Real Kyper & Bourne - Brodie Returns! Stories With "Lucky Luc" Robitaille!

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee weigh in on how the Maple Leafs will utilize T.J. Brodie who returns to the roster and Mark Giordano's impressive performances on defence. Leafs Nation's host Gord Stellick joins the conversation (20:16) to discuss how Auston Matthews and most of the Leafs adjusted their game to become two-way players, and why Toronto's season feels different in comparison to years of the past. Hockey Hall of Famer, and President of the L.A. Kings Luc Robitaille stops by to chat about (41:44) ultimately waiting until the 9th round to get drafted in the NHL, his time playing with Justin's dad Bob Bourne on the Kings, and Sean Durzi's contributions to L.A.'s blueline. Afterward, Former NHLer, and part of "Playercast" on Sportsnet's YouTube channel Andrew Peters (1:07:54) jumps on to give his perspective on Tage Thompson's offensive surge against the Blue Jackets, and Johnny Gaudreau's decision to sign with Columbus. 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.

real kipper and born on sportsnet 590 the fan we are live and in color the kiprios justin bourne sportsnet 590 the fan your youtube channel sportsnet now and if you haven't subscribed to our podcast on itunes and Spotify, what the hell is wrong with you? God, we tell you enough. It's a daily thing now. And we're right back at it. Game night.

I like this. I don't like the two, three days off. No, we got this whole month is December, Thursday. Sorry, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Keep her consistent. And we got a terrific show for you in the next two hours gourd stellatricity leaf nation pre and post game former leaf general manager gourd stellick love having him on in about uh 40 plus minutes or so

the president of the los ang Kings, Luke Robitaille. Lucky Luke. You know what I kind of find baffling? And this is just you being young, Sammy. Is that, you know, you're like, Luke Robitaille was not a high draft choice. He wasn't a top pick. Yeah. He was in ninth round. He's one of the best wingers

in nhl history and he's now finding out that he's one of those guys that slipped through the cracks yeah it is baffling though that even if you just looked at raw statistics he's in holly at 190 points the one year you don't have to go to games to know that that guy's good. How many ninth-round picks have not missed a year between junior and the NHL and then scored 45 goals in their first year? Skip from junior and become a 50-goal scorer. People are like, anyone watch this guy before? Great scouting. Lucky Luke, as he's known to a lot of us,

has an amazing story, draft story, that I i'm gonna get him to share with sammy here oh good great on how that whole thing went about how was your day luke robin tie when it came to your nhl draft so make sure you stick around for that one because i absolutely love it it makes me laugh every time i hear it or think about it he was a rookie i believe on my dad's los angeles kings and i remember uh yeah so he was there when dad was there he i remember being a kid in the dressing room and you know playing pranks on luke and all these i these. It's the first time I've talked to him in 30 years. You got to pull up, Sammy, his overall stats because we got to just remind people on what a great goal scorer this guy was

from the moment he joined the LA Kings with your dad. Yeah. It was lights out. Him and Jimmy Carson. His playoff numbers are ridiculous, too. Yeah, he was very, very good. He finished with 1,394 points in 1,431 games. And now he and Rob Blake are leading the charge for the LA Kings.

They go against the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, which will include Brody back in the lineup. Cleared a couple of days ago. I don't know. Did you change a winning lineup? Yes. I am not. Yeah.

I'm not a superstitious guy. Let's put the good players in all right let's go to sheldon key for our first kippers clipper on tj brody's return medically he's been cleared for for a few days here now he was cleared the other night but we're just you know like we've talked about a lot with these injured guys. There's the physical part of it, but then there's also just getting them up to speed and feeling comfortable where they could play in a game. In Brode's case, probably haven't had as much

practice time as he would like or as we would like him to have. That's just the schedule being what it is, but he did get the one the other night, or the other day, I should say, in Dallas with he's feeling he's feeling ready to go but we'll you know kind of ease him back into it and get him back up to speed but you know it's uh gonna be nice to have him back for sure you know what i think is most interesting not just that tj brody's back but how they plan to use him they got him on the left side with Connor Timmons,

which to me means they want Connor Timmons to do well. That's my thought. So you played one exhibition game with the New York Islanders. Yeah. Do you remember your line mates? Do you remember like the scene of that game and how every player measures their success

with the coach playing you with? I went to the lineup board and saw my line mates and it was like Sean Bentavolio who played in the American League. It wasn't guys. It wasn't capital G guys guys it wasn't um capital

g guys uh so it wasn't mike comrie or bill garren or mike sillinger no it was none of those guys that's when you know yeah and i'll never forget my being a part of the philadelphia flyer training camp and walking in one day and then seeing that you're going to play with at the time murray craven and like a Rick Tockett. They're like, oh, they want me to be a player. Oh, my God. Okay. All right.

So how's Timmons feeling today when he walks in this morning and hears that he's going to play with a $5 million D-man? And not just a $5 million D-man. The D-man who makes other D-men better, right? Like he's with Riley and Riley's at his best. He's with Hall and Hall's at his best. He's the guy that makes partners good. And, you know, Sammy and I were talking before we came on today.

There has to be some element of what we talked about where they looked at Timmons and go, he's 6'2", he's a right shot. If he could be good, if he could be good, we could really use him to turn out. I don't know if he can be really good can he's the first god no can he stay healthy okay i think everybody is on the the same page that this guy was once upon a time a high prospect, a guy that could get the job done,

who's played at an elite level, that has raised beyond just your average stick, throw it on the wall and see if it sticks prospect. Right. That this guy had that success, and then he got hurt, and then the concussions really set him back.

Yeah. So are they more convinced that he, he, as long as he's healthy and in the lineup that he will contribute, he will find a way to, to stick out. I think it's possible. I guess the question is,

is there much of a history in the NHL of concussion prone players or a player then sorting it out and going on to a long and fruitful career? You know who came to mind when I was thinking about that? Crosby in the early days after some getting his head dinged a few times, it was like, is this guy going to have issues with this? And he hasn't. I think it's everybody in general who have had prolonged issues. And Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan and Sheldon,

they don't have to go far to say that we also rolled the dice with Kasha. Yep. And when Kasha was in, he was effective. He could skate. He could score an occasional goal here yeah but he was difficult to play against and and but come on like we knew the history and do you remember some show sammy where it was like oh my god like this guy is gonna get hurt again we we did have shows before he got hurt again where we talked about how he skates headlong into dangerous areas so with him it wasn't just like us

that he was susceptible to getting concussions he put himself in really bad spots i don't know i don't know enough about timmons haven't watched him enough to know if that's the case or if he just has yeah you know that's just the way he's wired will be interesting will be uh get another closer look tonight yep to me i would of all the guys that they've mixed in throughout the bottom of the lineup the most tantalizing one by far is timmons to me well he actually is a puzzle piece that fits now can he play well and stay in that's the next question i thought from i guess it would have been harder for him to be as bad as he was in the first few minutes of that game where he literally fell to the ice multiple times but i thought he got a lot better in the second and third and he kind of looked like he was gaining confidence so you gotta also think that the nerves oh yeah toronto maple

you're a kid from here oh fell down in warm-up only played 40 games career in the league yeah and you fell down in the first period. And then you fell down in the second shift. You're like, get me out of this game. But he did get better as it progressed. How far can Morgan Riley be if we're going to

see Brody into the lineup? Let's ask Sheldon Keefe that question. Yeah, he's not skating here yet, but he's in training and working regularly and healing. I think there's been nothing at this point that would say he's off the timeline.

I'm not quite sure exactly where it's at in terms of getting back on skate. So, knock it. Is Morgan at that point where you're like, okay, i want them to do well but not that well without me you know i think there's an element of that it's like okay you know i want the boys to go eight and two when i miss ten not ten and oh i told them to go are we better without him

because certainly that conversation has happened with sam and I were half joking about it, but it was like, we sure they miss him. I mean, of course we are right. Listen, is there right? I would like to miss the seven and a half million defenseman more. Is that fair to say you'd like to miss him a little bit more, but are there parts of his game that every once in a while raises the risk. Going the other way? Just there are times when he gets caught.

There are times when, yeah, he's scrambling to get back. And I think it was out of the necessity to drive offense from the back end. Right. Is there a chance that he could kind of curtail that a little bit and not feel the need to do that like he did earlier on in the season when he comes back? Yeah, you know, the two points I think we'll make here, one is that, as Sammy noted, like every time you get in playoffs,

he's been very good for them. He's been one of their better performers amongst the core guys. The other part is like, I wonder if watching this makes him think I don't have to go as much, you know, the Leafs of old. And when Riley was here, they needed help in every direction.

And he tried to be everything for everyone as he gets older and settles in a little bit. And like, if he just plays good defense, is that enough for seven and a half million that he plays 23 minutes a night defends yeah no it's not no oh yeah it's not it's it's so you still want 40 points it's a conundrum because seven and a half million dollars should buy you more than just being good defense.

Yeah. Yeah, it should. See what I'm saying? Yeah, I do. You can go find a guy at four and a half or five for what you're talking about. TJ Brody. The seven and a half are supposed to drive offense, quarterback a power play, be on the ice in the last minute of bookending periods.

He'll do those things. Will he do them well or better than the other top Ds? I don't know. If there's a chance that Sandin continues to show great strides on a power play, does it make it that much harder of a decision when he comes back for Sheldon to give him that that that first look i don't think sandin has done it yet do you guys that when riley comes back that they would say sorry morgan oh i mean two for four two for five on the power play could convince people it's uh

trending in the right direction tonight the leafs against dallas they didn't score a goal but had legitimately one of the most dynamic power plays i've ever seen in my entire life the one before they gave up a break away at the end the other way though yeah the full two minutes where the boys passing snap and it looked like a five on two it was ridiculous and i listen i don't think the results have been there i think you could probably if you're morgan riley you can probably point to the results and say hey i want to be back up there but i test to me it the puck moves better at the top without him yeah do you guys agree or no i do but i think that tie goes to the results old guy tie goes to the the heavily paid leader guy i think there's just times when i watch morgan try to

force it to austin a little bit too much. And I mean, did the Washington Capitals over the years or Tampa Bay when Stamkos was getting 60, was there a sense that you just got to funnel it down to the guy that's most likely to put it in the net? I thought at times he would force that a little bit too much and take away the threat of getting a puck to the net or looking at other options. You know, I just, sometimes Sandin catches the puck and then he shoots it, and that's really nice. Like, I like having a shot from the point,

and Riley only does it if he's looked at both directions six times and run out of options. So Sandin still has to prove a little something, you know, to steal that job to Wally Pipp but yeah he's uh he's looked pretty good there well if there's one guy that's been able to anchor this thing without brody and uh and morgan riley it's uh geo yeah it's still remarkable for me that uh he's able to put 20 plus minutes i mean it's at times it's times it's a bit of a scramble. He hasn't played less than 20 minutes going back a month. But the IQ of being in the right place at the right time is still there for him.

Yeah. And curious to see, you know, the concern is never now. It's how does that hope play out in April? But right now he looks really good. Why don't we listen to what Sheldon had to say about Giordano? I've talked about this before. He's just an absolute competitor. He's just whatever the team needs,

whatever the coaching staff needs from him, he's going to give you absolutely everything that he has. So I think that's what we've seen, and he's a smart player. He's very strong. He doesn't put himself in bad spots, so he's able to go out and take on those minutes, and then at the same time, I think while our defense, and first of all, we can't talk about Jordano

without talking about Justin Hall, because Justin Hall as well has been outstanding through this stretch. And those guys together have taken on so much, and that's allowed Sandin Lilligren to find their game, and now they've really come on. All of that's come together for us. But the support that all of our defense have received from the forwards has really helped everybody else be better.

That's a comprehensive review of their decor. Basically, Geo's good, so Hall's good, so Sandin and Lilligren can be good because our forwards are good. Everyone's good. What a beast. Yeah. It's a good drop.

It'll... Is this what Leaf fans should expect moving forward are they at that at that point of the season where uh it's as good as it it gets where is it between now and april does it dip a little bit of structure and effort and all the things that are getting you through where goaltending according to sheldon with his sound bites right now he's got maybe six untouchables on the blue line yeah i mean high high praise i do wonder if some of it is like pushing back against narratives like everyone booing justin hall at the start of the season he asked he's asked a question about geo and he's like yeah how do you like them hall apples you know all this guy's done is play 24 minutes a night and kill seven minutes a night for us is this shining up your pieces conspiracy tinfoil hat time and we would why wouldn't you

you're right tell the world how great the more value everyone has this is what this is listen vancouver canuck fans and i know there's a few out there this is the opposite of what you do uh with brock besser right they're like this guy's no good where you turn around you say he's no good but but you'll like him he'll be good for you he's not good for us you gotta try this you know it's not a sales pitch is it and i would i would believe coming off the california road trip earlier on the season you couldn't give justin hall away is it changed yeah i i think that anytime you have a guy who's shown he can play top competition, is tall, is right-handed, makes two million, like there's always value there,

but the value used to be a fourth-round pick or something, and now it might be a... Don't you think he has way more value to the Leafs than probably anybody else? See, that's a good point, too. Like, who are you trading him? How do you replace his minutes? Yeah, like I think you would want to replace him

with a better player, but why wouldn't you? But I think maybe down the lineup a little bit. Klingberg. First rounder. For sure. Done. That's all.

But I'm just saying that. Is Elyse better with an offensive first defenseman? I'll take my chances on taking Klingberg for the playoffs than Justin Hall. You know what it reminds me of? When the Leafs chose, they did what I thought they should do and chose Nick Foligno over someone like Taylor Hall at the deadline. They prioritized some grit, some checking, some whatever. You know, sometimes just having good players is good.

I don't know. I'd do that again. You do that trade 10 times, it works out better every other time than it did with Foligno. Yeah, but he was not healthy. And they should have known felino had been in a dip long before the leafs traded for him so they got there were signs there were signs that he was not healthy and then he disappeared on him on a couple occasions in the regular season and then in the playoffs too yeah that top watch that all or nothing now the guy's in like pure pain like did his best for the team he looks and i'm sure feels better in boston than he has in

probably two or three years well he's the bruins are the best team on a big fight there the other night felino with a heavyweight. He fought somebody. I forget who it was. Yeah, he was punching with somebody big. Oh, I bet they love Foligno and Boston. I don't want to say. Was it McDermott? Like, he was fighting a big. McDermott's hurt right now.

Okay, he was fighting a big guy. Like a heavy. I guess he's back. I'll look it up. We have Bordo. They're 21-3, the Boston Bruins. 21-3-1. They love everyone.

They just beat the Avs who have no one. You know who we love? Yes, I do. Gordon. Yes. Gunner. Gunner. We love Brent Gunning.

Hello, Gord. Hey, guys. How are you guys? We're good. How are you? Well, a lot better than last time. I'm not sitting at Scotiabank Arena this time, and the entertainment goes on in 27 million decibels.

Because they haven't lost since then, or they haven't lost. They've managed consecutive games with points, so something's right. Yeah. A lot of things right. Are you surprised at this recent run, or did we always think that this is a team that could challenge

for a president's trophy, albeit without an electric start out of Boston and New Jersey? Okay, so you know what I like about this recent run? So to answer your question, Kippy, if you would have told me or anybody would have told me at the start of the year that, okay, the Leafs don't have Morgan Riley Jake Muzzin TJ Brody um I I wouldn't think their chances are pretty good about having a winning record like they have the last little while and and here's where I'm using a bit of a comparable to Boston is because you guys are just talking about Boston I found Toronto

is one of these teams that's very quick to say oh my god we don't have Jake Muzzin we lost to Columbus we don't have John Tavares we've lost to Columbus. We don't have John Tavares. We've lost to Montreal. This guy's out of it. We're battling injuries. You got one injury. You're not Colorado. You're not...

And so all of a sudden now, not hearing those kind of excuses, just going out, finding a way to win, like Boston did without Marchand and McAvoy to start the season. And that's the part... And it's hard to get tested this way because you don't lose your best three defensemen very often,

and you throw in guys like Ben in the mix as well, like even more depleted. So I like what this team has done with this kind of adversity because it's not something I remember the last couple years, you know, having and being able to play through. And I think they look to get, you know, it's almost like you want to get battle tested. You play through 82 regular season games and a lot of it's vanilla. And they've never really been a dominant team over the 82 games, you know, and that's,

has that hurt them in the playoffs or not? Don't know. But I think, you know, this is kind of a watershed 10 games about what they did as a team. And to Sheldon Keefe's point about, never mind the defensemen, it's a team concept that the guys as a team have bought into. Let's face it, you've got to get great goaltending they've been getting. And yet the scorers have also continued to score. But they've been playing this great two-way hockey,

and everyone else that always wants that moment is seizing the opportunity with more ice time. You know, Gordon, one of the perks of talking about the leafs constantly or any team for a long time is you say everything and eventually you may have a good idea one of them that's come up on this show is like boy the leafs forwards are pretty good defensively i think sam who was saying you know who's the worst defensive forward on the leafs and to me you don't have to answer that specifically unless you want to gordon but i want to know your thoughts on maturity.

And like, is it that these guys have been through the battles? They've seen what it's like to lose in the postseason and what costs you? Could all this experience, this awfulness be contributing to their success now? I wouldn't doubt it. And you're right. I think, you know, Austin Matthews every year has improved his two-way game. You know, playing center in the NHL at 19, that's a big task. McDavid did it the year before, he did it the next year, and every year has improved.

Mitch Marner is getting a lot of deserved credit about being a great two-way player. You always knew John Tavares, you know, did things on both ends. But I think to your point, Justin, that, yeah, in other years about, and I thought they really did it against Chicago last year when it looked like that they were going in the sewer once again, almost like when Babcock got replaced by Keefe. I mean, they were a loss or two away.

And I liked what this young group did as leaders that kind of stopped the bleeding there, turned it around, and you never looked at, is the season going to be a disaster? But the regular season also, except for that all-Canadian Canadian division year has never been as great as you think it can and I just think every year you know you're you're you're bringing in other leaders like Joe Thornton or somebody else and Wayne Simmons and all you know I I like that this leaders group leadership group seems to have seized the moment about what it takes uh what they have to sacrifice what they have to you know give us a team and and whether they play consciously as individuals or not,

they're doing less of that. And I think, yeah, I think year after year after year that always something lacking at the end, they've really bought into this in this particular case. So you are one to believe that compared to even last year, and there's a lot of there are comparables here they had terrific novembers they had one of the hottest goaltenders in the league jack campbell last year matt murray this year but you are the of the belief that this one feels different this time

yeah absolutely kippy you know i i go back to when jo when Joel Quenville was coaching Chicago and they got that started. Maybe it was Matthews and Marner's second year. I'm not sure, and Tavares had just come or, you know, whatever. And Joel just said, man, this reminds me a lot of my guys many years ago before we won three Stanley Cups in Chicago. And never quite got the same. It was like this great rock tour in October and November. And then never quite the same over a regular season.

Never a complete 82-game package. And I've got that mojo again. I know in the All-Canadian division, the closest was when they won in Edmonton three times with three different goaltenders and almost had three shutouts. They just fell one shutout, one goal goal game they got let one goal against but even then you know because it was probably the weakest division out there it just didn't seem to prepare you better to be able to hold a lead in the playoffs that year and I think I think in this case this is really doing the trick as far as trying to become more playoff prepared as far as this you know as far as seizing what joel quenville talked about all those years ago and i haven't seen enough of

you know it's really tough when things are going well like this to project where the problems will be and make changes to get out ahead of them you almost have to wait and let things play out with you know the goaltending situation right now is a great example matt murray looks like a world beater right now. He looks like a guy who's won Stanley Cups. You know, do you see something in the way he's playing that, I guess, brings you back to his old form? Do you have the belief that this is sustainable? Or, you know, goalies have blips in the NHL.

Where are you on his play so far? Yeah, you know, because, Justin, it's funny. You remember and Kippy remembers well. Like, how many years ago was it? Leafs had that run and they were playing Carolina. It's like in the playoffs, don't bring Matt Sundin back. Everything's fine, okay? Carl Pelash on defense.

Hey, don't tinker with stuff. Nathan Dempsey. This is the future. And so you can get a little bit out there when you take this ride and not break it down. Like, hey, Justin, what if Matt Murray plays ordinary against Dallas? We're not talking about the other things. They're down 2-0. You know, basically that one power play,

Dallas should have scored probably three times. They should have scored a shorthanded goal when the Leafs gave them all the 2-on-1s and the 3-on-1. So in a lot of ways, that changes completely the narrative of that game. So, yeah, if you start getting substandard goaltending, you're in a hell of a problem. Now, what I like, I always use the word, Justin, deportment. I don't know, there's an intangible about looking at a goaltender.

They have different styles, I understand that, but whatever their style may be, I like the presence or deportment, whatever. And that exactly is what Matt Murray is reminding me of, the guy that played so well in Pittsburgh, the guy that killed it in the American Hockey League, this prospect I didn't really know about, but then you couldn't ignore with his stats and Wilkes-Barre all those years ago.

And so that's the part that's been really encouraging. Now, will he remain healthy? We got to hope he does. I think we were skeptical how quickly he got hurt, given that's been what's had his track record the last couple of years. But boy, you know, and again, no excuses. It's not, oh, well, you know, give Matt Murray time.

He's new. He's just coming off injury. He needs two or three games. No, no, no more excuses. When you win, you overcome injuries. You overcome other things. You don't make excuses. We're talking to the star of Leaf Nation pre- and post-game,

Gord Stelic. Why are you laughing? excuses we're talking to the star of leaf nation pre and post game gourd stellick why are you laughing uh well brent gunning too but yeah i can't argue it should be gourd stellick with brent gunning in small letters yeah uh again when we talk about that blue line and the narrative prior to this uh great run was that you need defensemen, maybe three. Have you seen enough to say that maybe it's not as bad as we thought and maybe some tweaking here and there, but no major surgery come trade deadline? Okay, so you look at the Columbus game last night at home, and I remember, I forget how many years,

it was a Saturday afternoon where Chuck Fletcher was the GM of the Minnesota Wild, and they had a Saturday afternoon game against Boston. And it was such an ugly game at home, he fired Mike Yeo after the game. I'm not saying Columbus is going to do that, but I mean, man, you have something like that, and then you're thinking changes in a hurry. And Kippy, that overused expression, stopping the bleeding, like if the Leafs had three or four ugly games with these injuries, then I could see Kyle and his gang, you know,

needing to look to do something they really didn't want to do to, I'm not saying like trade, you know, first round pick or trade, you know, Mitch Martin or Austin Matthews. I just mean like, you know, go after a kind of trade that they really weren't entertaining. And, you know, not an Igor, not an Ilya Labushkin trade, like, bigger than that. And the fact they've stayed the course now, and TJ Brody expected back, and, you know, I mean, the other two are down the road.

I mean, that's a huge, huge plus. And seeing how Giordano, the veterans, come up, and Sandin and Lilligren, the kids have come up. So that has totally taken away that pressure. I mean, body-wise, you know, Connor Timmons, that was a tough game to play in. He had his good moments. He had his other moments where you could see where he was rusty. But, you know, those are the kind of some –

it seems like if you just have some NHL-type bodies that can get you through, that can stay the court. I like Klingberg. I heard you talking earlier. I mean, that's a guy I like regardless. You know, expiring contract, Anaheim's going to be a seller. I mean, that's the kind of guy that I could see a team

that the Leafs should be interested in, and a few teams will. But they have done Kyle Dubas a huge favor the last 10 days. Instead of us talking, oh, he's got to do something now. I mean, you know, Morgan Rothery's gone for a few weeks. Jake Muzzin may not come back. That stuff, that's on the back burner now. When you're talking about bigger trades, you know, Morgan Rothery's gone for a few weeks. Jake Muzzin may not come back. That stuff, that's on the back burner now.

When you're talking about bigger trades, you know, the Leafs only have so many chips. And we kind of mulling this one around over the course of the season. How's Nick Robertson going? Does he have value outside of Toronto? Kipper, you wrote about him today. Yeah, I got an article on him in the Toronto Star today. And just the challenges, Gord, of a guy like that trying to make it as a regular. So Toronto Star, so like you and Damien Cox, like you guys go,

like have a wine and cheese party and you have like a blazer with patches on the shoulders and a mask on and you sift your brandy and you smoke a pipe. Do I have the right picture, Kipper? When I left sports, a lot of people lost my number. I do believe he was one of them. Well, I'll broker a peace accord with you and Damien, okay? I'll look at that.

You guys, maybe the Toronto Star Christmas Party, you guys can do it. So what? Sorry, your article, you're you guys can do it. But so what? Sorry, your article, you're saying he should be used for trade or what? No, no, no. It's just, it's really a reflective piece because I can actually kind of relate coming out of junior once upon a time, scored 60 goals. I thought my hands would follow me to the pro level. It didn't.

How does a guy like that buy himself time until his hands do catch up? What are the challenges, including perhaps winning a coach over? And I'm not sure where Sheldon is when he wants to look at where his value is as a player for him personally and where Kyle may have him. A lot of different challenges. Did you ever have a scenario when you were with the Leafs? The name Merwa, Daniel Merwa, who is a real nice scorer. Is that a fair comparable to a guy coming out of junior? Yeah, you know, and Merwa scored well.

He came out of junior, played a little bit at Newmarket, a little bit with the Leafs at the know, at the end of a season. And pretty well from the word go. I remember he was on a line with Vinny D'Amfousse and Dave Reed, you know, did it. And unfortunately, back injuries are what kind of knocked him out of it. You know, there's other guys like Steve Ludzik and Guy Carboneau that had phenomenal numbers. Now, they had to learn to play a bit of a different game

because there was, you know, Denis Savard in Chicago and Montreal had everybody in the world. So I'm trying to think of a good comp because you actually are a good comp, Kippy, because I watched you play junior and then in the pros. But the one thing, I don't think Nick Robertson, he doesn't have to find a different game to be on a checking line. And, yeah, and different guys that, you know took uh a little bit of time i mean probably you know probably vinnie dom foos now they talk about again i'm going back a long time and one thing about him he was playing center we moved him to the wing and that was the spot for him and he and he had a real good nhl career there but i i i just find that there's

guys there's certain guys that when you score goals and i think more so so nowadays, Kip, because it's more wide open out there, that if you've got an ability to score goals and if you work at it and other things, generally you find that again. You find a way to do it, by and large, in the NHL. And in Nick Robertson's case, like you threw out about got to get a coach that embraces you. And I don't know what Sheldon Keefe's doghouse is quite like. I know Pierre Engvall is a guy he's been a little bit hard on.

There's nothing wrong with that. I know Willie Nylander was in Babcox all the time, and he really couldn't care less, whatever. You know, he handles it well. But it does seem like Nick Robertson, whatever those things are that Sheldon Keefe alluded to, you know, that he's liked Holmberg and other guys better than Nick Robertson. But I just, like I said, I know some of those flashes in the pan.

And back then, the physicality of the game quite often ran some guys out that all of a sudden they scored goals, and when it got real physical, they really couldn't do it. But, yeah, as far as a Leaf comparable, I'll have to get back to you on that one, okay? And I'll throw this out to both you guys. Can I have your number, too? I'll give it to Damien, so'll have to get back to you on that one, okay? And I'll throw this out to both you guys. Can I have your number, too? I'll give it to Damien, so I'll get right back to you, okay?

Thank God you didn't lose my number. That's all I can say. I'll throw this out to both of you guys. How important is it between now and the end of the year that just somebody, if it's not going to be Robertson,on and bunting's got a nice little i think streak going of a point of game for the for the last i think two weeks two and a half weeks but does does somebody have to step up that isn't one of your 40 million dollar four forwards here to to just alleviate some of that pressure that it seems to be constantly on a McDavid and a dry

side. You know, can I have a night off when I don't have to score two or three points or play 23 minutes of heavy hockey? Yeah, the plan was not for Pierre Engvall to score twice or Alex Kerfoot to score twice or Nick Robertson to score twice in one game and then never again. Like, you're right. There is a massive wait for someone else to show up i mean the least have had success when their top guys have been good but you gotta think it's coming at some point gordon you like anyone in the bottom six you see any signs of life down there okay yeah we need our nick paul guy like we need a nick paul to get a key goal like and again i go back to gary volk all those years ago like we need a key goal from one of those guys

and to answer your question, Justin, that's something even before this recent streak started, I've liked. Because the first dozen games going, what is with this Cali Yarncroke guy? Who the hell are these guys? What's with Mulligan? Like, why'd they bring him back?

Why the fuss? And then I've seen a lot of them, you know, start kind of to feel their oats, find their way a bit. Because, you know, you got to pick up from McKay. I was lost last year. You got, I mean, you know, start kind of to feel their oats, find their way a bit because, you know, you got to pick up from Mikheyev's loss last year. You got, I mean, you know, those guys, and boy, oh boy, you know, Kerfoot, particularly at the money he makes, like it's been too long. And that was only a second goal in the empty net. I just, you know, you kind of look at it and say, no, no,

we got to get more than he's delivered the last couple of years because that's, you know, rather than getting that second penalty to put your two men down in that critical sequence. And I'm not, I mean, I'm not knocking his over exuberance, but I guess I am. And the pass back to the defenseman that wasn't there. Like, we needed that timely goal from him. It's not like he's not trying, I get it.

But you need it from some of those. And that's the part, some of those other guys, I've really, the supporting cast, the last, whatever, 15 games or so, have found their way. Because I was completely unimpressed early on and said, oh my God, the Leafs are even going to be more of a two-line, maybe one-and-a-half-line team again come the playoffs. This is the way it's going to go. Does Kerfoot's empty netter the other night count as getting the monkey off your back? I love that we're just not counting that goal.

I'm just sure if you used it. You know, maybe connecting should have shoved him right after're just not counting that goal. I just refuse to. You know, maybe connecting should have shoved him right after like he did with Ovi. I don't know. What do you think? You know, I always love that the Leafs last Stanley Cup, the empty net goal is the resonating thing. And Jim Papin always is pissed off, said,

George Armstrong gets all that credit. I scored the game-winning goal with the goalie in the net, right? And it's the empty net goal. And two great guys we've lost in the last couple of years. So I don't know what an empty net goal means or not. I mean, if it helps him, great. You got to get more of that. You got to get more offense out of him.

What a skilled skater. But, you know, he's got to provide more offense. Hey, Gord, have a great call tonight. Really always appreciate you on this show, man. Yeah, just looking for you. I'm going to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond for you guys. I got some good gifts for you guys, okay? Thanks, Gordo.

You too, buddy. See you, guys. I'm looking forward to it. He's going to the Beyond section. Who knows what he's picking up for us. I'm getting a candle for sure. Are we having a gift exchange? Are we? Should we?

I don't know. You're the producer. I guess, what's our last show, the 21st? I think instead of a price limit, we do a percentage of salary, so Kip has to get us something nice. It's like the offensive linemen that buy Tom Brady a car. Brady buys them a car Is that what you meant? Yeah I screwed it up

We got the idea He's got a contract For TV That's comparable to Oh Brady Comparable to yours? No to Judd's For TV he's playing and he has a TV contract Waiting for him Oh, Brady. Comparable to yours? No, to Judd's. Judd's, yeah, it's close.

For TV, he's playing and he has a TV contract. Yes, waiting for him. 300 mil from Fox. That's like the same as Aaron Judge's playing. I can't think of someone I want to listen to less, by the way. Every time Brady talks, I'm like, I'm good. I know what this guy's going to sell. He had a nice little comeback on Monday.

He's a good thrower of a ball. Does that mean the linemen get a week off from him yelling at them here's what's gonna happen boys this is a bold nfl there's no chance he ends up being analyst for 10 years everyone's been down on them and saying how bad they are and all brady's done brady's done they're gonna play probably the cowboys the first round of the playoffs they're gonna beat them they're gonna beat the next team and they're gonna go to the super bowl i think so tom brady nfc stinks is brady gonna sell me water i can drink to prevent concussions because he doesn't make enough money team stink enough for brady can't save them bum they kind of stink don't get me

wrong but like they've got enough guys and at the end of the day he's tom brady you know he's been in that situation more than anyone else like to me cold as ice to me like everyone's writing them off and i won't do it because i feel like they're gonna maybe not win the super bowl there's too many good afc teams but i gotta feel when they're going all right there you go there's an nfl prediction for you and besides the uh the leafs tonight uh there's an nfl game thursday night you're gonna play uh my new app i am but god it's a bad game kip rams and raiders yeah they both stink baker mayfield maybe for the rams tonight so but i'll be playing all right we're gonna take a quick break here as promised uh luke robitaille one

of the most uh gifted scorers in nhl history will join us including i hope will be a a story of his draft day for for sammy love it after the break we're right back real kipper and born this is real kipper and born on sportsnet 590 the van all right i promised one of my favorite people not because he was this great goal scork he just made me laugh okay that's all i know i got a chance to spend some time with him as a new york ranger and now he is just completely running the show for the los angeles kings as a president and i'm here with sammy and jb life is not fair. Let's welcome in Luke Robitaille. Lucky, how are you? Wait a minute. What do you mean life is not

fair? Well, you're in California and I'm looking at gray skies. I live with that. Hold on. Let me look outside. Yeah. There's not one cloud.

No, the ocean. You got the ocean there too, don't you? It rained last week and we celebrated it. Oh. Hey, I work with younger guys here and they don't understand how a guy can come within a whisker of 1,400 points, was the top-scoring left winger in history, I guess, until Ovi took over here. But how – Sammy McKee, my producer, goes, is this a typo?

He's the ninth-round draft choice of the LA Kings. Did he have scouts in H Kings. Is that a typo? It's not a typo. I was there. I waited from one o'clock till 7. PM to hear my name at the Montreal forum. I, I listen,

I told them it's one of the best stories ever. And this is like you. Now you weren't, you didn't think you were going to be a high pick but you didn't also think you were going to go in the ninth round can you just go into a little bit of detail on on on what your day was like including what they uh gave you after you you went to the uh the draft table, I'll make it quick because I know your time is very valuable. No, and yours, apparently. No, but, yeah, so, you know, I knew I was in rank. We had a really bad team my first year in junior,

so I don't think a lot of scouts came to see our team. And that was Mario's year. That was his draft year. And so everybody was, you know, always seeing Mario Lemieux and Laval. And I think he played his home games on Monday night. And, you know, we were one of those teams that was never viewed. And so I had kind of read my name in the paper a couple of times, but I didn't know. And I do remember in the morning I asked my dad, I go,

I don't think I should wear a suit and tie. I go, well, what if I don't get drafted or something? So I wore the nicest khaki pants that I had and a golf shirt. And then we didn't – you, I can't remember, we didn't have tickets to get in the form in those days, but the top, all the high-ranked picks would sit in the red and the fans could sit in the whites and the blues. So my dad and I, we sat in the whites at the old Montreal form.

And then, you know, the draft kept going, and a couple of my teammates, they were ranked higher. Their name wasn't coming up, so we would talk. And this is the year where Mario said, if I don't have a contract, I'm not going to show up on the podium. And I think for some reason it seemed like Pittsburgh was surprised that he didn't go. So there was like a delay there

and it seems to be forever and then after that there were a couple other delays and then there was like a meal in between and i i recall hearing my name i think it was around six seven o'clock because everything was in one day and um the funniest thing is rogie vachon went went at number eight and he said luke but he said it in French you know because he speaks French which it sounds Luke and then he stopped and a scout ran at him and and he changed the name and the guy's name was a guy that played in midget triple his name was Shannon Deegan so they drafted him so then the next round he drafted they must someone must have said don't worry no one's to pick him between eight and nine.

So anyway, I ran downstairs and the policeman wouldn't let me on the floor, but Pierre Lacroix recognized me and he said, no, no, it's okay, the kid just got drafted. They thought you were a fan. Yeah, he thought I was a fan. And Pierre Lacroix said, congratulations, Luke. So I went to

the King's table and no one was there. There must have been a break, another break or something. There was one guy there. His name was John Wolfe. And he says, who are you? I said, well, I'm Luke Robitaille. And he goes, yeah. And I go, you just drafted me.

He goes, oh, yeah, yeah. And he goes, congratulations. And he's looking. And on every, he looks under the table there was a box that was empty he goes i don't have any hats or anything for you but he then he says um but he go here and he had a pin on his jacket and he gave me the pin and i found it when my when my dad passed away i found the pins i put in my office as a reminder you know funny enough but but the funny the one more quick thing is he said, do you have an agent?

And I'm like, no, I don't have an agent. I mean, not even one agent ever talked to me. So he said, okay, he says, here's a piece of paper. He goes, why don't you write your name, your address and phone number and everything. We'll get to you about camp information. But I didn't really speak well English. So I kept answering yes, yes, yes. So I wrote down my address.

And I remember I went through the whole month of July, never got anything. I told my dad, I think I gave him the wrong address. Like I was convinced. Finally, the invite came, but that was my story to drop. It's great memories. Anything like that happened to any of your prospects uh presently anymore is there any chance that a story like that could ever happen again no like everybody's so it's so different andy it's organized now the

whole world is different i don't think that could ever happen again i mean i just like what you know i genuinely am curious how you can have 190 points or whatever it was maybe your draft year is 150 did they not go to games they not have video what happened here no my my my draft year i had like 85 points like i left our team in score but like i said we had a really bad. So then the next year I got like 150, something like that. Then 190 my third year. But by that time I was drafted. Right.

Okay. So you go to the Los Angeles Kings in 86, 87. This is Justin Bourne. My dad was Bob Bourne, who was on that team while you were there. And one of my first memories on earth, and this is no joke, is them having me put baby powder in the blow dryer when you were coming out of the shower so they could, you know, turn on after a fresh shower, blow dryer full of baby powder in the hair. I mean, what was it like at that point being a rookie in the league, you know, going into, you know, a place like Los Angeles and all that after coming off a big year?

Was it easy for you? Was there a lot of hazing? Well, I was lucky my first year. So what happened is they were definitely hazing. But when we started the year, it was Steve Deschain, myself, and Jimmy Carson. And Steve Deschain had gotten, I mean, Kippy, you remember hearing the stories, like this is even before us a little bit where guys would get shaved

and it was uncomfortable, you know. And so I remember we're playing and when we started the year, Jimmy and I, we were the leading scorer of the team. So Marcel Dion had said, let's leave the kids alone, you know, just because, you know, just because, you know, we're trying to win games. But at some point we got to Winnipeg and in those days we used to go to Winnipeg and we would play Friday and Sunday in Winnipeg. And the Saturday was in between. And I remember we're shooting, we were practicing on Saturday. We won Friday. And next thing you know, there was no one on the ice.

So Steve Deschamps, except for Jimmy Carson, myself, and Steve still shooting pucks. Steve Deschamps comes to me because he had played in the minor league before. He goes, I know it. I know it. This is the day they're going to initiate us. I'm like, really?

He goes to me, he goes, I'd rather be first than last. And he sprints off the ice. I'm like, I see him sprinting off. And I look at the other end, Jimmy, Jimmy shooting puck. And I think to myself, well, I'd rather be second than last. So I sprinted. I was a poor skater, but I sprinted as fast as I could and I went up and and the guys that decided in the room they were only going to touch one rookie and it was going to be the last one off the ice luckily for me and unlucky and then what happened is they kind of did a bunch of you know things to Jimmy and and and then Jimmy went on a 10 game scoring slump so then like maybe like two weeks later the guys were talking.

We got to do something for the other two guys. But I think our coach was Mike Murphy at the time, and Murph came in the room. He goes, no one's touching the rookies because Jimmy had gotten in a slump and he was leading our team in scoring. So we got saved for a while, okay? And then just went like later around. Sorry, it wasn't Mike Murphy.

It was Pat Quinn. Because later in the year when they were starting to talk again, hey, listen, we got to do something for those two rookies. We didn't do anything. Just as they were talking, that's when Pat Quinn left and Mike Murphy ended up being our coach. We got saved by different events during the year. And then at the end of the year, Jay Wells, I think, Pat Quinn left and Mike Murphy ended up being our coach. We got saved by different events during the year, and then at the end of the year,

Jay Wells, I think, came to me and said, you guys didn't get anything. You got to buy a radio. And I was happy as fire. Yeah, no problem. A big boom box. Way to go, Wellesley.

Oh my gosh. Do we have to talk about current players now? I love your stories. Yeah, we do. Okay, we do. Okay, who's the next Luke Robitaille in your organization here? Oh,

they're all better than me. You know, we got a lot of kids coming up, and we're probably in a different situation than sometimes other teams. We have so many good prospects, and we're working, but our ownership group and our plan as an organization is we've been allowed to be patient with them, and that's the hardest thing to do.

But, like, even, you know, the kid, know the kid calief was a great goal scorer like you know we're still not playing like he's finally playing like uh some top minutes but it's only been a couple games you know before that he's been on the fourth line and he's producing on the power play and so forth but we're being patient we've been patient with gabe vel. We have this other kid, Sammy Fagamo, that is a really good goal scorer. He led the World Juniors in scoring, I think it was two or three years ago. You know, and then we're still, you know, being patient with Quinton Byfield and Alex Turcotte and, you know, Tyler Madden. I mean, you know, it goes on for us, and we're kind of fortunate that we have this

opportunity right now to do that but we have a lot of good young kids that are going to be really good impact players in the nhl i'm going to share some quotes that are going to make sam mckier producer upset who loves this guy sean dersey says he has more than 200 people coming to the game tonight he says a very expensive game for him. A lot of people excited to see him. It's an expensive night. Pumped to be here in Toronto, where he's from. Tell us about Dersi and how he's been for the Los Angeles Kings. The first thing is, if he paid for 200 tickets,

I'm going to have a fuck with the kids. You can't do that. No. You think Jimmy Carson went into a slump yeah exactly he's uh he's been really good for us sean has been an impact player i mean his vision and the way he sees the he sees the ice uh you know he's running one of our power play units and they've been really, really good. And what we like the most about him is the emotion that he brings into a game.

Like he's, you know, you see guys getting mad at him. He gets involved after the whistle, and he plays to win. So he's been a very, very special player, and we're very fortunate to have him. He came up last year and saved us when drew was hurt and he's never looked back ever since and even this year we were playing on the left side that's not his normal place and he and the kids figuring it out and he's been really good for us we're talking a hall of famer luke robitaille and president of the la kings you might be the perfect guy for me to ask you this question uh lucky and that is when we watch some superstars now take all the two minutes on a power play and

i think you know when i watch your team i still get a little bit of a sense that there's two units uh that you guys have and do you recall in your days over the years, you're scoring 600 plus goals, that that was the case back then? Or are you a believer that you do need two units to go out there and just for no other reason alone to keep the competitive juices? Or is this the way it's going right now where these stars are going to take whatever they need to get their cookies yeah i i mean i think every situation's different i mean you got some teams like look if you got an ovechkin on your team and and the way i'm not going to say he just stands there

and shoot but like you know the way positions himself and so forth if i'm a coach or if i'm management yeah i want him out there because he's the most dangerous player in the league. You know, and if Austin Matthews stays a little bit longer because he's, you know, he's such a great goal scorer. And the same goes with McDavid and Dreisaitl. They're very, very special players. Now, that being said, does that mean it's pretty rare if you do that all the time that you're going to be able to win all the way to the end? You know what I mean? Because you've

got to have a certain type of discipline as a team. Now, it does. I think some of those guys, like, you know, we played in the playoffs against Edmonton last year, and we couldn't wait for the coach to get McDavid off the ice to put the second unit. Oh, thank God we could breathe a little bit. So strategically, he was keeping him on, and I thought that was really smart. Can you do that the whole year? I don't think so.

I remember watching Sidney, you know, and he's still at his prime, which is amazing. But Sidney was the one guy, after a minute, he would get off the ice. And when you get near the end of the year, you're more of a team than other teams, and that does make a difference. But that being said, there's a few very special players in our league that we're fortunate to see that yeah i think a lot of times especially you're down a goal now if you're up five two it

should be one minute no questions asked you should have two units all the time you know like you've seen it compete i mean like uh when when when the rangers needed a big goal if mess stayed uh longer no one said anything because we knew mess was going to make, be the difference maker. But that being said, like, you know, in the first period and in the mid January,

yeah, the guy should get up. You should add two units at all times. Luke in the salary cap era, one of the only ways to really turn your franchise around is to kind of struggle for a little while and get some draft picks. The problem is a lot of teams have failed to draft well turn things around and you know look at the sabers they've been kind of scuffling for years now how has your organization been able to turn it around in fairly short order and get back to being a playoff team and competitive

so quickly well i i think you you have to set a plan, and the first person that needs to be on board is obviously your owner, and then you've got to stick to it. And the hardest thing is to stick to it because, you know, people, you know, you get pressure and, like, you know, people talk. And social media, like I joke with people, social media is your kitchen. You know, like if you think when Kippy was a player, I joke with people, social media is your kitchen. If you think when Kipy was a player, which was a long, long, long, long, long, long, a lot of longs, eh?

Someone would say that Kiprios, you come after the game in your kitchen, you say, Kiprios, what an idiot. He didn't dump it in there, and he made a mistake in his own zone. Today, the kitchen is social media. You know, you just write it up and you don't realize that it influences hundreds or thousands of people. You know, so that's the one thing you can't let that influence you when you have a goal or plan as an organization. And it's really hard. It's really hard to live it day in and day out because it's very easy to question any decisions that's made.

And I think what we've done for us is we're all part of the same plan, and we always remind each other, even though when things are up and down, that we've got to go back to what we set out to do. And at the same time, I give credit to Rob Blake and his crew. Like, they strategically, you know, were looking for a guy to help us on the second line or first line. And they got Arvidsson early on because it made sense that we were playing and they did know.

And these guys have really made a big difference maker. And at the same time, they're teaching our young guys the way to play. Hey, can you be a guest on our show every week? So you don't do any work? Yes. Actually, you come here and I'll go out to California for a week. I could use a break. Lucky.

Deal. So appreciate your time and your storytelling and reminiscing a little bit. Thanks for doing this and wish you the best of luck in your team. Thank you, guys. Great talking to you. Appreciate it, Luke. Lucky Luke Robitaille.

Hall of Famer. Stanley Cup champion, president all around. Good, funny guy. That's the best a president of an nhl team will ever be on any show 100 agree i'm dying back hey i didn't oversell that draft story didn't i it's amazing we're talking about one of the best players in the history of the game yeah legitimately a all-time guy and he they thought he was a fan. And they thought, you can't come on the floor. No, no, no, I got drafted.

No, no, it was my name. Here's a pin I'm wearing. Listen, we're out of jerseys, hats. And, you know, you just think about the era difference of where you give someone your address, and if a letter is off in the address, you're going to miss training camp. Like, oh, man, that was awesome.

I just, I love, he was talking about his junior team being really good the the last year that he was there the 54 and 18 who the head coach was no of the hall olympic imagine if i did pat burns no way yeah oh yeah yeah 85 86 he was the head coach and uh the leading scorer on that team was not Luke Robitaille. It was a man named Guy Rillieu, or Rolieu. 91 goals and 100 assists that year. And didn't play in the league? Wasn't drafted, didn't play in the league. 91 goals.

91 touchdowns. I know we got to go to break soon here, but my piece in the Toronto Star today is on Nick Robertson. And I have played with guys that scored 60 plus goals that again it's just it's not a given like a lot of like okay none of them ended up you know i mentioned three or four uh that never became household names in the nhl at 60 goal scorers in the ohl and they were scoring stars. And it's just not a given that a guy like Nick Robertson can score 55, I think, in Peterborough and expect that it's just going to be there

for him right away. Sometimes you have to wait for it, and sometimes, lo and behold, it never comes at all. You know what decision looks really bad in retrospect? Is him not going back to the U.S. during the pandemic to go play in the World Juniors. Like to go be the guy for UA's American, you know, to go play for them.

And he stayed here because he wanted to play in the NHL. That was his goal. He trained with everyone. Okay, but is that all on Nick? No, it's not. Is it on the Leafs? Good point by you. They should be like, go be the guy. it on the Leafs? Good point by you. Where were the Leafs on that?

And how hard did they encourage it or push it one way or the other? Good question. Yeah, I don't know. I just feel like I don't know where you where do you guys fall on guys leaving their NHL teams to go back to the World Juniors, even if they're established NHLers? Well, we've got news that

officially that seattle is uh loaned chain right to the world juniors and i know for a fact that uh they made it clear to them that we want him at the very start we're putting a team together we we don't need him coming in at the last second here and upsetting the chemistry. I would tell them, listen, Canada, we'll tell you when you get Shane right, okay? Well, listen, I don't think it was written in stone. I think they'd still take him a week from now or two weeks from now. They just wanted him.

They just wanted. It wasn't a demand. I don't know if it was a demand. I don't blame them for saying that. We want to build camaraderie. We want them to camaraderie. We want them to get to know each other. There's early bonding situations.

We want him here at the beginning. So we knew that Shane Wright was going to go play the game in Montreal because that meant a lot to him. And then after that, he was going to go and join the World Juniors. Awesome. I really think this is is great chance for him to be exposed to the nhl be exposed to the american league go be the guy at the world juniors like this is actually a really good front half of development for a guy like him i think do you think they look at it like as a demotion at all like going down the player like being like okay

like how many is this his third world junior yeah uh he's like not a lot of guys playing three you know like he's watching some other peers hockey he gets to go play hockey no no there's a letdown for sure for sure there's a letdown you you you're you think you've spent your whole life of this yeah he wants to be in the nhl he wants to be a star and it's coming you hope it's coming it's it's probably uh uh a real good test for his character building here like nobody wants to be on three or four teams when it's all said and done in one year no you don't so this will be his third team if he gets sent back to junior his rights will be traded from kingston to a contending team that's that's four teams yeah so but i think he can't control seattle's uh

lack of commitment to a roster spot and i know it's not comparable player wise but i can't help but think of mason marchman when he was with the marlies and how they kept him they said the best thing for this guy isn't to play games yet. He needs to work on his body. He needs to go to the ECHL. They worked on his development, and for Shane Wright, I think the best thing is not for him to just toil in the NHL playing six minutes banging his head against the wall.

So, yeah, it's not ideal, but he's not ready to play in the league as is. He needs to get better, so this is good for him. All right, we're going to take a quick break, after uh we'll come back with andrew peters former nhler uh currently on player cast on sportsnet's youtube channel and i want to say this i watched you guys last night you had calgary uh on my station yep i'm watching up until I start hearing Tate Thompson news. Uh, David Amber goes, Oh,

he, he scored five goals. He's going to break the record. The most DA take right away. Dave Amber. Oh no, no. He's going to break the record.

And, and then people are starting to, uh, hashtag Sittler watch because everybody thinks he's going to break uh daryl siddler's 10 point record in a game so i switch over i see no goals and maybe the worst hockey i've seen all season long between buffalo and columbus for 20 minutes in that third period where he didn't get a sniff. And then they shut him down the last five minutes. That's a tough match to watch.

You caught a bad piece of an otherwise bad game. So after the break, we're going to talk to Andrew Peters about that tremendous 40 minutes that we saw last night in Columbus. Right on. But Tage is holding up the real Kipper and Bourne's nickname of Tage Lemieux.

Oh yeah. More on that after the break, you're watching and listening to real Kipper and Bourne. This is real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590. The van. Nick Caprio's Justin Bourne back. Sammy's working on Andrew Peters, and we're just going to bring in Petey just to give us a little feel for Tatepson's new life yeah and it okay one of those kind of guys that had a good year last year but it's buffalo and he's never really done it before then we hear of a massive contract where

kevin adams general manager buffalo is hedging on the fact that his 35-goal season last year was something that he's going to see for the next 8, 10 years. And here's 50-plus million. Now, I mean, within a quarter of a season, it looks like one of the best contracts in the NHL. The guy's 24 years old. He's had 21 goals in 26 games. 6'6", 220. it's interesting too i think you know sports net gets all the stars together at the beginning of the year and i think there was a clip of austin matthews talking about uh who could be a next great player who

should we look out for and he goes to h thompson yeah and that was pre-season uh nailed it but austin would have had probably a better more accurate look seeing how as miserable as boss buffalo season was last year they they kicked toronto's ass like he saw the best out of buffalo and probably tage thompson last year because the leafs had trouble with the buffalo sabers thompson's making 1.4 this year by the way but you're right he kicks into what next year next year he starts making 7.1 about 7.142 um pretty decent so yeah the uh sorry do we have Petey? We have Petey. Alright. Andrew Peters

joins us now, part of the brand new player cast on Sportsnet's YouTube channel. Petey, how are you, pal? Guys, it's great to be on with you today. How's it going? Well, we're good. You know, we've had a lot of Tage Thompson love a lot

earlier than his five goals last night. The Tate show. Where is this heading for a guy like this? And how high is his ceiling here? Petey? Well, were you going to say something, Barney? No, no. Just wanted to follow up with Kippy on the ceiling there.

Well, here's the thing right so before he signed his contract craig and i talked about this all the time on our podcast and i was i was so against signing tage thompson when they did for the money they did and it has nothing to do with tage thompson it has nothing to do with uh whether or not i thought he was capable of repeating what he did last year i just was thinking what if what if that was a flash in the pan what if it was a fluke and now you've got this guy locked in at seven something and maybe he produces at a four million dollar rate well now you, now you've got an issue on your hands. But what he's done this season, oh, my God. I don't know what his ceiling is.

I mean, he's on paper, what, 120 points right now? I mean, can he sustain that? He hasn't slowed down since he started. But I'm wondering now if he's a 50-goal guy and a 110, 115-point guy. But he might be one of the most dominant players right now in the NHL. So I can absolutely say with certainty that I was 100% wrong when I was thinking, you know, don't sign him to that deal. But again, you know, it's always a risk.

But, I mean, he is going to outperform that deal. But again, you know, it's, it's always a risk, but I mean, he's, he is going to outperform that contract and how much money they believe. I think he should fire his agent, to be honest. So true. All of a sudden is like his agent looked like a guy that created a highway robbery and now he should be fired he goes from the greatest age in the world to being the worst the worst evaluate evaluator of talent to maybe ever go down in the history of the game because think of this if he gets 120 if he gets 105 points if he gets 100 points that's a 10 million dollar player it leaked yes

right yeah so he's leaving 3 million on the table times 7 that's 21 plus the eighth year that he didn't take in the deal there's another 10 he's leaving 25 million bucks on the table right there you know let's step into my office because you're fired. I know some people don't care once you get to a certain amount of statistic, but how is his all-around game? Does he defend well? Is he two-way as well? Well, he's still, I mean, the whole team is still working on that. They're giving up a bunch of goals and chances.

But, I mean, he's, my biggest question about Cade was, was he a legitimate centerman? Not was he capable of putting up the points. And he has exceeded expectations from the centerman position. He's a bona fide number one center. And playing against the other team's top lines, and he's dominating the league. Now, granted, he's killing it on the power play.

But, I mean, Ovechkin's going to be the greatest goal scorer ever, and he has the most power play goals ever, but we're not going to hang that over his head. So, you know, he's still growing in that role, but he leaps and bounds better than he was last year. So he's just taken a major step into superstardom, in my opinion. When we score goals, we often said, me and you, it's not how, it's how many.

But I'm blown away by the how with this guy. The how's pretty good. And he's got 21. But it's the how that I've been marveling all year long. If he's not looking like Ovechkin on the one-timer off the circle, he is looking like Mario Lemieux with this huge range east to west. Petey. I'm so happy to hear you say that.

30. Lemieux. Just hold on. Lemieux is my favorite player. Oh, my gosh. Is that? Yeah. No, it is.

It's Mario-like. And last year, he had 38 last year, Petey. Did any of them look like the ones that we're seeing this year? No. Like you said, if he's not ripping them from the one-timer top of the circles, their highlight reel stick handling, you know, pulling the puck around goalies so far them from the one-timer top of the circles. They're highlight reel stick handling, you know, pulling the puck around goalies so far away from the goalie

that they get out of position, then he brings it back and just stuffs it inside the post. I mean, he showed a play. He demonstrated that skill. There was a play. It was three years ago in Detroit. And I just remember watching. He didn't score on the play, but he stick-handled.

It was unbelievable the moves that he made and how it was so in tight to his body and then reaching out wide. And he ended up missing the top corner. But he's grown, and he's bigger, he's stronger, and I love the Lemieux comparison, and I hate to put that kind of pressure on him, but from the standpoint of optics, I mean, you throw a 66 on that guy, and you're going to be saying to yourself, that looks like Mario Lemieux. Now, he's never going to be Mario Lemieux, ever. In my opinion, Lemieux's the greatest ever. Or produced like that.

Yes, exactly. But, I mean, if you can have some kind of a poor man's version of a Mario Lemieux, well, you still have a ton of wealth in front of you. You know what I mean? You know, this Buffalo Sabres team in general, I think goal differential usually shakes out. The good teams end up, obviously, it looks pretty good after last night's game but you know they're ahead they're behind the montreal canadians in the standings who are minus 12 goal differential

the sabres are plus nine that's better than florida tampa bay detroit like i feel like this team is farther down the standings than their true talent level is that a fair assessment yeah well look i mean i don't want to you know they just win a game nine four but they give up a ton of goals right so goaltending is is and i'm not picking on the goaltenders they just don't have an established you know craig anderson's 41 they're they're sampling out uka peka lukinen know, Comrie's not in the picture right now. And Devin Levi's in college. And you just say to yourself, like, if they have a goalie,

if they had a bona fide number one goalie, and I'm not talking a Carey Price in his prime or another Markstrom or whatever. I'm just talking about a goalie that is capable of stealing you a couple games. You know, they're maybe one, maybe two points out of a wildcard spot instead of six, seven. You know what I mean? So it really does come down to something as minuscule as that.

And then on top of it, another thing we talked about today was you can't win night in and night out against the good teams with two lines. I mean, you have the two lines in Buffalo, and then you have the other two lines. And the other two lines are not producing. They're not playing very well. and it's kind of like that, I don't want to say weak link, but they're kind of holding this team down because they're not able to produce five on five. And then the top four defensemen on this team, it's a beautiful thing to look at,

but then you've got to find the legitimate fifth, sixth, seventh guys that actually fit those roles and know how to play those roles. So there's still a ways to go with this team. But, I mean, it's just at least they're fun to watch. Oh, my. I'm not sure. They've been a torture for 10 years. I was telling Petey, these guys, before we went to break,

that everybody was so excited. Social media was buzzing on, on Tate Thompson. I switch over from Calgary and I watched maybe one of the worst 20 minutes in the third period that I've ever seen between Columbus and Buffalo. And I think it was a signature and a TNT game nationally. Both these clubs still have a long way to go. Columbus. My God, that was just horrific at home to give up five goals to one guy and give up almost 10 goals.

Someone's going to have to really explain to me why Johnny Goudreau signed there. He's chicken. I can't figure this out. I want to say that I thought New Jersey was an option for him, and I wonder if he's kicking himself for that one. No one came close. No one came close

to the mighty Columbus. Yeah, well, I mean, I guess can't put a price on losing, I guess. That was a tough one. Hey, listen, we're going to let you go, but thanks for your thoughts and your feedback off of Tage Thompson, a treat to watch last night.

Thanks for doing this, Petey. Can I say one thing? Go, buddy. Go. Justin, Justin. Yep. Congrats on your sobriety. Thank you.

I read your tweet today. Yeah, yeah. I myself am sober now. It'll be 11 years coming up in May. Wow. And I absolutely understand the rock bottom that you have to get to in order to actually realize that you have to change something. So good on you for changing it and stick with it. I'm always here to support you if need be. I have surrounded myself with a bunch of great people that are also, you know,

sober, either whether it's alcohol or drugs. And I got to tell you, they're the greatest people to be around. Because here's the thing. You can't trust someone that doesn't quit or doesn't drink. But you can trust someone that had to quit. You know what I mean? Yeah, man. Oh, wow.

Good on you. Well, hey, I appreciate that, man. And the whole hockey community has got a nice little little culture recovery doesn't it so thanks so much man that means the world to me hey pd when you when you mention go ahead when you mention him hitting rock bottom are you referring to him being on a show with me and sammy well listen, I'm almost 11 years sober, and being on a show with you, Kipper, would drive me to dress. Nice. And that's the best part about it,

is that once you kind of come to that acceptance and everything, you start to see some humor in it, too, and I can joke about that. But, yeah, that would be rock bottom for me, too. Thanks, Petey. Appreciate you, man. Andrew Peters, former nhl or buffalo saber and current uh players cast on sportsnet youtube channel uh that's always nice feedback and you know yeah congratulations on on the book and telling your story and it's going to touch so many can you just talk a little bit because you probably put those tweets out what time today yeah 11 30 11 30 just

quickly tell me the response just from your social media alone yeah it's uh as sammy said when i walked in so you need oven mitts to hold my phone so she's overheating over here um but in a good way you know i i did say to sam you know when i came in too that you know i i feel a little overwhelmed today you know like it's been a lot and you know the amount of people who have some connection to this like alcoholism and their family um for people who don't know and didn't see the tweets um you know i am an alcoholic i coming up to this upcoming february i'll be four years sober and of course not counting uh you know taking for granted that that you get there but um that's about where I am in my sobriety went to rehab uh you know left my

family left my two and a half year old at the time to go spend a month and do that and he's right about the how low it has to get and rock bottom and uh I I think one thing that my message will be and why one of the reasons that I want to talk about this publicly is I learned that there is no rock bottom for people. You pick your bottom. I learned that in treatment where they basically said, this guy's been through that. This woman's been through this. It's not all equal. There's not some rock bottom where you go, it's over. I need to get better.

You get to pick your bottom because there's always a worse bottom out there. And for me, you know, I am what you would call a low bottom alcoholic in that I kept my wife and my family barely. But I did. And I made the change before I lost that. And, you know, I kept my job barely. You know, I was able to hang on to some important things in my life. And, you know, finding out who you are after you make that change is a challenge and is still a learning process for me because he's right. You know, he always said when you're drinking, you don't trust someone who doesn't drink.

So what am I now in trying to find that it's so basically, you know, I, I know this is going to be, I'm opening myself up to hearing people's stories because, you know, I have a sponsor who says, you know, I laid the toolkit for recovery at your feet and now it's your job to do that for others. So,

uh, yeah, the support's been overwhelming. Sports net's been incredible. Thank you to everyone involved in that. And it's just been, it's been, again,

overpowering day. I feel very emotional about it all well on behalf of sammy and the whole crew here we love you bud yeah we we love who you are today and uh we're we're here for you constantly i know it's an ongoing battle that never really goes away for for many um but uh proud to be a part of your life, a part of this show with you. You've been fantastic and only great things ahead for you. And very proud of you, you know,

in the short period of time that I've known you and I can't wait for your book. Yeah, I appreciate that. And, you know, I'm blessed that, you know,

to have a show like this and to work with you and to feel that support, you know, that is one of the things like, you know, hockey culture, like going out and having beers with the boys is one of the things right like and to be able to go out and play golf and not have it be a you know a thing that i'm not drinking that is part of it so the yeah the support is everything and i am someone who has a great support system you know

i have a my wife and my mom and my brother and all that sort of thing and not everyone has that so there are places for people who don't have that and you know i went to renaissance uh just off spadina and blore downtown toronto here and and it was a tough month but man the support's there that's one of the things you learn is you know when you're an alcoholic isolation is like the first thing you look for right you want to be alone you don't want people to depend on you uh and you do feel alone, even when you're with people, because they don't really know what you're going through. And so you find through this community of recovery that you're not alone, that there's people who are going through it. And it's people in your office and in your family and people you don't know about. And today, that's part of why I feel overwhelmed is I want to help everyone who is reaching out

and is going through something. And it's going to be, it's going to be meaningful and hard and all that. But yeah, the book I hope is just sort of a new beginning where I can be public with my recovery. The place says that when you recover loudly, you can contribute to, you know, helping people from suffering quietly. So I will be recovering loudly in here for anyone who wants to reach out. And when can we expect the book? February 14th. I am four years on February 16th and books come out on Tuesday. So Valentine's day with love.

Yeah. It's a check my Twitter feed at JT born. There's a link to the penguin publishing place there. Thanks to penguin publishing for doing the book. And I'm looking forward to it. We are as well. Thanks for sharing that. Love you. Thanks guys. All right. So we, and I'm looking forward to it. We are as well. Thanks for sharing that with us. You're the man, buddy.

Love you. Thanks, guys. All right. We got about, what, 15 to go? Maybe clean up some news and notes around the National Hockey League. Do we start with the real reality here? And it's almost as if it happened last night with Ovechkin going from triple digits behind Wayne Gretzky to

just double digits. 99 behind 99. It got real last night. Let's go to Brian Fantana live on the scene with a Channel 4 News exclusive.

Brian. Ovi Watch. Did you guys work on something? I did that last year. What was that? It was from Anchorman. Panda Watch. Ovi Watch.

99 behind 99. So have you been a longtime believer that he would get there? Because I have not. I will be open about that. I have been just open all day today. I've been fighting it. But it's happening. The only thing I questioned even a few years ago,

and I was there when David Amber first kind of brought it up. So four years ago? Is that how long it's been? Oh, I don't know. Amber's been on this forever. It is just from a health perspective. Yeah. How long could he stay healthy?

Where's the durability everybody breaks down i i didn't think it was possible four years ago these are the years to me where i expected the fall off to come these are the ones where he's getting there and surprising me because i thought i wouldn't be surprised in the tail end of his career that he's a 30 goal guy and then a 20 goal guy and he hangs on but that he scored 50 times last year but even if he turns himself into a 30 goal guy he's he's he's gonna play for another four or five years i know he's got he as long as he stays healthy even if he turns himself into a 30 goal guy and yeah he that that record as long as he stays healthy going down. He's probably scoring another 30 times this season.

Is that 25, 30 times? What's he at now, 15 or 13? Yeah, some of that. But you assume he's got how many hockey games left? Like 55? So he's going to score another 30? Yeah. So now you're at 69.

And then how many seasons is that? Two after that? And were some busting on him for empty netter goals well i you know being a hater i was like ah another empty netter he gretzky had 56 ovi's got 51 so like but think about the games gretzky played compared to to ovi and where the where that rate is but it the point's moot. I don't care if it was empty netter. Everybody gets empty netter.

Konechny did last night. People love empty netter. The cookie monsters over our game historically have loved those empty netters. Well, the weirdest thing is that he's been on the ice at the end of the game. Is he typically a guy you're thinking protect the lead, put Ovi on the ice? No, they suck now. They're not playing very well. And I bet you, like, this is what their window now has shifted

from a perennial Stanley Cup contender into ultimately winning their Stanley Cup and getting Ovi that cup to now, I think they're kind of the Ovi chase team. Right? Like, that's kind of what they're going to be. Like, they're aging, no? Like, I know, Kipper, you're alumni. Like, you were close to that team, but, like, they're aging.

Their window is closing. Like, this is kind of the thing. We've been talking this way for about a year and a half, and we've lumped Pittsburgh in there. And Pittsburgh wanted to double down with Letang and Malkin and Crosby, andby and i mean they should make the playoffs this year should they not but it's still pens are getting hot again they're back up into i think second metro but but if it fell off for pittsburgh nobody would be surprised and i don't think a ton of

people are surprised at washington right now with's the combo of getting older and hurt. And no Tom Wilson. Right. Konechny take a whack at Ovi last night. Yeah. He was pissed off and scored an empty netter. Konechny seems like a bit of a rat, huh? Oh, yeah.

It's like, oh, dude chasing literally the all-time goal record shoots within the empty net. What a dick. Tom Wilson on the ice. Is he doing that? Oh, my God. No chance. That's a good point so they should trade here's the other thing that just my overall perspective too is there seems to be a a total attitude

adjustment when it comes to scoring goals now you never got a chance to put two empty netters in my era in an empty net yeah ever like when the first one went in the game was the game's over and the goalie's going back in you're not giving it's almost as if teams today go flyers listen we know the game's over but we're gonna practice our six on fives now and what's the difference so you know give up another two yeah nine four last night who cares what is happening the vancouver canucks are the preeminent team feeling feeding into the rise in goals in the nhl do you guys see the canucks score last night yeah six five was a six five they blew another three goal leading there four one and five two or whatever exactly it was. It's not. Playing the Sharks. Where's my buddy Brad May?

It's not good. It's not good. It's not good. And if you look at the standings, you can talk yourself into the Canucks, which the Canucks have been doing for years. They're a couple points out of a wild card spot now. Ugh.

I know. And they've just beat three awful teams in a row. Barely. Barely snuck by Arizona, Montreal montreal san jose so the schedule's been good to them it has been very good to them yes they are currently two points out of a wild card spot right now jeez i just worst case scenario for them by the way patterson's so good still though having an amazing it's everybody wants to score now yeah that's what it is that's why goals are up i think because d man also want to score and they're's what it is. That's why goals are up, I think, because D-Man also want to score. And they're

jumping. They're flying the zone. And everybody on the fourth line think that they're just temporary. Yeah. Until they're the elite goal scorer. Until they get on the top six. Malgan Robertson, Durag and Chinsev,

you foster that belief. We're a fourth line that has goal scorers on it sda went down hey guys he's crashed here's what i'll say about that it's hard to really die on any hill when it comes to sda but i think the dallas stars on the road was a weird choice for his nhl debut here go against say structured physical team huge good team you don't control the matchups like to me you just just play malgan you know to me you don't ever concern yourself with what sda needs in that situation you're like yeah you're gonna get in a game here's your game just play malgan yeah it was a weird move to me who is playing tonight malgan and samson i'm starting

we had uh we should listen to keith on goaltending after this do you want to go there now sure if you're ready well i just wanted to pick up a little bit on we're gonna see an la king tonight team that they don't have a lineup like the leafs where they're gonna throw four of four premier world-class talented players at yeah they're competitive and they're not a team that have a loaded number one power play like the leafs nope they're they're high-end talent it cannot hang so i'll throw this out to you guys just as i did kind of luke and i thought luke's answer was great on they all loading up a number one unit power play because that's what Sheldon's doing right now. Do you even know who's on their second power play? Yeah, I do because it's hilarious.

Read it. I don't have it in front of me, but I think it's Timmons. It was SDA last time. Yeah. It was. Bunting. Was it Bunting? I think Bunting's, yeah, considered a second line.

Robert's ball and Robert's. Angvall. Like, and who else? Angvall. And who else? Engvall is the worst option possible. I'm not even saying that just to pick on him. It's like the worst thing about his game is his offensive zone possession. Just composure to handle it and stand there. Never happens.

Never. But between now and at some point, hopefully they get through the first round. You might need a second unit for chipwin you might want to start thinking about a legit kind of second unit spets a half wall hat clapper bring them back for the or are they to luke's point if if you got a special player you just have to let them take the whole two minutes you know it's it's early in the season to be now the second unit comes out and just 10 seconds left i love that the moment chris cutbert said that i'm like we need eric clip that for me please because that is basically

the second unit on the toronto maple leafs but like is there an optimal one like is it kerfoot like can you give me one can you can you take one guy can you take one guy off their current power play and put him you know how this goes you tell me which second it's always going to be. He's the only one you're allowed to pick on. Can't be Mitch. Can't be Austin. JT might pout. No. Not Willie.

Not Willie. But it has to be Willie. It has to be Willie. But to me, JT wouldn't pout, but I think he's the least of the power play driving guys. He's the perfect guy to be in the net front with that top unit because he's got sick hands around the net. They're finding him all the time here's what i've always found out on teams that i've played with is that you need internal competition and right now the leafs power play does not have that

yeah if there is just there's always somebody standing up about a minute into the first unit's power play ready to jump out there leg up on the board leg up on the board and boards and just like okay boys you can't get it done my turn yeah and if you don't have that if in fact that a power play does get cold or heaven forbid a couple guys get hurt like what do you do now you just throw a kerfoot out there or an angle out there and say hey um we need a big power play goal and you're like oh i mean you didn't give me a chance all year now you're asking me to step up in truth though like who do you comfortably want to handle the puck like who can you picture on the maple leaves handling a puck that's not neil and or matthews tavarez marner sometimes bunting he's in the press box he's in the on the

in the front office but like kerfoot i trust to handle the puck a little bit he's not going to shoot it in but he can handle it and then it's like malgan because it isn't camp it's not holmberg it's not aston reese it's not angval so they don't have a ton of next guy up options they do we do have a clip of keith talking about malgan and talking about internal competition do you know where the least power play ranks in the nhl it's five five better top three i don't know it's 14th no yes is it really Is it really? Yep. That's shocking. Power play percentage. Yeah, I thought it moved up a lot in the last little while. That tells you.

Oh, no, you're right because it was. They're 23%. But it, first three weeks, four weeks, I think it was 21 or 22. Yeah. It struggled early. They've been in catch-up mode to get that rate up. Their PK is top 10. I'm dumb because I recently wrote an article

about where their PK ranked in the league. They were 9th at 25% of the time. Okay, let's go to Sheldon. Keep talking about Mulligan and the bottom six, I guess, in general. Yeah, it certainly should. Regardless of how the team's playing, when you're out of the lineup, you get back in, you want to take advantage of it.

Clearly there's a competition going on here. He had played really well, then we saw a dip a little bit. Yarncroft has given opportunities for other people, whether that's Robertson moving up or SDA the other night gets a chance to play in the NHL, and Malgan gets back in today.

Simmer is going to play on Saturday. So, you know, this is a good opportunity right here to get out and get back to playing the way he was. What do you think is Simmer's going to play on Saturday? Do we need to line up decisions today for Saturday? What's that about? I don't know. Just letting Wayne know it's coming? I think it's just enough to kind of keep them in the... Keep them interested?

Keep them interested, keep them in the loop. Flame Saturday night? Anything to do with their size or luchee or anything like that? I just think in general it's a's a really it's a it's tough on him but hey the alternative is you're looking for a job at sports net you know right yes you know what i'm saying though it's like you know he's i think in the in the big picture he'll take this over a hundred percent, shutting it down.

Yeah. Yeah. He's intermittent. You get to play for the Leafs, live in your hometown, be a part of it. And you never know come playoffs might be a valuable low line guy. You can still put it away if he gets it in tight.

So, uh, now hands go away when you get old. No, but it's, it's hard to produce the way they've used him you just got to be realistic um so we haven't mentioned it today which i like but i proposed that the mitch marner point streak is like birthdays so you celebrate on the fives like so there's 20 okay he's got 20 great well 25 i got that we're talking i got i got this going

in the 30s 30 you got it going to the 30s i do yeah wow what number let's shoot your shot i mean it would be incredible to call that early because even calling it you called it the other day that it would go on for a few more games and you have been right. He's good. What do I know? What golf course is that church from by the way? Trial. Trial? Where's that? Jamaica. Okay, sounds nice. Hit the ball, man. It's good course. Oh my gosh.

Unbelievable. Sorry for derailing. No, no, that's all right. Kifford has dreamt of Jamaica. I can see it in his eyes. We're just one day away from Friday. The wheels are getting loose. what were we talking about i just i just pictured the eighth hole there for some reason marner streak yeah again we're talking about uh a team that has no problem with their stars going out there for full two minutes this guy is a threat not only power play even strength shorthanded this guy's thinking about points yeah he's first minute last minute of every period okay he's going yeah come on

100 should should should be uh in a position to keep this thing going makes sense do you want to get in the goalie clip before we can chat about that quick? Sure. All right. Let's listen to Sheldon Keefe on the goaltending situation. Ilya Samsonov is going on Saturday night. Sorry, tomorrow night. Well, I think tonight.

Whatever. Good throw. Again. Well, I think if I look at it, you know, when the season was when we were preparing for the season and we're coming in, I was really excited about these two guys. We knew what their history was, and we knew what we have to do to give them a chance at success and how we had to play a role to really help those guys thrive and play to their potential.

I was extremely excited when I just looked at the combination of ability, experience in the league. Both of them at different times have been carrying the load for their team. Both have played in the playoffs. Obviously, Matt Murray has won the big game multiple times, won the Stanley Cup. The combination of all that to me had me really excited, and those guys have delivered on it. Really excited about those guys going into camp.

It's a good test for Samsonov tonight. I do too. He was really excited to not see Jack Amble anymore. Yeah, that was probably... Excited about our goaltending situation because it wasn't the guy who was letting us down. No, it's not... Just move on. It's not the guy that I have to, like, you know,

tell him he's doing great every day. Yeah. That was probably a load of work just trying to manage that emotional swing i get the feeling we talked about this i don't know what day it was but with matt murray you hear him talk in the media he's just the work like you said worst interview in sports just in a good way but there is that attitude where you guys were the last to know i'm freaking good oh yeah there is but that's good i know i know yeah absolutely yeah so i mean you

got one guy who's kind of like talking about i like smile and that's what baby yeah i'm so i predict the future and then the other guys hates talking the media and just seems like a professional i like the pairing so it's better than it was last year it's a nice warm-up for me yeah that's nice hey i love yeah well there'll be a few of those with a big win tonight yeah uh absolutely as you It's a nice warm-up for me, yeah. That's nice, eh? I love it. Well, there'll be a few of those with a big win tonight. Yeah, absolutely. As you mentioned, big test, you know, to kind of keep it going consistently as the guy who's not been prioritized as the starter.

What do you see, a 4-2 win? I think it's going to be tough tonight. I was a doubter against Dallas, but, like, they've just been so good so long. An OT match tonight. I'll call overtime. Yeah, I don't want to always say that they're gonna lose because i feel like i say that every time but i feel like they could lose tonight all right can't be the positive one of the group today

it would be understandably uh something that is coming a letdown or just a an exhale here they're like okay brody's back now he can do defense i'm going to get my cookies am i not yeah okay our thanks to uh gourd stelic as always luke robotai who was yeah lucky luke are we gonna get another president to one-up him i can't happen oh brian burke, I should say. Our thanks to all of you. Give us a rating and review or a thumbs up. We'd love to hear from you. We're back tomorrow.

Enjoy the game tonight.