Real Kyper & Bourne - Cats' Keys to the Cup

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look ahead to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight and the keys for the Oilers to extend the series against the Panthers. Former NHL head coach Claude Julien (6:55) helps preview the game and shares his experience of losing a series after leading 3-0, the pressure of closeout games and Paul Maurice & Kris Knoblauch's respective roles in managing emotions. Panthers analyst Bill Lindsay (30:23) discusses the vibes in Sunrise after the drubbing in Game 4, his expectations for Bobrovsky and why Florida's power play has been so quiet. Finally, they regroup with Sam to go through some early offseason action.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 tonight we find out if the edmonton oilers can turn five into six net kiprios justin bourne sammy mckee derrick brandeo jake the snake schultz pushing all the right buttons upstairs for us guys thank you very much the real kipper and bourne show. We are live on Sportsnet 590. The Fan, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, Sportsnet 960 in Calgary, and watching on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet Plus. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne is brought to you by Bet365. All right, where's the vibe here? Has to be a lot better than it was a few years ago

when teams didn't come back from 3- deficits didn't matter if it was stanley cup final or in the first round there seems to be for me a different vibe of three nothing it's not it's not bulletproof anymore no it's actually i don't have the stat in front of me but i did see a stat that uh this playoff season and last year was the first time it's been back-to-back uh years with only one sweep in playoffs going back you know eight first time it's been back-to-back uh years with only one sweep in playoffs going back you know 80 years whatever it's been a long time that was in the lineup yesterday was it yes thank you so not as many sweeps uh teams are pretty equal this is gary's parody era sammy's not buying it at all he thinks it's over in five i do i do yeah i think

i just much like what that just happened in the nba finals where they're very mirroring themselves it's just it's hard to have that you know you're on the last game of a long road trip you're in you know it's hard to have that killer instinct you're thinking about where you're going to be going out after all this stuff that's coming in to play there and you go back home and they're like okay we gotta do this it's they're great on home ice they're the better team i i want six i want this baby to keep going but i really don't feel like it's going to in a few minutes we'll welcome in the 15th winningest coach in nhl history claude julian of course of fame stanley cup championship in boston but also another one as a member of the Boston Bruins

where 2010, he watched his Bruins blow a 3-0 lead to the Philadelphia Flyers. So it'll be interesting to get his perspective on the thoughts of Edmonton still coming back and making this a series. If you go over to sportsnet.ca, you can check out my article today on a roadmap back for Edmonton. And, you know, what has to go right, what could go right.

We talked a little bit about it yesterday. But there's just, listen, I think Florida's a better team as well, like incrementally. And I think beating them four straight times is really hard. Where did you start your conversation or your article on? Where's the first left or right turn on the road? It's Florida's best players being off. Barkov, first game after taking a hit to the noggin,

was not very good. And Bennett, a little bit hurt. Kachuk. By the way, Renaud Lavoie, yesterday on our show, just skimmed over the fact that he's like matthew chuck has a fractured sternum and he just carried on that was last year oh is that but so their best players look hurt to me and that's what edmonton needs a crack a window an opening where so you you you think you think that that shellacking has been led because you

see a team that might be physically not right a little bit of that a little bit of what sammy's talking about where it's you know the mental aspect of things but there's so many things that you know that i wrote about where the oilers when they've lost three games in a row this season have come back and won huge streaks. Sammy's got it here. November, they went 5-0 after losing three in a row. In December, they went 16-0 after losing three straight. And then in February, they went...

It's a remarkable stat. This team gets hot. They get really hot at times. Skinner, good at the end of series. McDavid's going. Hyman and Dre and dry settle haven't even started to chip in i'm just saying that there's a roadmap where things if they get some bounces florida's going to be awesome tonight but if edmonton gets by tonight and they go back to

that building i think there is all about tonight if i'm an oiler fan and there's one thing i'm looking at it's the stat that i put in there yeah about how they have turned it around after losing multiple games in a row under Chris Knobloch. I want to call him Chuck Knobloch all the time. Yeah, Minnesota Twins and Yankee. It drives me crazy. But, no, I really do think that that would be the thing I'm looking at. But 3-0 series leads, I don't want to be Mr. Poo-Poo here,

but 3-0 series leads happen all the time, and all of us always talk ourselves into it. And then in game five or game six, it ends. And we're all like, well, that was probably always going to happen. So maybe this is different. Or there's maybe different. You're probably right. Anyways.

You're right. It's just there's an opening. There might be a possibility of Evander Kane. Is anything updated on that, Sammy? Yeah. If Kane comes in. In the tweets I saw, it didn't sound like he was going to play. It was a possibility yesterday.

I think he was on the ice today. With the extras. I think he was on with the extras. But this is like another piece of encouragement that you get by one more game. You give him three days. Three more days. Three more days. Because then this series will finish by the fall.

He'll be ready by then. Going home. Going home. For a then this series will finish by the fall. He'll be ready by then. Going home. Going home. For a possible six. You know, like there's just this momentum. Are you surprised that the power plays haven't played an issue here? And I know that the penalty killing's been excellent, and the Oilers continue to be on this torrid run.

But we're talking about some elite talent on both sides. Yeah. Sam Reinhardt's been unbelievable on the power play but it's been a non-factor in this yeah like a final it's more surprising that the oilers only have one through five five games right like this is a team that over the last five years has the best power play them in tampa bay i think by leaps and bounds so yeah i know they're saying the things like ah poster crossbar different here or there, and we could be talking about how good it is,

which that's loser talk. Sounds like the Leafs. Yeah, well, yeah. Yeah. It does. So hopefully they just shoot a couple in the net and they don't have to give the almost talk, because almost talks doesn't convince anyone.

But at some point, I do expect Sam Reinhardt to show up as well. Yeah. How important is the first goal here? Mm-hmm. It seemed like in game four, at least, when Tarasenko scored to make it 2-1, that it was going to be a close game. Yeah.

And it just never materialized. But the 2-0 put Florida on their heels. Makes them open up a bit, right? If you can make them open up. It made a huge difference. Yeah. Huge difference. All right.

Let's get into that topic and more with Claude Julian. Thanks for joining us, Claude. Really appreciate your time as always. And maybe you're one of the best voices we could hear right now that might have something to do with the challenge of a 3-0 deficit as you were a part of one in 2010. Unfortunately, on the wrong side here. But maybe you can draw some parallels for us

in terms of what you felt being up 3-0 and maybe what Florida feels felt like Saturday night being up 3-1 and then the seed of doubt in game five well let's put it this way not only were we up 3-0 in the series but even game seven we were up 3-0 in the game and they came back to beat us so really uh it was a tough time for our group and tough time for our team. But as you know, the following year, we certainly made up for it, but no, you get up three, nothing and no matter. Oh, no, no. We lost him.

I think he might've frozen. I do remember the up three-0 in game 7 thing. It was like, God, Philly came all this way back just to go down without a fight. And then, yeah, there was some significant fight. He went frozen there. Was that? Bad line by me, I guess. I couldn't control it.

Didn't stitch it together well enough. It's been very rare for us. So, there you go. well enough it's been very rare for us so yeah so if i recall also the boston bruins lost game five much like uh edmonton where it was like a convincing loss yeah that there is like i don't think it means nothing when the other team shows you they can beat the living daylights out of you you know like it's not like sneaking by they can put it together and be a fantastic team so i don't know what uh what when you played was the closest experience to something like this you guys have a lead either way or stand like a final we were up 3-1 and it wasn't 3-0 yeah but it was a very comfortable feeling.

Until it isn't. To the point where Stanley Cup parades were being planned. Yeah, by you guys. No, by the city. By literal people, actual planners. By Mayor Giuliani. The actual Cup was being planned, yeah. Hardly recognizable.

Yeah, a little different. A little different than those days. Than those days in those days yeah but it was like a few distractions and then it goes three two you go to vancouver much like i think people would be feeling if edmonton wins tonight yeah is god if this thing comes back home, it's going back to Florida for game seven. Yeah. I remember watching that closely. Kelowna boy, you know, not too far from Vancouver. Well, fairly far, but whatever.

We were, you know, Team BC rooting against you as much as we could on the West Coast. Like those, there was a lot of drama there and you could feel the momentum start for the Canucks where you go, okay, there's a chance there's a window. Yeah, that's where the Oilers are at right now. Hanging on to that hope and

yeah, I think game 70, no, never know what could happen. Six in Edmonton like Edmonton's chances. It's all about tonight. We're just calling Claude back. All right. We're having a tough time getting the internet monster got him. So listen, it's been a pretty good year for that. I know i actually don't think we've dropped anybody i guess no so we're about to test it again and calling them so that's good but um was there a moment in the game

seven where somebody hit a post or like i assume nathan lafayette oh yeah hit a post with about three or four minutes to go or else that game seven is going into overtime. Oh, my God. Sickening. Yeah, I'm sure the Vancouver Canuck fans listening right now on Sportsnet 650 are thrilled to hear about Nathan Lafayette hitting the post late in that game. But, I mean, that's the thing, these thin margins.

Okay, there we go. All right. Welcome back, buddy. Thanks, guys. the thing these thin margins and okay there we go all right clodo welcome back buddy um i think i got a tired computer here so either that or the uh the uh up or down three nothing god's got you on it uh but uh you know just just in terms of when as a coaching staff do you feel like when when you're when you're watching this momentum swing you know and over the it was over the course of four games when it does it become less about x and x's and o's and more about emotion or or or passion or belief or disbelief like where do you where does the coaching staff go for Paul Maurice tonight?

Well, I don't know if he, if he should be a real award right now, but you know, at the end of the day, I think if Edmonton wins this game tonight, I would be one of those betting guys. I would say it's going to go to seven because as you know,

you gain momentum. And as the other team goes you've just lost your second game and that one at home so you got to go back to you know the enemy's territory and you know that Edmonton and that situation which is what we had talked about was that we're going to go there with some momentum make sure we win in front of our fans and then that was kind of situation a little bit in Vancouver that we get to play game seven, and game seven can go either way. So, you know, it's a big belief for Edmonton,

especially if they win this game tonight. But for Florida, you have to think that, you know, honestly, it's a must win. You want to stop the hemorrhaging, if you can call it that. And you want to make sure that you end it tonight. So they've got a great opportunity, I guess, to win it in front of their fans. But if not, this could change drastically. Claude, how does the pressure change once everyone looks at you and go, okay, now you're supposed to win?

You know, like that's, to me, what Florida's facing, where this was two pretty good teams. They probably had a slight edge, but everything at one point became like, okay, Florida, now you're supposed to be the team who gets it done. Does that start to make things harder? Well, again, it's a mind game that just stays right. And it's how they're going to approach it. As far as I'm concerned, like tonight, their focus has to be as a team you say

listen let's just go out there play the best game we've played throughout the playoffs get get yourself in a in a mindset that's very positive very focused and understand that you got to do the right things in order to win uh and the best thing you can do in these kind of games is not look at the end result but look at the process you got to go through in order to get the end result that you're looking for and that's what i think in paul maurice's situation he's got to get his team focused on what do we have to do here tonight in order to win not let's not look at the end result but honestly the process that we're going to go through whether it's having a great start, getting through the first period,

trying to score the first goal, playing with the lead. All these kind of things have to be in their minds as they get ready to play tonight's game. Closing your heyday, you had a terrific depth line, if I'm not mistaken, Gregory Campbell, Sean Thornton, and Daniel Paillet. And now we're watching the Edmonton Oilers with the likes of Henry, Connor Brown, Ryan McLeod. Like, how instrumental do these guys have to be for Edmonton

to truly, truly get this to Game 7? Well, I think it's really important, I think, Kipper, because, you know know these guys have to help out the top players and you know everybody's always talking about the same guy dry sidle mcdavid etc and these guys here made the difference to me in the last game by producing and then making the other team aware that there's more than just a couple of players on that team that can do the damage. And they can certainly change the momentum.

You talked about that line of ours that we had, our fourth line. And believe it or not, when I didn't have the last change in Vancouver, I remember Alain Vigneault sending the Sadin brothers against that line at times. And they just handled themselves so well. They were actually hemming them in their own end because of their work ethic and putting pucks in deep and forechecking. So that made a big difference in our game and certainly allowed our other lines to be able to produce

and play against lines that maybe they had more success against. So they do play a big role, and I think that's something that Edmonton's fourth line can do for them uh i saw at times that they were up against some of the top players from florida and they handle themselves well it's all about you know commitments your work ethic keep your game simple dump it in and try and hem them in their own end get them frustrated by playing in their own end instead of going on the attack. So how much, you know, what's a coach's role in this? When you get up 3-0, everything you've done has worked perfectly.

And, you know, I imagine when things go wrong the first time, there's not some desire to change. You've been having success. How much do you have to talk yourself into changing things? Or is it a matter of, I know we've won three games doing this i'm not changing now well you know what i have to think about the last game is that you know obviously they were up three nothing and you guys probably talked about it but you know they're going into that game saying you know what we just have to play well we'll win that game i don't think they were actually as focused and as committed and determined as they were in those first three games.

So I have to think this was a bit of a wake-up call for them, for Florida. And obviously the mistake they made is by maybe not having that same intensity. They just gave Edmonton some life and some belief. And that's the dangerous part of, you know, not closing in after three games. So now you're going back home, and I think they realize now the importance of this game tonight. But at the same time, they've got a team coming in that's believing and knows that if they win this game in Florida,

they're going back home with a lot of momentum. So I think it's one of those things where they realize the mistake they made. It's too late, but now it's up to them to try and make up for it tonight. Okay. Claude, take me back to the series that you lost to Philadelphia and your goalies were Tuka Rask and who else did you have? I think it was Tim Thomas. I think it might have been, yeah, it was Tim Thomas.

Okay. Yes, that was Tim Thomas, actually. Okay. And just in terms of how you handled, you know, watching a 3-0 lead, you know, a three nothing lead you know disintegrate and when you thought maybe you'd approach them talk to them not talk to them video them goalie coaching him like how does not that i'm suggesting that paul barris is all over bobrovsky today but at some point in your series how did you handle the goaltending situation,

knowing that a 3-0 lead was lost? Well, you know, to be honest with you guys, our situation was a little bit different. And if you look back at some of the stuff that happened there, we were up 3-0 going into Philly in Game 4. I think we were doing well. And then David Krejci broke his wrist in that game. And we had already had quite a few injuries that we were battling through guys that were out.

And so that really, with Krejci's injury, really put us in a tough spot. And our hope at that point was just, let's try and win this next game here as quick as we can but you know Philadelphia just took over and then and as I mentioned earlier you win one game you got belief they came back to Boston beat us but as a coach you're right all you're trying to do is get these guys focused trying and stay the course even though like as a coaching staff we're talking about you know how do how are we going to handle all

these things here it wasn't just a goaltending it was really we felt that we had lost some key players at that point and we need to get through it and uh and as i mentioned earlier uh i don't know if i got cut off before but we're even up three nothing in game seven uh at home and we uh let that lead slip away and we lost game seven so a lot of it has to be on us and i think a lot of it was you know doubt crept in and as much as we tried to you know get through it for some reason it didn't work out and the only thing i can say about all that was that it was an unbelievable lesson for us to learn the following year and now we made sure not to make that mistake again. So how do you as a coach who's never won a Stanley Cup I believe going into 2011 like control the energy going into the room presenting to the team trying not to I imagine present

yourself as too excited what sort of steps did you take to keep yourself in the present moment and not start to think about what it would be like to win well i think it's a the players read a lot off the coaches and this is where again not to get off the the question here but just who are i think knob block has done a pretty good job for a first year coach paul maurice has the. You can see they're both pretty calm behind that bench. And, you know, that reflects on the rest of your team. And I think this is what we try to do, especially as you mentioned there, we go into Game 7 series.

The players are really going to read off the coaches. If the coaches look nervous, if they look overly excited, they're going to read off you guys. So think this is where as a coaching staff not just a head coach but we got to show composure we got to show that we're well prepared and everything's under control and let the guys kind of not relax but feel that the that preparedness in your staff and know that we've covered everything and we're ready to go here. I think that's an important part of it. The minute you panic or even during the game, you know,

if one of those coaches starts screaming or panicking a little bit, especially after how far they've gone and how they've conducted themselves so far, the players are going to read right off that. So I think it's important. And again, I give credit to such a calm person back there for a guy who came in halfway through the year. Well, we'll see what kind of composure we get out from both sides tonight, Claude. Really appreciate you joining us.

Just one last thought on who wins tonight. Well, like everybody else, being a Canadian, I'm hoping that Edmonton can pull this off here and going to be cheering for them. And I think there's a real good possibility there. And as I

mentioned, they pulled that one off. I think there's a really good chance we see a game seven. You know what? I read a stat pulled that one off. I think there's a really good chance we see a game seven. You know what? I read a stat today that said that there's been 20 coaching changes in 13 months. So I really like the chances of you coming back and coaching in the NHL again. Well, thanks guys.

I really appreciate that. We look forward to you coming back on when you're head coach. All right, buddy. Sounds good. Thank you, Claude. Thanks, Claude. I appreciate that. Claude Julian, Stanley Cup champion. your head coach all right buddy that sounds good thank you claude thanks claude appreciate that stanley cup champion and a guy who's been on the wrong side of a three nothing deficit and then

they win the stanley cup the next year had to have been like the the driving force that frustration oh yeah it's funny a lot of these teams that win president's trophies, then lose early, win the cup the next year. There's like a bit of a thread of those teams. And I think there's something to be said for having a disappointing loss and spending a whole offseason going not again and building towards something going into the next season. I was just looking at that series where they came back, the 3-0 deficit.

Game 4 went to overtime, 5-4 loss in overtime. And then they lost 4-0 in the game 5, like you said, and then 2-1 game 6, and then 4-3 game 7. So overtime game. There's always overtimes and comebacks. In game 5, which we are entering tonight in that series i think the bruins got shut out in game five four nothing right for nothing okay so so that's almost as bad as being throttled eight one yeah it's the but to me that also it demonstrated a team that could play with them, right? Like the bad team doesn't mop a team 4-0 in the postseason.

But there's that psychological kind of hit. And that's what I like the most about Edmonton's win. It wasn't just a win to get them to 3-1. It was a win that said, like, we finally got what we deserved we're better team we're faster well and mcdavid has a four point night so his stats look good in the finals he's not pressing anymore so many other messages besides just the w in that game and i just wonder if like if florida goes down one or two nothing in the first period right this is where breaks in hockey matter. Is this going to end up just being an extension of that momentum now fully into the first period tonight?

Who's going to hit the inside of a post and have it not go in in the first few minutes? It's going to matter. How about that Game 5 shutout was a shared shutout between Brian Boucher and michael layton so i guess michael layton got hurt halfway halfway through the game and brian boucher comes in and finishes any disrespect to brian boucher but those flyer teams were all so good and they just never had great yeah i mean he and wasn't this the team that got in on the like the last day of the year

this was jeff carter and mike richards too right before they went to la and they got in on the last day of the year. Remember that shootout? Maybe you guys don't remember. Not that part, no. I remember Ole Jokinen got stopped by Brian Boucher at poke check. And they got into the dance that way. And they went on to do that.

Okay. Jokinen was playing for who then? The Panthers. Oh. It was the last day of the year. I just remember the stupidest stuff. But anyways. I like that stuff.

They're really hoping for the repeat performance of the Philadelphia Flyers. I'm interested to see both goalies tonight. I still got to think Stuart Skinner should feel somewhat more relaxed than Bobrovsky, if that makes any sense at all, despite his inexperience. What's Skinner got to lose? He's 25. I would think that

that's the way he would feel right now yeah like they've had a pretty good season one way or the other he's an 898 he's he's not been like a 700 or anything he's played fine but this is one that has to close this thing out tonight the numbers for stew skinner facing elimination this year in the playoffs have been very good he's 3 and 00, 133 goals against, and a 9-3-8-8 percentage facing elimination this year. So he's had a nice performance in that aspect. Really just building this up for the Oilers to, you know. No, well, I mean, they've got to, you know, this whole, it ain't over, I think is the message today.

Are you going to give us game time? Yeah, let's do game time. All right. It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. So the Florida Panthers tonight are pretty big favorites. Minus 150 on the money line. The Edmonton Oilers are plus 125. Bet365 is really thinking that the Panthers ended tonight. If I was going to bet on this hockey game tonight, I might go Florida minus a goal and a half. I think there's a world where this is very similar

to the NBA finals. I know they don't like it when we bring up NBA during the NHL hour here, but people get sour and they beat it people but i just like i said off the top you know you get the split in edmonton you win one of those games there you win the game you need to win that game four it's just such a write-off you're thinking about where you're going to go after all the stuff that goes into winning the cup your first chance to win the cup you're thinking about where you're going to go after all the stuff that goes into winning the cup, your first chance to win the cup, you're a little bit squirrely. First one in franchise history goes back to Florida and they went big today is that you now have the Panthers attention.

You have their full attention. For sure. I just divided at home. Plus one 80 for minus a goal and a half to me to win by more than one is a really good number for the Florida Panthers tonight. Sorry. I'm a different first goal. First goal first goal yeah comes down to the first goal for you for me it just has a a big vibe right if all of a sudden florida's like oh no is this happening you know can you put that in their head can you put uh-oh in their head tonight is the challenge i just a quick

little same game parlay here it's plus 350 edmonton oilers money line connor mcdavid to score a goal and over two and a half goals for the edmonton oilers you think it's going to happen probably gonna have to be some goals in the game connor mcdavid's probably gonna have to be involved so there's a quick one for you as well and that was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app for latest odds to find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly you know the last 14 games the oilers penalty kill is 97.6 40 or 41 special teams boys thank you it's impressive like it's sometimes you can just go okay it's just a matter of time or they're getting some lucky breaks but

man they haven't given much up no No. What I've seen anyways. One more stat before we go. Games 1-3, Stu Skinner, 4-8, 328 GAA, 868 save percentage. Games 4-7, 8-0, 138, 944. Interesting. Not saying, just saying. I mean, that's a pretty big sample size. 8-0, that's pretty good.

Games 4-7. All right, let's take a quick break. When we return, we'll get into some NHL news and notes. Craig Conroy spoke with, who did he speak with on Sportsnet.ca? I don't know. I think we rattled them. Yeah. Francis.

Eric Francis. Yeah. I think our conversation yesterday may have spurned this on. On Markstrom. So we'll have a conversation on that. Also the New York Rangers clearing some cap space with a three-time Stanley Cup champion. Pretty significant name. And we'll get into that plus more

when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jeff Maris Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why do you give me a piece of chocolate

right before I come back on air? We needed a blood sugar spike. We needed a little get us going here. We are lucky here because we found Bill Lindsey. Of course, he's getting ready for game five, but he's got a couple minutes just to kind of tee us up on the vibe in South Florida. Bill, how are you, man? Thanks for joining us.

Yeah, no problem. Everything is good. It's a beautiful day, but the rains are gone. Nice and hot, sunny. All right. So give us the goods here, Bill. I mean, is there some nervousness there? Is 3-1 still fairly comfortable for you?

How surprised were you that not only did Florida lose, but how they lost Saturday night 8-1? They're still fairly comfortable. The situation going back home for game five, I expected fully at some point in this series that McDavid and Dreisaitl would explode at some point. It's impossible. We held them pretty much contained the first three games. These are players that average a couple points a game throughout the playoffs and regular season, whatever it is.

There's going to be a point that it breaks breaks and the dam broke in game number four, and the Panthers got caught two on ones, three on twos. That's not really what happens to this Panther team. The one thing that stood out in this series that didn't happen against the Rangers, against Boston, or against Tampa Bay is just from the analytics side, they flipped it a little bit, has Edmonton, the zone time pressure. So if the Panthers really want to get into this and win game number five, they kind of have to get back into their DNA with that forward checking pressure,

screens in front, low to high plays, extended shifts in the offensive zone, putting pressure on Edmonton. If not, game five could turn out to be rather interesting in its own right. Bill, the players are not allowed to talk or think about something like, what if they won a Stanley Cup? But tell us about what it would look like in Florida if the Panthers win a Stanley Cup. What would they do?

Do you know the parade route? What's it look like in Florida if it happens? You're trying to jinx them. I don't know if it's going to be down the intercoastal on boats or if it's going to be down A1A and towards Fort Lauderdale. I imagine one of those two options. You would either be cruising down A1A on the beach with everyone there on the side waving

and then maybe have a stage set up somewhere or do it down the intercoastal on boats. There's options. Let's put it that way. They're looking forward to it. Edmonton was crazy. It was rowdy up there. Full support, and that building was loud. But we're going to have about 20,000 strong in our own arena tonight,

and it's going to be jumping. It's been a long time battling to get here. You went there last year. You got a little bit more experienced team, a little bit more depth. It got tested, and when you do lose the game, all of a sudden the pendulum and pressure does swing back towards the panthers we're talking to bill lindsey former nhl and panthers color analyst uh bill you've been you've been through the thick and thin moments of

this organization including watching brovsky come in as a $10 million goalie and struggle, and then watching him turn into this machine during the playoffs, loses a big one Saturday night. You've seen the good and the bad of this guy. I mean, what do you expect out of him tonight? A big outback performance. It turned, at the first three years it was the worst contract in the league now it's the best contract in the league so but broski is able to

to turn it around and that's kind of been the story for him it's water off a duck's back for a veteran goaltender he got pulled the whole team was sloppy and it just ended up that he got a little bit extra rest paul marise was fine with that just ended up that he got a little bit extra rest. Paul Maurice was fine with that. It just doesn't really matter at this point. Every game takes on a life of its own, and that's where you're happy to have a veteran like Bobrowski. He goes through the same type of preparation. The mental fortitude has been established.

Over time, he does a lot of work. It's the same with the goaltending coach, Rob Tallis. He's able to get himself self-dialed in. And part of that is the team in front of him. It has to be a full team experience. Bobrovsky, when it's coming down three on twos, two on ones, and it's the best players in the world, I don't care how good your goaltender is,

your chances of getting lit up, probably pretty good. So the Panthers have to be better in front of Bobrovsky. And I expect Bobrovsky to be clear-minded and mentally sharp he has that that kind of ability ability to refocus so let's say the florida panthers win the stanley cup and the con smith is handed to connor mcdavid he's nearly the highest point total ever in the playoffs, most assists in the postseason. Would that be an injustice to Barkov or Bobrovsky? No, that's fine. We'll take the hardware. I love that.

I love it. If you want MVP, it's fine to go down. And it could be deserving if we win the game 4-3 and Connor McDavid has a goal and two assists. It's a very valid point that Connor McDavid could be the playoff MVP. That's how good his playoffs has been. He's been able to drag Edmonton this far into the fight and his leadership capabilities. So he's one of the frontrunners.

But if you have the hardware at the end, I don't think any player on the other, if the Panthers, if it was Barkov that got it or Brodsky, they could care less on their own team, even if it went to the other team. If you're running around and holding that trophy over your head and you get a Stanley Cup at the end of the day in a ring, that's all you ever want or dream of as a player. Bill, one of the aspects of this series we thought would come into play is a power play when you consider all the talent here,

and it really hasn't here. What have you seen out of the Florida Panthers, in particular maybe Reinhardt, who's so good on it, but they haven't had much success? Yeah, they've been able to push. It's a very aggressive mindset. Same thing with Edmonton, what they've done. Both the power plays have been very ineffective.

It's just pressure-orientated. Anytime that there's a back turn, you're going to go after the guy, puck carrier, backhand. If it's on the backhand, pressure, pressure, pressure, and see if you can break it down. The only way to do that is with eccentric, quick puck movement, and we just haven't been able to see either team kind of establish that. Thealtending at times as sergey bovrosky has been a real good penalty killer time for the panthers there has been chances for the edmonton power play but it's that it's it's been led by

carolina over the years and the way penalty killing has changed and if you do get the clears it's 20 seconds for these guys that go out there and it's off the ice. And if you get some clears, you're going through a four or five, five rotation in a two minute power play on the penalty killers. So if your power play is not humming and working at the same level and competing at the same level as the penalty killers, you're in for some trouble. So you have to be able to match that. Connor McDavid said, yeah, it just has to be more of a five-on-five mentality for us. And I guess that could be said,

the same could be said for the Panthers. Just focus like a five-on-five and go out there and work your tail off and try and match the intensity and hopefully you can find a break. Do you, what do you think the injury status is for the Panthers? Do you think there's a handful of guys dealing with impactful injuries right now? I think we're pretty cleaned up for the most part.

Yeah, there's some bumps and bruises. I'm not sure. You've seen some knee-on-knee hits or whatever they are, but they seem fine to come back. There hasn't been much talk around the dressing room. This is much different than last year against Vegas, where they had duct tape. They were piecing shoulders together,

trying to keep ankles intact with the boots. And we're deeper this year. It looks like Lomberg might draw into the lineup. That's the luxury Paul Maurice has. With that fourth line, there's some flexibility down there. He can kind of change it, get fresh players in, kind of energize that. And even with the top nine with the rotation, you've seen Tarasenko on the top line.

You've seen Rodriguez on the top line, Varaghi. He can bounce and mix and match there and kind of find it suitable. But the injury update from the Panthers compared to last year, there's not much talk at all. Everyone's banged up at this time of year. There's bumps and bruises, but I think that's just the majority of it for the Panthers. Well, Bill, we'll wait and see what happens tonight.

Could be an historic night in South Florida. If that's the case, enjoy it. We'll see what happens. But we could also be talking about game six. So we'll see how it all plays out. But we really appreciate your time, man. Thanks for doing this. All right, Kebri.

All right. Thanks. All the best, guys. I appreciate it. Thanks so much. Appreciate your time. Flyers color analyst. Panthers.

Panthers. Did I say Flyers? We've been talking Flyers a lot today. Wow. We're talking about the comeback, I guess. The Flyer comeback. Panthers. Yeah.

He doesn't buy my injury theory, so that's good. That's good for the Panthers. Having three days off really helps them. Do you actually think that Conrad is going to win? No. No. I am not. Oh, I'm back. Do I think McDavid will win the cons?

Do you actually think McDavid can win the cons? Well, no, I don't think he'll win it. So right now, most points in a postseason NHL history, it's Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid. Fifth all-time right now. Most assists in NHL history in a playoff. For Connor McDavid to win a consmith and lose the Stanley Cup, it has to go seven games.

And Connor would also smash it on Bill Daly's head or whoever would hand it out. You can't win it when your team loses game five. Was it Elias Patterson that threw his silver medal into the crowd at the World Juniors? That would be McDavid with the conspire trophy. McDavid would murder someone with it. Can you lose in five games your Stanley Cup final

and win the conspire? Great point by you. No. When you're blanked, or when you have one assist in the first two games, or maybe two assists in the first three games. Yeah. Not enough. Not enough to be a losing team Consummate winner. Who was the last one to do it? Jaeger. Jaeger? And before that, Hextall?

Was it? I thought maybe it was only Jaeger? No, no. Ron Hextall did it as a Philadelphia Flyer losing game seven. Twice a goalie. You're okay with that. There's five players have done it. Shows what I know. Roger, is it Roger Crozier?

Roger Croce. Croce, thank you. Don't know that one. For sure, that's what I was going to say. 1966. I think I'm older than you. Glenn Hall in 68 you. Don't know that one. For sure, that's what I was going to say. 1966. I think I'm older than you. Glenn Hall in 68. Reggie Leach in 76.

Ron Hextall in 87. And, sorry, Jean-Germain and Jaguar in 2003. Those are the five guys that have done it. The award is Playoff MVP. It's hard to make a case someone's been better than McDavid, but no one wants to see someone lose it. Jaguar was undeniably amazing and clearly the AP.

You're not splitting up equal parts in the first, second, third, and fourth round. You are putting probably 30% to 40% stock in your final. The final exam is worth 60% of your letter grade. Yes. That's what it is. I'm familiar with that.

I don't know how everybody feels, but there's tremendous stock in this in the final yep you're right and so bob giving up you know five goals last game hurts his case but he's good enough in the first three that he's the front runner by a good distance all right um a couple of uh house cleaning uh news and notes. Berkley Goudreau. The Rangers have got him on waivers today. And I really like this player. I really think that there's a couple options for

some clubs here if he becomes available. Let's talk about what his situation is. He's got two years, no, three years left at 3, six. We all knew when the Rangers signed him, like many in free agency, he got overpay.

Yeah. He was overpaid. Two-time cup winner who is clutch in the postseason for Tampa Bay. Clutch for the Rangers this year. This year, he had four goals in 80 games. And in the playoffs, he had six goals in 16 games. Including multiple massive ones. Overtime winner against Florida. I think he

scored another big one in one of their games. But you know what? Teams are smart now. So the two scenarios I see... Yeah. By the way, he's 31. Okay, 31. Which I think is in a great wheelhouse. Two scenarios I see is that he gets claimed by a team like San Jose or Chicago or San Jose.

I bet anything someone claims him. So why wouldn't you? If you're San Jose, I mean, like he's a professional hockey player. Can we get more hockey players on our team? They've got Nick Foligno there. So they've already committed to like a three or four million. Yeah, they're paying Corey Perry four mil too. they've got room for another overpaid old guy listen i'm yeah i won't debate that okay i just think it's less of a possibility with a nick felino there i got already

but like san jose why wouldn't you bring in a two-time sound like a quote where they don't care about they just want good guys they don't care if their players are good, right? But, okay, that's one scenario. And the other scenario is he gets bought out, and any team can take a crack at him. And I'm like... He probably gets 3.6 as a free agent. You know, Sammy, your Toronto Maple Leafs? Yeah.

What do you think you'd get him for now? I don't know, i have him for two million it feels kind of like when ryan's suitor got bought out by uh he's gonna go somewhere else and he's just got way more money years yeah although he didn't wasn't very good this year that was four years that he's been in dallas like it's been there a long time now i i do feel like there would be teams that would sign up to sign him for a little less than that but maybe the leafs sure honestly i'll i'm very open to any ideas when it comes to leafs if they like to him and this is the start of the type of deal that scares me for the leafs where dubas is gone

keith is gone you bring in bruby now it's like bringing the older fourth line bringing matt martin bring him back bring me you know and all of a sudden you're that team again you know like that's it scares me a bit at least it's different from that other team well and that's it i keep losing in the first round sure yeah and you're you're not wrong it's different the other team really just lit it up in the play all right that was the team that sent who to the all-star game was it uh comrade all right let's let's take it out to calgary oh yeah greg conroy says markstrom has not asked for a trade inspired by the real kipper and born hour yesterday where we talked about how he's gonna want to trade he

didn't he didn't ask for one he has never come out and said he wants out uh that's never been mentioned he's never said that that's like when my wife says the garbage needs to go out she doesn't ask me to do it but it's pretty clear what needs to be done are we could someone else look like they could use some water yeah could someone else close to ask me to do it could someone else close to him have asked yeah but i I don't understand how you can throw this comment out from Craig Conroy when you know that he was upset. He didn't get traded. That it was not handled very well upstairs.

I can't remember the actual quote. I think it was basically that. Something like that. That it wasn't handled very well from upstairs so while we can appreciate you saying as if everything's hunky-dory we know it's not you're right uh to me this is an attempt to reclaim leverage in a trade where you're not dealing markstrom from a position of markstrom wants out you're dealing markstrom because you've offered me a lot and you remember the other side of that is New Jersey had some quotes slightly resentful about how basically Conroy

tried to put them over a barrel and extort them for assets. And the theory is that they had a deal done and then Calgary changed the deal. That's what's out there. Not great. Not great. Not great to go back and do that. Do you expect him to be gone by the end of the summer? I expect us to do a show and him have been traded

before we go on hiatus this summer. Okay. In two weeks. Oh, that early? Yeah. Like at the draft kind of thing? Yeah. I just get it done.

You know, if it's going to happen, that's when people are talking trades. Make it happen poor old pascal uh uh vincent had a delta tough hand there in columbus yeah has anyone got less of a fair shake than pascal vincent in columbus they're like yeah babs has been fired you're the head coach uh we suck we suck had no players. You did poorly. You're fired. What do I, what? When you keep watching all these scenarios in Columbus, like who would want to go there? That's a great question. There's a lot of people who want to be the head coach of an NHL team, but you're not attracting.

You're desperate now. You're saying I'd rather be, I'll take my chances on being, I don't know, treated this way than obviously not getting a job anywhere else. But it's not ideal. Could this not be an opening for someone like Claude Julien or Bruce Boudreaux who you're saying, yeah, maybe these guys are at the tail end, but we need an experienced guy who's a name. No one's turning down an NHL job.

No. We get that, especially probably bruce budra who wants to get in so badly again hitchcock what's that see if doug can get ken hitchcock in there all of our tour in columbia you just want to get rid of all of our guests gabby oh my god not particularly no, I knew sharks head coach. Ryan Warsofsky looks to bring light to the struggling franchise. He thinks the team has been beat down, dragged through the ringer and he wants to keep it light.

He's 36 years old. I've got ties. That's my age. He's 36. He's sports that ties almost yeah that old yeah 36 yeah imagine me standing behind the bench so this is he's the guy to bring lightness he's not beaten down like you and and better yeah he's he's still yet to have the bitterness built into him that life does to all of us. I don't know. He gets to tell players older than him they got to go to bed early at 11.

Love that. I love setting curfews at 36-year-old. Logan Couture, get to bed. Oilers? Oilers? Overtime game is all I'm calling. It's going to overtime. I can't see the Florida team

that I've watched all season long blow this opportunity. We'll see what happens. I gladly watch it, though. 5-2 Cats. I'll gladly watch it. Alright, our thanks to Claude Julian and Bill Lindsey. Enjoy

your Game 5 tonight on Sportsnet. On Sportsnet. And let's hope for on SportsNet. On SportsNet. And let's hope for a game six. Why not, eh? Yes, sir.