Real Kyper & Bourne - Did the Oilers Jump the Gun?

Episode Date: November 13, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with Jay Woodcroft getting fired in Edmonton and their takeaways from Ken Holland and new Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch's introductory press conference. They are joined by Oilers reporter for the Athletic Allan Mitchell (7:51), who shares his thoughts on Woodcroft's exit, Knoblauch's priority list for his first days on the job and Paul Coffey's role on the bench. Later, questions surrounding the NHL's international exhibitions and the league's long-term goal with these games. Finally, they wrap with Nikita Zadorov's agent leaking information on his trade request, Connor Bedard's incredible goal pace and the Hurricanes bringing back the Whalers' green.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 welcome in the rest of the country on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. We are live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver and Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. Always but always this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Of course, everybody talking the biggest story in hockey right now. The Edmonton Oilers firing Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson after 3-9-1 to start the season. Chris Knobloch will come in with Hall of Famer Paul Coffey. Yeah.

And they get to work as early as tonight. Just two games on tap. The one we'll be focusing on, as the rest of the country will be boilers and the new york islanders uh let's start guys with uh after a convincing 4-1 win saturday night in seattle and we all woke up much like i guess connor mcdavid did apparently to a text message telling us what happened well i would say that the kraken look much worse than the sharks did so yeah maybe maybe the sharks are actually the kraken i don't know but you know i'll just put my two cents in quick which is i i really felt like this is unnecessary i thought jay woodcroft has

shown himself to be a very good coach i thought they've got crap goaltending and bad luck and connor's been not quite right they get a win like i still think that this team was going to turn it around there's not commentary on knob luck at all i just think that this to me was jumping the gun on something that maybe didn't need to happen yeah it's it is remarkable that this could happen to jay and his his record i mean he's got a good record well and they've won playoff rounds like they've they've been it could it could happen in just 13 games i know they he i think going into the year was the fourth favorite for the jack adams this year like if you bet by betting odds and then 13 games later he's fired it's you know they're they're pushed vegas to the brink last

year they've lost the last two stanley cup champions i understand they had a bad start but boy it's tough to look at the way they were playing and be like this is woodcroft alan mitchell oilers writer for the athletic host of the lowdown on sports 1440 in edmonton will join us in a few minutes maybe give us some some clarity from uh from what he sees or hears excited about this moving forward uh we all watch the press conference yeah jeff jack Jackson, Ken Holland, and Paul Coffey. And, of course, introduction to Chris. A lot of people surprised that Paul Coffey made the decision to go back on the bench. Paul Coffey was surprised that Paul Coffey agreed to go to the bench.

He literally said, he's like, I said, no, I didn't want to do it. And they, like, basically talked me into it. You got some sound for us yeah we got a clip from uh knob not a knob block it was jackson and uh holland talking so you want to play that clip for me derek we'll play it there now tom edmonton sports talk tom gizola uh for jeff or kenny um obviously a decision like this comes with a lot of deliberation you guys have to meet and discuss does the players leadership group come into the conversation where they brought in to to discuss potential options for this team moving forward is that something that you guys

bring into consideration or have done before i'll let you because i i did, I have talked over this past week with some of the veterans on our team. I'm not going to tell you what they said. I take the information. Ultimately, I have to make decisions. Obviously, Jeff's got a long, long, long relationship with Connor. You can probably talk about that. Yeah, no, I mean, we didn't consult with the players on this decision never spoke with connor or leon or nuge or nursing or any of the other leadership group what is that

this is uncomfortable i mean that's ridiculous well i don't know i think it's i it depends on on how you really interpreted the question i think think it was framed as options for the team. So there's a way of Ken Holland saying that I talked to some of the veterans, but it might have not included the options for the team moving forward. And maybe it's as simple as I'm spitballing here. I've not talked to anybody. I've not talked to Jeff Jackson. i've not talked to jeff jackson i've not talked to ken holland i'm just saying is it how it was interpreted that no we didn't

talk to them about firing the coach but i can certainly talk to them about you know what your thoughts are on this season it just felt to me kip that you know jackson set out to protect his stars as you know the oilers are falling all over themselves to protect mcdavid as they should and here's your coach and here's your agent and and all that but they're trying to protect the guys by saying they're not to blame don't look at them we didn't consult them we didn't you know but it it did to me come off a little rough right with holland that's some bad like listen you might be right but boy that's bad optics yeah i i think in a perfect world the last thing kenny holland wanted to do is say well i'm sure you spoke to connor and that kind of set him up nope and i i think

jeff jackson turned around and wanted to make it abundantly clear. No, Ken, I did not talk to Connor and I want to make it abundantly clear. This isn't a Connor decision, even though he's my old junior coach in Erie. Right. And it's not a Connor decision, obviously. There's no ties to that at all. This is my guy or this is our guy. And that's, I think it was just a reaction off of maybe the way Kenny kind of left it for him. But Ken wouldn't have said that had they not talked to them.

Like, I'm sure they had some sort of. It's Connor McDavid, for God's sake. You kind of want to make sure LeBron James is comfortable with what's happening. I'm starting to feel like LeBron James. Great observation. GM Connor here all of a sudden. You know, I don't think McDavid has pushed this either way. I really don't.

I don't know if that's fair. And I think it's fair that the organization is looking at him as someone they need to keep very happy for obvious reasons. Contract's up in whatever couple years. Not that he's going to leave. Not that I'm saying he's going to leave. But I think the organization is aware

that they don't want to see Gretzky leave again. If there's a guy to treat like LeBron James, it's probably Connor McGee. They're doing the right thing. They're doing the right thing, but it's pretty clear that this is a lot of... You're good, right? You're good?

You're good? We're all good? You're good, Connor? Okay, cool. We heard Jeff Jackson just absolutely praise Chris Knobloch, not just in the last 24 hours but over probably the last 8 or 10 years. He's always been

public about how much how high he regarded him and now the question is is he the right guy at the right time? You go from Jay Woodcroft, who is considered a younger, progressive,

forward-moving communicator to the same type of guy. Yeah. No? Well, and you didn't have to rush to hire him. I don't think he was getting hired by anyone else anytime soon. You could have seen it through a little bit, but this guy's going to know a lot more than I do. Let's bring him in.

All right, let's bring in Alan Mitchell, Oilers writer for The Athletic, host of The Lowdown. Thanks for joining us, Alan. And in the last 24, 48 hours, what are your initial thoughts on where you're maybe thinking this is heading in a short-term or long-term situation? Well, I think what you guys just said is true. They got one communicator to replace another communicator.

This all happened because Jay Woodcroft got goalie. The owners cannot stop pucks. The defense has been not great. It will improve just because randomness and regression occur, but it was at the start of the season that made it very difficult to overcome. The owners are in a huge hole,

and Woodcroft paid the price. I think, you know, Knobloch's reputation is very good. He's not proven. He's very similar to the way Woodcroft would arrive in February of 2022. But, you know, I think it's unfortunate. I think

Woodcroft is a really good coach, but I also believe that this might be the shot of the arm this team needs along with better health for McDavid and Eckholm. And if they can get, like Skinner, he wasn't busy, but he had a decent night the other night. If they can get better goaltending, I think they can get right back into it.

The Pacific Division is gone, but the wild card is possible. But, man, they've got to pick it up right now. How do you make sense of maybe how this decision was made? You know, Ken Holland is the GM. Jeff Jackson going to, you know, has a lot of sway now. Is this a Jackson decision? Is Holland even the GM now, feeling like Jackson is sort of calling the shots? Or where are you at on the leadership of the Oilers?

I think we saw, I think it was a key thing. I think we saw it at the press conference where Ken Holland said he talked to the players, kind of felt them out a little bit. And then Jeff Jackson said, no, we made this decision without the players' consultation. And I think what it tells you is that Jeff Jackson is, in fact, acting as the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers in this particular case. And I think Ken Holland is, you know, I mean, he knows everybody in the league, and he might be calling, but I think the final decision has gone to Jackson.

And I think the changing of the guard might have happened during that press conference. So Alan, if we talk about a Chris Knobloch coming in now, are we talking about a guy that just needs to work on X's and O's and get better goaltending? Is

that the answer? If he needs to rattle the cage a little bit, does he even have it in him to do that? I'm not sure. I mean, I've talked to people who know him in Hartford, and they're very high on him. He's good at developing talent. I think that's one of the keys that Oiler fans should look for.

More minutes for Dylan Holloway. Hopefully they call up Roberg. Guys, when he got here, when Woodcroft got here, he increased the pool of talent by playing young players. The Oilers have a lot of guys who are marginal NHL players right now who are veterans, and they're depth players. They've got their number one line, a number two line, a number four line, and an AHL line.

They need to improve. And you improve by playing your young players like Dylan Holloway. And Jay Woodcroft got away from that. And I think that what Knobloch needs to do is to play the young players ahead of veterans who are fourth-line depth guys. And do you see that, you know, if they hadn't made this move, do you think that the results would have been much different than what we can expect to see? Like, do you do think that Knobloch has some,

is going to be significantly different for this group? You know, I think what's going to happen is regression. And you guys both know about that. But it's, this is, you know, there's a randomness. And it's hard to describe. But, you know, Conor McDavid, he hasn't played poorly. You know, without the puck, he's been playing pretty well, but this is one of the, if not the poorest

stretch I've ever seen him, and I know he's coming off an injury, and I know the puck is jumping on him, but, you know, they've just had crappy luck, and I think that will turn, and maybe it did the other night, and I don't think, I think Woodcroft would have benefited from it had he stayed, and I think Woodcroft would have benefited from it

if Eddie stayed, and I think Knobloch will benefit. This is a way better team than their record, although your record always reflects what you've been through. And I think what they're hoping for, the reason they made this move, is they're hoping for what happened in St. Louis a few years ago, and Bennington was called up, and I suspect they're hoping for lightning in a bottle and that Skinner can straighten away and the new coach will just be a fresh set of eyes and ears.

And, you know, it does happen. Sports is, you know, you guys both play. Sports is funny that way where a small thing can tweak a hot streak or a cold streak. And right now the owners, I think they're due, as they used to say. We're talking to Alan Mitchell, Oilers writer for The Athletic. Alan, the decision to put Hall of Fame great Paul Coffey beside Chris Knobloch, who has zero NHL coaching experience, what's the vibe in Edmonton on that move?

Well, the vibe is because some of us remember Paul Coffey, a wonderful player, but, you know, defense is not, you know, I think Charlie Hottie would have been a more popular candidate among the fan base. Hottie has a lot of experience and was a defenseman. Coffey was a brilliant player, and I know he's observed the team for several months. He's been around them, so I'm sure he has some really good ideas, but I think Mark Stewart might

end up being, or Glenn Gullitson might end up being more of the X's and the O's. I think Coffey probably has great insight into the game, but as far as structure is concerned, I mean, he can say skate like me, but I don't think anybody can. Other than that, I'm not sure what he'll bring. But he's seen the team. He'll know them well. And maybe there's some tweaks that he can bring. What do you think is Daryl Cates' level of involvement in the way the team is shaped right now?

Could you repeat the question? What do you think, Daryl Cates, what is his involvement? Like, is Jeff Jackson someone that appeals to him? Paul Coffey someone that appeals to him? Is he having input on this team the way that Jerry Jones does in Dallas? I think that's exactly right. I think that Daryl Cates is an emotional guy. I think that he was frustrated.

Colin didn't go out and get some forwards when they were suffering and there were some injuries. And I think that what we're seeing now is a reflection of that. He doesn't want to lose the season again. And I also think that the owners are laser-focused on Connor McDavid returning, and that's why Jeff Jackson and Chris Knobloch are here. They're gathering the troops the way Bill Torrey did when he traded for Jean Potvin in the early 70s to ensure that Dennis Potvin was signed with

the Honitors instead of the WHA team that would have drafted him, probably Quebec. And I think that the owners have the long game with Jackson. They probably have the long game with Knobloch, and they felt like the time was now. And I wouldn't be surprised if more of that occurs. The owners are, they're pot committed with Conor McDavid, and I don't know the same scenario can apply to Leon Dreisaitl,

because I don't know what Dreisaitl and his agent are thinking, but I think McDavid is the guy that they're laser focused on. He's got a couple of years left. We'll see what happens next summer, not this coming summer, about a re-signing. But I think that Daryl Cates is thinking long-term. I think that Coffey's probably going into the room to monitor to see if everything's A-OK there. And the bottom line here is that D Darrell Cates has always been involved.

I think he's always been an owner who, you know, he may not be in the public eye, but I think he's certainly concerned about his team, especially when they start off so badly. Should get real interesting as early as tonight when the New York Islanders and the Oilers battle. Allen, really appreciate your time. Thanks for doing this. Enjoy, guys.

Thanks very much. Thanks, Allen. I want to get into, we'll get into the Connor and Leon future in just a second here. But I just want to touch a little bit on the Paul Coffey. And I just, I don't know how this is going to kind of play out with a rookie NHL coach who doesn't appear to be this kind of big personality. Right? I mean, he doesn't, I don't know much about him at all. And listen, all of it's true when you hear great things about him.

And it's set up well that a lot of people felt like maybe he was the next coach that was destined for an NHL club. Obviously, he has a huge supporter in Jeff Jackson. But nothing screams out to me as this guy being like a big voice in Jeff Jackson, but nothing screams out to me as this guy being like a big voice in a room, a guy that can kind of rattle a few of the players

at times you do need. You generally go from a Jay Woodcroft to a Hitch, a Keenan, a guy that can just come in and say, we know your shelf life is only three years, but we just need to hit one of them in three years,

and then I'm going to get rid of you too. That's not Chris Knobloch. No. And now you put someone like Paul Coffey, who is bigger than life image in Edmonton, on that bench with him. Strong personality too, right? Yeah.

And listen, I know Paul. I know him and I know him enough to tell you that this move isn't ego-driven. He's not money. He doesn't need notoriety. He's doing it because he feels like it can help the Edmonton Oilers win. That's the only reason why he's there. But I just don't know how that normal dynamic between a head coach

and the pecking order that we usually know about as an assistant coach falls in for this. Like, he's not your normal, average assistant coach moving forward. No, you don't get to say, hey, I asked you for that power play before the meeting here today, and if it's not finished, I need it done, you know, let's go. You can't lean on Paul in that way. It's Paul Coffey.

Hey, Coff, we needed that. Can you? Hey, Coff, where do you think you're going? Okay, I know it's 1.30 in the morning, but that video's not done yet. Yeah. Hey, and by the way, tomorrow before practice, I need you out there with those guys to work on, you know, XYZ.

I don't know how that's gonna work out. Doesn't it feel a little bit like Kate sending, like, his guy down there. Everybody I talked to today says the exact same thing. Like you've got like the, you know. So that's the other thing.

He's like a GoPro for the owner. That's the other challenge for Paul Coffey now is to make sure that I'm not in here reporting right to the owner. Because prior to this, prior to this, you know, you talk to people close to the Edmonton Oilers and they'll tell you, okay, there's the owner because prior to this prior to this you know you talk to people close to the Edmonton Oilers and they'll tell you okay there's the owner then there's Paul Coffey then there's Jeff Jackson then there's Ken Holland maybe somewhere in there's Bob Nicholson from afar oh right he's still involved is he no not really not really i think it's kind of quiet now there with bob but so so how do you go from maybe the second guy right under the owner to assistant coach i would have personally if

i would have gone to paul coffee and say listen you take over for the whole year you you want to go run the team i don't think he ever wanted it to be honest with you and did he not mention that in his press conference that like he literally was like i don't i didn't want the job i turned it down he didn't he wasn't looking for it right i think that's what he wanted to say okay because i think i think there's still juice for him to kind of be there but i'm like if if paul coffee's gonna be every day at the at the rink and he's gonna be on the ice every day just make him the head coach for this year and see where it goes i would have i would have pulled a

marty st louis yeah and just said cough go there and now that's the guy you want well just cough can go in there and and work with them and and give them exactly what they need when when it needs to be done instead of just kind of maybe nudging chris knoblock a little bit here i i just think it's it's it's a strange dynamic having a bigger than life guy uh beside a guy that he's not going to be the typical coach x's and o's i think he's going to be an ear right he's going to talk to players communicate sit in the dressing room on their stall and go you know chat with the guys i don't think he's going to be drawing up the drills in practice that would be my guess if i had to the other thing to the point you're making go ahead i was i don't

worry about the drills any any any assistant coach can run a practice for 45 minutes as long as i tell them that you know where i think we're weak or where we need to work on a first pass or the power player penalty killing to me it's just just about whatever the guys need at any time. I just don't think Chris Knobloch's going to go in there and shake it up if he has to. Well, what's hard is, you know, we're here in Toronto and we've seen where it has felt, and we have talked about this ad nauseum for years,

at times like the inmates run the asylum, where one time last year sheldon keith i think he benched marner for a shift and he said that the players that his best players weren't good enough and then literally had to apologize the next day for that and it was like who is in charge the players are the coach now keith has made gone to great lengths to establish himself as the guy, clearly making decisions. Knobloch walks into that room with Connor McDavid as the clear guy who makes the decisions. And Leon Dreisaitl has two years left,

one and a half years left at $8.5 million, and he probably has more influence than the coach, too. And maybe guys with long contracts like Hyman and Kane, maybe they have more, you know, I'm saying it's a tough spot for Knobloch to walk in where he feels like the eighth most influential guy in the room and he's tasked with being the guy. To me, this is what Jeremy Colton went through in Chicago.

Even though they knew they were going to lose there, they basically said, here's Kane and Tave's team. You go tell them what to do. And it was like. Yeah, that was tough. You're set up to fail. It's easier with coffee there, I think. Yeah.

In the room. Yeah, right. But how do players interpret that? Are you saying that? Or is Paul telling you to say that? Yeah. interpret that are you saying that or is paul telling you to say that yeah i mean what's the what's the influence of having the relationship between knoblock and mcdavid mcdavid's already tried to downplay that i know like i don't know i don't know what he's been up to what he said i know he's been coaching but he literally is like i don't know i believe him i do too i 100 believe

i believe him i don't think he's bs. You don't think they're like best buds? No, I don't think they talk a lot. I don't think that's... And listen, we listen to Alan. His agent's the president and his junior coach is now the coach. To me, you're trying

to keep him happy. Alan Mitchell just moments ago set a picture that suggests that they're setting him up to come back another new contract he's not even eligible for a year and a half or something right it's 18 months yeah it's 18 months and leon is july buddy yeah so jeez if if this is a setup to make sure that those two guys aren't going anywhere like how does it work by the way is leon getting more money than matthews definitely right hold on don't get too far ahead of yourself just yet oh you're like oh he's gonna

do my my yeah my point my point is, the only way they have a chance, I don't care if it's Jeff Jackson, I don't care if it's his junior coach, you got to win. You got to show him that I can win here. That's the ace. Of course. That's the trump card.

Of course. So, like, it doesn't really matter. All of it around it, the bells and whistles around there, doesn't matter. Does he feel like the team can win yes or no that's that's where it's at for me is that if if it doesn't work then as early as july leon goes okay i mean i want to go somewhere where i can win now i'm in my window here so that's why the desperation and the firing after 13 games is they're like, they can't afford to have these guys feel like they can't win.

Can't afford it. They can't be an out-and-out bad team. No. Or else they're going to lose these guys. You know, to give Holland some credit, if you believe it's the coaching a little bit, good for them for not waiting and saying then. Oh, they have no choice. They had no choice, no choice i guess i mean at the end of the day you did have a choice

that you could snap out of this uh but they weren't willing to take that chance per se but so you think they asked connor i don't think they're hiring them yeah i think they've had conversations on what do you think of the system and what's working and what's not working and what's frustrating you. As far as, hey, Connor, we're going to fire this guy after this game and we're going to bring in this guy. What do you think? That never happened. No, but I do believe that for sure it had been like,

I think you nailed it, Kip. You have those conversations. Like, well, what's happening here? You know, you're inside the room. You're on the ice. What's happening? What are we missing? You know, and so if. You have those conversations like, well, what's happening here? You know, you're inside the room, you're on the ice, so what's happening? What are we missing? You know, and so if Connor says a couple things like, I don't know, this new system's not

working. I gotta be better. As soon as I'm better, we just gotta make a good first pass. We just need this. We just need that. But if one of those things, Kip, is we took three too many men penalties in one game, you know, like we can't defend in our D zone. Or we're terrible at line changes. Why are we getting caught? If any of those things implicate the coach and not that connor

would have done it yeah to talk about woodcroft but like if those answers are that way if you're the gm you're like well maybe that is part of it and come july if leon dry sidles pulling a willie kneelander and there's no deal no contract uh that ain't helping mcdavid that ain't helping mcdavid if that guy walks what is connor staying for i do think that this turns around for them like watching that team it's still there to me and i've stuck with that this season um and game on Saturday, Hyman is so good. First period national hat trick. Yeah, but even outside of that, they have great players there.

Yes, they do. And it feels like it's got to turn around. They have some un-great players, too. For sure. Mostly in that. Get Sorrows right now. That's what you got to do. The one thing, and it's a trap that he can't follow in that trap,

is that we're just going to play the crap out of Dreisaitl and McDavid. That's not the way it works. It's not basketball. What he might want to do is give McDavid a night or two off. Do you see that one of the first quotes that Knobloch had was like, there's too much pressure on these guys. Way too much. And I've had that conversation with you guys.

And with Toronto and Edmonton in particular uh they're spent there there are a dozen games in there's 70 more games to go those guys feel like they've been through the ringer war and like nuge is underachieving statistically like they can get more from a lot of guys i speaking of nuge yes would you say ninth coach yeah let me see i got i got the list here so nuge has been there since 2012 and he has had roughly 1 000 coaches i can't find the list right now yeah but it's been going back to tom renny's had nine coaches in 11 seasons which what an insane statistic that is is that like what's the record for most coaches i feel like that's got to be it hey with one team with one team it's got to be close if i can find

this i pull i'm pulling up the coaches here list of em yeah okay um yeah tom renny ralph kruger dallas eakins todd nelson todd mcclellan, Ken Hitchcock, Dave Tippett, Jay Woodcroft, Chris Knobloch. Here we go. That's a roster in itself. That's crazy. Ryan Eugene Hopkins, coach killer. I know he's not. All right, Sammy, where do you want to take us?

Game time? Let's go to game time. It's game time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, I talked on this about

the Oilers beating the Sharks the other day. Yeah. Where I was incredibly confident that the Oilers were going to beat the Sharks by I think four and a half was my pick. Yeah, it was a good bet. Yeah, it was a really great bet.

I actually liked the bet, though. Thank you. Tonight, to me, is like, what's the saying? The dead cat bounce? It's a bad saying, but that's what they say about the coach. It's funny, but yeah. So cooking up a little same gamer for both Connor and Leon to score and the Oilers to win is plus 475.

To me tonight, it just feels like if they don't win this one on home ice after their first really good win of the season against the squids, against a struggling Islanders team, tonight's got to be tonight. So can I ask you where your New York Islanders are right now? And is there, like, is Lou feeling it right now? Boo Lamorello? Yeah. So to tell you where I think they are,

I have placed two units on the Edmonton Oilers to win in regulation tonight. I don't know, Kip. I just feel like the idea of Luz, we'll just get a bunch of old, reliable pros who do it the right way is great, but they keep getting older, and they were old to begin with,

and suddenly you got no one who can shoot the puck in the net, and it's just an old team. So it's tough for me to see, you know, them being great. They have enough players that you think it's a fringe playoff team, but this Islanders team, to me, needs dynamic players as much as anyone in the league. It's Horvat and Barzal, and then

I don't know, Engvall. Who are you going to get goals from? Lean. It is lean. But yeah. They could use a Willie Nylander. Yeah. They could also use some cap relief. I'm not sure how you make that happen. Everybody could use Willie Nylander.on could use a Willie Nylander. Yeah, they could also use some cap relief. I'm not sure how you make that happen. Everybody could use Willie Nylander.

Everybody could use a score. And next one I'm looking at here is tonight, Colorado got starched 8-2 by the Blues. They're in Seattle tonight. I got to tell you, my first viewing experience of Seattle Kraken was not an enjoyable one on Saturday night. They are bad. And they're just not. enjoyable one on Saturday night. They are bad. And they're just not.

They just can't score. They've got no impact, guys. It's just not an exciting team. By the way, I'd like to take this back to last year. You said this the whole last year. Retroactively be sick of people being like, they got Oliver Bjorkstrand. It's like, okay, everyone has Oliver Bjorkstrand. Yes.

The Avalanche tonight liked them a minus a goal and a half they this feels like they're gonna win that game big time i have them as my survivor pick this week they're gonna be mad losing a lot of seattle last week yeah like it just feels like that's a team that's gonna come out of it crummy but they're gonna pull it out and uh just wanted to check in on the heart trophy race because you know i love doing that. Austin Matthews is now plus 400 with Connor McDavid at plus 300. Still the favorite. So Austin Matthews is the second favorite.

Still the favorite. Yeah, still the favorite, Connor McDavid. Do you know what kind of pace Connor's on right now? What, like a 40-point pace? 70 points. 50-plus points and 13 goals for the season. Is that the pace? Yeah.

At 69 games, I guess. That's like Bedard being on a 57 watch he's got to go on a tear right now he will it's really weird you know it's just i don't think i don't think there's ever been a time that guy's put on skates and his numbers have looked this bad find it for me you know what's funny is looking back at some guys careers sticks in the maternity ward maybe but like you remember alex ovechkin scored uh he won two rocket richards um and then he had a 33 goal season and then a 38 goal season and then he was above 50 and won rockets and all that but in the middle of his career he had two down years matthews last year has like a random down year hockey's hard oh he's hard sometimes you're just not feeling

awesome and so they're so they didn't get dry saddle or mcdavid didn't have a point on saturday night wild and that's the only the eighth time since 2015 that they've won with both those guys didn't get a point eight times since 2015 it's 2023 that's eight years my. That's the most insane stat I've ever heard. So there you go. All right. That was Game Time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19+.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, more talk on the NHL going to Sweden. Yes. Is this where we need to grow the game? I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, they're like the third best hockey nation in the world. So maybe not. I don't know. Okay. Before we go to break, shout out to Sophie and the Whippy Wolves. Good luck in Buffalo. All right. There you go.

All right. Hockey in Sweden. And also Zdorov's agent leaking. Love Milstein. That his client wants out. I want to get into that with some Calgary flavor to our show. All right. We're back after these words.

Stick around. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jazz Mary Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Four teams heading to Sweden to play, I don't know what they call it, Super Series, Global Series. Do they give it a fancy title?

The Swedish Series. Awesome series. Minnesota, Ottawa, Toronto, and Detroit. Today, Damien Cox in the Toronto Star wrote an article about, basically, what are we doing? Why are we going there? Right. Did you like the article? Yes. Did it give you some food for thought it did to be honest you know like many fans is like

okay they're going sweden whatever and then yeah it took a second to think about it and was like why is this happening what is the like i i'm for glowing the game globally say the coyotes well there's sure how many said no one in November to Sweden? The bottom line is, Gary and the league, they don't do anything unless there's money involved. They're making money. Who's paying them here? It's not just the gate, obviously.

No. What happens is you have to... A promoter takes this on and guarantees the league a certain amount of money. And then the league can, I think, sprinkle a cherry on top, whipped cream with a title sponsor, and they can start selling advertising. There is reason to go. You on money?

There's money. It's not great money. It's okay money, but it's not great. It's not NFL playing in London every year money. Frankfurt. Right? See that dome? Yeah.

It's amazing. They've got, between Sweden and Finland, there's got about 100 players in the league. So it is a hockey hotbed. As small as the country is, it's meaningful. So there is money involved. You're not going to ever buy out a Toronto Maple Leaf or New York Ranger game because they can't afford to give you probably $3 million,

but they can buy out Detroit's home game at about $1.5 million. So they're not getting rich off of it, but it's an easy score for the NHL. The problem isn't going there. It's not having a real plan on how many times you want to go or a bigger picture. The inconsistency is the biggest problem

that the league continues to have until they make this major announcement for international hockey well and if i'm a player and i play in the national hockey league and you sign me to a contract to play for x amount of years that doesn't like it's relevant to me that in the middle of the season this team is going to go overseas and now i got to get out of my rhythm in the middle of the year where the other 27 teams don't have to do this so why am i getting messed with this could affect my game negatively i know and that's an issue with your players association they negotiated this they're involved in this because it's uh hockey related revenue so they're not

going without the blessing of the nhlpa which has to have the blessing of the players so i guess they're they're they're in it the only question is is i i would imagine that i i would hope that the pa would have been able to negotiate a deal where uh you know they're not involved on the on the costs of putting this thing up, right? Yeah, for sure. The hotels paid for our flights. It's not coming out of our 50% of the revenue is my point. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think other than that, it should be.

Like it's great. It's a big ask. It is a big ask. It's great for Sweden to have this there. I'm sure they have a lot of players in the league, and that's wonderful. But it does feel like, okay, well, then make it a part of the preseason, like Australia.

Make it, you know, if we ever want to do a tournament or whatever, something greater, that's fine. This, to your point about it being sort of arbitrary, it feels very arbitrary where you take a team that finally won a couple of hockey games in the Leafs and start to get rolling. Now it's like, okay, we're going to take a week off, fly to Sweden, do a press tour. Like, this feels very disruptive to me.

The Olympics, too disruptive to our schedule. But this, this we can do. I don't know. I don't like it. Yeah, it's, you know, I've had some friends text me about how much they hate it, and I wasn't really hating it that much. But that, what you just said right there pissed me off the olympics yeah about how they whined about how it's like they disrupt and they upset they don't make any money off of it like the second they're making money they'll disrupt

the hell out of this oh yeah that's never been it got used as a bargaining chip to restructure a few things during the pandemic and the olympics wanted this oh the olympics the players yeah the players yeah and you know so far nothing yet yeah what's going on there i don't believe anything's imminent but that they would they're still negotiating but everything's pointing in a direction that uh when they make a major announcement for it they you're going to hear stuff probably in the next six, eight years. Oh, like long-term plans for the international play? Yeah, that you'll get, you'll have an understanding and everything will be built around a World Cup as well.

This isn't just the Olympics. This would be a World Cup that would stretch every two years, I think. And a World Cup where, hey, some games, like it won't be, Toronto will never host a World Cup ever again. Really? No. It'll be internationally, you think?

It would be spread around North America. There could be possible games in Europe as well. Well, that's fine. Have the tournament there. That's cool. What do you, I don't know what you know about the nba's in-season tournament but the games that they're already playing count towards it and then the

best teams in the round robin play two separate games and the players can win i think a half a million dollars each so the thing i didn't know is that their tournament games count against their regular season schedule yeah which i didn't know i thought it was just like a total total outside but the two finals yeah our bonus games our bonus games which are in vegas so are you seeing something this uh with the national hockey league to me it's not disruptive of the schedule that much you see other sports have it there's this added thing where the players can play for something else it's just another thing to compete for to keep the regular season lively i don't hate it i don't know i well i mean i'm a big soccer fan and they do they've been doing this in soccer for 100 years like there's four different trophies you can win in english soccer fa cup well three

fa cup the premier league the carabao cup like there's all different things that you could win i like it it incentivizes other teams like there's something to play for if you're crappy would you ever see a league in your world where there's an NHL team in Sweden? So, I would love to say that I love Sweden. And if there were a team that were, like, permanently there. Yeah. You know, at least it's there for everyone, right? It's part of everyone's schedule.

You go there and play five games or whatever. And, yeah, great. Let's do it. I'm fine with that. I don't and play five games or whatever. Yeah, great. Let's do it. I'm fine with that. I don't like the random one-off for a couple teams. I think it's way more possible for an NFL team than a… Because you go play one game. Yes.

I think it's they travel over here. You'd schedule it so that they'd be here for three weeks. They'd play and then they'd go back. To me, it's much more… As a team that's playing three times a week maybe sometimes four times a week to me having a team in europe seems insane well tough schedule to be on that team yeah like i'm in north america most of the time i just be used to the jet lag just don't know like we're used to like $200 tickets, $300 tickets every game, 40, 41 games.

I don't know. No appetite there for that? I don't know. Are you getting standing room at the Scotiabank Arena for those prices? 200 bucks. Holy hell. No. Good ticket.

Keep going. I mean, depends who they're playing. Depends who they're playing. And I don't know what they're charging over there for these games, but I got to think. Can't be cheap. 200 euros has to be. I know my cousin lives in Australia and he went to the games there.

So what kind of tickets would they charge for their premier Swedish league? Like is that a $100 ticket? Not the foggiest. I just know Australia was like $800 a ticket or something. No, for NHL. But I'm talking about their division one.'t know you know not the first i just don't know if they're trying to pull it up if there's money in in sweden to to support anything other than a one-off yeah okay two teams i cannot pronounce uh playing on thursday 15 16 tickets remaining. Two tickets.

79 bucks each for these tickets. Euros or bucks? Bucks. Pretty cheap. Yeah. Jack it up times three and on you go. The Lakers are playing.

That, no. Different market maybe. Yeah, I don't know. Just a different market. I clicked StubHub as the first day it popped up. This could be like third division. I have no idea. No, no, no. They're legit, I don't know. Just a different market. I clicked StubHub as the first thing that popped up. This could be like third division.

I have no idea. No, no, no. They're legit. I rushed into this. Okay, a story that I mentioned earlier. Calgary Flames, we know their situation on the blue line. They've got a few unrestricted free agents. Zdorov's agent, Dan Milstein, leaked out that he wants,

he's asked a trade for his client, Zdorov. Russian Alan Walsh. I love it. He's just out there on Twitter letting you know. And I don't know about that strategy to handpick a leak in Toronto. And correct me if I'm wrong, but he hashtagged it Leaf Forever

or he linked Zdorov to the Leafs. He did. He did. He said, I'm just pulling it up right now. He put the Leafs hashtag in there? He did. I guess that's just... He may have deleted that tweet.

That would be... I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I thought I saw it. No, he did. No, no, no. He did not delete the tweet. He said, here comes tweet. That would be. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I thought I saw it. No, he did. Okay. No, no, no, no. He did not delete the tweet.

He said, here comes the Dora of train. Get your hashtag least forever tickets today. Hashtag we are gold star exclamation mark. It's more about the hit. I just don't understand this. God, he laid out. What don't you understand? Kate, your client's going to be a UFA.

Yeah. The team's heading south. Yeah. You know you're getting traded. Uh-huh. Why do you need to send out a tweet? The client's unhappy and he wants out. Because the guy's the least of the team's hand.

The least want him here. It doesn't work, JB. It doesn't work. You're not forcing anybody to do anything that they're not ready for. And even a rookie, Craig Conroy, will not get pressured to moving this guy at any time. He may have to wait to march. Dude, if you follow the NBA, if you're a big enough jerk, they'll trade you eventually. You just got to make it difficult.

It seems hard. Jimmy Butler back in the day in Minnesota. Why do you want to take your client and potentially make him into a jerk? Because you just want to be elsewhere, I guess. Doesn't make sense to me. His client is also an outspoken individual, right? He's out there not afraid to say his. All you do now is have a lot of pissed off teammates at you. And Zdorov?

He didn't say it. What do you mean he didn't say it? You think he had to get... You don't have to say anything. You don't have to say anything. You're right, though. His teammates would be pissed. You're bailing on us.

Where do you think you're going? It gets a little heated here, and you just ask for a trade that's the way it works you gotta you may have to play another 40 games yeah why do you want to have your teammates look at you going okay all right that's the way it's going to be you know i think he seems someone uncomfortable or sorry comfortable with being uncomfortable and you're right though i see your point that it's not ideal unless you think it rushes the trade i mean hey they were in toronto he smoked tyler bertuzzi there's a been a ton of talk about the least senior defenseman he was jumping on an opportunity doesn't work that way sammy no but he was i mean the agent literally tweeted it so i'm just telling you why he did it

he was it's a spotlight game no it was a setup. It was a setup. What do you mean? Oh, I love this. They set it up. Calgary comes to Toronto. I'm going to leak the information. And here we go. Yeah. I mean, that makes sense.

Biggest stage. Biggest hockey media hotbed. Yep. I'm going to put my client right in the forefront. You want a defenseman? Here he is. I think Bertuzzi was in on it so they could get the message out there. He spanked him. Oh, you got him good.

That was a good hit. I mean, the Leafs are on the wrong end of a couple of serious hits this weekend. Three big ones. Yeah. Speaking of getting smoked, Conor Bedard. Smoking the Leafs. But he got right back up. Oh, he did getting smoked, Conor Bedard. Smoking the lead. But he got right back up. Oh, he did get drilled, yeah.

But he also is unbelievable and scores a lot and has nine goals now. I'm starting to like my 50 call again. You do, eh? I'm starting to feel like I was right all along. You guys okay with the Hurricanes bringing back Hartford Whaler jerseys with the Cooperals for warm-up?

It's a little bit... Stolen value. Isn't it over? Well, it's not that it's over. It's, you know, as you say, stolen Valor. It's like... They're not... Like, that was a proud... They stole the Whalers from Hartford. Now they're dragging the corpse out and showing it.

Didn't it come with the sale? They own it, yeah. You played for the Whaler. I did. This would drive me insane. I wore one... I played one exhibition game with that green because Brian Burke changed it over to the blue. The blue's nicer anyway. The blue's nicer anyway. But I played one exhibition game with the green.

Didn't the Thunder wear Supersonics jerseys? It's a joke. Just the Sonics by that time? To me, it's not allowed. You can't do it. Did the Avs ever wear Nordiques jerseys? Their reverse retro was inspired by it. The Coyotes should wear Jets jerseys against the Jets.

Speaking of zigzags, here we go. Jerseys, I do believe that I got that green jersey somewhere. Bring it in. Oh, yes.

By the way, game day. Game day. That's why it's up. Game day. Gotta head straight to the Red Boys. Game day.

We gotta go. Don't be scared to make it dirty. Get a puck mark. Get the camera close. There's puck marks in there. There's nothing. It looks clean as can be.

All right. Just like that, our thanks to Alan Mitchell from The Athletic covering the Oilers. Enjoy the two games tonight. Hall of Fame. We're back tomorrow.