Real Kyper & Bourne - Can Anyone Catch the Cats?

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour with a look at the Eastern Conference playoff picture as the Panthers continue to pull away from the pack after their comeback win over the Stars last night in which they trailed 3-0. ESPN's Kristen Shilton (4:09) shares her thoughts on the battle at the top of the Eastern Conference, Atlanta expansion rumours, Bedard embracing the 'next face of the league' role and whether Crosby would ever leave Pittsburgh to chase another cup. Later, news and notes from around the NHL - the Predators continue their 12-game point streak, Byram getting comfortable in Buffalo and the Sabres lack a response after UPL got run over.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.

Welcome into the real Kipper and Bourne show. I am your host, not Nick Kiprios. But Justin Bourne, hello Sammy. Hey man. How are you? Feeling very far from my little desk over there. I know, but it's lovely to have you. I'm really happy to be here. I got my papers spread everywhere, which I don't really have from my little desk over there. I know, but it's lovely to have you. I'm really happy to be here.

I got my papers spread everywhere, which I don't really have the ability to do over there. I'm ready to rock. Nice. How are you feeling? I'm good. I'm a little weird being in Kipper's spot here today. He won't be here for the rest of this week.

You and I are here. Welcome to our NHL hour. I'm thrilled. Welcome to our NHL hour. Live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver and Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. As always, this hour uh live on sports and sports net 650 in vancouver and sports net 960 in calgary as always this hour of real kipper and born is brought to you by bet 365 uh gonna be joined by kristin shilton of espn a little bit which i'm looking forward to at some news and notes we will take your text at 590 590 breaking down what the biggest story of the day

is nationally bobby mcmahon signing a two-year contract extension. Yes, we know. People in Vancouver are dying to hear about it. They're all on the seawall just screaming it out to everybody being like, you know, Bobby, that guy can play. We love the Leafs. Anyways. Yeah, so we probably won't talk about that so much. But

we will talk about all the other things that are going on in the league. I have an article up today on the playoff races in the Eastern Conference and kind of handicapping how those shake out. I think it's live on Sportsnet.ca right now. I'll do the Western Conference for Friday. Looking at a little bit today, Florida Panthers get a big win last night, separate themselves a little bit from the Bruins.

Yeah, so I watched that whole game last night. It was an excellent excellent hockey game you know teams i understand i've made a few mistakes in that game took a bad trip late that cost him the game you know if you look at it like that was their only ad and if he's not great no like i i haven't watched a lot of stars but i watched that full game last night and i'm like maybe some of my takes weren't as great as i thought they were at the time but no he you know he's just getting used to a new spot, so it won't kill him too much. But I don't quite know what makes, like, I know the Panthers have great players, and they weren't even,

the thing that scared me the most about last night watching that game for the rest of the NHL is they weren't even that mean last night. Yeah. They just played hockey. They weren't acting like they usually do. Like, I watch most Panthers games, and it's like, wow, they're playing the whole game offended, and they're in the scrap,

and they make these teams back down from them. Yeah. The Stars are a pretty big team. They got a lot of good players, fast players. Their decor is pretty big. They had a guy like Tanev. And to me, it's just they didn't get into that at all, and they just played great hockey.

They got three power play goals. Their power play is terrifying. That, to me, is what really should scare the rest of the eastern conference and probably the western conference if we're really going to handicap this thing is that they can really beat you in any possible way yeah like in dallas they were down three nothing and they won in regulation they don't quit at all they're still in the game they get great goals they got different guys contributing on different lines like you know that barkov looks unbelievable kachuk filters one from the point like i just i don't want you know you look at who the favorites are and i'm sure we'll do that in game time later this hour but to me i people saying they're frauds and maybe they

could maybe they could lose in the first round Maybe because it's hockey and weird stuff happens. But I really don't see a team that has the recipe to beat them when they're on. No, the Atlantic Division, the power plays. So Tampa is first in the NHL at 29.2. First, eh? Still. Yeah. That's keeping them alive.

Toronto and Florida are tied at second, 27.2. I know how you feel. It's different. It is so different. But I don't watch them every night. Right. So it's like, I'm watching the least power play every night where they have their frustrating nights,

but then they go in stretches where they're snapping it around with the Panthers. I don't know. It just, it seems like in their, their sweet spot, terrified of that team. Barney.

I do think too, you know, they're, they're not pulling away from the league winning the president's trophy, you know, by miles, you know, they still have stuff to play for.

They're not going to, like, have that checkout mode. Anyways, look at the Chris. Yes. Yeah, we are now joined by Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter for ESPN. We are so excited to have you back on. Kristen, how are you? I'm good, thanks, guys.

How are you? We're doing good. We're doing good. We're just talking a little bit about the Florida Panthers and trying to figure out, you know, basically if anyone else in the east can contend can anyone else hang how do you handicap the top of the eastern conference do you see anyone else even in a class with the florida panthers i mean it's tough you can talk about the new york rangers i think that they have definitely uh gotten even stronger lately.

Went through a bit of a dip there, but you're really seeing them play some great hockey. I think that's probably connected to Igor Shostakhin really finding his game. Again, he's been sensational after a bit of a mediocre, by his standards, start. And that's really been a game changer, I think, for the Rangers. And, you know, Boston's been a bit up and think for uh for the Rangers and you know Boston's been a bit up and down they haven't been as consistent maybe as they were at the start of the year but

they're still gonna be a contender right there and I just think the Atlantic has so many deep teams and Florida though they just continue to separate themselves from the pack but as you say not by leaps and bounds it's not a situation like last year with Boston where you felt like maybe they took their foot off the gas. They took things for granted a little bit down the stretch. And I don't think that the Panthers are going to do the same. And I felt that when I went on a preseason visit down to Sunrise and I spent some time with the Panthers and talking to Paul Maurice and Matt Chuck and Alexander Barkov and those guys. They felt like they had something special. And I don't think that they would take any of this for granted.

So I really like them. I like what the Rangers are doing right now. But there's a lot of teams, Toronto among them, that you could really see being strong contenders in the postseason too. So I mentioned, I don't know how long you were listening for there, Kristen, but I mentioned that the thing that stands out to me, and I watched that game last night, is just the separate ways they can beat you.

Because most of these games, you watch Florida Panther games, and they are just playing the entire game offended. As I like to say, they're just so mad the entire time. Every little thing sets them off and last night they didn't even do that they were just it was a solid i guess they're having to come from behind it's a little bit different but they just can beat you in any kind of way and to me that's what terrifies you going into the playoff series with them any way they want it they can play yeah i would absolutely characterize them the same way and just that when you have that

capability when you're not a one-tr just that when you have that capability, when you're not a one trick pony, when you don't need to score six goals every night or hold an opponent to a certain number of goals, or you have to be great on special teams, or this one player has to be fantastic or the rest of the team can't go. They just don't have that.

They are multifaceted. There's so many layers to what they can do and they can turn it on at any time you you might see them maybe have a sleepier first period but then in the second you really can see the way that they'll have you know whether it's sam reinhardt who's having such a fantastic year whether it's bobrowski and net whether it's you're getting you know that gusav forsling eight-year extension, so underrated. He's just a guy, like, he was a waiver wire guy.

Crazy. And you bring him in, and he's just become a linchpin on that back end for them. And, you know, they can just do so many things so well, and they'll hurt you in so many different ways that, how do you prepare? Yeah, with flying elbows, they'll hurt you. Especially if it's a playoff series right like if if you know you're playing florida in the first round it's like well what are they gonna do in game one versus what are they gonna do in game two they just adjust so well that's uh i think

they're gonna be a handful who for whomever ends up on the opposite side of the ice for sure well that's uh sammy's leafs fan anxiety florida panthers talk we've got that off our chest i actually i hate to admit how much i love watching them play yeah they're just an excellent hockey team they're just great goaltending excellent forwards their defense is clearly stacked i i like to watch them i know that's the part that kills you're gonna get to watch them a lot of rounds if i had to guess great um you know having someone like yourself on you're covering hockey in the u.s one of the the hot topics these days is expansion you know like we've heard utah talk and most recently atlanta you know how viable how quick is atlanta going

to happen now it just feels like the nhl just did expansion and here we are again, ready to add more teams. Well, I think that there's just such an appetite for more. And you talk to players about it, and I've had a lot of conversations with several guys in just the last little while about, would you want a team in Utah? Would you want that to be the next spot? And some of them are sort of wary of, you know, not diluting the product, but you don't want to do too much too fast. You want these fan bases to be able to get established. You want there to be, you know, a foundation of success there, wherever the league goes next, because that benefits every player,

you know, playing right now, as well as, you know, the next wave too. So I think that there's a it's a it's an intrigue they're curious about what it could look like Atlanta obviously is a market that they've been in before came out of it and then you look at a place like Utah it's somewhere new it's somewhere um maybe has a bit of that more Vegas-y type of you know just there's just something about it that I think people are curious if, if a team could succeed there, if the NHL could, you know, really, you know, get a grounded established fan base the way that teams in Vegas and Seattle

have, but, you know, it's, you sort of saw it in how the NHL responded to Anson Carter's, you know, his, his push for the Atlanta, you know, Redux, you can see that they're like, well, it's always good to know that there's interest. Like, we're happy about that. But who's cutting the multi-billion dollar check? That's the other thing, is that how you don't, it's the same with diluting the product. How many investors are you going to have?

How many people are you going to have to answer to if you're the NHL? You know, there's questions behind it from a business perspective that you do need to look at. But I think from a player's mind, the more the better in a lot of cases, if it can be successful, if there's a really sound business structure there, but that's where you have to be careful. You don't want to do too much too soon because you don't want to see teams fail that would just be the absolute worst case scenario for the league and for the players well i know sports net plays really well borny but i'm not sure they can cut anson's check to but to me with these expansion teams chris and it's so important like the early success stuff

and you know what happened with vegas where nobody know what the hell they were doing with that expansion draft and they just got handed an incredible team with all these assets that they've turned into this long long tradition with seven eight years of just winning and to me that if you're gonna go to atlanta they're gonna have to kind of not rig the expansion draft again but make it really favorable so that they can be competitive right away. Because the Thrasher is ever good. That's a great question. I don't really remember them ever being very good.

And they always just kind of had these weird teams. I remember the drafting high. I know it's an obvious thing to say, but having the early success with these expansion teams, especially in the non-traditional markets, like Seattle is more of a sports town than I guess Vegas had never had a professional one. But you need a good, decent team for these non-traditional markets. Like Seattle is more of a sports town than I guess, you know, Vegas had never had a professional one, but you need a good decent team for these non-traditional markets to get

behind. It's gotta be early success. Well, it, I mean, it does. And you've also just defended all of the Atlanta thrashers lifers that will never give up on their team coming down. Yeah, their Twitter accounts. Prepare for them to find you. But no, it's the early success. And it's also, you look at the different ways

that Vegas and Seattle approached building their franchise. I mean, Vegas was just, they knew. There's so much competition for them, not just from a sports perspective in Vegas, but everything else that you can do when you're there right like it's not uh it's just it's a market where if you're not willing to put yourself out there if you're not willing to um really push and obviously the golden knights have their detractors for their creative salary cap gymnastics they always seem to find a way that's a creative way to say that it's you know i'm i'm being judicious but it's but it's true i mean the rules are the rules and if you stay within them it's just that there's teams then

you look at the way seattle did it they were very methodical through the draft they wanted to sort of score all those picks and they weren't great in their first year and then they were better last year but then now this year's been it's just they haven't great in their first year, and then they were better last year, but then now this year has been. It's just they haven't pushed as hard as the Golden Knights have to be as competitive as you need to be to compete for a Stanley Cup within the first, you know, what, six, seven years, twice of your... But that's Vegas. It's just they're so unique

because they're so willing to push the envelope, and they have, you know by committee been very good from the drop so that's good for them but it i think we just saw with seattle it's not the only way to go but obviously the kraken haven't had nearly the success that the golden knights have so far yeah uh kristen i want to ask you a question you know having covered hockey in canada and now being in the U.S. and covering hockey, to just kind of get your take on the difference in the way the game is consumed.

I myself lived in the U.S. for a long time, and I know, you know, ESPN can be a star-making machine sometimes, you know, and Connor Bedard is a guy who is probably receiving a lot of that benefit now. Tonight we have Ovi up against Connor McDavid. Do you see a difference in the way the game is presented to the country and consumed by fans i don't know so much how it's presented i think that just the stars and the teams that are highlighted are just very different

i think that you know in in canada it's we talked so much about the leafs and you know especially the canucks this year and how good they are. We talk about the Oilers and there's always a constant conversation about like, well, these Canadian teams, it's so, so important for the league that they be good. And that, you know, that's not really necessarily the same narrative that you're going to have in the U.S. I mean, it's New York, it's Boston, it's stars like Bedard. There's a reason why he's so popular already.

It's just he's playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, and everybody wants the Chicago Blackhawks to be good again. Because I lived in Chicago during some of those dynasty years, and I've never seen anything like it. And I've been fortunate to cover several other championship teams. And no disrespect to anybody else, but oh, my goodness, the way that they just love hockey there. And it's star driven. Right. And, you know, they want their next Kane. They want their next Taves. And that's really, I think, what drives as well.

You know, you look at the way that the game is presented is I think it's a lot less about the team and the history as much as it's about the stars and what they're doing now and the success and the next wave and the next generation um and there's no right or wrong way to do it it's just you know I think in in Canada we uh we love to talk about legacy and we love to talk about rivalries and, you know, rivalries have been going on for a century. And that's, it's more about the new, new in the,

I think in, in the American market, it's more about this is what's great. Now this is what's trending now. And I think that's why the Vegas golden Knights as well have been so embraced by that fan base, not just because Vegas is a great, you know, sports town is as we're seeing in a lot of base, not just because Vegas is a great sports town, as we're seeing in a lot of ways,

but just because they're so new and they find new ways to, I think, appeal to their fan base. And that's something where they don't feel stale. And granted, they're not even a decade old, but still, they make a point of really trying to engage in different ways. And that's where some of, I think, the U.S.-based teams do separate a little bit from the Canadian ones.

And it's what I think fans really appreciate and what drives a lot of that fandom. So you mentioned Conor Bedard in your question there. I know he's Dash 36. He's on the first page of the Masters leaderboard here. Yeah, he's a good player on a bad team. What chance do you have? I find it incredibly impressive that he's at 36. He's on the first page of the Masters leaderboard here. Yeah, you're a good player on a bad team. What chance do you have? I find it incredibly impressive that he's at a point per game. He had five points last night.

He's at 51 points in 52 games. It's been a bit of an uneven rookie year, clearly, because of the injury that he had after he got nailed. But this is, I think, going as well as you could imagine if you're the Chicago Blackhawks. This guy is a real thing, and they have another star that they can build around here. Absolutely. I mean, missing, what was it, six weeks with a fractured jaw and just knowing that you weren't going to have the one sort of bright light of the franchise.

Top one for the season ticket holders for those six weeks. Like, what am I going to watch? A lot of Mackenzie Entwistle. But you see, just even last night, you see, you know, what a lightning rod that he is. And it's for the league, yes, but it's also, it's good for the league, for Chicago, to have something to be excited about.

And their future is so bright with that kid. He's so good already. And there's a maturity to him off the ice as well and granted I've obviously been spent a ton of time around him but it just in the interactions that I have had he is very poised he's very he seems you know to understand the position that he's in and that's not always the case for some high draft picks they really can be overwhelmed by their position but I think we can tell by the way that Bedard, first of all, just basically said, I'm coming back and skating.

I'm going to put this cage on and this is just how it's going to be. He's that competitor on the ice, but he also very much doesn't let what the pressure of being in Chicago and being that quote-unquote next one there, interfere with what he's able to produce. And that's, I think, where the Blackhawks have really left out because you don't know. You can do all the interviews, you can do all the character tests,

but until you actually see these young players under the spotlight, you just don't know how they're going to react and if they can maintain what made them special. And most do fortunately most are you know they have good people around them supporting them and obviously i think badard has that uh but just from an honest perspective my goodness what the talent that he has already as a teenager if this is the beginning, what is his ceiling? I can't even fathom it. He just had to throw in the bubble and he went back to the world junior mode.

He was just, I mean, it's a good look. I'm putting it on and I'm going to skate. Nobody touched me, but don't get in the way. Very comfortable. What's funny, you know, is you say, what could he be? And it's looking around the league right now. And you look at where Sidney Crosby is. Like, I know that's a ridiculous sort of ceiling, but, you say, what could he be? And it's looking around the league right now and you look at where Sidney Crosby is. Like, I know that's a ridiculous sort of ceiling,

but, you know, you feel like they're just at the other end of the spectrum. And so I do want to ask about Sid and the Penguins and watching an aging superstar who's not playing like an aging superstar. He's playing like a superstar. But, you know, what's going to become of sid of the penguins it's there's a lot of expectations and superstars and

tire fire happening there what's what's to come with the penguins oh man you know i was just thinking about this earlier today and i thought you know it's it was a great thing i think for alex ovechkin to have the milestones he was chasing late into his career. Because Washington obviously has taken a bit of a turn in the last few years. And they haven't been a playoff contender. They haven't been in that position. But for Ovechkin, for the star, he has had the watch, right? Like, we've all been talking about him.

And it gives some juice to a guy that maybe you can't hand him playoffs every year, but at least he has that. That's not where Crosby is. Crosby is the team guy. He wants that success. Not to say that Ovechkin doesn't want that same success, but I think he understood, okay, we're going in a different direction now. So this is kind of going to be my narrative from here.

But Crosby is in the middle of having to answer for the fact that Pittsburgh the wheels are kind of falling off and they weren't supposed to at this stage there were supposed to be a few more good years it's why Kyle Dubas got the players that he did that he went and got Riley Smith that he went and got Eric Carlson that you know he's kept the core or I shouldn't say him, but the core has been kept intact there because there were supposed to be good years left for Crosby and for Malkin and for Letang. And really since the bubble, it's just felt like it's not there.

And so they've made the sweeping changes. They gave Kyle Dubas this incredibly rich deal to run the team. They've tried, but it's just they're not fast enough to keep up with and that's in in both places almost it's like you added veterans and it's not what where the league is at the league is changing it's adapting and I think Crosby is adapting with it to a certain degree but the the players around him you just you have to be you can be physical and you can be tough to play against but you've got to be quick and you've got to get those plays in transition and those plays off the

rush they have to be there and if they can't be then everything else has to be so tight and so down then your goaltending has to be so incredible like watching Tristan Jari last night for example um you know I know the one goal was called back but still it's it's just you've got to be so perfect in every other way and that's not where the Penguins are at so where they go from here I I don't know but you just you wish that there was a bit more of that milestone watch almost for Crosby so that there was something for him that you were talking about on a nightly basis. And, and it's, it wasn't that, wow, it's really might be over for the penguins because we don't know if it is, but it might be.

To me, the great lost milestone for Sid is 2000 points. Because you look at the prime of his career from, well, not the prime, but like in the middle from 2010 into in three seasons after that he played in 2010 he played 41 then 22 then 36 games right so if he had played you know let's say give him 78 79 games throughout those seasons that's probably an extra yeah give him 100 points maybe 150 points there and then it's closer to 1700 points and he's still at a spot where it's like, you know, that's a bit of a chase.

But to me, at this point, he's 1566. He's won three cups. He's got two gold medals. Just got to ask for a trade to Colorado now. That's all it's like. There's only one thing left, really, and it's to play for another team and to chase a cup as, like, a second fiddle.

And I don't, like, I want it to happen, but I really don't see it. I just, do you ever see it? I don't see I want it to happen but I really don't see it I just I don't see it either no I can't see it because it's just there's too much history there I think for him that I think it's it's one of those where if this is the end I don't know that I just I wonder if you wouldn't rather if like because you've won it all, there's nothing left to win particularly. It's just in the last days, it's just in the last days of your career,

do you want to, you know, Patrick Kane obviously is an example that we can use recently going to different teams and, you know, how much of that would Crosby replicate? I just, I don't know. I think that there's such a bond there between City and player that that's where he wants to be. And if it ends up that the last couple of years are bringing in the next wave, I don't know.

You almost don't want to speculate because whatever you say, you could be totally, you know, they could pick it up next year and you got egg on your face. So you never want to count it with City Crosby. Be fun canada in any way fun would be fun in canada espn's hoping not yeah we are right yeah yeah exactly but it's um it's just one of those things where i think everyone is waiting to see how this offseason goes because it will be a very big one for the penguins and what their next direction is gonna be for sure um last one we'll let you go just want to get your thoughts on a west winner because we we all talked about florida and the rangers do you have one out there the you see is a runaway fave

oh man the west is it's always so tough like the central to me is always stacked and then it's never the team coming out of the central and then you look at the pacific and you're thinking okay is vegas gonna step it up now that they've made their acquisitions boy people be bad oh boy like are the oilers are they for real real like are they really gonna run it back and and be able to you know make a western conference final appearance what about la where the you know it was great and the wheels were off there too and now they've they're making a bit of a they did nothing at the deadline that's what's curious to me as i'm like what do they know that we don't first of all they're not great other than not getting lenis olmark allegedly right uh but you know so to me i don't know if I see a clear –

and, of course, Colorado. Don't let me not mention Colorado. That's important. But, you know, I think for me it all hinges on the first round. Dallas, you know, like you said, they added Tanev. But if he's not great, I don't know about Dallas. They're a wild card to me. So I like some of those teams.

But for me, we're going gonna learn a lot about the west in the first round probably more than we will about the east i think there's some established yeah contenders there but the west the first round is gonna be big yeah a lot to figure out uh we appreciate all your insights and opinions and everything uh it's kristin sheldon of espn thank you very much thanks for having me guys of course all right kristin uh was up here for a couple years covering the Toronto Maple Leafs and the rest and made a good decision to get away from the toxicity of this market. She was in the meat grinder for a few seasons for sure. She was, for sure.

Yeah. It's just, if you're a playoff start today, one of Winnipeg, Colorado going home, one of Edmonton, Los Angeles going home. Wow. winnipeg colorado going home one of edmonton los angeles going home wow one of uh dallas vegas going home one of nashville vancouver going home i guess i mean but i mean in three of those series it's like you're going to have a team who went all in and had real cup hopes going home frustrated and people will probably lose jobs over that i saw a tweet was it it John Shannon that put it out there about what it would be if the matchups were...

1v8? Yeah. Okay, here it is. I love 1v8 stuff. So, I'll bring it to you. So, in the East, it would be Florida, New York Islanders, Boston, Tampa Bay. Oh, baby. New York, Philly, Carolina, Toronto.

Toronto gets mopped in that. I don't know. I'd prefer that to Boston or Florida. Would you? And in the West, Vegas, Vancouver, Dallas, Los Angeles, Winnipeg, Nashville, Colorado, Edmonton. Vegas, Vancouver? Yeah.

I guess Vegas got to, they're going to climb up. Yeah, they got to get going. But to me, that just seems a little more normal. Well 1v8 at least allows for these races like there's such incentive to climb from 7th to 6th or you know whatever it is to move within that that tiering so yeah I hope

eventually we do get back there. Do you want to do game time after the break? Sure we'll do game time after the break. Perfect. Okay when we come back we'll do a little bit of game time and talk about some news and notes around the league. I want to talk about the Sabres. Sabres. And a little Bowen Byram action. Yeah, have some thoughts on them. I know, me too. Okay, we will get into that after the break.

You're listening to Real Kipper and Born. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jazz Marriott Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts welcome back to real kipper and born kip now with us just sammy and i today talking about all things nhl and it is Do you think Kip's booked his flight yet? You know what?

I'm not even sure. He had a trip planned for this weekend. He was like, yeah, I don't know. I'll figure it out. I'll check the Air Canada website soon. You know, March break. One day before will be an expensive ticket. It's March break, though. It's quiet on the roads.

Yeah. Like, it's like noticeably quiet subway roads. It's nice. Delightful. All right. It's game time. It's game time. It's game time. Presented by Bet365. It's game time. It's game time.

Presented by Bet365. It's the app with the latest odds. And find out why it's never ordinary. At Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, I was flipping around during the break at some of the fun future stuff on Bet365.

And I said, there was one that said, player regular season goals. And I was like, oh, I wonder when it's going to pop up. The only option on there right now is Austin Matthews. And there's two different numbers that you can bet on. Okay. The first number is 64 and a half. And the over on that is minus 250. Okay.

And what's he at now? 54, right? 54. So that's 10 more goals in how many games? Okay. So that's below his, you you know he scores every night apparently so and over under that is plus 200 and the other total is 69 and a half yeah plus 350 over minus 500 on the under so they really don't think he's getting to 70 no this week i gotta be honest i

don't either and i don't think that's the worst thing. No. That we're having this big conversation about him chasing and like him staying in games maybe when he should be taking a rest. So I found that very interesting that they put that up there because I think 64 and a half is an excellent number. It is. What's interesting about that one to me is Connor McDavid,

I believe, had 64 last year. Is that right? I'm looking it up right now. It was near there. Yeah, like, what was fascinating was, you know, McDavid is the best player in the league. The year before, Matthews wins the Hart Trophy, scores all the goals,

and Dreissel basically says to McDavid, like, you should just score all the goals. Yeah. Okay, went and scored. 64 goals, 89 assists, 153. He has 953 points and 600 in 30 games. It's a joke. So he blows by Matthews. Matthews hits

60, wins hard. He goes and gets a 64 and says, see, I can't do it. This year, know what McDavid has? He's got 24, I think. He's got 24 goals and 79 assists already. Because he's done. He showed you if he wanted to be the goal guy, he could be the goal guy. That's rude.

It is. So now it's like, okay, if Matthews is going to make a career being the goal guy, you better get more than McDavid did. Okay, so moving back. So you think, where would your money lie on that? I think 67 is a reasonable pick. So you'd go over 64 and a half? I would.

Okay. Maybe sprinkle a little bit on the under that. Under 64 and a half. I would. Okay. I would maybe sprinkle a little bit on the under that. The problem, under 64 and a half. Yeah. The problem is if he gets to 67, the Leafs got this playoff push,

you know, or do they start going, oh, we got to play him a lot, see if he can get to 70, it becomes a thing. So this is a fun one. The country of the Stanley Cup winner. The USA is minus 330.

You got a lot of teams to go from there. Canada is plus 240. So we're going to have four teams. So it's the Oilers. They're very good. Very good. Vancouver, who is very good.

The Jets, who are very good. Very good. The Leafs. In the playoffs. They're there. Yeah. And that's it, right? We're not forgetting anybody?

Yeah. The Habs stink. Flames stink. Sens stink. So it's those four teams. It's not the worst number. Well, you know what? It's not the worst number because you might be getting two number one seats.

Vancouver and Winnipeg may win their divisions. And they're not going to be playing each other in the first round. Right. So you might be able to get past that. And Leafs on the other side, like, yeah. So, sorry, what is the Canadian number to win the Cup? Plus 240. And now the Canadian teams, they win a lot of Cups, right?

They've won a lot in the last little while? 30 years, man. That's a really long time. Devastating. Seven teams, they win a lot of cups, right? They've won a lot in the last little while? 30 years, man. That's a really long time. Devastating. 17, 30 years? They should change that. But I'm sorry, Canada. I don't want it anywhere else than down Yonge Street.

So it's a very tough thing for me. I actually, I would like people to text us at 590-590. If you're a fan of Canadianadian team do you just want the cup back in canada or does it have to be your city because i i would love to see winnipeg win it i would love to see vancouver win it obviously i'm in toronto it helps our show that would be great i would like that i have some oilers resentment from my dad's era like i grew up being like you know they ended my dad's team streak 100 you know like it was a whole thing that there was that big rivalry so i was raised to be like no oilers no rangers

i would have maybe a bit of a hard time i i do think i have bet the oilers with my real money as the only canadian team i have money on to get to the cup final okay so i believe in them as a team but i don't know if i want to see it so four games on tap tonight some decent ones here actually kings and blues you know that's the decent that's a bit of a stretch for that one nashville all of a sudden who is extremely watchable and uh they're playing the winnipeg jets tonight in winnipeg they are a plus 130 underdog winnipeg is minus 155 i have a tough time with that one i don't really know how to lean on that side i am ecstatic you called them extremely watchable i am on the game tonight for wednesday night hockey winnipeg jets nashville predators coming up hard yeah i want to do my best because they don't make me do

a ton this summer anyway i'm looking forward to watching that but i would say the creme de la creme is the colorado avalanche visiting vancouver and to me this is a surprising number uh you can get plus money on color in Vancouver. They're starting Casey to Smith tonight. Maybe they rally around that. I think it's Colorado in the second half of back-to-back. Did they play last night? No, maybe not. But anyways, to me, that's a surprising number. I always like value on Nathan McKinnon

and that team. And yeah, Vancouver minus 120. Casey to Smith don't love that. But, you know, they're pretty good in that building. So, yeah, they could be fine. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the visit the app latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly the national predators are a very like if we you and i sat down eyes just a blank piece of paper and said right out their roster i'm getting a few might get there. Like it's a lot of

Evangelista and Cole Smith, Michael McCarron, Kiefer Sherwood. There's a lot of names like he's in the league. Spencer Stastny. I have to say that if

what Brunette did, right? Brunette? Yes. What he did, if he was in a Canadian market where

Jack Adams, talk. But where he cancels the boys' trip to the Sphere to see U2, and they're all so fired up. Doesn't just cancel for the guys on the team. Front office people, people who work in the office, like everywhere. Done. We suck.

We don't have any accountability. Done. Doug, who's been washing socks all year just for a breath of sunlight he's a u2 sorry doug without you just can't wait just once in my life before i die not today doug canceled and they go out and they have been smoking hot ever since yeah and like if you're a player like yeah we're hot with god that i don't want him to look so right. Like, that's a really incredibly gutsy move by him. It's just. I don't think it's that gutsy.

In this day and age, morning it is. In 2005 or 2002, that doesn't even make the news. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. You're not performing. I understand that. But for it to become a story where he canceled this thing that everybody was excited about and like we're going to the sphere. I went to the sphere when I was in Vegas.

Marginal. I didn't see you two. The sphere was marginal. It was a very cool experience. Yeah. But like we went and saw like a postcard from Earth. So you're doing like all like, but it was very like, it had a message where it's like the Earth is screwed and you guys are all screwed in it.

And it's like I had a couple high news. I'm like, this is what I expected. This is the one I signed up for. They built this multi-billion dollar thing and you're like, entertain me. But they had cool robots. It's a very cool series, I can imagine. But for him to cancel that, I think in this day and age, it's gutsy. And for them to get red hot after.

And them to not solidify a playoff spot but they're pretty close to slip like there's seven points up on minnesota with a couple games in hand i give the former own sound player all-time season single season holding uh record for points really andrew bernetta ton of credit 802 65 points i think that there is a real appetite in the nhL from owners for coaches who will make hard decisions now. And say what you will about Tortorella. The Flyers are going to be in playoffs this year. I don't think anyone thought they were.

You talk about Talkit and the success that he's had. These sort of taskmasters in an age where everyone gets up, you know, talking to and they're soft-voiced and whatever, there is really something to be said for these guys who handle things a little bit more honestly and aggressively. The thing is, it's like, there's always zags in every sport, right? Like the running back thing where you don't want to pay. They're all the same. You don't want to pay running back.

But then all of a sudden this offseason, I'm seeing like every running back getting paid. So maybe it's zagging back the other way. You know, you can win the popular take after the Penguins won the Cup, where it's like, ah, you can just get Ben Lovejoy and LeTang, and you can win the Cup. Yeah. And, you know, baseball where it's like,

I don't even know what baseball is, the zag or whatever. But what I'm saying is going to the guy who's a bit of a meanie yeah has kind of come back in here where you see lavalier let having so much success with the rangers like you said towards talk it i don't think it's full meanie but like but he's honest he's honest and actually look at what's happening with winnipeg where rick bonus came out and said that was the worst the guys have ever played and this is part of what I'm going to do tonight for this Nashville-Winnipeg broadcast, is they had their worst game of the year one night,

got a mean talking to, and they had their best game of the year the next night. And, you know, I played for a junior coach, and this is in my book a little bit more in depth, but like, you know, throwing sticks and breaking stuff and chaos, and it's not fun what's the name of that book by the way that's down and back and where can you purchase that yeah anywhere you get

your books man amazon indigo go nuts but um you know there was something to be said for the idea that there will be actions behind the words and sheldon keith has done that more this year tried to be that that accountability guy and I think it's reasonable to say that not everyone needs a hug all the time. And Bonus seems like, by all accounts, to be one of the most loved guys in the league. Yeah, he'll give you hugs. Every single guy that comes around is like, yeah.

So I think when you have that reputation, but every so often, you just get in front of the microphones and be like, these guys rot. Yeah. That holds way more the last season 100 and i think even torts who used to just be full meanie i keep wanting to say these words i'm not allowed to say i know we suck he's he walks it better now yeah where he

does say nice stuff well you know what though daryl sutter didn't change perfect example you know didn't have like the Pelletier thing. Yeah. What number was he? Yeah. As a kid makes his NHL debut and it's like,

you gotta have some. Yeah. And now he's back on the ranch, you know, a waste of eight days. That is a, an all timeline NHL

history. So one thing we wanted to chat about Buffalo Sabres. So last night you and I, we did game time. You talked to Detroit.

It was plus odds. I also had my own money on them at plus odds. You know, they need this. They've lost six in a row. They're in Buffalo. Playoff race. Buffalo starched them. Maybe it makes sense why they're plus money now. But yeah, I had a couple takeaways from that game, which is crazy

to have takeaways from a Buffalo-Detroit game in March. I'm going to say this one quiet. There's a chance that that bo byram casey middlestad trade is bad yeah for for colorado real bad i you know casey i know we're a couple games in here but casey middlestad was the sabers leading scorer which at this the way they're having a season and the way they look i mean that's not's not necessarily every... 45 points or something. Every team score. Every team has a guy that scores, regardless of how good or bad you are. Someone has to lead bad teams in scoring.

And I think he filled a need for the avalanche. They clearly like him. And having a second-line guy, second-line center, kind of slot in, because we had conversations about Colorado and how thin they kind of seemed underneath the big boys. But I don't know if he should have done it at the cost of Bo Byram. Because

I remember him in that, who did they beat in the final? The Lightning, right? They beat the Lightning in the final. And he, I remember, this guy is a Team Canada lock type of guy. Oh, I mean, he has the pedigree. He played for Team Canada, the World Juniors.

He's that type of guy where I was like, not for the next team, but for a guy that in the future could be on that team. And then he had the concussion issues and he went away and you kind of, kind of just 22, you stopped hearing about him. I was watching that game. I said, I know he had two talks, but outside of that, he is up and down the ice, man. You can't games of the Sabres, three goals, one assist, four points.

You cannot teach that ability to get up and down the ice, man. You can't. Three games of the Sabres, three goals, one assist, four points. You cannot teach that ability to get up and down the ice, buddy. He flies. Like, we talk about how hard it is to get a top 4D. You're at the deadline, and teams are falling all over themselves to try to get Chris Tanev. We believe here in Toronto that they have offered a first for Tanev. Like, what people would do for a top 4D is a lot. This guy has a chance to be a top pair D.

A guy who scores 50 points, you know, like more than that. Potentially, I know that's a high ceiling for a guy, but he's had 25 and 42 games one season. It is a legitimate, a bet, as I've've seen an nhl team make that a guy can't stay healthy yeah i absolutely believe that colorado had full belief in the player they said we just don't believe he's gonna play enough games to matter yeah that's fair and you know the other pushback on that too is that dalene's a lefty own powers Power's a lefty, right? So it's like, oh, we're going to need Kipper in here for his lefty-righty stuff,

but I'm pretty sure Power's a lefty too, and I'm just quickly looking it up. He's a lefty as well. Byram's a lefty. It's like you want your three best defensemen to be lefties, but to me, you're just betting on the talent. Well, what's crazy, that's a good point, but hold on, because this is the senators are

in this very pickle where it's chickering shabbat and sanderson and we've heard chicken's name come up because someone's got to go you can't and what's even crazier about this is byram wanted out of colorado expressly you know expressly behind scenes anyway because he wanted out from behind kale mccarr yeah he wanted the chance to be a guy, and you go to a team with two other lefties, you know, who are top guys. I wonder if eventually they have to do something. But if you're Buffalo, who, I mean, I, okay,

promise me this, I'll write this down, whatever day, March 13th, we're not having any Buffalo Sabres good playoff conversations before the season starts next year. No. I will not have that conversation or about the Sens either. Until... No, no, no, no. No. Until they were like

close to the playoffs and competing near January, February, no conversations. If you're that kind of team to me, you're just bring guys in. Like you're trying to take shots, taking shots here. Getting a guy like Bo Byram a team to me you're just just bring guys in yeah like you're trying to for sure talent first shots taking shots here like getting a guy like bo byraman i i loved him in the world juniors i followed him through there came to call out like they got him and you see what he does in the and

he kind of goes away or whatever but to me kevin adams that could be one of those trades we look back on where it's like erat forat for Philip Forsberg type of trade. By the way, great reference. Thank you. God, Forsberg's just been in Nashville forever having this great career. Best duster in the league too. So last night you did one of your breakdown videos on the Buffalo Sabres. Yeah, this is the other side of it.

Being soft. That was embarrassing. The Buffalo Sabres need a change, like no NHL team. The Islanders needed a change really bad.ers need a change like no nhl team the islanders needed a change really bad they need a change in buffalo like the culture of that team there's no they're light they're passive they're permissive i just there's too much talent to play like that so i had it on and it uh ukapeka lukinen right thank you ukapeka lukinen i like saying that i won't say it one more time but he got run earlier in that game and i was like oh and they didn't really do much to respond i was Lukanen, right? Thank you. Ukapeka Lukanen. I like saying that. I won't say it one more time. But he got run earlier in that game.

And I was like, oh, and they didn't really do much to respond. I was like, oh, that wasn't pretty. And then I kind of looked up again, and it happened again. I was like, oh, I gotta get that. I'm like, honey, I'm doing a video. And I was just disgusted. I don't know who it was in Detroit, but he's going hard to the net. Makes

zero attempt to get out of the way just like plows them and no they don't even go over to one guy just skates right by he's lying on the ice you're up seven two it's the perfect time for chaos and also this season is a bust anyway like if you finish last it's better absolutely go ahead and do what you gotta do to say we don't we're not okay with that i just and i said in my video if a if that was the leafs this would be a national referendum there we go soft they are there you go that's what i said response from the sabers especially come on guys yeah come on how impressive brandale nice pull but not even the leafs any canadian team yeah if that was the canucks and that happened 650 my boy riccio out there

would be like what's going on with this team it's just we'd have sean reynolds on the case it doesn't matter where you're at it's a national like it's a huge conversation and i'm sure they're maybe having it they won seven two so it's but like imagine buffalo kipper being like i don't care about the win it's about the response and. He's got Peters and Reve there. Yeah, man. You know someone's saying that. I hated that from them, but I hate it and love it. Love them getting Byram because, boy, can he play, and I think that's a good bet, and hated that response after he got ran.

Byram, Darlene, Power, Thompson, Cousins, Krebs, Paterka, Benson, Tuck. Boy, that Paterka shot one of the bar. He shot one of the bar nice too last night they can turn it around um a couple things to get to before the end one of them is the siegenthaler from the devils gonna miss extended period of time rempe already got the suspension yeah i know i just i've been thinking a lot about the rempe thing because i love rempe and i want rempe mania i want him to be around our the rem page I love it all and I love what he represents

I haven't watched the highlights again it's bad showing it's just I get not fighting McDermott early in the game but you probably should have fought him then too because you did something it's hockey you did something into a rival should have fought him early I get maybe being like hey we don't want to do it at this point.

Probably should have done it. But then to do that, chicken wing him and then be skating, waving him. To me, it's the wave. If you don't want to fight, fine. The wave is. To be like. I'm happy that I hit this guy in the head and he's hurt and I get kicked out of the game. And they're not fighting you, Nana.

That should be hanging your head going off the ice. He's created more problems for himself now. Absolutely. He's going to have for himself now. Absolutely. I just. The Calgary Flames have turned the corner. We thought they were going to turn. They traded a bunch of assets.

All of a sudden, the team is just, it ain't pretty, Sammy. You know, I'm a fan first. And I've actually really liked watching the Flames a lot of this year. Scrappy. Scrappy, good players. Like their young guys a lot. And a lot of it has to do with their jerseys, if I'm being fully honest. They just fit my eye. Love watching them play.

Like I was watching them play Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh's whites. I was like, oh, this is the nicest jersey match we could possibly have. But like they were in it. They had won the four in a row. Remember, they had beat all those good teams. Very good. We were like, oh, maybe they're going to have a chase. and i'm not getting after conroy because he made the right decision they had to trade all these guys they had to sell off but it sucks as a fan because you're like oh we're

scrappy we're fun we're in it maybe we won't sell like we sell and now we just reek it's like now we're not riding hunts on the second line now we ain't winning anything and we're gonna suck we suck it's gonna be 18 games of we suck. But you know what they have? The bright spots are Pelce is going to get run with real players. Coronado, you know, like it's how you sell yourself on it that you have fun young guys that get your man. I was in a lineup. You're right. It's, you know, sort of

take a look from there. I feel for my Calgary brethren. Yep. All right. Well, thank you. See day number one sans Kip. What a breeze. Nice to have you in that seat for the, for a day tomorrow. We will be back. You'll be in the seat for both hours.

Yes. I believe. Do we have Petrilli for sure tomorrow? All right. We'll ask him after the show. Sorry, Anthony, that we didn't ask you first,

but yeah, we'll get into it a little bit there. And tonight it's a Winnipeg and Nashville. I'll be on that game. So tune in. Thank you to Kristen Shilton. Very much appreciate her time. And to J.D. Bunkus for joining us in studio.

This has been Real Kipper and Born. We will see you next time.