Real Kyper & Bourne - Canadiens, Sabres Take the Game 7 Stage

Episode Date: May 18, 2026

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and fill-in producer Cristian Ceniti discuss the Toronto Maple Leafs parting ways with front office executives Brandon Pridham and Derek Clancey. Then, they react to the Oilers interviewing Craig Berube for head coach and the Leafs reaching out to David Carle. Hockey Night in Canada's Craig Simpson (10:47) joins the guys to discuss the Canadiens and Sabres' second-round clash ahead of Game 7, the Habs' top line's struggles, Jakub Dobeš's mentality after being pulled in Game 6, Rasmus Dahlin's impact, and Lane Hutson's defensive jump. Afterwards, former NHLer and current TNT analyst Jody Shelley (32:13) stops by to look ahead of tonight's Game 7, including how the Hurricanes handle their long layoff in the Conference Finals, and whether the Golden Knights have a chance against the heavy-favourite Avalanche in the west. 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.

All right, let's get her going in our new time slot, the Real Kipper and Born show. We are live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, Sportsnet 960 in Calgary and streaming always on Sportsnet Plus. You can't catch us live. There's Spotify Apple Podcast and YouTube this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to by Bet365. Nick Kiprio's Justin Bourne and our trusted producers chair, Christian Cheneity, in

AA Andrew Adams and Jake the Snake Shultz with you for the next hour where we will be here

for the duration of the Stanley Cup playoffs and we'll do a little draft a little free agency and then we say bye bye

see ya we're getting the driving home from the cottage crowd right now we are I have to be right

no it's still really nice out no one they're still in the water yeah you're probably right to me this is postseason meets patio season

right? Oh, it's the best time of year. It's incredible. Incredible. In a few minutes, we're going to catch up with Craig Simpson, who's done a terrific job

the Stanley Cup playoffs covering most recently the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres, so we'll tee up game seven. And then Jody Shelley will bring us down the stretch on our show

as we get set for Vegas and Colorado. In the meantime, some Maple Leaf News because we are covering the Leafs still. We have to wedge a Leafs hour into the one hour off the top every show. Parting ways with a couple of assistant general managers,

Brandon Prytonham and Derek Clancy, J.B., no longer members of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah, you know, I worked with Brandon when I was with the Marley's and the Leafs in my little time there. I know a couple things about him, smart guy, and just like the nicest dude on the planet. He was here for a decade. They had a lot of success.

I was here for 12 years, I think. So, yeah, I think New Guard, you always think people bring in their own people eventually. And it's a good, it's a hell of a run. Yeah. Like that's a long time to be with one club, whether you're a player, a coach, a general manager. It's like very seldom do you see that type of run? Now there's a lot of people wondering, okay, who left who and who broke up with who and who fired or who left at the end of the day. it doesn't really matter, especially, I think, to Pridim,

who obviously, for the most part, feels like it's just time. It's just time and it's just time for a fresh change. You know, they had them at a time where it was crucial to have a good cap guy. Like, they were jammed up against it. It was right when the new cap had come in and, you know, they had to do a lot of finagling and he helped them out. Now, the restrictions have loosened a little bit. They have for sure.

And it just seemed the Leafs were always the last 10 years, whether it was the pandemic or anything else. They were always behind the eight ball on the cap. Always. Right? And I don't know. If he didn't do it. You can question some of the decisions. Of course, over 12 years like anybody else you can question.

Yeah, I should have done this. Should have kept that guy. Should have got rid of this guy. but they were so pressed constantly every day. Double retention and trading for it was unbelievable trying to watch them. Yeah. Get good players, but trying to find value players. And it was a challenge.

He was a big part of the way they operated. I know Dubus, I read some comments about working with him and how Pridab was on this stuff all the time and telling them what it's going to look like and how prepared they had to be and all that. So yeah, I'm sure Chica has his own guys. has his own ideas. And like you said, to start this relationship

where Pritam's been there for a long time, probably better just have a clean break and start fresh. It seems like it's heading that way. Other news, Craig Bruby's getting an official interview with the Edmonton Oilers, with your initial thoughts on that? You know,

I don't want to be disrespectful to Brubi because he's a great guy and has had a great career. But like, I just can't imagine what about his time and time and Toronto made the oilers go, yeah, yeah, yeah. The dump in guy where the team was bad. You're not getting 97 to dump it in.

No, well. But I don't think he, I don't think he ever told Willie, hey, dump it in and go after it either. No, but he also didn't hold him accountable either. Like I just, listen, I hope he gets that opportunity and makes everyone in Toronto go, God, you know, like I'm not sure what happened here. Maybe it was the players and not Ruby, but it is really tough to imagine. what they like about the last couple years of his resume.

I think from an Edmonton perspective, this feels like a rerun of you've done Dave Tippett, you've done Ken Hitchcock, Craig Baroubae, feels like he kind of fits into that mesh, right? Yeah. I don't know. Not walk was calm, but good with the X's and O's.

Baroube, we don't know about the X's and O's. He's definitely more of an URA guy. This is why it's Bruce Cassidy or bust because he feels like the perfect mesh. But I guess in the meantime, if you can't interview Bruce Cassidy, you might as well interview other candidates, right? I'm glad you brought him up.

So, Euler's still not approved to interview Cassidy. We're not sure about that one. I'm not confirming or denying anything, but I haven't heard anything. My understanding is that we're focusing on the Stanley Cup playoffs right now. Okay. Because I was going to say, I did read somewhere Strickland. Andy Strickland tweeted that the Kings were denied permission to talk to Cassidy. There you go.

Just more of the same. I don't know how I feel about this. Cassidy's not in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Isn't that a phone call? Yeah, yeah. Talk to him. It doesn't work for us anymore. I don't know if you've noticed,

but Vegas like to do things their own way. I got to believe that's ownership, right? That's ownership. I think ultimately, it, if the league's making a phone call, they're not making it to anybody other than probably the owner.

Yeah, that's, that, yeah, I just, I got to believe this is one of the things that's not that hard. To me,

it's like when a player says, uh, we're not negotiating a contract during the season or whatever. And it's like, you don't have to. Your agent do it. They'll call and tell you when it's a, ready. We assume whether it's some coaches or, you know, adding people to the management team,

like this is all being built up towards the draft. So I don't know how much of a hurry anyone's in other than maybe thinking that you don't want someone else to beat you to your guy eventually if you have any idea who that guy might be. Yeah, Elliot had confirmed that David Carl has been in contact with the Leafs and likely to have a second interview. But why wouldn't they? Yeah. Why wouldn't they?

Have the chat. And if you're Carl, I'll have the chat too. I think there's more pressure on these management teams. To present the appearance of thoroughness. Think about for a second. The Leafs hire a coach

and word out is they never made contact with David Carl. Yeah. Like, so what do you do? You cover your tracks. Yeah. And then you cut to me in like a, super cut, like an edit of the whole thing.

And I'm going, you can't even talk to the guy. Yes, exactly. You know, and now you just shut me up. So, yeah, have the conversation. And to your point earlier about Craig Barubia, like, is a Stanley Cup champion and still we're highly respected in the coaching field. Yeah. Why wouldn't Edmonton just have a conversation with him or show him the respect of bringing him in?

Yeah. You're right. And I think by doing that, you gain intel, you get ideas. Like you have some idea what happened in Toronto. I think it's great. My hope with the, I'm just kind of jumping around, but to go back to Cassidy permission thing is that they don't want him to work in the division again

and the Leafs have a chance to talk to him. I know you don't think he's the right guy for right now, but there's not a guy that I'm looking at it, aside from I quite like, Deer Woodcroft and Davis Payne. Yeah, and I'm not sold to David Carls, the right guy either. Yeah. Right? I mean, this is where it gets really, really tricky.

Now, if you're a potential head coach looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs, what are you guys next year? Yeah. And for a guy like David Carl now to kind of take this incredibly safe environment with NHL pay already, to now jump into this Toronto Maple Leafs. situation where it's always a situation brother no no no no no this is this is unlike any other situation where you've got half the people saying blow it up and rebuild and the other half saying no we can win now and do the the the same voice for the rebuild thing when they don't have

their picks rebuild now okay thank you right yeah so for you for For a guy like David Carl who's never experienced pro hockey, never coached it, never been around these 10, 12 million dollar athletes, to come in now and tell him, you must win now in this environment, because we've noted many times on our show that this environment is beast-like compared to coaching it most often,

anywhere else with maybe the exception of Montreal and few other markets. I've got a couple thoughts and one of them is you're absolutely right. If you're David Carl, he has a young family is my understanding. Like I'm not coming up there to get fired in two years and do that whole thing. The other thing is don't be a coward. Come on.

You know, like embrace the challenge. The last thing I want to see David Carl do is go, well, they just pay. me too much money to say no. Didn't want to be there, but they gave me a whack of money. You don't want that guy. You don't want the guy that just takes the money because it's there. Everybody's well, they can pay more than anyone else. That's the live tour. That's the guy that you want. Right? That's the guy that you want.

So that's not going to happen. At least it the way I see it. All right, let's welcome in Craig Simpson, former national hockey league or two times down like a champion, doing a terrific job and getting ready for game seven in Buffalo. You guys doing well? Get new time slot, new time, everything. Are you shaking there? Is it feel weird?

Very strange. Well, comforting that we get the same guests, including you, right now. Simmer, if we just look at the first six games, do we not sit there and go, Montreal's been the better team? Yeah, I think in the meat of most of the series and the games, and when they've won, they've won, convincingly, you know, most notably games two and three, five, one of those on the road. It's been such a different series than, you know, their first experience in Tampa with

there was hardly any room. They were hardly able to generate any shots, seven straight one goal games. I think at times this one's been probably more enjoyable to play, but this one's had like way more swings than the last. And that's what kind of concerns you when you get to a do-or-die game seven, you know, which way is the pendulum going to swing? I thought games five and six guys were exact mirror images. You know, game five, it's all Buffalo early on, some crazy goals.

Are you going to pull Dobish? No, we'll keep them in. And then second period, three goals by Montreal, and they take over the game. And game six, same way. You get those three goals on their first three shots on full mice. win that hockey game and you know in credit to to lindy kind of out of necessity had to make the pull and then it's buffalo that does the same thing three goals in the second period and they take over the game so how do you handicap that one when you say you know both games on home ice the

home team should have won early on should have had it going away and they both let it get away so the question to me is who can stay you know connected and calm as the coaches always team to use their own catchphrases. And that's what makes it so great when you get to a game seven and a Stanley Cup playoffs. It's like you can predict all you want. You can talk about the trends of the series. And this one has had some lost side of games, which the other did not. And now you just put it all out there for one night.

And so who can execute for 60 minutes? I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch. For sure. And, you know, one of the things watching for me is like it just feels like Montreal all is the more talented team that it's going to go their way eventually. But here we are at 3-3. The one thing that stands out is a couple of their stars

haven't had a ton of success at 5-on-5, Caulfield, Slavkovsky. Is there something that Buffalo is doing in particular? Or sometimes can it just be challenging to kind of find your flow again in more pressure situations? Well, they have not found their flow as a line 5-on-5, not just this series.

You know, we're talking 13 games. You've got the top line that had, what, 101 points for Suzuki, 51 and 88 for Caulfield, 30 and 74 for Slavkowski. Guys, they're 13 games in. They have two goals and four points, five on five combined. Like, how are they even in a game seven in round two? You know, that's where you go. It has been mind-boggling that they have not had the chemistry

and they have not had the open ice five-on-five. And that, to me, is a huge problem. You know, I was on my walk today, as I always were, and ran into CC. And my thought of saying, you know, I thought it was brilliant. Lindy needed to make a change because his top guys, you know, how about Tuck and Thompson were minus nine and minus eight in six games or five games to that point? Like, how can you even be in a series like that? And he wasn't afraid to make a change, you know.

He juggled, juggled the lines. And I thought it was what was needed. you just get into a frustrated mode. You know those five guys in Demadoff and Hudson and the Suzuki line are going to be together on the power play. They have every power play point in this series, so they've had some success. But when it's not working five on five, you can't just continue to keep it the same way. And I was saying to C.C., in my books tonight, I bring Kaepernan back into their lineup,

much like Lindy did with Helena, giving him an opportunity as a young guy with fresh legs. Kappan had 22 goals. You know, you can't leave a 22 goal score on the sideline in a game seven. And if you lose that game again and you're not getting anything done five on five, I think that's a miss. And so for me, I would take Valeno out, put Kappan in, put Demadoff up with Suzuki and Koffield to try to get a little bit of a spark.

Kappinen and Silkovsky and Nulka, have played really well together. together and just give your lines a little bit of a chance to do something different. You can always shuffle it back and put them together if you sense that, you know, the opportunities there. I just don't think the way it's gone and the way that they have not produced five-on-five that you can go back to the well here in a game Saturday. I think you have to be a little bit proactive and make that change. And I think it might be a spark that gives them a little different look like it did for

Buffalo. I thought putting Thompson on the wing instead of center. Just freed him up. He didn't have to play the defensive zone coverage against Suzuki, which is really hard. And I thought it worked well. And if I were the head coach, I think that's the move I'd be making tonight. You're listening to two-time Stanley Cup champion, Craig Simpson, Sportsnet analyst getting ready for game seven tonight, the Montreal Canadiens in Buffalo. So Dobish gives up six goals on 33 shots. Two games ago, Simmer, he was close to being pulled.

Last game, he was pulled. I know there are a lot of conversations, including on our Hockey Night and Canada panel with Kelly Rudy, that I don't mind it and it's good. All the energy he exudes during portions of the game, either emotionally or physically. And it's great. It's all great.

just as long as you keep winning. But when you don't, it now becomes an issue. So you tell me, for a guy that's played every minute of every, you know, possible up until last night, is it now an issue? Well, I think it was the right thing to do to pull him just to get the frustration and anger out of his body. Well, he, you know, he went to the hallway and I know we can't show it on the broadcast. I mentioned he went storming down. I guess he did a nice little break of the stick

and get your emotions out. It's the old adage, and I think Justin said a number of times that I'd rather have a stallion that you've got to tame every now and then than a mule that you've got a kick to try to get him going. And I do think he's got kind of that in him, that he loves being in the game, he loves the energy of it, he loves the emotions of it, And sometimes you've got to just pull them back and say, take a breath now.

And I thought that time on the bench to just think about it and stew about it and be pissed off about it. I mean, you're an athlete. Of course you're going to be upset when you're not doing what you need to be doing. And I think that'll be a good reset. I would say if I'm Marty and the goaltending coach, you talk to Fowler away from everyone else and say, hey, you know, chances are you're not going to get in tonight. but I want you to go in tonight like you're going to be a starter. So get your mind, get your focus, like this is a different time. Be ready.

Because I do feel that it's another one of those games, Nick, where if it takes the script of the last two, where you got goals and bunches and goals are coming fast and furious, I think the leash might be a little bit short. And so you want to have your backup guy who they do like and they do trust to be consciously getting ready and preparing maybe more than he would for a normal backup game. Zimmer, I'm watching the Sabres team won seven postseason game so far. You're talking about like, okay, the goal tennings not been super certain.

Tuck's not really going. Thompson's not really going. Josh Norris hasn't had a ton of points. What is going right here? How are they where they are? And is the answer just Rasmus Dahlene? Well, I think the collective defense has really been a steadying point for them. You know, Dalian, without question, guys, you know, talk about your legacy in your first

playoff run as a captain of a team that hasn't been there your whole career. And you get, you know, elimination game where you get the second most points that a defense has had in the playoffs. Paul Coffey and 85 had six, Rasmus Dalian and seven others, you know, with a one-four or five point night in a elimination game. So that's pretty special. I think their D has been hard to play against. They contribute offensively.

They are disruptive from a defensive position. Nick knows being a winger, when you have a team that you're playing against and every single rush up the ice, that might be an exaggeration but close, one of those or even both of those Ds are coming up. So you better not miss your man or you better have your head on a swivel in the D zone.

because they're crisscrossed. I can't think of how many times, Justin, I've watched her call the pass across the crease from one defenseman to the other. It's like they are a handful to defend against, and I think that's caused problems with Boston. They couldn't handle it well. In the games that Montreal has lost in this series,

that's been a big element. Their four-man rush has caused all kinds of problems. Sandelson's been great. from a, he's got a combined hit and blocks of 40. The next closest guy in the series has a combined 23. You know, like he has really raised his level to another guy. Maybe not the offensive spark that Dallin has, but they've been good. So, you know, they are a team that can score on you.

They can frustrate you. And I do think both these teams have had, you know, great similar mindset of clear the decks. You know, you lose a bad game. put it in the garbage bin and get ready to go. They've both been able to bounce back very well. You know, Buffalo is the only lost two in a row once and that was in this series. You know, amazingly, here 13 games in,

Montreal has not lost two games in a row yet. Can they go to game 14 and keep that trend going? Oh, said, Adobish, for the most part in this series, it's really felt like the Montreal Canadiens foot soldiers, bought a lot of time in for Suzuki and Caulfield a little bit with their five on five play. Yet coming out of Montreal

game six, it feels like the foot soldiers on the Buffalo Sabres finally got it going here a little bit with Quinn and Zucker and, you know, Benson. Benson's a frontline guy, but it just feels like there's a lot of momentum outside of

you know, Thompson as well and, and, and, and tuck. So is it going to be a star player is the difference maker in a game seven or do you still see those role players coming in large? And if so, who's got the momentum or who's got the best opportunity

to win this for their club? Yeah, that's why I do think maybe Montreal needs that little bit of a tweak of your lineup to create that, Nick, because I think Lindy realized what you were saying, you know, even you think back to Zucker

game, what was it, three in Montreal, He got stuck on the bench with all the pounds. He played 647. And this guy has got all kinds of experience. He's a 20-30 goal score. And lo and behold, in the last couple of games, you're right. He's got two goals and an assist.

And he's got going, Quinn hadn't scored in 11 games. And he comes up. He's got two and two in the last two games. So I do think that was the recipe for the Montreal Canadians in their first round. You think of Texier and Doc and Doc. Bull Duke and the big goals they scored the winner in that crazy game seven with only nine shots, the New Hook one. You know, I think you're going to need that.

And I do think that Buffalo's found their rhythm in that. You know, they, their foot soldiers, so to speak, have played a pretty good last two games. And I think the challenge tonight, inevitably, you need your best players to play their best game in a game seven. But I think often, as you always see, it's somebody who you didn't expect like New Hook. in the last game seven to score a big goal. And I'm not sure you can really call Nick, which team has the advantage in that. I think both besides the, in game six,

no question that the foot soldiers on Buffalo had the best. And so the challenge will be who can come up with it tonight. Samar, last one from me. Just want to get your thoughts. And if you're surprised at the success, or continued success of Lane Hudson, most assists in the season by a Montreal Canadian playoff and reg season combined.

He just passed Larry Robinson, for the most ever. You know what, Justin, I think he's probably been the, you know, most enjoyable surprise for me doing 13 games of him now. And it's not, it's not the offensive part. I've watched him now two years offensively and really marveled at his skill set, his confidence, his ability to dart in the node and jump up. but I have seen him play defensively like a bona fide starred defenseman.

You know, he's going to make some mistakes, as you always do when you're playing 25 minutes a game. But his ability on the back end to defend well, you're 13 games in, he's plus three, he's got tough matchups all the time. His offense is no surprise to me, but his overall game is probably surprised me more than I expect. It's Quinn Hughes type, right? And maybe even better defensively than Quinn Hughes, really, quite frankly. It's been so impressive. Did you call an exhibition game between Toronto and Montreal?

Because I came on our show after that. And it was just a goofy exhibition game. And I said, boys, that kid is something special. Yeah. Well, here we are in Stanley Cup playoffs. And you're feeling the same way. You know, an exhibition game is against, weaker

opponents and I can't tell you he's going to be in the Norse mix for years to come and I think this has just been a really special you know breakout for him you know last year first playoff he had a good playoff

with four points and five games but he has been next level this year and he deserves all the accolades he's been getting Zimmer have a great night it's going to be a lot of fun either way man and love listening to you every night. Thanks for doing this.

Thanks, guys. Enjoyed. Thanks, Zimmer. Appreciate your time. Craig Simpson. The best. Really pumped about tonight. Like just, I don't know, haven't been super excited about all the second round series. So to get game seven,

the best series so far, I'm pumped. And it is a toss-em pick-pick-um. Like, you don't know what you're going to get out of each goaltender. and Doebish, I've been really, really impressed with him throughout this, but it's kind of, well, you just, he's the key tonight. Yeah. He absolutely is the key tonight. If he can do what he did earlier in Buffalo and just shut that door, then everything's leaning towards Montreal.

But if he's got a little bit of fatigue going on right now, mentally, physically, emotionally, if he's bending right now, he's bending right now. Now. The question is tonight, does he break? Yeah. For sure, I have feeling we're going to learn more about this game in a moment. You will, gentlemen. It's game time presented by Bet365. An official partner of the NHL must be 19 plus Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. Yeah, I'm looking at Dobish too as kind of the difference maker here. Like, you're not asking him to do what he did in game seven against Tampa. That's probably really lofty. But you need something maybe in that realm. The habs are slight underdogs tonight in Buffalo, plus 100, Sabres, minus 120. Really?

Yeah, I'm surprised. I like that for that number for the Canadians. I bet that. The home team is 52% of the time. They win in game seven, so that's basically a coin flip. The biggest thing is whoever scores first, right? That's a 750 win percentage

if you score first in game seven. But the stat I wanted to give you guys as far as Montreal is related here. Jacob Dobesh can join. Ken Dryden, Kerry Price, Yarrowelak, and Patrick Waugh as the only has goaltenders with multiple career game seven wins. Dryden and Halak won multiple in the same playoff year.

So Dobish can go ahead and do that tonight. I don't think Montreal's story here is done. Maybe pays me a bit from a Toronto perspective locally, but I think I'm taking Montreal tonight plus 100. Yeah, records being caught. Robinson gets caught. Patrick Waugh caught by Dobish. If he wins tonight, they're starting to make some noise. Yeah, that was game time presented by Bet365.

An official partner of the NHL must be 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. So many, a couple of games. go so much talk about pulling the goalie right yeah and would you have done it would we discuss this the the decision that they made to leave dobish in was a good one yeah in five and lindy of course you know ate it because he he buckled with the the he made the goal of changing switch as he should of yeah um and marty looked good on that and then we had that discussion on you know who ultimately makes the call is it a goalie coach up in the right we did talk right we did talk about

that last game we saw the mercy pull yeah that was an easy decision just get him out of there the tough one would have been he should have pulled him at five three that's when he needed to get dobish out he missed the mark on that one yeah five three would have been late in the second buffalo scored four in a row uh helenis made it five three on a two on one which is No fault of his own. Yeah. But at that point, if you put Fowler in for the last minute and a half, you get an initial shakeup of the bench.

And then you got 15, 17 minutes in between peers to say, boys, we got fresh energy coming in here. It's 5'3. Yeah. Not, we get the next goal. It's we're right in the thick of things. And at 5.3, you're still in it. I wonder.

5.3 with full 20 minutes. But like, there was no talk about it. even the guys in the intermission didn't really mention about potentially pulling Dobish. And I'm like, that guy needed to get out there. And then you, then you needed to rest him. Like, he got the rest anyways, obviously in the third. But he still had to prepare for the next period with a full energy and mental energy. Take him off the hook right then.

And don't give him an extra 30 minutes of fretting in the intermission. Probably influenced by the fact that they had shown patients once and were rewarded for it. They were like, you know, we left them last time and it paid off for us. But yeah, I totally agree. We'll get a thought and idea of, you know, how mentally strong he is. Yeah. With his performance tonight. Well, and Buffalo's goal tendings no different.

So this could be weird one. One of the goalies is going to. Yeah. But it's, listen, it's all a learning experience for these guys. And you got to, whatever comes about Dobish in the Montreal Canadian tonight, like Dovish is a changed man forever for experiencing the run that he's had so much so far and he'll be better for it next playoffs for sure for sure all right we take a quick break yes sir christian let's do it all right all right jody shelley after the break we start getting into little Vegas

Colorado when we return to real kipper and born hey it's matt markezy and i'm mike futa we're discussing the top stories of the day across the n hl and the hockey world weekdays at noon it's the fan hockey show on sports net 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcast welcome back into the studio thrill kipper and born show just welcome in jody shelley former national hockey leaguer nchell analyst on tn t sports as we get set game seven tonight in buffalo western conference final getting set wednesday night jody how are you my friend i'm great how are you guys doing. Good to be on with you too. Yeah, good to have you. Okay, well, we'll get

into the Western Conference, but you know, give us a thought on what you think might happen in Buffalo, who's got the momentum, the advantage, the better goal tender. Where do you go? Where do you start? You know, I like the way who Capeca Lupin came in last game,

you know, like I feel like he's got something to prove. I know Dovish has done a lot of mental training throughout the season with his mental coach. Hopefully that helps. And boy, you look at this and you think Montreal at home, the way they started, but it was a bit of foolscold, right? Because three goals after three shots and you really weren't playing a great game. And then just the way Tate Thompson, I thought watching from afar how he dialed it up, I was like, oh boy, this isn't going to be a quiet exit for the Buffalo Sabres.

So if I feel like anybody has momentum, it might be Buffalo. Just the fact that the way that they kicked it into high gear this season, the way they have a lot of veteran guys that really have proved nothing in the league as far as playoff presence, but now it seems like they're embracing it. You know, Dahlene, to me, has got a really good playoff style where he plays on the edge, and he's got a grittiness and the willingness to do whatever. And I think him and Thompson have dragged pretty much everybody into the fight here for the Sabres. And I think that going on the road with your back against the wall,

in the most hostile environment, maybe besides Buffalo tonight, we'll see, but you got to imagine, to get that done, you've got to have your chest out pretty far and you're feeling pretty tall about yourself. And then for Montreal, you know what? On the road, you don't have to put on a show. And really, it is a show, right?

I mean, especially when it goes so well for Montreal when they first started that game six, you feel it. You feel the pressure in the building. You feel the crowd being disappointed with the performance on the ice and how the narrative is going. And I think you get on the plane, you get the Buffalo, and now their backs are against the wall again.

So we'll see. But I think if I was going to answer your question directly, I would think Buffalo right now surviving game six, to me they look all business going back home, but goaltending. I mean, that's the thing right now. So let's see if Ouka Pekalukinen, let's see what he's got.

It's his time. We wanted to have you kind of tee up the future too So we got a couple of series after this one So let's the winner of this series is going to be coming off a game seven I'm going to take a second to read you a sentence I've read in the athletic this morning I knew about this habit of fascinated me Since 2000 there have been eight series in the Stanley Cup playoffs Where one team's coming off a game seven

And the other's coming off a four game sweep The team winning the game seven won seven of those eight series And even swept the other opponent twice Do why? So like should Carolina be worried about not playing hockey and trying to get back up to speed against either Montreal or Buffalo? I would think anybody but Carolina.

I think they're a well-oiled machine that has played such a high level and has such purpose when I hear Rod Brandenmore's comments about winning a Stanley Cup would change these guys' lives. I want them to do it. You know, there's something even extra with the Carolina hurricanes. But to me, Borneo makes sense

because you're on the road because the the team well usually you're on the road I guess because you're the visiting team for game one and two you just pack up camp and move down the road you take your camp onto the next section it's a new hotel it's a new camp it's the same atmosphere you know I think that that's important I think the atmosphere that the team that's been rested has been different it's been accolades and feeling good and probably golf and sunshine two hours of business every day but you're you kind of step it away from it I even feel like with the separation of not having hockey every night on, you know, you feel like you're a little bit removed from it now. I would think that those players in Montreal or Buffalo heading to Carolina will be like

it's just, yes, there's a momentum and a feeling of, you know, your walls are very, very defined and you're in this kind of tunnel and you're not out of the tunnel at all. Whereas Carolina, should they be concerned? I think, I think a little bit. So I'm going to retract on what I first said, because they are so disciplined and refined in how they play. Like, you know what I mean? But there is that sense of the treadmill is going to get a little faster, the intensity is going to get faster, and that team coming off that game seven win,

they're buzzing. Just one more on Carolina and in this neck of the woods, not a lot of faith in Frederick Anderson over the years, but there's a sense that he's different now. 11 days. Has he been golfing and hanging out and relaxing?

Is that magic going to keep following him? Oh, hopefully. it's good for him because we're all waiting to wonder if he's going to finish a series or finish a game and that's no disrespect to the person it's just the athlete has kind of stumbled into that at times yeah i don't know i mean that's that's a tough one because has you really been tested you know like there's moments where you're like oh yeah it's no scrambles but still to me at times he looks a little bit lost and a little bit uncertain um but he's held it together for for two sweeps but But I honestly think that narrative of the goaltending there, he's done enough,

but he's going to need to do a lot more as this goes on. So we'll see. He seems like a layback guy to me anyways. But the faith isn't there in him. So hopefully he wants the ultimate goal, and that's going all the way. So the other side of things, the Vegas Golden Knights are going to get the Colorado Avalanche. That kicks off on Wednesday. I think a lot of people have thought Colorado is just a pretty heavy favorite going into the postseason,

but Vegas kind of feels like they found their mojo a little bit. They have. They've gotten better as the playoffs has gone on. Their coach is starting to figure out personalities. He's taking them, I mean, he's a guy that tinkers nonstop, in-game, in shift, between games, you see it. Loves his veteran group. You know, and it's ideal for torts there because, you know, he was a supporting coach for Team USA's. gold medal victory. You know, he wasn't making decisions as far as X's and O's PK power play. He was with Sully right next to him saying, this line is stale, this player needs to be moved here.

Like there was adjustments that he helped with on the bench. And I think he's doing that now with John Stevens on the bench, Dominic Descharm on the bench, Joel Ward. I think he's trusting them, plus the veteran guys. Thomas Hernel was a guy that, you know what, in the first round, if I was a coach, which I'll never will be, I might have sat Thomas and got him off the top. power play because it was just wasn't working with jack eichael but torch stuck with him and his reason was he wants to play the long game with them they're thinking long playoff series so it's interesting i thought about this last night because i did that Vegas series for a couple games in utah when they were in

Utah and then last series and you know what they're big they're when they're backed into corner they're very good they play faster than you think uh their goaltending has been very good in building with Carter Hart. So I think they've used the playoffs now to build something here. And I worry about a couple of the injuries with the avalanche. You know, the avalanche to me still haven't really been tested. They haven't had to play

their AA game. Maybe at moments within a series. But I still think that they're the heavy favorites going into that one. You're watching and listening to Jody Shelley, former National Hockey League, covering the Stanley Cup playoffs for TNT sports. So

we're going to get into Tortarella here in a second, but just is there been enough talk about what William Carlson has done since returning back into the Vegas lineup and how he's kind of slotted everybody. He's been a

terrific player from the moment they picked them up out of Columbus, if I'm not mistaken, in the expansion draft. And he has come in and I think he's given them a complete different look. How do you feel about William Carlson? I agree. 100%. And we've all played

with players like this where unheralded, you know, not flashy, but does all the dirty work and quietly is like the most important player in the whole team. And it comes back after not playing for six months. He left Columbus because he couldn't play for Torrance. He was expendable because they had Wemberg and Carlson as two centermen. And Carlson could not get into good graces of John Tortorella. And he turned himself into a major defensive centerman. And that's he is. I mean, him with Mitch Marner, you know, when you see two players get together and can read off each other, because Carlson, credit him, he's so intelligent. When he doesn't have the puck, if you get to watch the game, and you get to see him how he busts for support, whether it's

the wide side or the support side wherever he's playing with, his sticks, his face-offs, his details of being in the right position. It's just like when you're in a room with a guy like that, he doesn't even have to play with it. He just kind of calms you down. You know, it's kind of like that feeling of, ah, you know, that's kind of the blanket there. And I think he does that in all three zones. So I don't think it's talked about enough. I mean, those are the type of players you covet. And especially in the second and third round of the playoffs.

Yeah, those depth guys are key. I know Carolina got, is it William Carrier out of Vegas once upon a time? And they've loved having them in Carolina. But back towards the top of the lineup, last one for me, just how hurt is Kail McCar? Should Colorado be worried? Because, like, if they don't have him, I think the series changes significantly. It does. And we saw flashes in the last few games where Kail McCar just dial it up.

And it was just like if you're watching hockey, you see the pace go back and forth and then you notice something, whoa. You know, it's the burst, it's the jump. It's the open ice that's created that he takes. And it's just a dynamic that throws everybody on their heels no matter where they are on the ice. So it's a concerning thing. He was injured at the end of the season. He was injured. He missed the end. And the talk was, oh, they have a cushion. it's to rest, he'll be ready for the playoffs. Well, he's been in and out of the lineup a few times here. He looks majorly uncomfortable.

Kael McCart, 70% is still probably better than most of the defense in the National Hockey League or that position he plays as a rover, offensive defenseman. But to me, it's very concerning because if he gets so quick, think about the other team. Think about the opposition, Vegas now. You get momentum off that, right?

You get a little bit of a jump to realize and read the heading or see a guy leave. Oh, he's not in the lineup. All right, all right. You know, those are real things. So I think that Vegas would get juice off of that. Jody, I'm not going to ask you what John Tortorello was thinking after the conclusion of the Anaheim series because nobody's been able to answer that in 15, 20 years. But if Colorado is healthy and they take out Vegas in five or six games, is everybody going to go back to Tortoralla and say you derailed this thing?

I don't think so. I don't think so. I will see, but I think game one he'll be fine. Torch doesn't mind the odd distraction that's on him. I know some people have brought those things up. I think that's way too much thinking. I think that's way too much credit to give a coach, that kind of credit for making a distraction to bring it away from his team.

Maybe some cases, yes. But I don't think he'd go back to that. I think he's got a very good job and he's kind of staying out of the way. This was the first time he got in the way since he got there, though. So hopefully he doesn't, that doesn't compound. He seems to be on his best behavior. He's been pressed down from yesterday. I love it.

I love it. Enjoy game seven, pal. Thanks for doing this. All right. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Joe DiMT Sports. See you guys.

Lots of talk coming from different places that Gary Bettman is going to give them back their second round. I'm immediately mad about it too. I've read that a couple of places. heard it mad about it right away. Yeah. What's going on there? I don't know, but I don't think it would

help Gary Batman. Well, that's exactly how I feel. It's like if I tell my kids they, you know, they're getting this punishment and then I rescind it every time. They don't take the punishment seriously. I'd go as far as saying like removing the second to me, that's not even an option, but even downgrading it to a third. The difference between a second and a third feels huge with this.

I think, yeah, I would. See, it's still open, right? I don't know if they But why? Well, I mean, it's the, I think it's, if they appeal or if they want to challenge it,

it leaves it open. Yeah. For him to turn around and say, okay, so to Christian's point, I'm going to, this is what I'm going to do by tomorrow night. I'm going to move the second to a third.

Yeah. And I'm going to suspend you, game one. You think that's possible? I think it's possible. Really? Yeah. I do.

If it's, if it's still, to be determined, which my understanding is. And what do you think the organization would prefer? The organization would prefer to have a higher round pick. I don't know. They'd have their head coach for a conference final game. But you have to, like, you got to make it clear to every team in the league, not just to Vegas again, that you can never treat people that cover our team to reach the fans like this ever again.

Well, and it sounds like it comes on the back of multiple denied requests, like to have their players wear mics during the games, which they have turned down, I guess other potential interviews they've turned down. So I think it was building on Vegas. But Christian, you mentioned before we came on air today, like, if they take away the pick and say, okay, you can keep the pick, but it's a million dollar fine. The team would do that. But that's not a significant of punishment.

Even though it's a huge number, those dollars don't mean anything to anyone except Bill Foley. The second is painful. And you need painfulness as part of the penalty. Just go back and look. look at the significant difference or the odds between a second making it and a third. It's huge.

Yeah. It's big. Yeah, it's different for sure. Like those are real picks. But to me, if it's this open, then don't come out and say that's the penalty. Be like,

yeah, we're going to have a trial. We're going to hear, you know, whatever about this. It's just, it was like two days after they got hit with that

that we felt like they were, It's hard for Gary or anyone else to come and announce a significant penalty and then give it back. I know. And like Ottawa worked for, I don't know, a couple of years to eventually get a pick back for them. And it cost some cash too, right? I don't know. I didn't. I think like.

They had a lot of time to negotiate it. I think it was like a million or two million. They had a couple checks for that. I think so. If I'm not mistaken, I got to. You have a couple years to work on best. as well, right? Like, they had originally moved the pick, I think, back when you're like,

okay, we'll kick the problem down the road. You don't have this type of luxury now, right? The draft is, right? It is, all they can't do is say, well, the second thing is no more. It's just the fine. And it is John Tortorella. It's John Tortorella. This is.

So you're saying it's not to leave the thing. John Tortorella, and this is just me over my experience of covering him, is the biggest repeat offender in NHL history. That we just keep going, the biggest. There's not a chance that there's one player that has seen more discipline than John Tortorella. I don't remember his whole track record,

but that sounds correct. No one would dispute it. Exactly. Just on the surface. Yeah, no one challenged me on that. He is the biggest repeat offender. in NHL history. He does media hits.

He goes into media when he's not working, and he likes dogs. These seem to be the two crutches with which he operates outside of getting NHL head coaching jobs. I'm in media dogs, media dogs head coach. Okay, boys,

tell me what happens in game seven. I think the Montreal Canadians, here's what I actually think happens. I think they just kind of win it going away. I think it's like 4-1. They're up early. I just think they're the better team. They've controlled a lot of the play.

They have less pressure in Buffalo. Yeah, I'll stick with Dobish coming up large tonight. Okay. But I do worry about them. Same here. We need a one-goal game, though. This series needs less one-sided affairs. We need a good one-go game.

It feels like if it goes to OT Buffalo is in real trouble. Is it now where enough for us? Yes. I love it. Okay. All right. At this point, yes. There's only two or two series.

Yeah, that's right. Our thanks to Craig Simpson and Jody Shelley. Christian, great job. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Christian. Enjoy game seven. We're back tomorrow. Same time.