Real Kyper & Bourne - Avs Kick Off Conference Finals Without Makar

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with the news that Cale Makar will be out for the Avalanche in Game 1 against the Golden Knights. Then, they listen to Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon's comments on John Tortorella skipping his post-game media availability. Afterwards, Avs analyst and former NHLer John-Michael Liles joins the guys (12:46) to discuss the weight of Makar's absence, Gabriel Landeskog's impact, and Scott Wedgewood's series outlook. Finally, Nick, Justin, and Sam get into Justin's recently published article about how NHL coaching tenures are trending down, Mike Babcock emerging in the Oilers' coaching search, and the Canucks narrowing in on promoting Manny Malhotra to their NHL bench. 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.

Yes, Sammy, it is that time. It's a real Kipper and Bourne show in our one-hour edition from three to four. The rest of the way. Live on Sportsnet 590, the fans, Sportsnet 960 in Calgary, 650 in Vancouver. Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus, you name it, YouTube, where we always love a thumbs up on our program, podcast. We're jamming a lot. a lot of platforms for an hour. So we sometimes complain we're going to run out of things to talk about,

but then after every hour we're like, yeah, we could have said more. Yeah. The hyper was listening. Things happen. Things continue to happen. Things happen a lot. And this hour of Real Kippoor and Bourne brought to by Bet365, Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Jake the Snake Schultz, Derek Brandeo.

and we will definitely jam for the next hour. So many places to start, including the Western Conference. Cail McCar, man. Gail McCar News, but, you know, for the most part, that has to be the hottest story right now is the team that's favored

going into the final four by maybe a country mile since Steve Valleket declared on our program yesterday. and if you didn't hear about it, please download it yesterday's show. He said they're a generational team, man. They're cut that much ahead of the three remaining hockey clubs.

But Kilmaccar had a big part in all of that. Yeah. Well, first of up, I think a lot of the numbers that point in that direction were front-loaded. I could be wrong there, but it felt like they were so dominant in the first half the year. But yeah, Macar is a big reason they are the way they are.

And just for those of you that don't know, he's not playing in game one. Yeah. It appears to be shoulder. He left game five against the wild briefly and then returned to the game. But if you saw him play, every time he took a little bump on the shoulder, you can see him doing like, oh, you know, look at it. He's trying to bail out of that hit, and he still takes it. Felino buried him every chance he could.

He took some punishment in that Minnesota series. And this one's the hand, which is separate from what we think we're, the reason we're missing it here, the reverse hits. But like this one, he's barely taking contact, but his shoulder is just not in the socket. All right. Let's go to a Kippers Clipper. Sammy, we'll get your thoughts as well.

But let's go to Jared Bednar, head coach of Colorado, on his star player, Kail McCarr. Hey, Jared, first of all, is Kelle McCarr playing tonight? He's not. It's not. Second of all, well, I guess, follow up on that, is this going to be something that affects all series. Do you expect him back any time soon?

Yeah, I expect him back. I think he's doing a lot better. He's on the ice again this morning. Feeling pretty good, so I got him as day to day. This might be the last time you guys are on the ice this entire city. Okay. Just strictly opinion. Not sources are saying.

He's lying. Who's lying? Bednar. Yeah. Yeah. He's, what he didn't say is he ain't playing game too either. Really? Yeah, opinion. Opinion. Opinion. Not a snowball's chance that if you're going to pull them out of game one, you don't go game two as well.

Do they have a multi-day break? Maybe after game two to three. Sometimes they do. I'll see if I can quickly, Sam, maybe you can find out the schedule. Sometimes that would make sense, right? If you could push it back that little bit, no, they don't.

No, I don't think so. I don't know what 48 hours does to his shoulder or someone mentioned to me a hip-ish. as well. So whatever it is, it's not going to fix itself in 48 hours. If you're going missing him one, you got to go missing him two and you pray he's ready for game three. I don't agree with that. So it's Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Monday. So every other, every other day. And at some point, if he's able to, you would say that over that whole span, seven games, almost two weeks, it would be different from one to the end, from the start to the end. So where in there, where do you cut it?

Where do you think it's okay? And if it's after game one for me, got to get the guy in there. Here's what I think. Depends on outcomes. You win game one, you feel a little more comfortable, you're a little more comfortable arresting him.

Get down one, get down two in the series. I think he's suddenly healthy. I think it's a... No, I think he's hurting. I think he's hurting. And regardless of the pressure you feel off of a potential first game loss,

which you've alluded to, it doesn't change how he'll feel or the therapy. It won't change anything. But he finished the last game. He was playing at the end of the last game. I think that pressure point that you're talking about is after game two, not before it. Yeah. Yeah.

I think multiple times we mentioned that whoever gets to play the team that came out of the central in the Western Conference finals, this was going to be part of the conversation where, like you said, Felino and whoever, McCarron and whoever those, the big mutants that play from Minnesota. Just all the big humans that were running into him constantly.

It obviously took its toll majorly on Kail McCar, and now you're going into the game one against a Vegas Golden Knights team don't have to play against him. So that was the advantage, I guess, of staying out of the central, not having to play against those teams.

But, like, is he the, if you're an avs fan, you're furious. Is he the, third best player in the league, like fourth best player in the league, like this is a massive loss. They have good players, don't get me wrong. They still have, you know, Taves is still there.

Kulak, Manson, Brent, like, they still have depth on the, on the decor, but man. But Sam, no McCar is. He's a depth on the decor. They're bringing in for him tonight. Jack, a can. A can. He's five foot eight and he's played 11 games. He'll play four minutes. He'll play 11 games all year for them. So I heard

players, I think Sam Malinski had some comments day, and he's like, we got guys who can handle some minutes for us. We got Cooney. We got, and he does the list. And my first thought was if the first guy you mentioned is Brett Kulak, it's not awesome. I know he's good.

Cool. Don't you worry about it. The game, he's got it. In a few minutes, we'll welcome in John Michael Lyle's former national hockey leaguer, including playing for the abs. He does color analysts on Altitude TV covering the abs. Looking forward to chatting with him.

In the meantime, also out of Denver, Vegas Golden Night News. That was led with a press conference with John Tortorella and the GM, Kelly McCriman, talking about their no show to close out their series against Anaheim. Did you enjoy it, Sammy? I listened to the whole thing. I thought it felt like McCriman rolling up a newspaper and bong and torts on the nose like a bad doggy. I thought, for sure, but I also thought that those two guys have never been more affable than they were in that.

So are you under the impression that Kelly put the shift on Tortorella to take all of this? I'm not saying there's any sort of like rejigging of the blame, but he said, and that's on John. And that to me, he did follow it up

and that's on me because I didn't tell him to. Which clip do you want to start with? Let's listen to the first one. This is the only time it was spoken about at the press conference was right off the top. He addressed it. Okay. Clip one. Clip one.

You were today in New York. York where we had a hearing with the National Hockley regarding the events following game six. We missed a great opportunity that night to connect with our fans and share with them a victory of playoff series. I've always felt in a playoff series. When you win a series, you galvanize the bond with your fan base. We missed that opportunity by not having John available to do postgame. That's on John for failing to do that.

that's on me as a general manager of the hockey club. That's not at the feet of our comms people who made other arrangements with each of you to accommodate tight quarters in and around our dressing room host game. We have no explanation other than to say we were wrong and to assure you that it will not happen again. The league has spoken on the matter. We have spoken the matter. Neither John or I will be taking any questions on this. I'm okay I'm okay with that

yeah the only problem is give us our second round pickback please we were so wrong we were so wrong yeah I think now it's to the point where like there's not a chance Gary can give it back to him now he's done it on a number of occasions in his past

this one he can't no I agree that he can't so it's heard his own credibility it's over with is it are there some people that love hearing Kelly McCriman and torts kind of eat the crap sandwich

for sure for sure but we've all eaten a crap sandwich every single one of us it's okay it's all right and you just you just move on like this is a huge win for Gary

to get them to go back up to the podium with the words we were wrong that's big yeah it's big Totally. You know, I guess I, the whole thing that kind of bothers me is just the idea that you could have this happen and then say we're not taking any questions. That was the problem. No explanation. We're not giving you a reason why.

People want wise. Well, he alluded to it. He's like, we made arrangements with our cons people because there's so little, there's so little room. This is where I agree with Vegas. Like, I'm better off telling you we're not explaining it than to give you the truth and then have it have you hate us even more. We said we're sorry, we said we were wrong, that's it. Because it was immature of us, and there's no other way to look at it. Totally.

You're exactly right. Now, this is the part where I love Vegas, is that they just do whatever they think that they can do to win. And it's not always the right decision. and for Kelly McCriman and John to go up there and basically say we were wrong is the right thing to do, the right thing to do and it's okay. But the part I love about Vegas more than I've seen with most

any other team is they'll do whatever they think that they need to do to get an advantage and win and even if they're bad decisions, they'll eat it and move on. But there are clubs out there that don't push as hard as Vegas to win. We had the exact same thought coming into the studio today where I was like, give Vegas credit. They recognize that this is a competition. And this to me is unrelated to the press conference stuff, which is not a win thing to me.

Yeah. But they have from the moment that they began to exist leveraged every opportunity they could to win. Yeah. And whether it's manipulating salary cap or whether it's getting the best. I appreciate that. And I think this is going to change how other organizations are. No, it's not. I don't think it is.

I think more people are going to offer sheet other teams. I think there's more competitiveness. I'll tell you. It's chica time, maybe. No, no, no, no. I'll tell you where this stems from, and then we'll get to John Michael Isles. This isn't Kelly McCriman,

and it's not John Tortorella, and it's not George McPhee. Bill. It's Bill Foley. He is the guy that's ultra-competitive. He is the guy telling him, Edmonton, not now. It's him.

He sets the tone. Now, if you want to go back to other organizations, you set the tone up top like that, then you've got a chance to follow. Holloway and Broberg are the next piece in this. We're seeing teams be like, hey, we, Carolina did it to get K. Andre Miller. They're going to start pushing each other more.

Okay, getting ready for a Western Conference final game one. We welcome in John Michael Iles, former National Hockey League, Maple Leafs, avalanche, Bruins, Hurricanes. John, how are you, my friend? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on, guys. All right, so where is the vibe right now?

Is it strictly on Kale McCar, unavailable in game one? And what does that do for the psyche of the abs or the psyche of Vegas, not having to face him in game one? Well, yeah, I mean, listen, no one is ever going to replace Kail Makar. Let's just kind of address that head on.

He is, you know, he's one of a kind. He's, you know, arguably when all is said and done, you know, probably going to be in the top 10, maybe top five, you know, best defensemen in NHL history. I think, you know, a lot of stats point to that. But what I'll say is Sam Malinsky is coming back in the lineup. He's been really, really good. this year the abs did miss him in games four and five against Minnesota.

You know, if you're the Vegas Golden Knights, I think that, you know, that's a nice little piece of news to read is, you know, McCar is not going to be in the lineup tonight. You know, it was obvious. I think that he was dealing with something through, call it the LA series, part of it at the very least and definitely, you know, most of the Minnesota series. And I'm sure over the last, you know, eight, nine days,

they've been doing everything they can to see. if there is a way to make sure that, you know, he was 100% going to be in the lineup. And unfortunately, that's not the case. But, you know, this Aves team, I don't know if you can call it resilient throughout these playoffs. But what they, I think they have going for them is there's a lot of depth, you know, within this team.

You know, McCarre was in and out of the lineup in game, or sorry, in and out of the dressing room in game five against Minnesota. Jack Ashon only played three and a half minutes. You had guys that stepped up and really took, you know, took a lot of minutes. Brent Burns, you know, Josh Manson, Davon Taves has played unbelievable. These playoffs really elevated his game from the regular season. And so, you know, the depth is there. And that's not even, you know, addressing the four lines that they're able to run.

And they've gotten scoring, you know, all up and down the lineup in these playoffs, which, as we know, is a really good recipe for, you know, being able to win games and being able to win series. All right. It's pronounced Jack Ashon. I did not do well without my first attempt today. Good to know. It happens.

Yeah. So that's, you know, I'm fascinated by this Colorado team. We had Steve Valiquette on yesterday and he was talking about their stats for the year. A lot of their numbers, by the numbers, they are head and shoulders about pretty much every team in the league. But following the standings, it felt like the front half of the year, they were so dominant. Well, they'd lose twice in the first 40 games or something. Yes.

Are they still as dominant? as the numbers make them look? Was the back half of the year? Have they changed it all in terms of relation to the rest of the league? Yeah, and, well, man, I mean, it's a great question just given, yeah, I think they had two regulation losses

up until January 1st. Great. Now, what changed right at, right then, Gabe Landisog went down and Devon Taves went down in back-to-back games. And we all knew that the team, and not to say that that's, you know, the reason they, you know,

slow down a bit is completely on that. But there was going to be adversity at one point or another in this in the season. It's just it's inevitable. If you go through an entire regular season with very little adversity, I look at the Bruins, you know, I believe it was 22, 23. All of a sudden you face some adversity come playoff time and it's not, you know, do you rise the occasion or do you do you crumble? And so I think the abs faced that adversity pretty well in January.

February up to the Olympic break and then everybody started, you know, really to get healthy. And I think that they, you know, maybe they weren't where they were the first half of the year, which is, I mean, they were, you know, they were very dominant the first half of the year. But they were also finding a lot of different ways to win. And regardless of where the game was, it just felt like they were always going to find a way to win. They could go down to nothing, be completely fine. And so, yeah, I think that adversity that they faced January, February, seasoned them for what will be to come in the playoffs.

And losing Gabe Landisog, I think was a big one because I almost feel like sometimes he's underestimated just how valuable he is, not being there the last three years after that cup win, not being on the ice, not being in the room. It just, I think everybody was so excited that he was back and then all of a sudden, you know, him getting hurt, it really put into perspective what he means having,

what it means having him in the room day in and day out. And it's funny, like after the game three loss against Minnesota, Colorado didn't have their best stuff. And I, you know, like, I, Landy and I are good friends. But, you know, in the room, like I just said, you know, hey, where are we at? And he looks at me. He's like, we'll be fine.

Yeah. And it's like just the way that he operates and the way that he kind of, not only has the temperature of the room, but he's able to talk to each individual guy. the way that they need to be talked to. And then it doesn't have to be, Jared Bednar or the assistant coaches. Like, Landy, he's so good in the room.

And he's just, he's so well respected that I think that, that, you know, just him being around all the time, which is something they haven't had, you know, forget, like he came in in game three of that playoff series last year after being off for three years. Now you've had him all, you know, that entire year minus the injuries. And like for him to be in there,

And even if KAL goes down, even if, you know, there's this bit of adversity. Like, he's that rudder that I really feel like they have been missing over the last few playoff years. And so I just, I always kind of just look at him and just like not even like talk to him. You just kind of get the, you know, the temperature of where everybody's at. And you know that everything's going to be okay because he's in that room. You're watching and listening to John Michael Liles. does a terrific job covering the Colorado Avalanche for Altitude TV. Game one tonight in the Western Conference,

everything gets started on Sports at 8 p.m. So just one last thing on McCar and just where do they where do they have to kind of compensate for his loss tonight? I look at that blue line and I'm like, okay, where does that run without him defensively? How does that change a goaltender like Wedgwood tonight? where is it going to be felt the most for them? Well, I think, you know, when you look at Kail McCar and, you know,

obviously the offensive statistics always seem to leap off the page. But what he's so good at is the ability to read the play. And when he gets on his edges in tight areas, he can escape like a forward. And that's in the D zone. you know, to me, it's like the puck on his stick, you know that he's going to be able to make one move and either break away with his legs or he's going to find the right pass. And so that is, that's where I think the loss has felt the most. Maybe it's not necessarily on the score sheet because, you know, like he runs the power play, obviously really, really good power play quarterback.

But Devon Taves can slide up there. And now all of a sudden it's just a little bit of a different look because you've got a one-timer with Taves. And you've got a one-timer with either McKinnon and Natchez versus where you have those two righties beating McCar. And then he's got to got to go over to Cadbury and they work, you know, a few other plays. I just think Taves can slide in there seamlessly and, you know, look at it. And like, like, Taves has eight points in the playoffs so far through nine games. Like, he's had a really solid playoffs. And like I said, elevated his game.

But like McCar, just what he does all over the ice. and I just point to like the D zone specifically. Maybe it's not throwing a big hit. You know, I'm not saying it's, it's, you know, running guys over. It's his efficiency at breaking the puck out. And he plays, you know, he's played 25 minutes a game in these playoffs. Like that's not, you know, it's not Quinn Hughes at 30. But KL is just so efficient when he's out there.

And he plays all situations. He plays penalty kill. He plays power play. He plays six on five both ways. And, yeah, just the skating and that ability to get the puck out of the zone efficiently because that is something the abs pride themselves on. And then they can get in either on the forecheck or attack you wave after wave on the rush. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

So Vegas Golden Knights seem to be kind of fined in their mojo, you know, since torts, they kind of coming together like the team we thought they might look like. Is there anything in this series that you see as a mismatch in one regard or another or anything about Vegas that really has your attention heading into it? You know, I'm going to go back to, I've had Bruce Cassidy and Boston my last year. And so I got a chance to talk with him last season when Vegas was in town. And, you know, William Carlson had been out, I believe that, last year and was getting close to coming back. And, you know, he said Johnny, he's like, he's really our X factor.

When he's in the lineup, he makes such a difference for us. And, you know, kind of the same thing. Play is all situations. Now you see him he's getting that chemistry with Mitch Marner. To me, that second line for Vegas is something. Like, that's kind of where I'm focused. You know, the McKinnon and Eichol line, like Bednar doesn't chase matchups very often. He's completely comfortable putting the McKinnon line out against the other team's top offensive line.

And the Nelson line did a really good job against the Boldie line in that Minnesota series. Now, Eric Sineck was out. But the Nelson line. And yeah, like, would you like to see Nelson contribute a little more offensively? Sure, you always would, but he did a tremendous job against Boldie, who is one of my favorite players to watch? Now it's, okay, is the Nelson line going to go against the Marner-Carlson-Howden line? And how does that play out?

Is it something similar, where is that Nelson line able to kind of shut that line down? And if so, I think, you know, I think that's a really good thing for the ads, because obviously Vegas, those, those, that their top six is really good. I think they're the deepest team the abs have played so far this postseason and that's just the one matchup, especially game one. That's the one I'm kind of focusing on. As far as the goal-tending situation in Colorado and maybe for the most part, the last four remaining teams, not exactly a Bobrowski making $10 million on any team at all and just Scott Wedgwood so far. And maybe, you know, could he maybe feel it a little bit?

looking up and seeing McCar well yeah I mean listen any any goaltender is going to want you know Kale back there you know moving that puck out of the zone quickly and efficiently

but I don't know I just I think with what the abs have back there when you look at okay Malinsky slides up to McCar's spot so now you have Taves and Malinski and Malinski's not McCar but they do have a I would say a similar game

in the way that they play, the way that they move the puck. Malinsky's game has taken a huge step this year. And he's really elevated. You know, and Kail's missed, you know, he missed some time, you know, down the stretch and Taves missed some time. So Malinski was actually up there playing the left side with Kail at certain points and was able to handle some of those minutes.

And then, you know, Brett Kulak. I mean, he scores the game, you know, the series clincher against Minnesota, breaks up the play at the other end, Caprize off to Boldie. like now like you know you've got brent burns back there you've got josh manson who's back healthy like i just think that the depth is still there for the abs on the back end and so regardless if you're scott wedgwin it's kale or no kale i still think that the way the abs play and the personnel they have up and down their lineup i don't think you're sitting there saying okay this is i'm a little i'm a little worried at this point i think you're you're still pretty confident and

you know, it's, you know, Blackwood stepped in and filled in in game three when the abs didn't have their best stuff, got some reps, and then played game four. I thought had a really solid game in game four. And Jared Bednar said prior to playoffs, like, hey, we're comfortable going two goalies. We did it most of the year. And, you know, he showed that in that series. Blackwood gets the win. And, you know, the abs were able to come back from, you know, three nothing down. And in game five, I don't know that anybody saw that happening.

But I'm not sitting here saying that McKenzie Blackwood. was at fault for any of those three goals. You know, the abs were just, quite frankly, on their heels that entire first period. So I think, you know, the abs are confident whoever's in net, you know, it'll be Wedgwood tonight and, you know, kind of see how the, how the series go. It's going to be a hard fought series. I think this one's going to be a really, really good one. All right.

Well, fade away. One last question from me here. Jared Bednar has been with the Ave since 2016. I wrote an article in coaching the NHL today. the average coaching 10 years between 2.3 and 2.5 years at this point, which is absolutely insane. Bednar been there since 2016, I think second longest. You know, what does it take to hold a job in the NHL?

Like three guys have had jobs for a while. And basically, if you've been hired outside of three years, you're in the top 10. Yeah, it's, I mean, like the joke is you're hired to be fired, right? And Bedsie, I think it just goes to show you the respect that he has from the players in that room. Like Nathan McKinnon is as intense a person at a player as you are ever going to meet. And if there's not a good relationship there, I don't think that, you know, I don't think Betsy's the head coach. And so, you know, he's done a really, really good job, I think, of managing that room.

and gaining the respect of the players. Like, let's not forget. Like, Jared Bednar's first year, he got hired in August when, you know, Patrick Waugh, you know, stepped away or was let go and really had about three or four weeks to prepare for training camp. And that team had a 48 point season, right? Like, so it wasn't like they started off on the best front.

So, yeah, he's been here 10 years. But that first year, like, it was, there was some tough sledding. So I just think that that, listening to Betsy on a daily basis and knowing him and spending, you know, time with him, like there's no, there's no canned answers, right? Like everything he says is very well thought out. It's very well put together. And like the media respects, I think, the way that like, that he talks in the sense of they'll ask a question and he'll give a short answer. But then he usually, I would say about 90% of the time, he elaborates on it and really go

in depth. And I think that the way that he answers those questions is the way that he kind of approaches the daily grind of the NHL. Like it's very in depth without going into like too much where he's just wearing guys down because let's be honest

there's plenty of coaches in the NHL. After three years, they've worn that locker room down and I mean we see it over and over and over again. I just think that Jared Bednar like he's constantly evolving but he also has a very good demeanor and a lot of respect within that room.

Done a terrific job. It'll be fine as long as Nate says so. Right. At the end of the day. Right, John? Hey, I don't know. I just know Nate's very intense and he does not accept anything,

let's call it, other than perfection. Perfittocrity. Mediocrity. He does not. Today. Mediocrity. Exactly. Great job.

Thanks. Really appreciate it. Enjoy. enjoy game one, John, thanks. Thanks, appreciate it. John Michael Isles. Speaking of which, you want to do... Yeah, let's do game time. We'll do game time, and then we're going to get into your article on sportsnet.com.

It's game time. Presented by Bet365, an official partner of the NHL must be 19 plus. Ontario only, please play responsibly. Just looking at a few things heading into the series starting tonight. To win the cup, outright, the Colorado avalanche are the favorites. They are plus 130. Carolina plus 165,

Golden Knights plus 600, and Montreal Canadians are the fourth spot on that, as you would imagine, I guess. Yeah. Plus 650. The finals exact forecast bets are interesting. If you wanted to, for example, if you think Colorado is going to beat Carolina,

it is plus 230. If Carolina is going to beat Colorado, it's plus 300 and all the down the list. Wait. So you have to pick the final game and correctly guess. the winner? You can bet. Plus 2.30 there? Colorado to beat Carolina is plus 2.30.

If you want Carolina to beat Colorado, it's plus 300. So you can go down the list here. Vegas to beat the Montreal Canadians is a great happiness hedge for Toronto Maple Leaf fans, plus 1,600 on that one. And the speaking of happiness hedges, the Konsmite's trophy at this point, Nathan McKinnon, as you would imagine, heavy favorite, plus 175. Frederick Anderson, the next closest, plus 400. plus 400.

Mitch Marner, 12 to 1, Logan Stankovin, 14 to 1, Taylor Hall, 14 to 1, and then it goes down a little bit to Kail McCarr. So on Colorado, they only have McKinnon as a likely consmite guy? I think if they win,

he wins. Yeah, he, right? Yeah, I guess unless he's... As long as he gets back in the lineup. No, McKinnon, not McCarr. Oh, McKinnon, yeah, yeah, yeah. What did you say about McCar? He's 16 to 1.

16 to 1. Yeah, it's too, if he's going to miss multiple games in this series and McKinin's going to be lighten it up. It's going to be McKinnon probably if they win. That was game time presented by Bet365, an official partner of the NHL. Must be 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

And as a reminder, this hour of Real Kipperman Born is brought to you by Bet365. Okay, you had mentioned it earlier. Your article on Sportsnet.coma around coaching, as we know, the Vancouver Canucks now are in full play alongside the lakes of Toronto and L.A. What else am I missing?

Edmonton. Edmonton. That's a big one. That's a big one. We'll dive into your article. Some things that you talked about, including Star Power, right, in your article. All right, plenty more on coaches when we return to Real Kippenborn.

Everything you need to know about the Blue Jays, Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in studio, Nicky, Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee. Are you ready? Is that my cue? Is that me?

Yeah. My time? IQ. Your name. IQ. Low there. Time now for the Accura performance matchup, the 2026 Accura MDX, precisely premium. We've been talking a ton about Vegas and Colorado tonight.

Looking ahead to tomorrow night for the Montreal Canadians and Carolina Hurricanes games. one, boys. The ultimate rest-versed rust scenario for the Carolina Hurricanes, who will have had 11 days off going into this game. I got a dying to play a hockey game. The stat that has made its way from you into all the group chats around the world and then back to me multiple times is the 7-1 when a team comes off a sweep, the team that comes off game 7.

The team that comes off game 7 wins, was they 7-1 since 2000? I don't know what's going to happen. I think Carolina should win, but I am not going to end. It's just set up for just an emotional letdown. For Montreal? For Montreal? Interesting.

I think it's really hard for Carolina, though, to ramp back up. Like, you've got to get your wheels going to get... How do you get back up to that speed? Montreal is just flying right now. They know what it feels like in those moments. And Carolina's been doing down and back. The atmosphere will be...

electric for Carolina. Yeah. We just know in every market, there's something to be said when you're building up towards that drive in the fans, the tailgating, I'm sure they'll see all over the place in Carolina in the parking lots. Like, it won't be that hard to get back jacked up again.

But don't you feel like after, you forget they're still around. Like, if you live in Raleigh, you got to be like, oh, yeah, playoffs are still happening? That's right.

Like, you kind of out of the routine of every other night. here. Either way, it'll be good to get it back. First goals matter. The good news is Carolina has Seth Jarvis's buddies to get them going. This is where it kind of gets fun for players and their families because Seth Jarvis's buddies will be stars and Hockey Night in Canada and Kyle and all the rest of them. They'll find the moms. They'll have the ISO mom.

Every, oh, oh, ah. We'll be national stories. I do. Okay. My thought about the Seth Jarvis thing is we've seen like the the original one was Four Nations, right? But they drove down. Their car will be a star.

But okay. Are they, is Seth Jarvis the only hockey playing guy who has a group of buds? Haven't seen them. They're not storylines. Every single guy in this whole tournament that's left has a group of friends exactly like that guy. Let's just see a new group of guys.

No, no. They're just, they're hard to find. New group of guys. They're hard to find. They are. You know, they are not. Most of these guys.

Every single guy. No, that's not true. Most of them have a wife or a girlfriend and they have friends. Yeah. But those friends also have wives and girlfriends. He's still got the bros. No, the bros are still broling it up for Seth.

Yeah, there's not a girlfriend to be found in Seth Jarvis's group. Not a girl. Not a girl we go with him. They will be. Put in up with that. Putting up with that. So if you have a wife, you don't have buddies?

Is that what you get that in? Oh, come on. Your buddies have stuff going on too. These guys are open schedules. Come on. Beer drinking, pool shooting buddies. Get Kulax buddies down there. Coolies,

Coolies buddies have come down. Coolies, like mid-30s. Coley's dudes. No, man. Just, I want to see a new group of friends. I'm into the Jarvis boys. Seth Jarvis's buds have had their day in the sun. Let someone else's coming down.

It's a new mom star. All right. They're searching right now. Hockey Night Canada. Kyle's like going through his, he's going to find a mom. Anyways, that was the Accura performance matchup, the 2026 Accura MDX, precisely premium. Okay, as mentioned before, sportsnet.com, the curious case of modern coaching why tenures have dropped NHL-wide by Justin Bourne.

A lot of theories out there, but coaches aren't lasting. Very true. Adam Foote, just one year in Vancouver. Yep. I thought they'd keep him. Yeah, I mean, looking at this, and I'm just trying to text with Daryl Sutter last night. You know, I'm doing his book. We're working on some of the final prep for it.

And he was just saying how hard it is for, like a lot of the assistant coaches in particular, have young families. Like, it's a tough gig as much as a lot of us would love that job. And so I was trying to figure out why coaching ten years are getting so short. And it's stuff we've talked about on this show before. The salary cap for years got flattened. and you couldn't make a change. It was one of the buttons you could press.

That was part of it for sure. The power dynamic shifted, though, as well, right? Like, I think we, I don't know who we talked to in the last couple days, but players have the power now. We just had John Michael Liles on who basically said, Benner has McKinn's approval, so he gets to stay. You had mentioned in your article that you didn't think, like, Connor or Leon got knoblock fired,

but they really did. You know, yes. I think if... You just didn't want to print it. I don't want to bury those guys. I don't think you're... I think it's just... They cleared the way for it.

Let me tell you something about... They paved the way. Let me tell you something about Leon. If Leon was in this room, we could say, Leon, you got him fired. He's like, yeah. We just needed a different way.

Yeah, okay. I'll wear it. I'll wear it. I got no problem wearing it. I think it's unfair to put it on those guys because at the end of the day, it's ownership's decision, it's management's decision. decision. They don't have to do it. But those guys who are, they have the power. They have the contracts and the future contract they want to have. So that's changed. I think in some respect.

And it's not even just those guys. I feel like guys lower down the lineup have more power than coaches now too. And it's just a different dynamic. I also think it's just harder to coach these days. There's more individualism. Well, there's a shift right now. And then you talked about it with the power in the room and how much where was that line between older generation and even newer generation and we'll use knoblock as a as an example here he he had a certain mindset on how to get the guys going or get them best prepared and he's like he's a trust the process like i can only imagine how many times he went in the room when the game was on the line

and it'd just be trust the process. And it's like and then you got others. Sometimes you need results, not process. And there's others that just want to go in there and push hard and motivate and let's go guys, chance of a lifetime.

And then you've got the Bruce Cassidy's who will once again find himself in another job. And to John Liles, Michael Liles, his comments, he's got a shelf life. They've all had shelf life because they wear on you. And he is no longer the coach in Vegas because the boys just shut him down.

That's why he's not coaching there anymore. It's not because he became a bad coach. It's because he's hard on the guys. And it just, it's enough. Can I tell you my coaching theory? If you don't wear on guys eventually, you're probably not, pushing hard enough. Like, that is part of the job is to get the most out of players, to ring every last drop

you can out. And you can argue certainly that some, the best, the best, the best, have found a way, like John Cooper seems to have this magical touch. Although I bet if you ask some of those guys, they're pretty tired of hearing it too. But I think, you know, some of these guys who have success, you got to push. It's very seldom that you would go from a Bruce Cassidy to a John Tortorella, but they're in that same window. that they needed the same guy.

They just needed, the players just needed to hear the same type of message just from a new voice. Totally. Right? Just somebody different. Yeah. Just somebody different or someone that doesn't come in

with preconceived notions of what you can do or what you can't do. So that's the one benefit that all us players ever wanted when we are like, he hates me, he hates me. He won't play me. You're fine over there. I was fine.

with Homer Jr. Yeah. Terry Murray, not so much. Yeah. You're a player. You're like, I just need someone

to do a fresh evaluation of me. I'm pretty sure I'm better than the role they've got me playing right now. Did you see, what did you make of the coaches association coming out with the, with the Cassidy's situation? I don't know.

Like, first of all, great. If you're going to have a coaches association, have a face with that coaches association. I don't know where the quote came from. I don't know. is it a committee like if you're going to have a coaches association have a voice and a presence and a guy or or or someone you know someone else doesn't have to be a guy I was like I didn't know

they had this until nobody knows it's like I knew because I was a part of it we're monitoring the situation it's like okay who are you where did that come from who said that who is who is it get somebody hire somebody pay somebody Yeah, you know what? Let's some cage. Get Ken Hitchcock in there to do it or something. That was my final paragraph today was, you know, I believe, and behind the scene, let's get the movement going.

See, these guys can be paid by multiple teams at once, shall we? If NHL owners don't want to, or want to pay a guy not to work, let them and don't take them off the hook. These guys should get paid by multiple places when they get fired. But I think it's kind of like, they're not, it's not like a union. It's not like, I don't know, it's just a certificate. It's insane. I don't know what the coaches.

There's no real power behind this association. This is the start of a movement, baby. But how can you get to the highest possible level of coaching in the sport? Coaching an NHL team and not have what you're talking about? You know, because what's... Think about the writers. The writers didn't get comments out of Vegas and whatever, and everyone together was like, not cool.

Yeah. Big pushback from the writers. They're organized. You know, the coaches, there's not many of them. There's 32. I guess the assistant coaches are probably. Did it count correctly? It is all these agents out there.

You know, you think someone would be like, hey, we need to organize here. I don't know. Okay. I don't know if this is true or not, but this is a name that has been. Sorry, sorry. Owners hated that conversation. Oh, yeah. They just couldn't stand here.

The league doesn't want another union. Oh, my God. You want some of unions. I have I seen Mike Babcock's name coming up here? You sure have. Okay, is that a thing that's been trickling out there? Did Stoff say it? Like, I saw it on Twitter.

Like, I've seen some things. I'm up on Stoffer show. I believe Bruce McCurdy maybe, David Staples, some of those Edenton writers had it, had his name in the mix. I thought we were done with Babs. Is Babs back? How about news?

Dan Bowman got a second chance. Yeah. Not out of the question that Babs could get one. Again, I think we're in this era where it's like we're showing everybody. Like if they could dig up To Blake, they would, you know? I mean, they'll punch him like. They would just show everybody that you're not close-minded. Yeah.

And I don't really believe that he's an option in Edmonton. I could be totally wrong. I have two thoughts on this. One, I saw a dragger tweeting that he texts bad, and Babs is like, drags them retired, loving it or something like that. Yeah, he's. And the other part is he'd be perfect for them right now. Like absolutely perfect.

As a coach. All the other baggage, whatever you think of them, the exact getcha over the hump, galvanize the boys type of guy that I think. But I think that's what they want in Cassidy. Yeah. Is where he's like that version, but not. Tainted. As controversial.

Yeah. Tell you why, he ain't getting five or six million. No. The Toronto Maple Leaf contract. I don't think he's getting any. I don't think he's getting any. to do it, but it is interesting. I was done to even see that as a thing.

So, Mani Mahaltra? Vancouver. It seems like that's happening. Our boy, Dolly Wall, we got to get on here soon because, God. Well, we're due for a dose of Dolly. He said on his show, I forget what the exact word was, basically the Leafs reached out to the Canucks, maybe asking for some permission on Malhotra,

and the Canucks said, uh-uh. And then they picked the phone up and fired Adam Foote. immediately, then called Manny and said, can you come in tomorrow? Brian Johnson, it basically is all but confirmed that they're going to have very serious conversations with the whole trail.

Whatever the case is, he's in for maybe three miserable years. That's okay. You get to be an NHL head coach and grow with a group like Marty St. Louis. But it's still a tough market. It's still a very, very tough market. They just want to see process.

They just want to see process. I think right now, they will be the most forgiving that they'll ever be starting next year where there's an actual direction and they're people like, they've screamed for a rebuild for 100 years and now they're actually doing it, starting with the American League coach that they all love.

According to your mentions, they love the coach. So if they start there, like I think there'll be some frustration, clearly losing your, you want to, but at some point, I think they'll understand and be happy about the direction. I also think they'll do better than 55 points. Will they? 55's so long. Can you do worse?

Will they be the worst team in the league next year? Demko playing 50 games next year? No. No, come on, no. No. No, you're just not going to. You think they're going to be like outright, atrocious next year? Yes.

I think they'll be the worst team in the league again. Like, why wouldn't they be? Yeah. Tough to push back, Pat. Like, it's just they... Particularly when they trade chronic to the Leafs for the first overall... Oh, my God.

And they won't win the lottery next year. No, yeah. They've got the worst luck. Detroit really bad too But yes Canucks How many cracks have Vancouver had a lottery pick? I think it's like five or something

And they've backed up every time Yeah Legit chance Yeah So that's thing You'd be terrible next year You get a 25% chance Is it Landon DuPont?

I mean this kid is Western Conference Good for Lindy Ruff Two years that Who was like At the beginning of the year For those first few games Man he was like

Toast Dejurites by November A punch line. Even when they hired him, we were stunned by that. But we were like, he's got how many days left? It was over. Let me ask you something about Buffalo and Alex Tuck. Did anything in that last round and pointless,

change your mind on anything about potentially signing him? Yeah. A little bit. Was he dash nine? Zero. I don't think that it's like crippling. You know, he had, he led to this. series in shots and had scoring chances.

It hasn't changed that he is the best option out there in free agency. He's getting paid regardless. He's big and fast and he scores 30 goals. Yeah, he's going to do well. But yes, the number I'm offering changes. It has more to do with term than it would. Okay. And I'll give them less term if I can.

That's fine. That would be a negotiation ploy if you're trying, but I don't think it'll work. Anything more than what, five years feels two. much. He's in his 30s already. Yeah. So he's going to get what? 10? 50 million? And I think that's easy to get

for him. Ten million a year. Continue, oh my God. Continuing on the coach conversation, Sheldon Keith remaining in New Jersey. Sonny likes him. I can picture those two. It reminds me of him talking, Lyle's talking about Bednar, like a thoughtful answer every time. Sheldon gives you that. He thinks things through.

I mean, he was the originator of Kippers Clippers. They kind of went downhill this year. Yeah, that's right. Oh, we need them back, baby. David Carle will be great. Our thanks to John Michael Liles as we get set for the Western Conference final game one. Vegas, Golden Knights, Colorado, Avalanche,

it all gets started. 8 p.m. on Sportsnet. Give me a score. 3-2, Colorado. 4-2 Golden News. All right, I'll take the Knights in game one. It'll go six or seven. about McCart early in this series.

All right, boys. We're back tomorrow. Wait.