Real Kyper & Bourne - Canadian Teams' Early Impressions with Garry Galley

Episode Date: October 21, 2024

Sportsnet analyst Garry Galley joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne (6:30) to share some early-season impressions on the Canadian teams, including the Flames' flying start, why the Jets' regular-season play doesn't matter, the Sens' inconsistency, Pettersson's slow start for the Canucks and what it means to be a captain in Canada. Later, they regroup with Sam McKee for news and notes - the Atlantic Division shaping up similar to last season and the Jets' concerning crowd numbers.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.

it's the national hour live on sports net 650 in vancouver and sports net 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and born is brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee in a few minutes we'll welcome in gary galley former nhl color analyst on sports net hockey night in canada so we get his thoughts on the ottawa senators and what's going on around the league, including Stamkos. We talked to him. We talked briefly about Stamkos

in our Leaf Edition hour of our show. And not exactly a great start for the Nashville Predators, boys. What is going on? The 0-5-0 right now, is that right? Yes, 0-5-0. Not great. Min minus 13 goal differential i believe stamkos has one assist in five games feel for the guy yeah you do yeah it's early but

five games isn't early enough where you can kind of shrug it off that stuff bothers you bothers you but it's you know like a pretty good bothers you. Bothers you, but it's, you know, like a pretty good career in cups and millions. For sure. But pride is like, it's all about pride and it's all about the present. Yeah, and when you take a big chance, sorry, he has one goal.

That's what he has. Right. It's human nature. I mean, like, look at the start of Tampa. Obviously, they had that loss to Ottawa on the weekend, but, you know, you see that they're not missing you a ton and they're buzzing still and you've made this big, huge life change to go somewhere else. And like, but, you know, you see that they're not missing you a ton, and they're buzzing still, and you've made this big, huge life change to go somewhere else,

and, like, sure, he's rich, and he's a kajillionaire, and he's got cups and all that stuff, but, like, in his mind right now, I'm sure it's not the best. I don't mean to be a jerk, but, like, you know, Breezeball went in his press conference and said he had certain salary demands to be here that we just... So if you make certain salary demands tough to

feel sympathy if you're like i want h mill they're like sorry just a a shout out to uh matt sundin who we had in our first hour uh as his book comes out tomorrow officially matt sundin home and away a lot of it talks about captaincy in the national Hockey League and want to get Gary Galley's thoughts on the evolution of the captain from our era basically to where it is today. Do you think there's been a change yourself? I think there has, but not enough where it doesn't change the impact of off and on the ice. So it has in many ways.

What kind of leader was Matz? You were in the room. I thought he was a very good leader. At times, I wanted him to be a little bit more vocal. Like he had power beyond his belief. And I don't think, you know know he was one of those guys as he admitted when we spoke to him about about uh lead by example i can control myself i can try to prep the guys as best i can but there's other start there's other parts of it that were

up to other people to do their jobs too like a general manager to find better players too i that fascinated me though. He basically said he regretted not going to a GM and saying, could you get us a penalty killer? Or could you get it? Whatever. Like he just kept to himself. Listen.

Can I play with not? Jonas Hoagland? Right. I've also been in rooms with Rod Langway, Mark Massier, Gilmore. So there's quite the range between where is the line that I can cross and where at some points where Matz goes, I'm not going to tell Pat Quinn how to do his job

if he's trying to put a team together. But a guy like Mark Messier, I think it's easy for him to go into whoever he needed to say, Roger Nielsen, wonderful person, wonderful coach, but we can't win with him coaching this particular hockey club right now. That's not an easy thing to do as a captain, but needed to get done. Yeah.

Those are hard conversations and it's tough to know. I think in all of our own jobs, it's tough to know what you can and should say to improve things other than just doing your own job. Right? Like who can you go to and say, Hey, could we get like Matt Sundin in here one day?

That would be a lot better for us. And it that was all me it was all sammy yeah i called up my boy matt and he's like come on your boy oh yeah me and matt um i already got up you guys cropped out of that photo that we took together it's perfect i've got you guys super close i'm just glad you hung up the right jersey yeah Yeah, there you go. There you go. In honor of Matt's today. So we're going to get Gary Galleon in a few minutes to talk. Other Canadian teams look around Canada a little bit. Oilers seem to have figured it out. Until they lost to the Stars.

Yeah, until the Stars lost. It wasn't great. Who had that on their bingo card there with Calgary off to this start in edmonton off to their start it is pretty wild it is wild i think one of the uh fascinating details right now is the oilers power play struggling so much and zach hyman having i think goose eggs yeah across viewers across the board through five games which is you know after what he scored last year 50 50 even 50 more social media calling him a flash in the pan for 50 goal scorer.

Please. Oh, I just, you know how it works. Oh, yeah. Right? There could be some truth to that. He's a five, 50 goal scorer. I mean, he might be a 35 goal scorer this year. Yeah, but that would be called like a flash in the pan.

There's a one, right? It's a one-time thing. If it was a career year. 35 is good. That's not the flash. Don't let me defend social media here because, boy, that's not a smart move. But what is, like, where does it have to be for you to seriously call it, like, whatever you want to call it?

Like, it'll never happen again. They paid him, yeah, sure. They paid him 5.5 mil a year when he had he had never scored 30 if he scores 30 and they're one of the top teams in the western conference who cares yeah yeah i think that's fair i also think um you know there are plenty of underlying numbers with that line that he's on that they are actually creating chances at the same rate or even better than last year so uh look for that line you heard here first look for the line. You heard it here first. Look for the McDavid line to have success soon.

That's right. They pay you the medium bucks. That's right. All right. Let me go cash these checks. All right. As promised, we deliver Gary Gowley, former National Hockey Leaguer, Sportsnet analyst.

Welcome to the program. Gary, is this your debut for this season? Is this it? I think it might be i might have been on in the preseason but i'm not sure it's all a blur lucky us usually there's a few jerseys in the background but you are sporting the denver bronco cap nice i am i am many years of suffering and then a couple of three championships and then more suffering so that's the way it works leafs fans would love that right now.

Okay, so where are we waking up today and feeling like Calgary's the team to beat in the West and not the Edmonton Oilers? Like, did this stuff happen, Gary, when we were in the league? I just think that, you know, there are teams that get off to good starts. There are teams that get off to sluggish starts. We went through all of this last year with Edmonton.

You know, they had that just really awful start and then let go a coach and then eventually things clicked in and they took off and they were the team that everyone thought they would be. The Calgary Flames are interesting because a lot of people felt like this is a team that probably wouldn't make the playoffs. A lot of pieces have exited over the years. Maybe they're not as good a team as they think they are, but somebody forgot to remind the Calgary Flames that,

and they're off to a really good start. And as I always said, you can win five, six games in a row, and you can lose five, six games in a row in this game, and it happens fast. So it's a great start for Calgary. I think that they should be really pleased and thrilled with the start, but I think you've got to constantly keep pushing the numbers as far as you can because the playoffs, you know, you don't get in at 500.

You've got to get in well above 500, and they've got a lot of work to do to get there at the end of the year but it's a nice start for them and and uh you know everything that's that's gone on there in calgary it's nice to see them having a really good start i mean you look at nashville with a struggle again like this is a team that a lot of people felt like you know with the with the additions that they made uh and the leadership that they built on we're going to be just just really really solid team and they haven't found themselves yet that's not to say that they built on were going to be just really, really solid team, and they haven't found themselves yet. That's not to say that they can't go on a 7, 8, 9-game run. UC Starros is capable of shutting the door for a long period of time.

Right now, he just can't find his game, and it happens. So I think the sample sizes are much too small right now to get too excited about anything. Too small, but some still pretty noteworthy. One of those being the Winnipeg Jets, the only team in the league to grab every point available to them so far this season, a plus 16 goal differential. I had thought, gals, that they had lost some players in the offseason,

wasn't really sure what to expect this year. Feels a bit more sustainable than the Flames' hot start, no disrespect to them. I will say this to you. I don't care about the regular season for the Winnipeg Jacks. Oh, you're over it. You know, I was so close to saying, yeah. I'm just telling you that until they pull their socks up in the playoffs

and start playing like a team that they look like in the regular season, the regular season means nothing. They have shown that before. They have dialed in the regular season, and they have shown a team that they look like in the regular season the regular season means nothing they have shown that before they have dialed in the regular season and they have shown a team that everyone got behind and the playoffs come and then the gas is out it's done okay they don't they don't show up so who are you talking about when you when you say that comment what's the first thing that comes to mind is it the offense led by shifley is it the blue line or is it connor hellebuck showing up in the playoffs i think it's a matter of all of it i think it's it's cumulative it's

like they don't get enough timely scoring they allow bad timing goals um they don't seem to have the defense core the six guys coming over like not just two or three, but the solid six playing all good at the same time. It's like, it's just, they show, like last year I bought into it all. I really thought that they were going to be a really tough out in the playoffs. And they just, they were an easy out. They were an easy out.

I did them the last two years. They were easy outs. And I'm not saying that this isn't a team that can't be very good in the playoffs, but they haven't shown it yet. So should they make the playoffs this year? Absolutely. They're a good enough team to make the playoffs.

The start is fantastic. That's great. And they will make the playoffs. They're a good team. But this team has to ante-income playoff time. And they haven't done that. So, yes, you've got to play the regular season to get to the playoffs you got to build on that they got a new coach um someone who's been around

so they they know him really well uh they've got similar pieces uh they've added a few pieces um you know they look like a team that's going to definitely uh make the playoffs but again when they get there well what really uh what really comes out at the end of the day? Does Connor Hellebuck play like a Vezina trophy winner? Does the defense core, can they stay healthy enough through the playoffs? That's the other thing, too. They get banged up really quickly in the playoffs. And can the forwards on this team show up on a nightly basis?

Not just every other game or have a good start. Like a few years ago, Dubois is the best player on the ice in the first game. I mean, absolutely the best player on the ice and then disappeared for the rest of the series, you know, and they get eliminated. Like they need more guys to play consistently through the playoff round. But then again, again, we're not there. We're not even close there yet.

But I just, everyone gets excited about Winnipeg. And I'm just thinking like, yeah, I expect Winnipeg to be good. Will they make the playoff? We'll have to wait and see. Yeah. You know, pretty polarizing early results for most Canadian teams.

Obviously I'll take you to the Oilers next. They're a curiosity at, you know, at the very least that's an understatement maybe for the way they've started the year, the last two seasons. What are your thoughts on their 2-4 start? Are you as surprised as the rest of us? The way you lose in the playoffs in seven games for the Cup,

it is heart-wrenching. It stays with you. I lost in the finals, but not in seven games. And it was a tough restart the next year. The games don't seem so important. There's not a lot of emotional charge to them. You've got to create your emotion and you've got to get it going quickly. They're having trouble doing that.

They're saying the right things. They understand what they have to do but you're you know what you're saying and how you're reacting in your body is is getting ready for these games are two different things you know you're coming from games that are at the utmost importance and you're chasing a dream and you're so close to it and then you lose it and i just think it takes a bit of time to get back from that. You know, I think there are some teams that have handled it better than they are right now. But I do believe they will eventually get their feet on steady ground. They're too good a team to not.

And they'll get things going. I think right now they're just having a bit of post-playoff blues. And as much as they're trying hard, it's hard to generate emotion and energy when you don't feel it. And that's something they're going to have to get used to generate emotion and energy when you don't feel it. And that's something they're going to have to get used to because they're going to have to create it somehow. We're talking to Gary Gally, color analyst with Sportsnet Hockey Night in Canada.

Just to stay on the Oilers a bit longer here, Gary, where are you in terms of the actual lineup? Better, worse, the same? They lost two pieces that you don't usually see when it comes to offer sheets. Where was that on the psyche of this hockey club? Yeah, I mean, those are big losses. I mean, I think there are guys that got their feet wet in the playoffs,

and I think there are guys that you kind of felt like when you were watching the playoffs go along that these guys could be a piece of the Oilers and then all of a sudden that was it, it was over. I think when you have a team and a salary cap and the guys that commend the salaries that some of those guys have,

the bottom pieces sometimes you can't keep the bottom pieces and those are the pieces that are integral in winning. Sidney Crosby took, you know, $8.7 million instead of $10 or $11 million that he could have easily, or $11 or more that he could have easily asked for because he understands that if he takes all that, they'll never be able to surround him with good enough players to win.

And then it makes the job even harder. So, yeah, I mean, for the Edmonton Oilers, they will be forever trying to find those missing pieces, and they'll be losing pieces yearly because they can't afford to pay them, but yet they need them, but they can't afford to pay them because the cap, they're too hard up against the cap. So they're going to lose players like this, and it's frustrating for the fans because you see these guys

and you look like they're going to be really good pieces, and they just don't hold. So they've got got to bring in new guys those guys have to gel they have to find chemistry and they're probably more than capable of of taking on the role that's going to be after them but it takes time to gel as a team and that's part of it too they're the chemistry and all that stuff has to get back in place and and then they'll hopefully find their way but yeah it's it's like you win a Stanley Cup and, you know, you lose six or seven good pieces off it because you can't pay everybody. For the Edmonton Oilers, when you have some heavy hitters like they have

that commend the salaries that they have, you know, the bottom six and the bottom 2D and, you know, the backup goalie and players like that, they're not going to be of the same as some other teams that are a little stronger. So they have to find a way to bridge the gap there. And players have to, those players on the bottom six and the bottom two or three defensemen, they got to play above their pay grade.

They got to play above it to give the support to the team that they need to get to go the distance like they're hoping to go. So we talked a little bit about some of the hot teams, some of the cold teams. There's a few Canadian teams in the middle. That would be Toronto. There's Ottawa. Probably another one, Vancouver.

But I want to ask you about the Sens, because the Sens are the team this year that is supposed to take a step. They're the ones that are trying to get into contention in the Atlantic, working their way up. They look pretty decent this year, but they've had some weird games. That one against the Kings was just a bizarre hockey game. What are your early impressions on how legitimate this Senators team looks in terms of playoffs?

Well, I think if Travis Green was being honest, I think he would say that he's looking for more consistency from his team. And I mean that in saying from night to night when they play, do they look the same? Or are they constantly morphing into a different type of team every night? The game one, the very first game of the season to me, reminded me a lot of who the Senators are. And if it wasn't for the goaltending, it probably they might not have won that game against Florida. I think, you know, they came out of the gate humming, scored a couple of goals, looked like world beaters, and then second period fell asleep.

Third period, Florida outplayed them heavily, and if it wasn't for Allmark, they would have probably tied the game, maybe won it. But Ottawa, because of the goaltender and the addition of Allmark, a guy who is a Vezina Trophy caliber, he was able to shut the door in the third period when things got shaky and turnover started happening and and the Sens started to rear their ugly head at how they play in games where they should win and get points that they seem to give up so that was a bit concerning and then obviously Allmark getting injured and not being healthy a lot of goals

are going in you see a lot of the same things so for Green, he has to want to get this team to understand they have to play a more consistent game on a nightly basis. There can't be large gaps between how they're supposed to play and how they're playing nightly. So they have to figure out a way to be more consistent as a team. They're a very talented team, and they're a team that wants to be good. There's no doubt about that. And I think the owner and the management team has gone out and done a real

nice job of bringing in some veteran pieces like Perron and Cousins, guys that have won Stanley Cups, guys that know how to dig in the trenches that are going to give Drew a little help and maybe give Drew a little more voice. You know, you've got a young captain there still who's finding his way through it, being a leader of a team that is trying to get into the playoffs. I think the Senators hopefully will be there at the end of the day,

battling in March and April in important games. But they have to start playing a more consistent brand of hockey. I know through the course of 82 games, you're going to have ups and downs. There's no doubt about it. You're going to have stinkers. You're going to have games where you just were playing out of your mind good but how do you find that balance and that identity of the team who you are and play that identity every night that's the important thing that's the thing they've got to figure out and i believe that's why they hired

green because green is kind of a bit of a no-nonsense guy he knows how he wants his team to play he's going to hold the players accountable. It doesn't matter who you are. And I think that's a good thing. It's a matter of the Senator players starting to understand that the way they wanted to do it isn't working and the way they have been doing it was not working. So if you want to get to the dance and you want to have a chance at it, you have to come to the conclusion that your way isn't working. You have to find the way that is working working which is being better defensively uh not taking some of the risks not making critical errors those are all key facets of turning it around and all marks just a part of it all mark can can play great and you

know you know i played in buffalo with dominic hasik you know when we were a young team in buffalo man he had a lot of imperfections. And when a goalie hides imperfections, players don't lose their confidence. They keep their confidence because they just keep moving along. And coaches don't get as upset because you win the game instead of losing the game. And everybody finds their way. And eventually a team gets better. And that's what I'm hoping Almar can do for them.

And I do believe that they're on the right path. I think I really do. I think this is a team that can not be surprisingly get into the playoffs but I think that they at least should be battling down March, April in important games Gary Allmark very candid about the process going through his latest injury

he's going to join the team on the road trip here but he's spoken of the process and evaluating it he's going to join the team on the road trip here, but, you know, he's spoken of the process and evaluating it with coaches and medical teams and what it all means and whether he'll start back up or wait. And, you know, I just found myself, gals, asking myself, were goalies always this high maintenance about needing to be perfect

and I just wasn't paying attention all these years. When they were playing 65 to 75 games a year, 80 some of them. You know what? You didn't have time to worry about that stuff. You played. You know, now they're playing 50, 55. And it's just like, yeah, I mean, I definitely, I don't know why I think this. Like, hey, listen, injuries are injuries.

No one has the right to question anyone's injury. I never liked it when people did that. I always find that to be kind of tasteless. Players know their bodies. They know what they can do, what they can't do. But it would seem to me that I think not just Ottawa, but I think a lot of teams in the league are are a little gun shy when it comes to pushing a player through an injury they just don't want to do it and you

know it's not the day like you know when you know Harry Sinden walked back in the plane and you hadn't played in a couple games and he's how you feeling it's all you know you're playing tomorrow you know like those days are gone you know you have to be a little more a little more sympathetic you have to be a little more uh you know careful and bringing a player back in if they're not ready and i find the players today a lot of times it's not that they're not physically ready i think sometimes they're not mentally ready they don't feel like they can do the things they can do so um yeah i think we talk about it too much uh the bottom line is when i'm ready to play i'll play when i feel like i'm ready to play, I'll play.

When I feel like I'm ready to play, I'll play. And that's all I can tell you. Right now I'm doing my best to get back in the lineup. I want to play. So as soon as I can get back in the lineup, I will. And that's the only answer that you can really give anybody. All the other stuff is just top dressing. It really doesn't mean a heck of a lot.

When Allmark's ready to play and he feels 100%, he will get in the net and he will play. And, you know, that's going to have to be enough because that's all you got. Gallus, you're the guy we can count on to go to any Canadian team. And so I'm just going to keep jumping around because you're versed on all this stuff

and we appreciate your breadth of information. So the Canucks have one interesting little discussion point for me. And while there's Demko is one, the other is Pedersen. Pedersen is where I want to go with you because here in Toronto we've had discussions about good players going through rough streaks and the media's on them and what's happening. This guy's had 100 points in the league, gals.

What's going on with Pettersson? And I don't know, is it just an on-ice thing? You know what? It's hard to live in the shoes or the skates of another player and how he's feeling, what's going on in his life. You know, there's so many things that can factor into when a player is not playing up to his capabilities or doesn't seem to be playing up to his capabilities.

You know, when I hear all the talk, you know, wow, Miller's playing better than him, and he doesn't make the same money. Like, you want the money, you've got to start playing better. Like, the money and playing better doesn't really go together to me, especially, you know, in hockey. Like, I understand a player gets the money, and that's great. But the player puts that aside, I can tell you, and just goes out and plays. He wants to play good.

I don't think the money is affecting Pedersen the way he plays. I think he comes out to play. It's just not happening for him right now. He's not feeling it. And it's like when you see a player, like I look at Cole Caulfield, and one of the comments that comes out of my mouth is, he steps on the ice, it's like when you see a player, like I look at Cole Caulfield and one of the comments that comes out of my mouth is he steps on the ice. He's feeling it.

He just is feeling it. October is always a good month for him. He always seems to score goals early in the season in bunches a little bit. And this is no different. It's happening. Um, and in Vancouver, it's not happening. He's, he's, he's struggling. He's not playing freely like you normally see him play

uh maybe this it could be the system is a little more stringent and maybe he's not feeling uh you know he's got you know enough space to operate i don't know i i'm not in the locker room either but at the end of the day they're going to need him um he is going to need to feel like the star player that he is and we have all seen this guy light it up. We've all seen him play, you know, at a very, very high level. So to think that at this young age that it's disappeared and it's not going to come back, I find that to be, you know, I find that to be crazy a little bit. I think it is going to come back.

But how long does it keep going until he starts to feel it again and he starts to find it and it could be line mates it could be the line you're on it could be just the way you know like i said it could be a number of things that we're not aware of um that we might never be aware of but it's certainly he doesn't look like himself that is that is what i notice when i watch him his body language looks a bit off. You know, he's happy when his teammates score. He seems to be in. You know what I mean? He seems to be in.

It's just he's not creating. You know, guys like him, they have to be creative. You know, and every time he touches the puck, he has to be dangerous. You know, and he's capable of making a dangerous play. And that's what we're not seeing. Gals, earlier in our hour with the the leaf show we had matt sundin on and a big portion of his book that comes out tomorrow home and away

uh is the captaincy and just wanted to pick your brain a little bit because uh i know i mean you're well versed on a lot of things in this game and i'm sure captaincy is one of them but things that you liked out of a captain and where it's evolved and how much involvement do they need to have off the ice, including maybe lines or chemistry decisions amongst management? Where do you see captaincy evolving in 2024? And we've got some good ones here in Canada from Connor, Backlund, Suzuki, Matthews

Kachuk Lowry and uh Quinn Hughes being a captain is is uh you know players want to be the captain they want to be the leader they want to be the go-to guy uh the face of the franchise but there is more to it than just you know sticking the letter on your sweater you know the the good ones um you know sacrifice a little bit of their game to play the team game to sell the team game to everybody i think uh teams that have won stanley cups in the past historically guys that uh like eiserman and madonna and guys that had to change the way they played even though they were star players to win they they did it in order to win. They had great leadership.

And for Matt, anybody who knows Matt, he's such a really nice man. I had a chance to get to know him because Dave Ellett was a very good friend of mine. I went to school with Dave. And so in my visits to Toronto and having a chance to meet those guys there, he was one of the guys. Real nice guy. Always seemed to lead his team, even on the nights they weren't even playing when they were, you know, seemed to be a guy that's always helping his teammates out,

whatever they might need in the city, whenever guys come into town. But also, you are the go-between between the players and the coaching staff, and possibly even the players and the upper management. You're the go-between. You're the bridge between them that, you know, when there's stuff that goes on between the management and your captain that the players are never privy to. The captain is involved in these conversations,

and maybe the leadership crew is, but he has to hold these conversations and move forward and work with a team even though he may know more information or have more information than that the players don't have. And that's just the way of being a leader on a team. A coach will come to a captain and say, hey, what's going on? What's going on with this? And is the room is this is what why isn't this person whatever? And, you know, the captain has to be that that guy that's that's straddling the line of of of having the confidence of his teammates, but of having the confidence of his teammates

but also having the confidence of the upper management and stuff. So, you know, I remember in Buffalo when Paddy got injured, he was gone for quite a long period of time. I was kind of the acting captain there. And I found the year extremely – at the end of the season, I was exhausted. There was a lot going on there with John Muckler and Ted Nolan at the time as well, which kind of added to a whole bunch of things. But when you're the captain, like I said, when a player is struggling,

you're trying to help that guy get his game back, and you're also trying to keep your game up at its high level. Like for Nick Suzuki the other night to come out and say, this was an immature game for our hockey club. We have to be better than this. This is not okay. You know, now, you know, he sticks himself out there and puts himself out on a flank where he's got to, like,

that game against the Islanders, he's got to be ready to go. And, you know, he's telling his teammates it's not good enough, so he has to lead the charge with that. And that's what a captain has to do. He's got to put himself out there. And sometimes the captain just likes to be, you know, quiet, play his game, do his thing. But there's more to it with that. And that's what a captain has to do. He's got to put himself out there. And sometimes the captain just likes to be, you know, quiet, play his game, do his thing. But there's more to it than that.

And I think it's a great honor to wear this on a team, but it does take up a lot of oxygen in what you would normally do if you weren't wearing the seat to when you have it. Gals, great insight, man. Really appreciate your time. Welcome back to the show. Awesome. Thanks, Gals. You guys don't look Really appreciate your time. Welcome back to the show. Awesome. Thanks, Gals.

You guys don't look like you're a year older. You either, pal. Oh, we are. Feeling. Most definitely are. What do they call that when you make someone's face look good when it's not? What do they call that? Like a filter?

Filters. There you go. Are they using filters on you guys? Yeah. They should. Soon they should anyway. I'll go buy it myself if I have to. That? Yeah. I know they should. Soon they should anyway. I'll go buy it myself if I have to. That's right.

We'll ship it. Thanks, Gary. Appreciate it. Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet. He makes an excellent point. It's exhausting for him to speak of it and only have a snippet of it in a short period of time and not having it over the years,

man, it can take its toll. And I really like Nick Suzuki's comment. I do too. I think a guy like that says it. It ripples. And that's a young team trying to grow and

needs more kicks in the pants than your average team. Good on him as a young captain doing it. He mentioned the off the ice stuff. Are the captains organizing dinners and coordinating stuff or putting together a party?

Are they doing that kind of stuff? If they're not doing it, they're making sure someone else is doing it. I'm sure Austin Matthews isn't making reservations or whatever. Notoriously, he hasn't, though. He hasn't been that type of guy. Mitch Marner is probably

the guy that organizes and gets guys together. Maybe that has a big part of it. This is his hometown as well. There might be a comfort zone there. I don't know if now Austin falls into that place. I don't think you need to be a party planner to be a captain. No, I just didn't know if that's part of that.

But it's a reflection of bringing the boys together. That's what it is. And if he's not doing it, somebody else has to do it because it needs to get done. Absolutely. All right, let's take a quick break hockey cards guys i got a terry karkner and a robert reichel are you now jay miller are you ken reed must have been here boys are you now that guy now that goes on the internet and opens

up packages of cards i know there must be some kind of like unboxing cash that i can get i went to i went to tim's the other day uh with my Allie and she's like, let's get some cards. Maybe we'll get Sid. Didn't get Sid. Didn't get Sid. No. Jordan Bennington was the star of the show. I was like, oh, Team Canada goalie. I was a little upset. Tim Hortons is saying, keep trying. Maybe that next pack will get

Sid in them. Anyways. Okay, we still got game time and we'll get through some news and notes when we return. Real Kipper and Bourne. Teeing up the biggest games of the night. It's the Fan Pre Game with Ailish Forfar and Justin Cuthbert. Weekdays at 6 p.m. on Sportsnet,

Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. Final block. This hour of Real Kipper and Born brought to you by Bet365. Get a little game time there, Sammy. It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app, latest odds, and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. It's 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. The only show in town tonight, boys. Toronto Maple Leafs. Only hockey game on Amazon Prime tonight. So if you're looking for it on your dial, you're not going to find it. It's on Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime. Monday night hockey.

Cool. Presented by Prime. This is just a given that people still will not know this until they go 7 30 and don't find it change they're really up on this will go smooth i said i sent out a tweet today saying that the amount of moms and dads are gonna be calling their kids being like where's the game it's gonna be a lot tonight like they turn on sports at seven crave netflix all the back-to-backs that the leafs have in the first half yeah thanks to amazon yeah on sports. Crave? What? Netflix? All the back-to-backs that the Leafs have

in the first half thanks to Amazon. Yeah. Is that right? Is that? Yeah, they just hogged them all. They wanted all the Leafs games.

They wanted as many Leafs games as they could get. Man, no competition tonight. It's not great for the zigzag schedule, boys. Oh, yeah. We play Monday nights, yeah. So I'm missing two weeks in a row

hockey. I'm going to go back there and I'm going to suck. I already suck, but I'll suck even more after two, boys. Oh, yeah. We play Monday nights, yeah. So I'm missing two weeks in a row of hockey. I'm going to go back there. I'm going to suck. I already suck, but I'll suck even more after two weeks off. Anyways, the Tampa Bay Lightning are slight underdogs tonight in Toronto. Plus 110 on the money line.

The Maple Leafs are minus 130. Got no feel for this game, really. Not sure which way it's going to go. I actually don't either. Don't mind Tampa as a plus 110 underdog uh in this game so that's one that i'll throw out there i would say uh this is a long shot one but oliver eckman larson uh to score a goal tonight he doesn't have 750 hasn't i like that he's having one uh the least historically have beaten vasileski with a lot of point shots especially in that playoff series

uh so give me an oliver eckman larson goal plus 750 and since it's the only one hockey game hold on kip has something to say about that oh just you would have nothing would have pleased you more than the demise of the tampa bay lightning but it's just no no not happening boston would please me more oh boss yeah no question for sure i hate boston way more than tampa sure no question like not even there's not even close no i think they're i think they're both really good for a leaf anna they'd be the same there's just two teams that have just stopped you the least then your tracks in out florida you know throw florida in there yeah but the leaves did for their only win of my adult life in a playoff series they did beat the lightning yeah

but nobody remembers that after they lost in the second round. I do. I do remember it. Yeah, but you're... I don't have the time to look back on your KPIs. You're barred by that win every year. Your bar's so low. You don't really count. And last thing, since there's only one hockey game on NFL tonight, Derek Henry, anytime touchdown in the Ravens' money line, minus 110. There you go. And that was Game Time, presented by Bet365.

Visit the app for the odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. It must be 19-plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Could you bet on the New York Jets to lose by 1,000 every time they play? Listen, they were looking good. I don't know if you watched the game, right? I did.

They were looking really good. And then Garrett Wilson fumbled that pass into whoever's hands. And that completely changed the game. And then they just couldn't. And Russell Wilson looked so bad last night. Maybe some good coaching matters. Anyways, we talked about the Atlantic division. Like, you know, everyone's like, oh, maybe it's going to be the Sens this year.

Maybe it's going to be Detroit or Buffalo. No, it's just going to be the four same teams. Same guys. Just going to be the same four teams. And we're all doing the six-month death march for the Leafs to play one of the best three teams in the league in the first round again. Like, great. It is. It's true. This is like... It's true. This is a bit dramatic. It's not.

They're going to be playing one of... Mark this. What day is it? October 21st. They're playing Tampa, Boston, or Florida in the first round. Lock. You have them as a no chance to win the Atlanta Division. I don't have them as no chance, but it's a dogfight. The track division is stacked.

All these teams are great. Oh, we got the board up. Who's doing the TV work today? Ottawa's got to be able to push a little bit more. Come on. I'm not even going there. I've said it. I said it a week and a half ago.

This is going to feel exactly like it did last year. I love that this is a game's remaining board. This is a tremendous look here. But look it. I'm telling you. It is going to be that four in some order by the end of this season. It's crazy how quick it sorts. It's amazing.

Like the Red Wings, like all those teams. Anyways, I'm just dreading it. Where it's just we're on the way to something here. Like Boston going to sort itself out? Montgomery had an interesting exchange with his captain, Brad Marchand. He did get mad. Did you see the turnover? Yeah.

Yeah, Marchand is like the last forward back high in the zone. It was not pretty. It was a toe drag of all toe drags. What are you doing? You're the captain. Make decisions. Yeah. I mean, they might have their drama, but they're good.

They got too many good players. Their defense is so good. They're really good. And they have one of the best goalies in the league. And the guy, you know, I just. Sam Reinhardt, everyone was like, ah, no way he'll ever do that again. He's leading the league in scoring. Did you see the goal I sent

to the group chat today? I didn't understand why you sent that. Oh, okay. I thought it was a Reinhardt clip. You were showing me the goalie. I was like, that was just a terrible save. Samsonov. Interesting angle. Interesting. It was on the ice.

On the ice wrister from the half boards below the net, basically. Anyways. You don't miss them is what you're saying? No, I don't. Speaking of goalies, Lena Solmark going to play a game here soon? Yeah.

So you were saying something in the first hour, or was it with gals, about how talking about the journey and talking about coming back. What did I miss? Did he do some interview? No, no. I'm just saying that he gave an in-depth analysis of how the decision will come on whether he starts, he backs up, or he rests.

And it will include a team of doctors and coaches and scientists and maybe get NASAa involved get to you know and maybe you know and then come to the decision and whether he's gonna play or not okay how about the rest of the team do you like the are you getting what i'm yeah yeah good win for them against tampa tampa yeah had been undefeated Ottawa gets a 5-4 win listen they can score he's not the only one to Gal's point it's a different world

right now and I'm not saying it has to go back to like is this a Joseph Wall conversation at the same time there's a few of them out there I'm not saying like you gotta you gotta limp like you got to limp like, you know, Old Yeller. Is that a movie? Or Lassie?

Book. You know, on one leg. Old Yeller. I don't want to spoil the ending. It's not great. Oh, okay. Forget it. Old Yeller is bad then.

But, you know, I think I saw Lassie every once in a while at the end of the episode. Homeward bound. Dragging one of his hind legs, you know. Yeah. And I'm not saying that goalies have to do that to prove that they can't play. Right. I know. Gotcha.

Let's go around the league a little bit. There's a few things. I got you. There's a few things that I'd like to highlight. You have Ross Colton's rise here mentioned for colorado they finally get a win colton playing he scored in four straight games he's playing on the top line now for colorado there's i like that player there's who else would you go to after nate and ranting after that like who's left i know that's what i mean it's somebody step up we need

a third best player yeah no they but i mean they are waiting for leckanen to come back taves to come back um or drew in to come back and then kushkin's the wild card yeah and that can possibly happen in november i think he's skating you mean, sure, I'm sure he'll come back as soon as he's eligible. I know, but you don't know whether or not he's going to stay for a day, a month, a year, the rest of his career. You don't know. You don't, but he is elite, elite player. But I hope you're not throwing him back into the fire

and putting him in a position to not succeed. Yeah. I don't know what the answer is. I don't know. I'm not a doctor. In my experience with, you know, alcohol addiction and recovery, and I don't know exactly his story, and it's not what, you know, we don't go through the same journey, but sitting at home isn't going to help him.

The solution isn't to not do things. No, no, no. I got your news for you. Sitting at home isn't going to help them the solution is to isn't to not do things no i got your news for you sitting at home would help them sitting late at night in an establishment isn't going to help them no you're right but sitting at home not doing things is what leads to going to establishments being busy being a part of the team being a part of it will help i hope it works but yeah i mean you know i mean they've they've invested a part of the team, being a part of it will help him. I hope it works. Yeah. I mean, who knows? I mean, they've invested a lot of money in them, and they still want a return on that. But I just hope we're not putting them in a position to fail yet again

for, like, multiple times. Yeah. Nice. Nothing will get you back on track like playing the Ducks and the Sharks back-to-back. The Sharks have yet to win. But I watch a lot of Avalanche because I love watching McKinnon. I love watching Rantan.

Oh, McCarr is where it's at. 12 points this year, six games. The thing that always blows me away when I watch the Avalanche is how damn short Samuel Girard's stick is. Oh, yeah. It is a mini stick. It's crazy. It's insane. It's like, how are you?

I wonder if they forced him to try a longer one yet. You're a defenseman in the NHL. You want to be able to get in the way a little bit with it. It's the shortest stick in the league for sure. I don't know if they measure that or whatever, but there is no way anyone has a shorter stick. He's hunched over, and he's already not big. It makes him look like he won a contest out there.

It's hilarious. And he's so good. He's really good. Don't get me wrong, he won a contest out there. It's hilarious. And he's so good. He's really good. Don't get me wrong, but it blows me away how short a stick is. Anyways, that was just an observation. Kipper doesn't think he cares. Garland was on After Hours, I think, Saturday night, and they talked about, like, I didn't know he was as short

as he said he was at 5'8". Like, he plays and looks bigger than that. He plays competitive. I'm not saying that like he looks like he's normal sizes with the average height and weight is, but like I would never have thought that guy's 5'8". I know. Which is, I think, a good compliment.

Well, absolutely. And he is competitive and you don't like playing him, and you can't say that for a ton of guys. He's not listed at 5'8 with the other guys. I think he's listed at 5'9. Yes. 5'8 players in the league. You've got Zuccarello, Atkinson, Colin Blackwell,

Debrinkit, Caulfield, Bobby Brink, Daniil Gushchin, and Logan Stankoven. Gushkin is a San Jose player. It's funny, there's kind of like two types of diminutive players. The guys that... Score a ton. ...are really nasty, and then the other guys that are just nasty and hit hard and are just like, yeah, exactly, work hard

and grindy and in your face and annoying. Feels like there's two types. I wasn't going gonna say short diminutive yip yip yeah type of guys that would be blackwell's and zuccarello is becoming that a little bit i like zuccarello a lot but yeah but he has the long stick too his stick is a cartoonish long stick yeah yeah who was it there's some like parody someone some player went out in the ice with a giant stick pretending to be him once i'll find that i'll I'll tweet it. That's good. Char, I think, went out there once with a long stick. I don't know if it was a practice or something. Going around the league a little bit,

Yessa Pulya-Yarvey. Pittsburgh Penguin has now had points in four straight games. A Kyle Dubas recovery project. His first ever reclamation project. Reclamation project. Well, Malgan's playing pretty good in the Swiss League, so good for him. Could this guy be back?

Fourth overall pick or whatever he was? If he is, is it going to matter to a team that is off to a very poor start? I mean, it helps. Jari's now third string goalie yeah what's he got left on his deal he signed five times five didn't he i gotta figure out what to do it was five and a half was it not it was more than five but he's not very good not off too they've got issues on the blue line uh what's graves got got? He's struggling too.

That contract is the one that makes fans the most mad. He's struggling. Like, he looks almost, like, scared. Yeah, he's not physical. His cap hit is 5.375 per year until the year 2028. In expected goals against, the Penguins are 30th in the NHL. So they're giving up just chance after chance after chance. That defense is no good.

Carlson picked up where he left off last season. I got to tell you, Winnipeg fans are very attuned to things and they're great at chants. Like during the Matthews line a thing chanting line is better which is obviously false but it was a great great great chant and all that stuff where is Rutger is top notch

chirping did you hear that oh yeah I gotta give I don't love the Jets fans and stuff because I get under my skin because they do a good job of pissing me off that's what they do and they do a good job of it but that is where That's what they do, and they do a good job of it. But that is, where is Rutgers as good as it gets? I mean, yeah, they're maybe the most knowledgeable fans in Canada.

Those are real hockey fans at the game. And to know Rutgers-McRorty isn't there? I think they were like 1,500 short of a sellout. That was a Sunday afternoon. Were they? And they were honoring Brian Little little yeah but he was great it's concerning i know we've had this conversation before but this is this is a oh five was was it a football don't compete with the nfl missing a sellout or was it just times are tough i don't

know i don't know that's a good question but maybe a story to keep an eye on, see how they're doing because great team, like the fans, go to the games. But are you in the Gary Galley camp that says, I've seen this movie before out of Winnipeg? I don't have thoughts on it, but I think you might. Do you? I'm just shocked of the hellebuck that we saw last season in the spring. Yeah.

I guess the last year comments about not thinking he played bad in playoffs bother me more than anything else about him because obviously he's elite, elite, elite. One thing before we go. Can we get the Stamkos clip in? It's too late. Too late? Okay. But I will say that the ryan graves

contract expires in the year 28 29 4.5 million per until then and like he was i think he had one year he's tall where he's the plus minus leader in the league and then pittsburgh do beside him there he's just not physically involved they kept what sid have a goal in four assists five assists is he at a point of game at a point a game? But he's not pumping on all cylinders either. He's got 6.7 games, dash four to start the year. Malkin's got nine or ten points. Malkin's dealing. He's got 11 points.

But I think he's dash four or five, boys. They're going to struggle. They're going to struggle. Kel McCarr, 100 points this year. Heard it here first. Love that. Yeah, as he holds on to his hockey card. going to struggle. Kel McCarr, 100 points this year. Heard it here first. Love that. Yeah, as he holds on to his hockey card. Do you have a Kel McCarr?

Did you? I got a Steve Chase on. Got him. Oh. Got him. All right. Need him. Our thanks to Gary Gally.

And our thanks to Matt Sundin. And the book is called Home and Away. Available now on any platform. Amazon, Chapters. Speaking of Amazon, Leafs Lightning tonight. Leafs Lightning on Prime. If your parents call, be patient. Yes.

Return the patience they showed you when you were young. Enjoy your one game tonight. And we're back tomorrow if you get a chance didn't catch us live download us and give us a rating and review when you get a chance have a great night