was watching Henrik Sedin and everyone was trying to sauce it. Oh, a high saucer? Oh, nothing gets me going like a high saucer. Well, okay, but that's not what the contest is. Okay. Anyways. The thing that you worry about is that it just gets to become a clown show a little bit. You know, as the players start. Well, didn't the NFL just say we can't do it if no one cares?

Like the players don't care. Is that the pro? The pro bowl. We can't make the guys care. We're just going to have the skills contest, have a drinking contest. I don't know what you do with the players. You just. Okay.

Tough to get them to care for a game. Anyway, but who's going? In saying that, I've got to ask Sammy. Will Willie Nylander, the Toronto Maple Leafs, be pissed off when Mitch Marner gets named tonight? Yes. I think if they're picking one guy from the Leafs this year, the All-Star should be Willie Nylander.

Marner's going to get anyway with his fan vote. They're all going to be Toronto guys, the fan vote so he's gonna get in matthew's gonna go heart trophy to not on the all-star team he'll get he should get voted in but there's a chance that he's not there yeah a lot of it has to do with expectations versus performance with this stuff with awards with getting voted for all-star relative to their career expectations william neilander is having by far the best year on the toronto maple leaf that's not right i don't think that's right well statistically he's leading the team in scoring goals and scoring yeah i mean that's that's significant important well yeah i mean that's not what i'm talking about here who's been

their most valuable player this year? Sammy's point was versus expectations. Versus expectations is what a lot of people get in on. I just think that there's a world which William Nylander is the least all-star. But Kipper seems to know that it's not going to be. The fascinating part of this is that the NHL, with doing this,

wants the people at the game that the fans want at the game. They don't want it to be representative of who the best players in the league are they already don't willie styles would be pretty good in miami all three of these guys those guys are going i think you can pretty much book it but to me that they want a player from every team i don't know if can you have three i don't know if you get three from the division, then you certainly can have three Leafs. You need a lot of votes, I guess. You know, like we're going to pick someone from Philly.

You know, we need Konechny to go or Carter Hart or whoever you think it is. Do we need that instead of? No, we don't, but that's a mandate. Just a mandate. It is a mandate, but I hate that mandate. Arizona has to have an all-star who's the best player in arizona clinton clinton keller i would imagine and was he a point per game i don't even know no it's nick ritchie he's stop uh nick ritchie nonsense the best player clinton keller has 36 points in 36 games yep okay so there you So there you go. Who doesn't?

You want to go across the country? I do. All right. Where do you want to start? Vancouver? Oh, let's just do the Eastern teams. Vancouver. Let's just do the... Oh, you want to do Canadian teams?

I don't know. I was going to go Canadians. I only... Yeah. Okay. Yeah. J.T. Miller? Okay.

Bo Horvath's third in the league in goals. Bo's going. Yep. Bo knows. Bo's a lock I'll take Petey I'm going to look at the standings Oh yeah

Hold on, hold on Do you know who's getting named? I don't have to answer that question I'm just telling you Who I'm picking Okay But if it comes out at Whatever time they come out You have them all right I'm going to Okay. But if it comes out at whatever time they come out,

you have them all right. I'm going to be coming in. Well, you're not. Anyways, continue. Don't worry. I don't know anyone. Pedersen has 44 points to Horvath's 42. Bo Horvath's got 11 more goals.

He's the captain. It's Bo. Okay. I'll say Bo, too. All right. This is a tough one. Who's Edmonton Oilers? Jack Campbell?

Tyson Berry. All right. Connor's a tough one. Who's Edmonton Oilers? Jack Campbell? Tyson Berry. All right, Conner's in. Conner's in. Winnipeg. Conner? Morrissey. Oh, Morrissey, yeah. That's simple.

That is simple, actually. He's got a bajillion points. Oh, well, Hellebuck. If you've got to send goalies, right? Hellebuck's a top goalie in the league, so. Yeah, I'll take Morrissey. But then you have Ottinger in that division. It is pretty remarkable that this guy's been around,

but you've never, ever thought that this guy would get himself into those type of conversations yeah no it is remarkable you're right not like a a morgan riley type of guy like is he does he not right and i think that there's they were similar up until very much so uh morrissey took off to another level yeah i could see that for sure morrissey uh has 43 points in 38 games from the back end connor's 44 points playing up front obviously barely two i was having a good year too okay uh calgary calgary that's an easy one you got uh stanley cup champion naz cadry really he's not having a very good year in terms of points, right?

That's a tough team for me to find someone who you're like... Lindholm's probably leading their team in points. He is by a few. Not a ton of scoring. Kadri's like at 30 points in 39 games. He has the physical edge and all that. How about Rasmus Andersen on the back end?

I think that's my vote for them. It's not Huber, though. It ain't Hubie Doobie Doo, who's got 25 points in 36 games. I'm going Lindholm. See, this is the problem with the All-Star game right now, having to have one player from every team. They just don't have an All-Star. They don't.

So, thanks. Where are we? Ottawa. Ottawa. Kachok. Yeah, Kach Ottawa. Kachuk. Yeah, Kachuk. Kachuk. Brady Kachuk.

Yep. For sure. Drew's been good. He's a point per game. You got to remember, too, it's like... Who the fans want there matters. Exactly. And who the league thinks is the next face of different organizations.

Claude Drew is a big face. Yeah, but his time's gone. They got to promote the young next face. Okay. That's Brady Kachuk. No questions asked. Leafs, it really remains to be seen. It's got to be Marner from the Leafs.

Yeah, it's Marner. Nick Suzuki's the guy. He's an excellent hockey player. Without a doubt. They suck so bad now. They're just really not very good. No. It's the power play too, isn't it?

Yeah, I think, yeah, they're 15% or something like that. I mean, I know they suck, but they got some guys that can shoot the puck a little bit. Yeah, you would think between Suzuki and Caulfield, they'd get it into the back of the net enough i had a and i wrote this in uh today in my article for the toronto star that you can find on uh at real kipper on on twitter uh an executive asked me matheson for tyson berry yeah so they're in the five oilers get a little bit heavier yeah just a left-handed shot to to maybe play with uh bouchard just someone to defend a bit and tyson berry can help with the power play in a right-handed shot i just if i'm montreal like what you know berry

was that you gotta make you gotta you gotta keep players like suzuki and cole caulfield interested in playing 41 games still i guess if i can trade matheson for a fourth round pick or for a guy who keeps my guys interested this year take the player down the road you know rather than my interested guys but i see it i see what it would do for both teams uh boston not really hard the past demands 50 points no what about omark oh yeah there he is right there you don't go 21-1-1 no you're right be named to the all-star game what's pasternak and league scoring i really hope he goes there and then like it's that stupid three

on three no one plays defense and like 25 pucks go by him. Or no, just completely breaks his confidence. He can't make a save again. That's what I'm hoping for. It's like going on the home run derby and just losing your swing. That's what I'm really hoping for, yeah.

He gets all those stupid three-on-threes. We don't even have to ask which Buffalo saver. You can bomb through the top threes, the top 10 in scoring and be like okay tage for buffalo robertson for dallas kutra for tampa carlson for san jose yeah uh carlson for san jose yeah you're you're not wrong you know like you're not going to be a top 10 scorer and not go but there has to be goalies what about ottinger for dallas no no he's been having a good year

uh what division is that central central with winnipeg and uh colorado nashville yeah i gotta think uh what other goalies would be in the central i guess uc sorrows but he's not having a very good year he's not having a good year no minnesota's got to flurry yeah colorado's oh is uh colorado getting any help from no okay no i know from bennington i bet you it's bet you all oh uh veg malca could go veg might go over keller but robertson will get named tonight yes yes yes yeah yes the question it won't be uh all right it won't be on you're over jason robertson that's uh yeah that's the that is just behind mcdavid goals he is the next face there in dallas if he isn't already now capitals is going to be who's that going to be ovi right and ovi will not

well ovi can skip and go to miami beach can you imagine that just go and vacation down there did you remember in ottawa no he didn't show up in ottawa for an hl all-star because he said he had a bad back and he was in i think miami beach great i don't know all time moves to go to the venue yeah he took the one game suspension yes yeah that's right for that yeah i here's the thing if i was ov or one of those guys that's been in 100 of these, I'd be taking the one game suspension. You're like, my punishment is an extra game off after? Yeah. Okay.

Listen, I'm telling you right now, there is not a snowball's chance that this guy is now chasing Wayne Gretzky, and he doesn't show up at the NHL All-Star game. Not a chance. What if he wants to wear a Russian jersey? There's some other storylines floating around him that maybe he doesn't want to be in the spotlight for that long as well. Media tour.

Yeah. They're going to have Ovi. So Ovi will go and the question is, does Sid Crosby go? Well, he'll be the representative. This is another thing that's frustrating about being named an All-Star. It's just that it doesn't mean anything.

So these guys are like, oh, if it doesn't mean anything to my legacy, then what? I don't care. Yeah, they do guilt a lot of players in we need you. We need you. You're our face. I think that's a big one for Sid is that the league is like, you're Sidney Crosby.

We need you there. Yes, we need you. And there are some times when it's legit i'm sure and he's just tired or his back's bothering him and he has skipped a few i think the same weekend ovi did the one year but to me it'd be much more appealing to these older guys if you're just playing a real hockey game like going there and playing this stupid three-on-three like tournament where you're just you know like sid really have any interest in playing on a three-on-three tournament like what's he i don't know to me the five-on-five a real hockey game is much more appealing yeah to some of these guys anyways well if if that's the case and we're talking about seasoned veterans and whether they go or not let's talk chicago blackhawks like who's they have to send a hockey player they got to send a hockey player

and i'll be shocked if pat kane goes you would yeah just think what are you going to celebrate type of thing i just think that first of all it's first on the team with 27 and 37 i have talked uh max domico right from the beginning of the year about all this speculation about him being traded or not, that he's in control. He's got all the power in the world. But the one thing is he's not 100% healthy. Yeah. He's not.

And he's, I don't know what that number is. But if this guy shut it down tomorrow and said, yeah, thanks just gonna wait for a free agency and it's you know i did my part for half a season with some of these kids but i don't need to i want to play for another four or five years and i don't want more any any more wear and tear this year wouldn't be surprised at all would they send alex stalock who has played 11 games. Peter Morazic. Let's break. All right, let's break. Seth Jones. A face.

A young face who's making $9 million. I know. He's minus 26. He will be the first minus 26 in NHL history at an All-Star game. So true. Okay, we'll take a quick break, and we'll come back with PJ Stock. Eric Lindros is on the horizon. Plenty more on Real Kipper and Born.

All right. It's only taken half a season to hunt down PJ Stock for us. Got him. That's how busy he is. Although every once in a while, if I really miss him, I just go get the video of him fighting Pete. Steven Pete, yeah. Steven Pete.

It's a good one. Paige, how are you, pal? It's about time, guys. It's about time. I know. If you guys would stop calling me collect, it would be a lot different. I don't pick up those calls. Listen.

And I know it's not boring because he's the bright one. Kipper, this totally is on you. This is totally on you. Buddy, I'm jilted. You dumped me for dangle and, you know, that, what's it called? The pro what? The player cast. The player cast.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a working process. It's pretty fun, though. It's interesting. It's obviously Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, for people that don't know on SportsCenter now on Saturday nights, we do the late game. Steve Dangle does the Toronto game where he's – it's amazing how he just sits and yells at a camera for so long.

And I can – being a Toronto fan, and just – I don't want to get – well, I want to mention something about Toronto later, just because I haven't had a chance to go on my Toronto rant with you guys this year. But he's been doing it for quite some time. It's fun. I want to mention something about Toronto later just because I haven't had a chance to go on my Toronto rant with you guys this year. But he's been doing it for quite some time. It's fun. So now we do the late game and it's a little where you sit down and shoot the poop and have a drink and talk sports.

Nice. Okay, we're going to get into the Leafs because we definitely want your thoughts on the first half of the season here. But as far as the Montreal Canadiens go, you've got to come clean. There's Leaf fans that want to hear the misery of a Montreal Canadian fan right now.

So you're repping them. How has it been? Will they feel better when Nick Suzuki is named to the All-Star game? What's going on? Where's the vibe? Well, you know what? What Marty Salen we brought in last year, midway through the season when he took over, he created a lot of – he's a Frenchman, dead lucky.

He kind of opened up some of the scoring drugs for some of the guys. Obviously, the one that everyone knows is Cole Caulfield, right? So the Canadians still lost the same amount of games, and they gave up the same amount of goals, but they were more exciting to watch. And a lot of it had to do with the excitement in their play. And it was a lot to do with, you know what? It was a little bit run-and-gun hockey.

Like, you know, they're not a ton of defense. Yeah, they're going to give up tons of opportunities, and goalie's going to stand on his head, but they're having opportunities at the other end. And that's something that they didn't have under Deschamps. But that was last year. But how did it end up? Well, they got first pick overall, so kind of summed up last year.

And then this year started off with a little bit of that same, you know, Marte never really had a coach. Sorry, never had a preseason to kind of get things settled and get guys in place and really have some extra time to work. As you guys know, it hard is during the season. So it started off, he had that time. And then what happened, you know, everyone knows they finished 32nd. They're a young team.

Well, now injuries happen to their veterans. And as much as they're expected to not be great, they were still starting off to lose, but lose the right way. And they did win some games because some nights their goalies stood on their heads and other nights they had one line, Caulfield, Suzuki, and Lonely Lebo. They scored goals and it was fun. They've hit a hard wall, a hard reality wall.

They're missing veterans in key positions. They're not that run-and-gun hockey. If you're not scoring on the other end and you're still playing poorest defensively, teams are a lot better now. The tail end of last season didn't really matter. Now it's starting to matter.

Yeah, it is. It's fascinating to watch, too, and it will be interesting to see what they decide to do as they move towards the trade deadline. You know, I want to make sure we have time to get your Toronto rant in, so I'm just going to step aside, and you let us know your thoughts on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I'll be really quick. They're a bit fun to watch. I'm really excited about the Leafs. My only problem is they're starting off against Tampa or Boston to start the playoffs again. I want to go back to this 1-8, 1 plays 8. I know back in the

day I grew up in Adams. I deal with Adams division fan. We used to watch. They always played the same teams, but it's just not the same anymore. I feel bad for the Leafs because despite their slow start and how amazing they've been over the last little while, this team is built to have success during the regular season,

and then the rules change. And I don't know if there are some of the moments that I've watched that they're ready to make that playoff change. And the two teams that they're going to have to play against probably off the hop are two teams that are built that way. So I'm enjoying the ride right now for Toronto. I just don't want everyone to get too excited because we all know what could potentially happen.

All right. In a boat. You've got two. I thought it was Toronto though, right? Yeah, that's not bad. It's not bad for you. It's not bad. I'm kind of, listen, I have to be, the Canadians sit last again.

Well, in their vision. So anything up is positive. So you can, you got two choices here with our boy Sammy McKee here. You can cry in your spilt milk. Sounds tempting. Sounds good. Am I close enough? No.

It's just flowing. You can cry like a baby. That's better. Like Sammy. Or you can actually do something about it. What do they need? What do they do to ensure that they can get past a Tampa or Boston? I think they got to get... I love their upfront

when they commit to playing 200 feet. Like every team that's successful has their O'Reilly, Bergeron, Kopitar, Taves, you know, Toronto's a little bit more high flying and that's why they can, they get away with it during the season. I don't know if Tavares has the foot speed to be that guy in the playoffs to go against the team's top line every year. So that's my concern. But then I watched how the Montreal Canadiens,

who were a team that were terrible during the COVID year, they still managed to make it in in the Canadian division. And they rode three guys on the back end who were just big, bulky, solid defensemen. They shut down team cycles. They cleared out the front of the net, let their goalies make saves, and they got the puck out of the zone. And, you know, I'm thinking that's – you don't need defense

that is super mobile and great. You just need them to clear the front of the net, don't give the other team opportunities, and get the puck out of your zone. Toronto's Leafs forwards are uber-talented if they can not have to play defense. So, you know, they had, and the Canadians' best line

when they went to the Cup Final was Eric Stahl, Corey Perry, and Joel Armia. And they rode the defense of what is it, Edmonston, Weber,

forget all some, Venturot. Like, those six names right there are not going to win you hockey games, but they're not going to lose you hockey games. And they're good enough to keep you in every playoff game. So I would really love to see Toronto.

You don't need, you know, guys that go run around. You don't need more sick heavy guys that understand what it's going to be like for playoff hockey Do you have any belief that they could add Matthew Nise's kid's coming out of college

he's 6'3, 210, do you think it needs to be someone with experience or would it be okay just to have him come along and be the guy for the Leafs? Not in playoffs. Not the first year. There are guys that can step in. I think it's easier to do it in an offensive role

than it is to do it in a shutdown role. I think that's the hardest part. Every time you're going up against, let's just say, Scuteroff. That's why it's hard. The Leafs had a great run out of it last year. I do think this year is a year that they can make that. They just got to get through that first round.

That's all they have to do. And I think anything can happen from there. They've got great people behind the bench, great people upstairs, and great personnel on the ice. It's just they don't have it in their head just yet. You know, Joel Emerson is not a Joel Edmondson is not a flashy name. He's not a flashy name. He doesn't have been great for the Montreal Canadiens lately.

Ben Chirot's another one. He's in Detroit now. They just play simple playoff hockey. Get the puck out of the zone. Get the puck out. Clear the front of the net. You allow it to get away with a little bit of rugby in the playoffs, and they have that in their mentality.

It's hard to teach an offensive guy to play dirty rugby playoff hockey because they just don't have it. That's kind of where I think you just need a couple of bodies. Who's going to kill the last minute of a penalty or to start it in zone heavy minutes, the last minute of a period? The other team's making a push. Who's not going to get worried or try and ice it? He'll just eat it in their feet and get, you know,

take body checks because they know, you know, a great name that I played with was a guy named Sean O'Donnell, who was the least flashiest player ever. But O.D. did whatever he had to do just to, like, eat seconds, you know, get the puck out. How many passes did he make in a year? I don't know. But he got the puck up out of our zone to Joe Thornton and Joe

just hunted it down, passed it to Glenn Murray and they scored. I know I'm dating myself a little but that's kind of, you don't need the, the game is completely changed in the playoffs and it's the only sport that kind of does it. But I think that's something that they really got to pick out whoever they can and I think it's a big sport that kind of does it. But I think that's something that they really got to pick out whoever they can.

And I think it's a big – I think this is that core group. I really do think if it's not this year. I know everyone's been saying it for a long time. But they really got to come up with ideas how to change this. Because they're also going to just keep doing this. One more from me before we let you go. And we're going to hunt down Eric Landros. He says hi.

But I told him that – Yeah, Big E's out to me. You know what he's doing right now? He's just taping things that I'm saying. He's right in the back. He is. Maybe you can write this one down, because this is my final one. Your ex-team...

Good. Your ex-team, the Boston Bruins. How surprised are you? Everyone is. Like, you can't be anyone in the hockey world and tell me they should be where they are. They're plus 57 in 37 games. It's a goal and a half per game, and they're up, and they're winning. They brought back a guy that hasn't played in the NHL to be kind of their number two guy.

They were supposed to have injuries that were going to be up until Christmas, and Marshawn Combs is back early. He got two goals in his first game back. They play a lot of hockey, and they all have reasons to be a little bit older and slower. And it is amazing how well they're playing. Taylor Hall, and they just have the right people in all these right places. Their back end's been, again, so many holes.

It shouldn't be great. They just, they're playing right. They're just playing. Their two goalies have been spectacular. You need great goaltending. You need solid D and the right guys making the right things happen up top. And I give so much of that credit to Patrice Bergeron, a lot of Jim Montgomery coming in and getting them kind of keeping them on

page for what they had last year. They were a good team last year, but that's just, they're finding ways to win right now and finding ways not to lose at home. It's pretty amazing. They haven't lost at home in regulation. So they have the right recipe. If I'm Toronto, we just, we need a little, a little tiny, tiny bit from every one of those,

those Boston guys. A Toronto guy can add it to their game. They're not that far off, but it's the little, little, little, little things that are going to make the difference in the playoffs. Hey, don't be such a stranger on our show. I stopped calling collect, buddy. All right.

Appreciate it, Peach. Thanks, buddy. Bye, Barney. Former National Hockey Leader, P.J. Stock. USA-Sweden, 5-5 at the start of the third period. Defense. Defense. They. Defense. They're kids.

I know. I know. The unpredictability. Junior hockey is wild. Some of those games you're down 6-2 and you win 9-6. It's fun. I understand why people love junior hockey. We're going to hunt down Eric Landros, talk a little with Connor Bedard as he gets ready.

Now, he was good in junior Eric, if I'm not mistaken? Yeah, there's a little bit of hype on him. Yeah. Would there have been any internet hype for Eric Lindros back then compared to what maybe Connor Bedard is going through. Let's bring him in. Biggie, Eric Lindros, Hall of Famer. Thanks for making time, pal.

How are you? I'm good, Kipper. How are you doing? We're doing great. We're going to watch a gold medal game, Canada. Check you. And I'm just wondering now, the Connor Bedard show and what is going on. And, you know, if there's one guy that can...

What's that? It's pretty amazing. It is amazing. And when you watch a guy like that and attract the attention, is there a part of you that looks upon what you went through or do you just avoid that altogether?

You know what? I think we all got a little bit lucky when people weren't walking around with cell phones the way they are right now and Twitter wasn't there. And, you know, little mini clips of goals weren't available, you know, within seconds of something happening. No, I mean, geez, that was early 90s, right? So it was all pretty quiet and insulated. And, you know, you really just got out of the hotel,

you went to the rink, and you just had a real focus and went and did your job. So did you not feel the weight or the pressure that came with being such an exciting young player? Well, you know what? I think right now I don't think he would feel it as anything other than the desire to have the pressure that you want to have on yourself when you want your team to win. That's the biggest thing.

And that's probably what he's feeling right now. I mean, no one can really speak for him but himself. But I think that the pressure to win for Canada, especially playing in Canada is, is incredible. And, and, uh, I mean, it's great pressure. It's a lot of fun and it's wonderful when you do it. We had a chance in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon to, to play for Canada, um, or sorry, to, to win in Canada. And it was, it was amazing, but leading up to it, there's a lot of pressure. There really is. There's a ton of pressure that leads up to it. And there's no, there's no escaping that, but, uh, there is a lot of pressure. There really is. There's a ton of pressure that leads up to it, and there's no escaping that.

But there's a great group of players there, and it looks like we're in pretty good shape to go give a good run for it. You jokingly said that not that many cameras back then, but if you can go back and close your eyes and you're this phenom out of Oshawa and there's this massive buildup towards the NHL draft would you have been the type of guy that would just sneak a peek on Twitter to find out what the heck everybody's talking about no no I don't think so you know honestly Kipper what you

you get out of bed you go to those I'd go to the rink a little bit early, and they always had those courtesy shuttles for moving the players back and forth between the rinks. And we'd just slide over to the rink a few hours, three hours before the game and get ready to go. No, there's not really peeking. Of course, when you walk by the downstairs of the hotel, you're going to see, you know, back then it was newspapers were actually prevalent. And everybody, you know, they were all over the place

when you had breakfast and whatnot. Things have changed. But, no, I bet you he's just getting up, getting ready to go, and the blinders are on, and he takes the blinders off when it's time to go and play the game because he's are on and uh he takes the blinders off when it's time to uh to go and play the game because he's really seeing the ice extremely well yeah no kidding and you know what i i have to ask this because i can't help but think about you know you get drafted and you know the the transition from quebec to philly happens and and we all that's

all been well documented and covered staring conor bedard in the face right now is arizona and this 4800 seat rink and years in almost a minor league building what do you think he would be thinking about when in terms of wishing or hoping or just worrying about what his next team's going to look like i don't think that's something that's going on is uh it's going to enter his head today i think that might be something that he'll talk about or maybe we can't speak for him, but maybe he goes and confronts a little bit later on. I don't know how long

Bill Armstrong and the Coyotes are going to be in that rank. Who knows? Who knows what the overall plan is and what he decides. Well, and it really is up to Arizona to paint a picture

that this thing's going to look real healthy in a very short period of time. I mean, unfortunately, you didn't have that with Quebec. There was a lot of issues going on there that you were uncomfortable. You were totally within your rights to do and and and say and act the way you you did back then but you know this this guy's carrying a lot of clout much like only a handful of guys in history uh are able to do coming out of uh say junior hockey well and you know he'll he'll make his call on things, I guess. You know, we just all sit back and wait and see. We will wait and see.

Hey, listen, I know you're on the ice with what's going on, alumni? What do you got going on, Philly? I'm actually in here to watch Phoenix play Philly here in Philly tonight. So, you know, we're on our way. It's 90s night. Oh, cool. Right up your alley. Yeah.

Eric, thanks for doing this, man. All right, guys. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Eric Lendros, Hall of Famer. This feels like a touchy subject. Well, you know, I think he's past that, though. I know he is.

He's past that, and we've actually seen him put on quebec nordique jerseys and yeah you know that's uh oh he's addressed it at length that's uh water under the bridge now yeah and it has been well documented but these guys like badar like mario lemieux didn't even get up for pittsburgh didn't even get up off his seat and he's just like thanks i don't remember that i don't oh yeah that was my era yeah and i think it was the montreal forum did he not want to go there uh i think they had uh contract issues oh and he he gave them the shoo shoo that's great if i if i remember correctly you're like you know for young guys like that you must be taking so much advice from adults.

Not that you're not legally an adult in some cases, but generally, you don't know. He's 17. Connor's 17. I know. Eric's 18. See, I forget what 17, 18 is. You've got kids that are just through that age. But you're still a kid.

Oh, yeah. To say, I'm not going to sign this contract or I'm not going to go play for a team. You're listening to other people and they're presumably bedard's agent saying this is good or bad or it's a different world now right it's just a completely different world it is but just the power is the same and connor bedard holds he'll come in and he'll he'll be one of the bigger voices at 18 you know how in talk radio it's fun to do what if scenarios here i got a what if for you yeah lottery balls fall arizona gets the number one overall pick yeah but dard's agent makes it clear to bill armstrong he's not coming there he's not going to play might be a possibility as eric said what is a return on the number one overall pick this year look like in a trade before the draft that's an awesome question that is an awesome question i mean if you won't

go in your zone you're like see you know you got? Empty your pockets and show me. Here is the double-edged sword or the issue here is that whether or not it's Bedard with a potential Arizona or it's

any other star player. Once you establish that I don't want to be here anymore, you actually like lose, you lose some power, but it may be regained with a number of bidders that are willing to throw themselves in the race. So sometimes you just got to cut your best deal. And if you think it's more, it may be down the road, but it may not be. Like in the NBA, teams trade five firsts sometimes. That was what I was going to throw out right away. These five first rounders to start.

Like I need, I need, yeah, I'm giving you. I want your draft picks that you can trade. Yeah, I'm giving you a top prospect that we see. A franchise changer. Five of them in 50 years. I remember seeing a report, and this is 10 years ago before NBA players started making a zillion dollars. I think LeBron was making $20 million, and they had done the research,

and they said LeBron is actually worth $80 million, you know, based on what he brings into the franchise, what he— and now I think he earns $50 or something per year, but he's probably worth $100 million. Bernard's probably worth hundreds of millions over the course of his career to a franchise. Or maybe not hundreds. The Montreal Canadiens have five first-round picks in the next three years.

They have theirs, Florida's, then they have theirs. In the next three years. See, that's interesting to me. Get them in a bundle like that. See, if we remember, pull up the Lindros trade to Philadelphia because it was first-rounders, it was prospects, Forsberg, of course. It was Mike Ricci. It was prospects. Forsberg, of course. It was Mike Ricci.

It was Kerry Huffman. I think it was the goalie. But the equivalent of that trade today would be like 15 million off your cap. Right. Or added to your cap. Right. 20 million. Like back then you just didn't care who.

What the dollars were. What the dollars were. Right. He was traded from the Quebec Nordiques to the Philadelphia Flyers for Steve Duchesne, Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextel, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, future considerations, a round first pick, two first round picks.

That's a Colorado Avalanche Cup right there. If we try to equate that to the salary cap, that's like 30, 40 million dollars. Nobody can take that on nobody can take that on yeah so now you are really down take on more than most but they don't want to no they love their dead money they love their you know whatever but they they will not take that for connor bedard yeah they're not ready for it they don't want it they don't want to pay for it that's franchise altering for them so So that's five first-rounders and maybe guaranteed all your blue-chip prospects.

Well, it's not unreasonable to think you could be that wild. But I also think there's a world of Pat and Pat. That was a good question. Thank you. Five first-round picks, Cole Caulfield, Nick Suzuki. Do they do the whole franchise? Slaff. Slaff. do the whole franchise? Slaff. Slaff.

Slaffy. Slaffy taffy. To me, that's such a fascinating question. Well, because I think there's a possibility that if Bedard didn't want to go, he would communicate it quietly, right? Like the agent would say, he doesn't want to do it. Can you trade it? You know what?

There's no way that doesn't get out. I don't believe that his representative, and I'm not even sure who it is. Greg Landry. Okay. Of Newport Sports Management. Yeah, that's right. He's a Newport guy. I don't think that conversation gets broached

until after you know he's an Arizona Coyote. For sure. You wait till the balls go. Yeah. You don't want to create that energy. You don't want to create something that isn't definitively an issue just yet. You know, in my ear from Derek Brandeo, and I'm throwing you under the bus by saying it came from you,

is what if the Leafs were losing the first round, would they trade Matthews plus? You get your Arizona one, Austin Matthews and picks. Bedard comes to Toronto. Okay. Now we're just. No, listen.

You guys were trading Morgan Riley yesterday. If they want Matthews, they just wait one more year. Oh, you son. You just. No, I'm serious. You don't. Least fans mush. You just wait a year. You're not trading for Austin Matthews.

You're saying that Matthews comes with Bedard. Austin wants to go. If he's open to it, then you just wait a year. You don't need to trade him. It's a good point. Yeah. Because then you'd say, well, you know, you get to play with bedard when you come here yeah yeah please god not don't let him get it please god what oh my goodness um derail well no i just i'm just

hoping to god that they don't this isn't even a conversation just let it like let it be chicago or philly or yeah god forbid montreal like somewhere where it's just like he's gonna be noticeable yeah we should hope montreal yeah we should should we yeah absolutely last check when a canadian team won the stanley cup we just watched montreal go to the stanley cup final with eric stall as the best line who did pj just say it was eric stall joel armia and someone else cory perry i don't need them to have conor bedard it would be fun to watch it would be fun i'm enjoying auto resurgence you know buffalo's resurgence with Paige. It's all good for the Leafs. It's fun.

Yeah. All right. What else is making news? Oh, plenty of things. I got mine. What do you got? We got a few more minutes. How about Max Pacioretty returns to the Carolina Hurricanes lineup?

Do you remember Max Pacioretty's on the Canes? I forgot about that. He's played no games for them. Yeah, that's right. And they're the second best team in the league. I can't recall him seeing him in a uniform in carolina zero games totally forgot second in the nhl overall and what is vegas he's making seven yeah vegas got back seven in cap space they got nothing nothing carolina took all seven million i think they took it all and gave them nothing yeah yeah that's what i mean yeah yeah i'm pretty i'm pretty sure none of that is left on vegas's cap that's surprising

that they would eat all of that i mean he's a good player he got him for nothing it was one year just handed him off and it's just one year on the cap oh that's all he's got left he's a free agent after this year and he played well in vegas too his name hasn't come up at all as a ufa guy i guess he hasn't been playing. And he plays on a good team, so they're not going to trade him. He's just going to play with them, and then they'll sign somewhere else. But yeah, I feel like we never talk about Carolina, and they're just every year.

They're the same sort of machine-like team in the regular season. They're actually a fascinating team, you know, when you talk about who is their all-star. Their goalie. Sveshnikov. Well, the team leader in points is martin natchez this year 37 and 38 games 17 of those are goals feshnikov is right there kipper a few points behind him 19 goals in 38 games but aho like if you go down the list of this team aho's got 30 then sprint burn stephan nason martin nooks got 10 goals seth jarvis has 13 goals jordan stall's got 10 goals like they're deep shea fast cock and yemi all those guys cock and yemi's

like a fourth liner for them gotcha slavin's one of the best defense kachikov paul stastny's on the team is he is he your your he's my vote but is he is he your playoff goalie that's gonna take you sure so to the promised land if it's freddie anderson i would sure sure so trust him more than freddie that's for sure yeah i was looking up all those uh justin hall numbers as jalen chatfield on their third pair has been very good for them defensively good at denials breaking the puck out their d so good der Derek Stepan's on their team. Poor Andre Kasha, one game played. Oof.

Yeah, it's a tough one. So that was interesting. Pacioretty coming back. Nick Backstrom and Tom Wilson are close to returning for the Washington Capitals. But then they lost Carlson for a long time. You know what? Cracked his face, didn't he?

It reminded me of the one I took to the face where, yeah, he took it in the mush pretty good there, and I think his jaw looked not great. What happened to you? Slapper in the face. Right here. I got a 10-screw plate and an X plate that holds my chin together. Really?

That was bad. Yeah, I was in Wives Warrior and shot for two months. Who shot it? My own teammate. I passed it up to the point to the D-man, went to net front no tips nothing straight screamer in the jaw did he feel bad he brought me a bottle of whiskey like thanks i'm drinking liquid percocet i'm like thanks this should help god yeah that's the last game i ever played tom wilson will help them do you think a little do you like tom wilson i'm a big tom wilson guy you might be yeah yeah all right what else you got for sammy on your list

winter classic sets ratings record 1.8 million viewers on tnt like very much i think i think that maybe says a lot more about previous winter classics does it does than it does this one now that's not i don't think it's the highest ever i think that maybe says a lot more about previous winter classics than it does about this one. Now, that's not, I don't think it's the highest ever. I think that's the highest maybe for cable. Okay. Right? But what are we talking about here? Like NBC would be not.

Yeah, NBC would be not cable. I think they've had four, three and a half, four million people watch for NBC. You see, you came around, right? I read your column. You like the outdoor game. You think it works. I know people love it. Yes.

And I've been to and I've covered many. I got to play an alumni game and Rangers in Philadelphia. The energy when you're there is off the charts. And what's cool is it's really unique it's something different and the nhl to their credit they don't stuff it down our throat with advertising like it's it's for the local market more than anything right it's well it it is now i think uh when i first local fan base it was it was like a national feel right like must must see tv nationally i don't think that's the case anymore but it's uh whether it was nbc or tnt now they it's a signature kind of day for them they were

smart enough not to go against the nfl so they moved it off a day instead of sunday monday yeah they seem to be happy with their their tnt number So, I mean, we're not talking NFL numbers. No. You know, yeah, ratings are an interesting thing. Like, I don't even, I couldn't imagine what they used to get or how that changes or anything. So, sounds like it's good, though. Ratings are good.

Tampa Bay got smoked by the Minnesota Wild last night. With Brian Elliott in net. So, did you say on or off the air maybe i just haven't stopped paying attention to you but uh you get that a lot talked about point and how many guys ahead of him i was off the air okay good i want to hear this on the air on the air yeah i think you would be shocked how high i would pick Braden Point if I could do a draft of all the players in the NHL. Like, way up there. Like top five.

Yeah, pretty close. Yeah. What? Oh, yeah. Top five. I mean, you're looking at McCarr, McKinnon, McDavid. This guy is money. Taking him ahead of Matthews?

That's. In the playoffs? Oh. Yes. Piss. He's going to walk out playoffs? Oh. Yes. Piss. He's going to walk out of the building. I don't know. Hey, he's already proven he's one of the best clutch playoff guys in history.

Yeah. So you tell me how you pick Matthews over him right now with his cup rings and his record producing points. He's just such a force of nature.'s not wrong he's and he's healthy now right he's just he's in the zone oh yeah he's you know whatever he's got 40 points in 31 games or something scores do you take him ahead of tage thompson yes 100 without flinching tage is gonna i know what i take it's gonna go through a few things before he gets in a couple years maybe tage thompson but yeah like this year right now the playoffs tage right just

overly on dry saddle love that question love it yes yeah dry saddle i think is unbelievably skilled and all that but like you don't have braden point games where you go i don't know he just didn't do it for me like dry Dreisaitl have seven points one night. Had a bench martyr? Yeah. Okay. Had a Kutra. It's hard to knock point over guys that have not done it.

I think that's it, Kipper. That's it. That's all. Okay. You're great. You're talented. But you've not led anything braden point i think braden point would be one of the first three names did not win listed when they were making the next team canada right yeah like i think he's right up there he might be

playing the top line on team canada so maybe you guys are right is there any chance canada loses tonight yeah they got run pretty good in the first game yeah by uh the check that woke them up a little bit put them on notice caught them off guard they tried like 17 michigans in the first period news of that traveled to cabo san lucas wasn't pleased my old man and i weren't very pleased about that. I don't know. I think they'll probably win. There were a great many Canadians offended by the fancy play. Which fancy play? Against Czechia the first time

when the Canadians turned to Michigan twice. Was it twice? Twice. One more for you on Canada tonight. Does Sheen Wright need a big game here? Twice. One more for you on Canada tonight. Yep. Does Shane Wright need a big game here? Listen, I hope Shane Wright enjoys this experience playing for Canada because outside of the world championship,

I don't know if he's going to get another look at this. Wearing that jersey. He's non-existent. You know, you worry about a guy who started to fall in the draft, as it got closer to the draft at the end of last year and then coming this year and didn't have a great start for seattle at all um you know like you just worry now he's not and he's got i think it was six points in six games in the world juniors okay no not great numbers but uh spent two two weeks in the american hockey

league and actually looked okay and scored some scored some goals. He's going to be a National Hockey League player. The question is, is he going to be a star? I think watching Lafreniere has really been eye-opening for people that like guys who are really good and highly touted. It's not promised. It's not for sure that you're going to matter in a big way because you're drafted that high. Whether it's Yakupov or some of these

guys who just take a little longer to come around well we we shall see a couple big goals tonight yeah we'll see tonight our thanks to eddie old chuck who's calling the game tonight for seattle kraken against the toronto maple leafs pj stock and eric lindros Fun show today, guys. Good stuff, team. Really enjoyed it. Enjoy your night. Sit back and relax. Plenty of hockey. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee.

Stay safe, everybody. We'll see you next time.