Real Kyper & Bourne - Canadian Crease Concerns

Episode Date: April 24, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a look back on last night's action as the Canucks fall without Demko and the Jets get another poor performance out of Hellebuyck. They are joined by Satiar Shah (3:55) of  Canucks Central, who weighs in on the Canucks' play in Game 2, Demko's injury timeline, Pettersson's struggles and their defensive depth. They regroup with Sam for news and notes - a legendary goalie battle between Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy, how significant Sam Bennett's injury is for the Cats, Carbery calls out Ovechkin and concerns starting to rise for 'playoff Hellebuyck.'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.

we're back in the kiprios justin bourne sammy mckee for a national edition of the real kipper and bourne show we are live on sportsnet sportsnet 650 in vancouver and sportsnet 960 in Calgary. This hour of real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. All right, boys. So, like, what the heck happened to our Canadian teams last night? Did anyone play in the CFL last night and lose too? Or just hockey and baseball? Can I tell you my biggest worry of the last night? It's about the Jets.

Why is that? I thought Avalanche looked pretty good. The more concerning part of that is Gorgiev kind of pulled it together. Yeah, he was just fine. And I just thought that they double shifted McKinnon and McCarr and everything the second period. Just a tidal wave. Yeah.

It's just a tidal wave. How long did they do that for? Every game they double shift those guys? Probably. As far as the Vancouver Canucks are concerned, major storyline, obviously. Satya Shah, host of Canucks Central and Canucks game host on Sportsnet, will join us in a few minutes.

But at least Hellebuck's still there. We'll get into it a little later on the, I don't know, I lost count, 11 goals in two games? Six plus five is 11. Carry the money. Hellebuck, we'll get into that. I only have 10 fingers, boys. But at least the jets

still have them that's true vancouver canuck fans cannot say the same about demko yeah and the overall feeling of learning this yesterday and then the momentum that was lost from game one, or no, it wasn't lost. It was lost at some point during the game. And I don't even know if there was momentum lost during the game last night when Vancouver throws the kitchen sink at Nashville.

All over them. But can't score. I thought they looked excellent last night for long stretches of that game. Yeah, I mean, boy, it's one of those things. Like, you know, Soros is on Nashville. can't score i thought they looked excellent last night for long stretches yeah i mean boy it's one of those things like you know sorrows is on nashville you can't say well they just lucked out with a goaltending performance that is let me check in line with goaltending performances they always get so that's a tough guy to beat and they i it saves too i want to give nashville a lot

of credit because i think they didn't slide into the playoffs here. They earned it. There's no question. And they're battlers. And yes, it takes bravery to stand and block a shot. But it's not really fun hockey to watch five goalies out on the ice. I found it very frustrating. It's a frustrating look.

We gave them credit, but they are terrible spectating. I mean, just as a hockey perspective. It's like a shooting gallery. Do you want to quickly, before we get to that, hear what Andrew Burnett had to say about the blocked shots and stuff? Sure. Because if you got that clip for us there, Derek, it's brunette clip one i think it was one in the second period um and i thought the third period we were committed to to the pain and i think something that maybe game one we learned from

a little bit maybe weren't weren't quite as committed to the pain i thought and tonight with the block shots and the things that we did sacrificing our body um you know so we learned and we're still growing we're not where we want to be but we're getting better and today was a good step committed to the pain committed okay let's welcome watching a relief game for the last 10 years welcome in sat shaw host of canuck central and sat. It was like watching a 45-minute power play last night at times. At least that's what it felt like to me.

Yeah, that's really what it was. I mean, especially that third period. I will say, though, the first period the Canucks were utterly dominant. Same thing with the third. But I do think in the whole narrative of how this game unfolded and how the Canucks were dominant, the second period But I do think in the whole narrative of how this game unfolded and how the Canucks were dominant, the second period,

I thought the Predators were the better team. They created more quality looks. They started taking away the run of play from Vancouver. They had a couple penalties, goal against Van, and then they took over after that period. So actually, I think in the second, I'm not sure it's getting talked about enough, as much as they were under siege, when it took the 3-0 lead, I thought the Preds were the better team in the second period.

Now, they hung on for dear life in the third, and Sorrows made a number of big saves, and it felt like a goal or two was maybe imminent for Vancouver, but I don't know if enough is being made about how good the Preds were in that second period to take full control of that game from Vancouver. The Preds are good. They bring it, man.

They play fast, and they play responsible, and that makes it a challenge to beat any hockey team um tell us about we're gonna have a vibes check with vancouver in general like last night the chant of let's go casey and then the puck gets deflected into the net with such like a uh let's go we're trying for this guy but it's hard where are things at today after a loss you know i will say so post-game, Lena on our station, who does producing work, she was collecting sound from fans after the game. And a lot of fans were super excited still. Like, hey, listen, we still feel good about where the team's at.

If they play that way, they should be able to win the series still. So for a market that can be, let's say, very neurotic at the best of times and always kind of looking for something to go wrong and there was a lot of trepidation when the Demko injury news came through but I gotta say I think Canucks fans on as a whole especially at the rink last night and after the game they're still pretty positive so the vibes are still good I wonder what those vibes look like if things don't go their way say the next two games in Nashville but I will say I was pretty impressed despite the Canucks losing last night and you know not going their way,

a lot of fans are still showing some enthusiasm, showing a lot of excitement. And, you know, I felt bad for Casey Smith because the thing going through my mind was, man, this chance is going through. Like, here's Canucks fans. They're giving this guy their support. They're putting aside the dental injury.

They're trying to be positive. This is just such a fantastic vibe. And literally, you you know a few seconds later the puck goes in on him a bit of an unfortunate break but i do think the entire fan base is trying to put on a brave face before the game during the game and after the game last night and we'll see how long that kind of lasts the canucks can't get back to winning was there um some hope that this could be a real short uhko situation and then we heard Rick talk it in his post-game comments uh out of the words uh week didn't uh didn't he use a week to week

week to week so uh did that suck the life out of a few people you think well a little bit but I do think you're right I do think that created a bit more trepidation because I think fans were kind of hoping that, hey, there's been a lot of reporting and it's not looking very good for Demko, but maybe when Talkit speaks, it will be a bit more optimistic. Because during the day, the morning,

he said day-to-day, and by the evening, he said week-to-week. And when asked by one of the reporters that if this means Demko's done for the series and likely not going to come back, he answered by saying yes, and likely not going to come back he answered by saying yes and then continued on to answer another question so it became very clear that Demko's done for this series and I do think some of the other stuff out there and I know Elliot's mentioned

the two that the status isn't quite clear on the second round I've heard a lot of conflicting things I've heard that maybe he'll be back the second round others have told me he maybe he won't be back to the conference final that that always means the Canucks have to get through Nashville have to maybe get through the next round as well but as we sit here today it doesn't look to be overly optimistic on the outlook and I've seen a lot of fans point to that and say hey like if they're not going to have Demko it's one thing to get past Nashville how are you gonna get past say Edmonton if they do beat LA or even LA if the goaltending is not going to be a big key for you and that's going to be the big question I know that Demko is the type of guy that really works hard and he has

beaten ETAs in the past and he will do everything humanly possible to get himself back so it wouldn't shock me if the Canucks do get past Nashville then maybe you see him in the second round but even the second round right now kind of seems like a hopeful ETA for his arrival in the playoffs again boy well that's not great but if there is going to be a second round and we believe there are here canada good team vancouver canucks you're going to need uh a star player to play well elias petterson is starting to take a little bit of heat hasn't gone exactly his way through two games here in toronto we're doing our own fiasco where you're mean to a very good player because they don't score for two games um how are things going in vancouver on the petterson front oh now he's the guy that's taking the brunt of the criticism

and i mean a lot of fans that even call themselves you know petterson backers that are are very critical of his game right now and even he himself was very critical of how he played and talk and mentioned that he has to get through it as well but i do think there has been a bit of a tide turn around peterson it all started before he signed his contract because he was non-committal for a long time the team talked about i mean you guys know too with rutherford not knowing where peterson stood and he mentioned that to the media a little bit that they want to get him signed so that kind of started a bit of trepidation with fans wondering hey is this guy even gonna sign here does he want

to be a canuck he wants 12 million plus then he signs the contract and since then his game hasn't really been at the top level you expect him to be at and because of that there has been some buyer remorse from a lot of fans and even people mentioning now is he even a superstar is even worth the money or not and my take on it is he's 25 years old he had 102 points he's another 24 year old he had 20 89 points this year yeah he can be better but he's a star-level player. And if they produce like that, they are going to get paid. But last night, the biggest issue I found for his game was defensively. On that first goal, Hughes falls down.

It creates turnover. But then Sissons and Pedersen are going for the same puck along the near wall. And Pedersen has a line on it, but kind of slows up and doesn't go hard to the board to get the puck. And Pavilion beats him to it. And that's, isn't it? Pavilion beats Pedersen to the middle of the ice to tip that puck in.

So the first goal happens, not great on Pedersen. The third goal happens. Pedersen gives the puck away at the blue line, and then he gets beat by citizens going towards the net. Now he ends up knocking the puck himself, that two spots, two goals where he,

you want to say he was directly at fault for the first one maybe the second one perhaps and then he had a wide open net that he missed on so if you look at that game from pedersen say he scored a goal if he doesn't make those two mistakes did the connect me to win that game do we go to overtime do we look at a game that's a lot different in the third period so he was the guy that ended up getting the brunt of the criticism and a lot of fans are really frustrated where his game's at and some people now think his game is never going to go back to what it used to be a few years ago, or even last year or the first half of this season. And to that, I say he'll be fine at some point.

The question is, can he find his game fast enough in the playoffs? You guys know, I mean, Kipper, you play with players too. You can believe in a player's potential long term. The question is, can he find that gear in the moment? Can that be good enough in the playoffs? And right now that's the question we don't have answers to. And I, and I do think a lot of fans are concerned that he's not going to be able

to find that gear in this playoff. We're talking to such here, Shaw hockey host for the Canucks central show on sports net. Does, does Pedersen sat have the personality to handle the scrutiny? Is he the type of guy that can roll off his back and come up with a big game? Or is he a little more sensitive? Well, I do think he is a little sensitive.

I think he's also admitted to that in the past. Now, he worked through something similar a few years back where he had a real tough start to the season. And he was reading all the press clippings. And spoke to the media about it that hey i've learned how to handle and navigate these things i can't get too worried about what people say and just focus on myself and right now i wonder if he's kind of back into that same you know headspace again the thing i would always say about pedersen as much as you know he's not always the most open with the media he can push back a little bit and can be a bit of a recluse i don't

think he would have signed and stayed in vancouver if he was really worried about the spotlight he was really worried about being under scrutiny like he knows what it's like in this market if you don't pull your weight and play to the level you need to play at so i think he can handle it the question is has he matured enough to be able to handle it in the moment and get through it within a couple of days and does he have that, that fortitude, the mental fortitude within a series to bounce back from a bad game or two. And those are types of things that we don't quite know yet. I think he's going to be fine, but right now we've been looking at his game and when you don't see the

signs be there in terms of confidence, the question just becomes, is he going to be able to find that in the moment in this playoff, especially against this national team. And they're going to need them. If the connect's going to overcome Demko's injury injury if they're going to get more shots on goal and perhaps break through some of these blocked shots they're going to need elias petterson to pick some corners and right now that's not happening for him so sat you know uh you know

in other markets everyone's aware of this demko story everyone's aware of a guy like petterson what are some of the other storylines of the canucks maybe some of the underlying stuff the guys they like yourself who watch it really close are keeping an the other storylines of the Canucks? Maybe some of the underlying stuff the guys like yourself who watch it really close are keeping an eye on in terms of the Canucks finding their way past the Predators. Defensively, they've been absolutely stout. They're a demon, and they've been getting a lot of criticism over the past few years for the defense.

They've really rebuilt it. They did miss Tyler Myers last night. I thought Noel Julesen came in and played well. And me saying missing Tyler Myers is something that wasn't really uttered much the past four or five years but this year has really turned his game around but also the thing is the ways the door offs come in and played the way ian cole has found his game susie's been terrific we all know how good hughes and veronica have been as a pair but those next four defensemen they're all six foot four or taller right i mean the door of admire the two of the biggest defensemen of the league ian cole's an absolute unit and then you know you have a guy

like carson susie who has sides great defensive ability great stick his gap control is fantastic they're really hard to wade through you see how hard it is for nashville to get through that defense they punish guys along the wall the issue with that defense is times at times has been there's variance in zadororov and Myers' game where you see Zdorov these first two games, he's probably been an 8 or a 9 out of 10 in his performance, but he will have a 3 or a 4 at times. And that's what makes it a bit complicated with him where sometimes you feel like, man, this guy should be a $5 or $6 million defenseman,

but he doesn't string them together as consistently. And Myers is kind of similar as well. But the last couple of games, these two games down the stretcher ever since they also acquired Elias Lindholm this team has been really hard to break down especially down the middle too when they have Miller Pedersen and Lindholm all those guys I know Pedersen is skinny but Lindholm is 6'1 200 pounds JT 6'1 and 220 pounds Pedersen 6'2 then you have those trees on the back end. Teddy Bluger has a fourth line center. Defensively, they've been an outstanding team, but what's kind of ironic is that offensive

firepower they had for the first half of the season has really dried up. There's only one line I think that can hurt the Vancouver Canucks, and that's O'Reilly, Forsberg, and Nyquist. And maybe a new appreciation for that line being maybe one of the better lines

in the National Hockey League, but nobody ever knew because they play in Nashville. Yeah. Well, I mean, Nyquist has been terrific. I mean, talk about the fountain of youth. This guy's been working out with Jamie Benn and Tyler Sagan or something the last couple of years because he's been incredible this year. And you see his work on the power play as well. I don't think he gets talked about enough.

On the power play, of course, you've got Ryan O'Reilly, Romy Yoss this year and you see his work on the power play as well. I don't think he gets talked about enough. I'm going to power play. Of course, you got Ryan O'Reilly, Romy Yossi and Philip Forsberg, but Nyquist, the way he ties things together, the way he hunts pucks down, he's really good at playing the point as well. Keeping the puck at the blue line. He walks the line for a forward really well too. I think he's played off Yossi well. He does a lot of different things.

I think Nyquist has been really underrated with how he's played this year. And you really watch him on the forecheck. His speed looks to be back. But you guys are right. I mean, that's a line that probably doesn't get enough credit. And I think one guy that probably isn't being talked about enough is Gustav Nyquist and how much of an X-factor he's been in this series already. So tell us about the coach there, Rick Tockett,

and the job he's done with his team. Saw his interview with Colby Armstrong. Did a great bit with him and Quinn Hughes, which was really, really well done. Check that out if it's on sportsnet.ca. Your thoughts on where he has his team positioned, his messaging, and has it changed over the course of the season? It has. I think it's something that I was really impressed by.

Towards the end of the season, he was really on the guys. He was really like, hey, you guys can't expect to run into the playoffs and just up your game. You have to be trending in the right direction. He was really nit the guys like he was really like hey you guys can't expect to run into the playoffs and and just up your game you have to be trending in the right direction he was really nitpicking their game and pushing them to be a lot better as soon as the playoffs began though he completely changed he's like we have a good team we know what we have to do it's about us building the team up now we have to build in on our confidence and he's been very encouraging even after last night's game and people were wanting blood on elias petterson and And he said, instead of saying, yeah, he struggled, he needs to be better, it was, this is great for the kid.

It's experience for him. He's going to get through it. He'll be a lot better. His overall demeanor has become really positive once the postseason began. And I think that's an encouraging way to go about things with a team that doesn't have a ton of playoff experience. And instead of putting the seed of doubt in their heads and be like, if you guys don't find your game, you're lose and instead of you know really creating this you know

this nightmare scenario for the team if they don't play their game he's been very positive about what they need to do and the outlook he has for the team and i think that shows a lot of maturity and emotional understanding of where players are at and those are the types of things i look for sometimes because i can always i always cringe when i see a head coach heading into a big game or playoff game, almost put too much on the guys. Then you almost plant the seed of doubt on the guys. And in the regular season, it's one thing in the playoffs, it's all about confidence.

So I've been really impressed with his overall demeanor. Now we'll see what happens if they lose another game or, you know, they're in a tough spot in the series, but so far, there has been a real change in his messaging the past four or five days. So just prior to coming on our show, we had a brief conversation on Winnipeg and Colorado. And I know Demko didn't play last night. But what do you think the narrative would have been in Vancouver if he gave up 11 goals in the first two games at home like hella buck did in winnipeg honestly people would be calling for casey the smith to get a start maybe or maybe even

i mean because even earlier this season when dempo had this incredible start to the campaign right it was unbelievable then to smith when when undefeated his first five or six games and there were people wondering if the smith should start more games and maybe the smith should be the starting goalie and maybe you don't need a goalie like that for Demko. Now, Vancouver's always had a precarious relationship with goaltenders. It goes back a very long time

and there was a love-hate relationship with Luongo, of course, and we all know the days with Cloutier and then you go through everything else that's kind of happened. And it can be fickle when it comes to goaltending. It's very much what have you done for me lately. But I do think the market we're in here in Vancouver

would take the goalie getting ventilated, like the way Hellebuck did the first two games, far differently than they're taking it in Winnipeg right now. So going into game three here, let's say the Canucks find their way through this series. How do you feel about the Canucks as a team that has a legitimate chance to go in a deeper push of sorts? Because they really feel like

one of Canada's stronger hopes here. Yeah, I mean, honestly, a lot of it comes down to Dempo, right? Like, can they get him back at some point? He's that important. Because I think he really is. I mean, and I thought DeSmit was fine last night, but you still see he's not the same.

You know, and I think the confidence it gives, I mean, you guys know, you have one of the top netminers backing you you're going to feel a lot better about how you go about things every game when you have somebody else and to a man they always talk about they believe in the smith they believe in their overall team game but i don't know if you have the same swagger if you don't have them and then not to mention the goals above expected that you can get saved by that you're done because i don't think that cases that smith can really replicate and hasn't really shown you can replicate saved by Thatcher Demko that I don't think that Casey Smith can really replicate

and hasn't really shown he can replicate. So a lot of it comes down to that. But I do think, going back to what I mentioned about the defense, the depth down the middle, if their guys can get going offensively, I still think this can be a really dangerous team, but they really can't afford to miss any of the top guys. When we talked about this, the deadline guys, I was shocked the Canucks weren't able to add somebody else at the deadline.

They were really trying to add a forward. It's clear they're top six forward short. So it's like, I don't think they can really handle a big injury to one of our top players. That really puts them in the top spot. But if they can get Demko healthy, I do see a pathway if they can get past Nashville, that they can do a little bit of damage.

But the margin of error is so thin when it comes to being healthy. So before we let you go, just your thoughts on Dakota Joshua. And he had a really good season, and yet he just seems to have elevated into the playoffs. And just overall, what you've seen out of his season so far. What an incredible story. And to be honest, guys, when this season began,

I had some questions because he was one of the guys who showed up the camp not out of shape by any means but the coach mentioned that hey we challenged our guys to show up in incredible shape and he didn't meet the very high standard we set he had a healthy scratch earlier this season he looked off the pace in the preseason early in the year he looked off the pace and i kind of wondered did he did he squash did he ruin an opportunity for himself coming off a year where he scored you know 12 goals 11 goals he has size has physicality there aren't enough guys like that around the nhl if he would have put together two decent seasons back to back he can could have earned himself a nice payday and for a guy who's

really toiled in the minors and hasn't found it until he's 26 27 years old i thought this could have been a huge missed opportunity for him. But what a testament to his work ethic and perseverance during the season to get himself into shape, earn the respect and confidence of the coach yet again. And just his overall game has gotten a lot better. There aren't enough guys like this around the National Hockey League. You know, guys that can score almost 20 goals, have physicality.

You know, they can play a skilled game. They can win along the boards, aren't afraid to drop the gloves. But he's more than a one-dimensional five-on-five player. He's become one of their best penalty killers. Last night, for instance, on the PK, three or four clears, he was completely the reason why it happened. He's really good at reading the play. He's showing a lot of chops outside of just being this physical guy

that can put a few goals. And I wonder if he keeps doing what he's done so far in the playoffs, he might price himself out of Vancouver. I know the Canucks want to keep him, but you guys know when it comes to finding guys that have some size, that can have a little pop in their game, what's a free agent marketing going to look like for him? And there's

no better stage to showcase yourself in the playoffs. And I wonder if he's setting himself up for a massive payday once July comes around. Game three Friday. Can't wait. Hey, Sat, great stuff, man. Really appreciate you coming on

the show and giving us some excellent feedback on what we saw last night out of the Vancouver Canucks. We'll talk to you soon, okay? Thanks, guys. Always appreciate it. Love watching your show so thanks man thanks appreciate it bud alright Satcha does a great job on Vancouver

Central feel bad for it the bandaid goalie is a painful one where it's like he's so good and he makes you a true contender but a lot of times it's just it's not there it's also so

hard to know like with a backup goaltender where the great goalie would have made an exceptional save like the the first one is kind of weird right the weird tip that goes in during the let's go casey chant but like forsberg dunks on him yeah it was a poster in a big way and it's like you're not supposed to stop forsberg from two feet away from the net. But maybe, maybe he would have. Poke check maybe. There is nothing like a psychological hit on you when your number one goalie goes down. Absolutely.

Right? I don't even think it compares to a star centerman or a star D-man. You still think you can kind of piecemeal this thing but your star goalie goes down you're like oh god you just plays you're like kind of cheating to the middle to make sure you don't get beat you're not playing the same game you're not playing free and you know that and you know that that this guy will find a way to make the save and cover my ass and we're still in the hockey game. I just, I can't imagine what the vibe was watching that first goal go in. And it was a hell of a redirect.

Yeah. Right? It was a very, very good. It's a tip from the middle of the high slot where the goal is just on the net. You know, and they're chanting his name. And it's like right in the middle of the chant, you're like. I fell for him. Like, he's a good goalie. He's had a decent year.

That was a tough moment. That sucks. Anyway. That sucks. All right. We want to get a thought from Rick Bonas on last night's survey. You want to go to break? Let's do game time.

Okay, we'll do game time. And then we'll go to break, and then we'll come back and hit on all that stuff. Love it. All right. It's game time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app visit the app play this to find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly obviously three games tonight uh the one that kind of catches my eye here uh for the number is vegas and dallas uh vegas is plus 135 tonight on the road in dallas bet 365 clearly thinks that dallas needs this one really bad and they're gonna get the absolute a effort but after watching that

golden knights team and seeing them full bore like i you know getting them at a plus 135 number if you're a gambling man seems like something that's pretty pretty tantalizing to me but yeah you're right like dallas goes down two and then goes to vegas that's a hard spot like you know full deborah is what you're gonna get you're gonna get the best of the dallas stars tonight yeah there's uh there's a real sense for dallas after that game gone that's not an eighth seed team but they need to get over that fast yes they do and be like this is the conference final yes because that's a good hockey correct and i don't know i mean at the end of the day too you got to just factor in peter deborah and this is remember he was the coach there that it was an ugly breakup. Oh, yeah. This is a very emotional series for Pete DeBoer.

And I mean, we haven't got that sense yet. He's saying all the right things. He's doing all the right things. I mean, he alluded to it after game one being like, wow, I hadn't seen that before. Oh, yeah. We played the clip. He already was kind of alluding to the elephant in the room,

the Golden Knights. Yeah. But, yeah. Like, we played the clip. He, like, already was kind of alluding to the elephant in the room with the Golden Knights. Yeah. But, yeah. And another way too early check-in on the Consmite trophy. Yep. Connor McDavid is a massive favorite. Plus 750. Yeah.

And the next closest is plus 1600. Wow. Yeah. Artemi Panarin is the next closest. Shesteric and Ajo. Anderson is up there, 18 to 1. So, they're really liking your – they're favoring, obviously, the Rangers and the Canes in the East.

And they take McDavid. I mean, when you get five helpers in the first game of the playoffs. I saw, I think, Gretzky's best year in playoffs. He had 30 assists. I was like, McDavid could do that in six games. No, but, right, you got to make sure that you're still playing. Like, you can put all the assists all you want. You just can't stop after the second round.

No. Right? No, and it's got to be a complete game. He can do that. You can put your money down right now, but you better make sure they get to a Stanley Cup final. He's the type of guy that can win it losing in a Stanley Cup final. I might actually, yeah, That's a pretty tempting number.

For sure he could. If he has 40 points or something. But he's got to get there. And if you want one for way down the list, a guy that's super clutch, scored his fifth career overtime winner last night, Carter Verhage, plus he's a 50-1 shot. Now, what did you send me about how the Leafs lost him? Okay.

They traded him. Do you want to hear the trade? Yeah how the Leafs lost him? Okay. They traded him. Do you want to hear the trade? Yeah. I got to find the... Okay. First of all, okay. I know we're going to talk more Florida soon and Tampa, but what a set of hands on the overtime goal.

Nasty. Tight. And then to be able to corral the puck and put it upstairs was a thing of beauty. So he was traded from the Leafs with Taylor Beck, Christopher Gibson, Matt Finn, and Thomas Nielsen for Michael Grabner. That was like that Lou one to get rid of all the contracts. Nobody thought he could skate back then.

I have a hard time killing the Leafs for it because Tampa literally let him go too. It's not just the Leafs that quit on him. But the agents said no to him. Really? Agents who watched him. Was he in the OHL? Yeah, played for the, I believe,

the Ice Dogs. Ice Dogs, Niagara. Agents passed on him. Crazy. Things have worked out pretty well for him. And that's just such a sweet move, like you said. All right, that was Game Time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365.

Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, we'll take a quick break. And when we come back, we'll tee up the rest of the series. We've still got to hear from Rick Bonas on his hockey club going down last night, evening that series with Colorado.

Carberry, head coach of the Washington Capitals, down 2-0 to the New York Rangers, and he took a little slice off of Ovi last night. Spensy, baby. We'll get into that when we return to the real Kipper and Boren show. Breaking down the top stories in hockey and Elliott Friedman every day. The Jeff Merrick Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee

getting you ready for puck drop tonight what are y'all giggles got the funniest friends in the world all my buddies are hilarious way to stay focused on our show well I was in the break I want to stay locked in when we come back just to talk to uh talk about for haggie being clutch yeah i wanted to bring up the numbers

uh most this is from sports and stats which is a wonderful follow on x if you uh if you like sports stats which i do uh most career postseason ot goals joe sakic has eight who's an all-time leader which is a just an amazing stat. Maurice Richard has six. I heard of him. Perry, Glenn Anderson, Carter Verhage, and Patrick Kane are all tied at five. It's crazy. That's unbelievable company.

Not a ton of opportunities. Maybe, I don't know, three, four a year. You got to be on some good teams. Yeah, it's crazy. Three, four a year if you're on good teams. All right, let's follow that up with the fact that the Panthers found a way to go up 2-0 in this series with a 3-2 win off of that goal by Carter Verhage. Felt like Tampa was going to get it.

The exhibition between goalie Bob and Vasilevsky, they were like heavyweights. I mean, it was just brilliant to watch as a hockey fan as a canadian hockey fan not as great if you're thinking about russia potentially getting back into international competitions and having to beat one of those two guys in the big games not a great thought but they were both dialed in it was excellent to watch but brovsky was otherworldly but the the save he made, the spin around, backhand, desperation save, we'll see that on

highlight reels for the next hundred years or so. That was on Dumba. It was dumbfounded. There's nothing you could do. He shoveled it hard into the middle of the net with the goalie facing backwards. Well, I actually think there's a case to be made that Dumba hit it too

well. It's the perfect shot. He one-timed a backhand and got pace and got it up. I mean, what? You don't want a guy to try to pick a corner there. You don't want him to slide on the ice. It's a perfect shot. It's an unbelievable save. Would you like to hear Cooper talk about the goaltending battle and what he saw?

I would, yes. Alright, let's listen to that. Well, you're looking at two of the best. you know, sit here and be in the biggest stage in the greatest league in the world, and then watch two guys like that go toe to toe.

It's, you know, sometimes you have to sit here, I know I'm the coach of one of the teams, but kind of marvel at some of the saves that were made. On that one save, Bob didn't quit on it. It's probably more on us than him. But you've got to tip your hat to him. I thought the biggest saves were the two Vassie made after that save,

which at the time could have sunk us. But he kept us in it, so it was a pretty sparkling performance by both guys. That's vintage Cooper. ABC. ABC with Cooper has always been coaching.

He is always coaching. Yeah, their guy saved. It was good, but the two our guy made, those were the same. Way better. Save of the century, but we could have done better. It wasn't him. It was on us. Dom Hasek would have, like, one of those every other night.

You know what blows my mind? That's the way Dom goaltended. Someone showed a video. They put a video on Twitter. They're like, yeah, this is like a similar save that Hasek made. I can't get over the quality of the video. I watched this hockey as a child. Oh, I know.

It looks like it's like Rocket Richard. A hundred years ago. I cannot believe how recently video cameras were terrible. I know. We were watching it. You ever like go back and watch an old golf highlight where they just show the ball in the air? I think cameramen were drunk or something back then.

I think so, too. I think the technology was fine. They were just hammered. When I was super sick around the Masters, I watched the 86 Masters broadcast on YouTube. Yeah. And delirious, by the way. It was one of the...

I was coming in and out watching it. Yeah, yeah. They did an unbelievable job in 86 covering it, and they were over it but yeah the quality of the it's like this is a guy makes a swing and you look at the sky for 14 seconds and then they show you where the ball ends up but dominant i mean if we're having a goalie debate there's no better goal i've ever seen in my life than hasik hasik is the number one best goal like i know wa has better not a verdure has all the records but there's no goalie I feared like Hasek. Number one, by far. You too?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And I can't. You ever come close to scoring on him? I think I did score on one goal on him. I did. But he'd be one of those where you think you got half the net, and then he'd just come out of nowhere like Superman.

The one where he rolls over. And shut you down, and you're like going back to the bench going, what just happened to me? No goalie coach would let him exist like that today and in fairness it probably wouldn't work with today's shooters maybe i bet the other like i've got amazing images of of dom in my head the one that i can't get out of is that um him in in chechia going back to get his memorabilia and throwing it in a shopping cart. Did you, you never saw that?

No, I've never seen it. Yeah, something happened and he had a ton of memorabilia and they called him and said, we don't need it anymore. You come and get it. He just went and picked it up? Just picked it up.

He's just picking pieces up like a blocker. And I'm like, what is happening? This is the greatest goalie that ever played the game. Broke my little heart in two pieces too in the Olympics in that shootout. Oh my God. And Gretz that ever played the game. Broke my little heart in two pieces, too, in the Olympics in that shootout. Oh, my God. But he did the intentional fallback rollover.

Like, he would commit to one knowing the roll was an option. One important piece in that game, Sam Bennett leaves the game in the second period off of a Montour slap shot. Doesn't return. We week, he said. I don't know. That's large. He went for x-rays today.

This could be devastating. I mean, we talked at length about Demko being out of the lineup. This guy means a ton to the Florida Panthers and what he brings nightly now for them. Sorry, I was just going to say that Maurice addressed it and said that he will be out for at least a week and it's better than the Panthers first feared. Okay, that's good. I mean, depending on who you're cheering for.

So a clean break. That would be better, I guess. Avoid surgery. Yeah. but like that guy watching him in the series against the leafs last year like completely changed the tone of the series nailed and absolutely put jacob slavin into another dimension in the conference finals the the literal hardest hit i've ever seen yeah was bennett on slavin i think really hard he He is a game changer for them. That's a big loss. No question.

Not enough to make the difference between Florida and Tampa, I don't think. All right. It's a big one. We mentioned also the New York Rangers being up 2-0. And what might be a very frustrated head coach out of Washington addressing the fact that Ovi, 30-goal scorer Ovi, had a very difficult two games at MSG. The play, he gets a puck cross ice, and he's getting pressure right away, so he just all of a sudden is surprised, and then he bobbles it,

and they turn it over. I thought the first two games looks a little bit off. He's struggling. It's hard. The playoffs, on the road, he's getting a tough matchup. It's two games, right? We're going back home now. We'll get an opportunity to be able to control the matchup for him, and he can flip it.

That's one thing about O. He can flip it in one game, and now he can all of a sudden be a difference maker and help us win a game or be a driver in winning us a game on home ice all right that wasn't horrible i didn't hear that you kind of teed it up a little bit for me i mean rookie head coach calling him out saying he's not very good i thought i wasn't horrible i thought he gave him a lot of outs that's what i got a bit but you gotta yeah you're it a bit, but you gotta. You're Spencer Carver, he's Alexander Ovechkin. He looks a bit off and he's struggling.

Those are genuine criticisms. But then he gave it a, you know, the whole, well, he's got the tough matchups. Still a great guy. Yeah, he's got great teeth. Did you see the play? Yes, I did. Oh, my God. The back check.

Yeah, it was. Well, I mean, he fumbles it. Well, he's fumbling it. He's not moving his feet. But there's a lot of moments in the game now where he doesn't The back check. Yeah, it was. Well, I mean, he fumbles it. Well, he's fumbling it. He's not moving his feet. But there's a lot of moments in the game now where he doesn't move his feet. Yeah. Right. It's like that wasn't like an isolated incident of him not moving his feet.

It's typically kind of in the train tracks until it's time to chop, chop, chop and get to the spot. game i bet you you couldn't find any video of a guy during play that can stop on one spot and not move yeah you know it's funny i've read a thing on on soccer footy if you will for sam who's a closer follower about messy and how his distance traveled in a hockey or in a soccer game is is the smallest he you know he conserves, conserves, and goes. And that is Ovi at this point to me, and it's tough to be a conservationist in hockey. It is. I'd like you guys to get to the spots when, you know,

ahead of time, be proactive, and that element of his game is gone. And Messi gets the ball and picks out a perfect pass, like, immediately. And Ovi's just trying to blast it now. Yeah, he's just trying to get to that spot. These games don't matter to Ovi. We all know. He's saving it for the regular season. He to get his his records yeah yeah all right did we want to sneak in an uh burnett clip what do we play national play to the play it already

committed to the the pain oh that's right yeah that's right okay so i thought you know we could have a conversation on on uh hellebuck because I think through two games in that series, I think there's some conversations about his playoff stuff. Sad said he's been ventilated, which is a hell of a word to describe a guy who's had holes put in him. But, I mean, it's been a tough couple games. His last six playoff games, he has a 1-5-0 record with a 434 goals against average and an 876 save percentage.

Yeah, not great, Bob. You think they're bailing on him? No, I don't. I mean, who? I think fans, yeah. I mean, it's playoffs. These games mean the most. It's when you start seeing them go in.

And, listen, you're not going to kill them for any of the goals that go in last night. But Josh Manson breaks in on a breakaway at the end of the period. And you're just like, can we just get a stop? He makes a great move. I know. That was a really good move.

I know he does. But he can't give up that five hole. He's making a save for your team. Manson. He's a Vezna favorite. Like, make one on the defenseman on the breakaway to keep him at four two and that just that broke them they they come back they don't win the game so it makes a good save that leads to their goal to make a two one that kind

of gets him started going the other way he has some good moments and you know to go to his defense even further i think um you know in his nhl career he a 9-14 save percentage in the postseason. He's had stretches of being able to play in the big moments. And, you know, he'll find it. He's a great goalie. And he's not like one of these guys to me who, you know, where he's just always having a bad series. Like, he's an elite goalie.

I think you're going to get good performances ahead. I just want to interrupt this conversation to say that Kip scored against Hasek on March 13th, 1993. Whalers versus the Sabres. Assist from Adam Burt and Murray Craven. Thank you to Jovo, our producer. Oh, gosh. Why can't you crack information like that?

Kipper, because I am talking. About nine seconds ago. It's on air. I talk. I talk. That's stuff that you should have collected before we started the show three years ago. You should have a library beside you. Just snap it off.

A foresight of when we were talking about you scoring on Hasek. But that's sick. Scoring on Hasek and you scored on Wa too, right? I did get one on him too. In the Montreal form. Wow. I don't know how people can say that um do we feel differently about the series because it was george ev stinks and winnipeg still found a way to win even though they gave up

six in game one and george there's no way gory is going to save this thing for colorado and now we're like we've got a different feel in game three not entirely for me i know it is disconcerting if you're a jets fan that gory have had a good moment or georgie the fifth is our friend rob brown called him but you know these are he's an nhl goalie he's capable of putting together a few good periods i don't think that changes who he is he's an NHL goalie. He's capable of putting together a few good periods. I don't think that changes who he is. He's gettable. I still think it's going deep.

Still think it's probably going to be a seven-game series. But McKinnon is just so good. And you're not wrong. But the game changer in this series isn't McKinnon. It's McCarr. He's amazing. And Winnipeg, they don't have one of those. No one does. I mean, well, maybe Van Gogh.

And that's, for me, when you watch these early games now, those star D stand out. They do. They do. Okay? Yossi, Makar, like these type of guys. Hughes, Fox. Hughes, Fox.

How about Bouchard? They rise. And I look at Winnipeg's blue line and I go, okay, they're okay. And Josh Morsi is a good defenseman. Really good. Is he not? He can't. Morgan Riley, a little better Morgan Riley maybe?

He is. Like a back class. He is. Definite number one. He is. morgan riley maybe he is like a back class he is definite number one he is see morgan riley is a two to three for me i know but you say that but if you actually start writing a list he's one of the 32 best yeah he's a he's a number one on the lease he's not but that's you're looking at a blanket across the league i'm looking at it as where are you slotted when my team wins the stanley

cup yeah and it's you're not leading the stanley cup charge so that's why i look at morgan riley and i go he for me slots two to three right so i look at josh morris, and I like Josh Morrissey just a little bit more than I like Morgan Rielly. They both have excellent defense, but Josh Morrissey can't do what a Makara can do in this series. It's basically an unfair, you know, who can, right? It may be using you. But that could be the difference between winning and losing for me. You know who's in that class, too,

and they don't really get talked about it, but should is petrangelo petrangelo is in that upper upper tier it's different with him racking my brain as he said that and i was like the penguins won a cup without letang the one year they didn't really have anyone but petrangelo was with saint louis that year he was their guy same with vegas it doesn't look like it does with macar or like with less flash he's a little meaner. Massive, just big guy that I love. Pietrangelo.

Do you want to hear Bonas' take on his thoughts on where the series is at? We were better. Yeah, we were a lot better in certain areas. We had some lapses certainly at the end of the second there that kind of caught up to us a little bit. But we had to start.

We really wanted. Then they got their power play, and they kind of finished up strong in the first. But for the most part, it was a lot better in areas, and there's still improvement to be made in other areas. All right, so he's keeping it. No panic. As a theme of our coaches clips today was the stuff we're doing good.

We need to keep doing and the stuff we're doing bad. We need to do better. I found, you know, it's like, okay, no one's saying anything. I know it's non-playoff related, but we got a couple seconds here before we go. Have you seen the list of names that have been filed? The trademarks for Utah? I have seen the list of names that have been filed, the trademarks for Utah? I have seen the list.

Would you like to hear them? I know, that's why I brought it up. The full list. The Utah Mammoth. The Utah Ice. Utah Yetis. Utah Venom.

Utah Fury. Utah Blizzard. The Utah Outlaws and the Utah Hockey Club or Utah HC Any peak in your interest bud? I'm not sure Mid

I don't know What colors do you like for them? How many stripes on the sweater? No? Just don't reinvent the wheel. Just don't reinvent the wheel. Less is more with jerseys. We don't need the Kraken.

We don't need the Golden Knights. No, no, no, no, no. Less is more. Vegas was ridiculous. Less is more. Kraken did a nice sweater. Yeah, but there you go. I thought I'd bring that up for you because I know you're just dying to know on this playoff

game day what those names are. But in all honesty, I think it should be Utah Hockey Club. Utah HC. I knew you would say that. It's nice. I like that. You can do a UHC, some kind of symbol, something plain. There you go.

Great. I guess the owner had a few of the guys, maybe a dozen guys out there, 15 guys. Oh, yeah? Took them golfing. Nice golf courses. He is like. Oh, took the owners? The owner, Ryan Smithith i like this guy take out uh i think i heard about 10 15 guys from where who they flew him in they flew him in oh the players yeah the players check out oh that's awesome it took him

golfing and keller likes the golf i heard yeah he's a stick he's talking about what he's going to do for them how they're going to be treated they've wives all of it you know ryan smith he went on really smart and and shout out to them for what they're doing for hockey trying to you know kind of jam it into the mainstream in the u.s a good producer would get pat mcafee on the show how many years now have we trying to get it mainstream in the u.s now how long has it been well we had it 1996 he's ahead of the nba no but back in our glory days god love pat mcafee i mean he was wearing a jets jersey the other day talking about their barn i guess he doesn't watch many of their regular season games but uh barnes got

no football to talk about drafts on thursday bud, bud. Oh, Thursday. Okay, then he starts up. That's a big deal. That's a big deal. Then he starts up. Yeah. What did you guys think of kind of slid under the radar? Quinn getting fired head coach of the San Jose Sharks. If a tree falls in San Jose and they fire the tree.

It's his fault. They ice an ECHL team and they got him. Good job. Well, but it's not about you did a bad job. It's that we're doing a different thing, right? Like, what are you supposed to do with that group? Good luck to the next head coach taking that thing. They did him a favor.

He'll be gone in two years. What was the name here they had with the Blue Jays? Oh, Montoya. They should hire him. Yeah, just move on. 11 a.m. tomorrow. One hour. 11 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.

My producer has told me he can't find a clip of me scoring a goal, but he can tell us it's 11 a.m. Eastern tomorrow on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Enjoy the games tonight, and we're back tomorrow at 11 a.m. It's the Jackets. The Jackets.

The Jackets.