Real Kyper & Bourne - Early Returns on Canadian NHL Teams with David Amber

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

Sportsnet's David Amber joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne in-studio to discuss the early success of the young Calgary Flames, what's behind the undefeated start for the Winnipeg Jets, if Stuart Skinner lost his edge in net, whether Elias Pettersson can play up to his contract and the biggest surprise from the Ottawa Senators. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee look at the Washington Capitals' playoff hopes, whether Alexander Ovechkin's best chance of beating the goal-scoring record is with the Caps and Jacob Trouba's controversial hit on Justin Barron.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

it's the national hour on the real kipper and born show we are live on sports at 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary coast to coast on sports net this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 let's welcome him in david amber friend of the show studio analyst with hockey night in canada NHL on Sportsnet, and the finest dressed guest I think we've had on for you. Not by design. Not by design as you are working tonight.

The only game. We go from 16 games to one game. And I love the 16 games. I wish the NHL did that more. You and I spent, we had a good eight-hour date night last night watching 16 games. It was special. It was fun. But why doesn't the league do that more? Listen and I spent a, we had a good eight-hour date night last night watching 16 games. It was special. It was fun. But why doesn't the league do that more?

Listen, I think they should open day one. That's how the league should be shot out of the cannon. I did want to add to your best dress comment that he has sick Wendell Clark socks on, it looks like. Is that, those are. Wendell Clark socks. You must have socks, though. Yeah, but they're all in the box still. Really?

Yes. What's the company still. Really? Yes. What's the company called again? Socks. I want a kipper. I want a kipper pair. I want a pair of kipper socks. So I liked, what did we call it, the frozen frenzy? Asian socks.

I did. But, like, can you give me some notice that it's actually coming up? I have no idea. I totally agree. Like, can you let us some notice that it's actually coming up? I have no idea. I totally agree. Like, can you let us know? Day of frozen frenzy. Wait, what? Can you not, like, throw out a random Tuesday night in October?

What would you do, Kipper? Would you do a first night like Justin? I think he's on to something. For me, I would pick a holiday. And I would start it at noon and work its way up and make it an event and promote it. And make DA be there all day. Don't tell me.

Every show. Don't let me find out the day of that these games are going on. You could do that. You could do that. I mean, work it in like with, well, the Winter Classic, they want it as a standalone. Obviously, I understand that. But you could do, as you say, Canadian Thanksgiving's a Monday.

You could start out with the Canadian games in the afternoons because it's not a holiday in the U.S. There's a way to do it for sure. It's Columbus Day, right? Yep. Oh, on Canadian Thanksgiving. Yeah, it was this year. I don't know if it falls every year.

I think it does. I don't know if it does either. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, it probably does. But that would be a good opportunity. And I say do it more than once a year. I think it does. I don't know if it does either. Well, that's interesting. Yeah, it probably does. But that would be a good opportunity. And I say do it more than once a year because I thought it was really cool. And there's storylines there. It was only the fourth time ever we had that.

And, you know, we were hoping for a ton of overtime. The best game might have been one of the last games. The Calgary game was really exciting. Did you, like, both of you guys were in studio. So how hard was it to, like, keep an eye on a lot of different things? We missed a couple things. Legitimately very hard. I mean, there was seven games going at the same time and trying to kind of stay up on everything.

And plus monitoring all of my wagering while we were going on was very complicated. He owes me lunch. He dragged me into some of the worst bets I've ever been a party to. I'm believing in the Leafs. Trust me on this. Trust me on this. They're going to come back.

And I'm like, just okay. I'm following one bad bet after another. So where are you on the start of the year? We've got, I think, presently five out of seven Canadian teams in a playoff position, which excites the heck out of you because you're really Canadian-ly selfish. Hey, I'm thinking about all of us. I really am. Listen, I think the best story in the NHL, and maybe I'm a little biased,

but I think the best story has been the Calgary Flames. I mean, people in Winnipeg are going, well, what about us? We were 6-0. We've been incredible. But they've been good. And that's not shocking. The Calgary thing is shocking. And Dustin Wolf, if Dustin Wolf can be what he's showing right now,

they're not going to miss Markstrom. It's going to be like, wow, we have our own guy now. So it's exciting. It was a great finish last night with Kadri tying the game up with 40 seconds to go, 42 seconds to go. Yeah, and this Justin Kirkland story is one of the best. These are great human interest stories. I mean, your book, Undrafted, I mean, listen,

you've had to fight tooth and nail to get everything you've got. This guy's 28 years old. He was drafted, I believe, but, I mean, he barely had a cup of coffee, right? Wonderful story. He's 27, 28, whatever. He's in that. To get the nod last night on a shootout and to go in there

and, you know, a couple of moves and the last one to tuck it, you know, to toe drag it in and snap it down low, like, great. And Husker. Great move, great calmness, and I'm sure he was like that duck theory paddling like hell under the water yeah but looked calm calm but you know huska his coach said you know if you've been following him and of course they have been in the american league and ask his

teammates he's automatic in these situations he says he's he said my only regret is not going to him sooner so you know you build some trust with the coach who likes you are they and wolf and then wolf had to stop malkin at the other end to secure the win. He had Crosby and Malkin coming down. I mean, it was a great story. It's been a great start for the Flames. That's one of the best stories right now. And who knows how long it's going to last.

The bubble could burst, could start bursting their next game. But right now, they're riding pretty high, and it's been fun to watch. Okay, so, you know, earlier in our show, we talked about everybody calm down, with the Leafs even having a world-class game against Tampa Bay and then laying an egg. But if you're Calgary, if you're Craig Conroy right now and you see this start, is it enough to say that I want this team now to play meaningful games in March and April?

Or is it enough to say, okay, take a look around. Why can't we make the playoffs this year? So where are you? Is this a nice start to a team that still should miss the playoffs? Right, Conroy has a really big decision to make because at the start of this year, the narrative was Rasmus Anderson, great chip to play, trade chip. Nazem Andersen, great chip to play, trade chip. Nazem Kadri, great chip to play, trade

chip. And now it's like, that's a core, those are some core pieces of this team that could be doing something really exciting. We've seen this from other teams. We've seen this unexpected surges and making the playoffs. I think if you're Craig Conroy, I think the one thing you use,

the biggest resource you have is time. You don't have to make any rash decisions right now. Get as many fans out there excited about the product. It's been a tough four or five years in Calgary. Get fans engaged. Get these young guys playing with this veteran nucleus, right? Like, they're not a young team. That's the thing.

If Montreal had a 5-0-1 start, you'd still say, wow, they're a pretty damn young team. You look at Calgary, right? Uyghur and Anderson and Huberdeau and... Backlund and Coleman. Backlund. They're not a young team. So for me, I think you ride this out.

You're teaching the Conners Aries and all these guys how to be a pro and how to be playing meaningful games. People are feeling good about it, and you ride it out, and you see where it takes you. Well, the other great story is the Winnipeg J um you know 6010 at this point looking i don't know look like i like we better than i thought they would be what i'm trying to get it is everyone i talked to about this says we'll see in playoffs are you does it matter to you if they have this big successful run in the regular season or are you still a let's wait and see guy? Well, I mean, we saw what 110-point season did for them last year.

They got summarily dismissed in a horrible fashion by Colorado, right, allowing five goals plus in every single game. But the Winnipeg Jets are a good team. They're balanced. I mean, do I think their power play is going to keep clicking at 44%? Probably not. But, I mean, here's the thing about Winnipeg. They're a balanced team

and they have they don't have superstars but they have that next tier right below them right for me mark shifley josh morrissey kyle connor all kyle connor does every year score 35 plus goals that's all he does every year um if we had that in a different market we might talk more about it you know um but they have good good players great, great depth. They have a star goalie. Scott Arneal clearly is pushing the right buttons, and it's been fun to watch. They've been dominant, guys. Yeah, really, really.

Plus 17 goal differential. Cole Profetti is a guy that they weren't too sure of. They did not want to give him a long-term commitment. And three assists last night. Clean slate. Clean slate, new coach. Clean slate, new coach. You know, probably will.

But here's a guy that likes it there, wanted to stay long-term. They couldn't get a deal done. But, you know, he's on the cusp of being a very good player. I don't know if he can hold on to a point a game this season, but if he did, I'm not sure we should be shocked anymore. Yeah, and Ehlers is in a contract year, and he's playing lights out. So, listen, things are looking really great. You asked me if it's significant, if it's not insignificant or what.

It's significant by this fashion. There was a lot of people who didn't pick the Jets to even make the playoffs, and when you have one of the teams that everyone expected to make the playoffs in nashville starting out one in five you know that's a 10 point cushion you have right now yeah you have an ability to go into a little swoon in february for a few games and not be on the you know precipice of being out of the playoffs that's what it affords you right now if you get some injuries or whatever the case may be it's so early to even talk in these terms it is is. But at the same time, six straight wins is six straight wins. It is. And wherever it happens in the season,

you appreciate it. And so like last season, the Oilers get out to that dog start and it's like they become the Oilers. They figure out they're the best team in the second half by a good margin. And we see what they do. Are we taking it for granted that they're going to be fine? Because I mean, no one in this show is worried

this time around, I don't think. Am I fair in saying that? Not worried. Like, what does worried mean? That they won't make the playoffs or they'll be knocked out early? I think they were the heavy Stanley Cup favorite. If you now think that they're in a pack with everyone else, that's worth worry. Yeah.

Are you talking about the Oilers right now? Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry okay sorry i don't think they they came into this season uh as strong as they ended it yeah you think the actual roster is weaker yes i think so what sense skipper the blue line yeah okay well cc de harney and broberg yes broberg's been yes broberg's been everything doug armstrong And so far, it looks like a mistake of not matching for Broberg. Yeah.

Now, the one thing is they have some ability to move some parts and do some things, right? I mean, they're not completely. Right, it's not deadline yet. Yeah, they've got time. Okay. Where are you on the Stuart Skinner? Good question. Worry.

Pendulum. You know what I would say, Kipper, is Stuart Skinner, I'd lump in with another 15 goalies in the league that, you know, at his best, he's world-class, right? Like you go, wow. But it's the consistency that you kind of go, where is it? Because we saw during the playoffs, like how phenomenal he could be. We saw during that 16-game winning streak,

franchise record 16-game winning streak last year, how amazing Stuart Spinner can be. It's been a slow start for him, but I'd say more so than anything, it just seems like the team, and you must know this, you won a Stanley Cup in 94. How tough is it to start up in October in 95? Well, I guess you didn't because of the lockout. But still, we scraped in a half a season.

Yeah, it was. January we started up, and it was a dogfight to get into the playoffs. Was it? Yeah. And then we knocked out the number one seed. No big deal. So you can see, Oilers, you can just turn it on when you're ready. I'm certainly not worried.

I'm not certainly. I still view them. I think the Skinner thing is an interesting question because whoever talks about it, yeah, he was at 901 in playoffs last year when everyone talks about how he figured it out. He's not athletic as a goalie traditionally is. And I'm watching Ajo's game-winning goal where he ends up on his belly, which isn't a natural finish to trying to make a save.

Did you see the Scorpion save, though, before the first goal? That was pretty athletic. Before Gossespierre hammered it past him. Listen, I think it's reasonable to question what Stuart Skinner is. When you look at the teams in the West, you go Ottinger, feel pretty comfortable. Hellebuck, you feel pretty comfortable despite his lack of playoff success in the last few years.

You know, Soros, if Nashville gets in, you feel pretty comfortable. So you're right. I think it's fair to question it. Having said that, I think the group in front of them, certainly the offensive group, they don't need to win one-nothing games. No.

Whereas some teams, they're going to have to kind of, you know, scratch and claw to get three goals a game. Oilers, we know what they can do offensively. So that takes a bit of the pressure off. Canucks, you want to go Canucks? Yeah, I was going to do Canucks. Three straight wins for the Vancouver Canucks. They won a game that they should have won last night?

Yeah, took care of business, moved the puck around pretty well. You know, another, I don't know about Norris-like start for Quinn Hughes, but really good. last night yeah took care of business moved the puck around pretty well um you know another i don't know about norris like start for quinn hughes but really good um where are you in the belief train last year they end up winning the division one point more than the oilers uh and right now they're behind vegas and calgary but i still think maybe as good as anyone or where are they compared to last year for you well i think patrick alvin deserves a lot of credit right their penalty kill had been an issue the last few years.

They go, they bring in the likes of Kiefer Sherwood. They shore up some of the issues, right? Like he had to retain a bunch of his players. He had to give out contracts to a lot of their RFAs, but he was able to hold on to them.

And at the same time, I think address some of their issues. You got to remember, they're playing pretty well. Three straight wins wins these were on the road they finished the road trip three and one and uh no demko right so think about no starting goalie and your star offensive player has not been a star and that's the big question mark if elias petterson can get back to being elias petterson what we expect from him pre-signing this contract that could be the real difference for the vancouver canucks moving, that could be the real difference for the Vancouver Canucks moving forward.

Where is the biggest issue for you watching him? I just want to throw out a stat. Since he signed his contract, I think it's been like 30 games, one even-strength goal, is that right? Yeah, it's not good. It's shocking. It's not good.

How does that happen? Our Elliot Friedman says that he thinks he's been kind of listening to the noise too much, and I'm like, Elliot listening to the noise too much and I'm like, Elliot listens to the noise too much. Well, listen, I mean, Pedersen got his deal. I don't know what noise there is to listen to. He got the money he wanted, right?

He's one of the highest paid wings in the league and, I'm sorry, you know, positional players in the league. The only thing I would say is maybe it got into his head. Everyone's different, right? That whole, like, are you going to accept this or we have a deal on the table potentially to send you to Carolina and maybe there's just something inside that bothered him you hear that about players when they go through arbitration Kipper did you ever go through arbitration no the only thing I arbitrated was

a bonus that the Rangers refused to pay me oh really yeah I had to leave the team in the middle of the season to go fight for my money with an arbitrator. Was it not in writing, whatever the bonus was? It was in writing. What was the bonus? You don't have to tell me dollars, but what was it for doing? Winning the Stanley Cup.

Why would they want to pay of all the things? I don't know. Well, you got it. Oh, yeah. But it was weird, and it was painful, and I get anybody that takes a team to arbitration, why it's so uncomfortable and how it's unnerving. And we've heard stories, I'm not going to say names,

but we've heard stories of guys breaking down and crying during the arbitration. There's a pretty infamous one back in the day with the Islanders that was like, holy crap. It can get pretty personal. Swayman, I think, was really bothered by his. And maybe this got really personal. And I'm not saying he shouldn't shake that off. He's a professional.

But maybe just, and maybe that's what Elliot's referring to. I don't, you know, it's a pretty clandestine statement that he's heard the noise. I don't know exactly what the noise is. But I wonder if any of that stuck to him. Because he doesn't look like the guy who was world class for the first four months of last year. Everybody talked in the Atlantic Division about teams like Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal making a push. We're not seeing it out of the Canadians.

We saw a win the other night for Buffalo, but Ottawa seems to be stepping up right now and looking like a team that wants to really challenge here. So no Allmark. Interesting that he's not come back just yet. Not feeling right. But where are you with Ottawa? I'm pretty pleased. If you told me Allmark was going to get injured after two starts,

I would have said, oh, God. Ottawa's in trouble. But they've held it together and it hasn't been pretty right like the 8-7 game it was fun but it wasn't pretty uh this Saturday uh who they beat on Saturday was it the Kings I can't even remember I was in studio for it I think it was the Kings again it wasn't you know it wasn't a pretty game but you're they're finding ways to win and what I like is Steve Stales and the guys deserve some credit, right? They brought in three Stanley Cup winners, Perron, Amadio, and Nick Cousins. And I think that took a lot of the pressure off Claude Giroud

to not have to carry all of the maturity of the team, right, and not be that one-season veteran there. I like the early returns, Kipper. You know what's killed them? We talked about this, Justin. What's killed Ottawa the last four or five years isn't from January on. It's from October to January. Right.

Two wins in 15 games. Four wins in 20 games. Below 500 every year. Oh, yeah. By the end of November, they're cooked. Yeah, and in that division, you can't bury yourself. No. So I like the early returns.

I'd love to see Allmark better. That is a bit of a concern. Forsberg was exceptional last night, but we just know, based on his resume, he's probably not going to be able to do that four out of five games. Right. So it's asking a lot. But I'm liking what I'm seeing from the Ottawa Senators,

and they seem more structured. Travis Green was probably the right guy. It's more structured, more disciplined, more accountability. Yep, I'm with you there. I do want to get you on something else as we're kind of going around Canada as well. And that's, you know, this Montreal Canadiens team, you know, doing rebuild.

They have a young decor. And there's people excited about that decor going into the season. And I was like, gosh, it's going to be tough to, you know, have all these guys learning at the same time. How is it going to be handled in Montreal? This team does not look ready for a bit here. Am I crazy there? Like, they don't look close to me. Like, when do they stop getting a free pass?

Well, that's kind of, that's actually a better phrasing of what I'm asking. Like, at what point are we like, this is a bit worse than you're supposed to be here? Last night, embarrassed 7-2 at home, watching guys not even go back for an icing. And then a horrific goal and the game's barely, you know, started and you're buried. You're over. What do you do? Do you trade some of this draft capital and get some player, like some NHL bonafide players?

Because you just have too many guys figuring it out, right? Like, they have these good young parts, but there's just a lot of them. No, it's crazy, too. Like, last night, there's a Lane Hudson turnover, and everyone loves Lane Hudson, and he's going to be great, and he's very talented. Maybe. Yeah, maybe.

Maybe. Okay, you're... No, no, no, don't give him great, just he's going to be great. I don't know if he's going to be great. They're very excited about him in Montreal. What is the guy? Very excited. What's he got got nine games in his career sounds right okay but you see it but he does things even in that first game against the leaf one thing i'll say about him he does things that you just don't expect a rookie uniquely talented it's a double-edged sword

as the giveaway showed you last night in the neutral zone to Riley. And, you know, I saw the cut to the bench, and he's kind of, you know, explaining himself to Marty St. Louis or whatever, but it's like. How do you explain that? Well, and, you know, would it be terrible if you said, we're not doing that, you're not playing. You know, like, what is the learning curve? To me, when you're so bad that you're saying,

everyone just go get experience and throw them over the boards, that's not a great way to build. He's nine games in. Take a look at the ask for this guy. 24 minutes last night. Is that what he played? It's not dissimilar. It's not dissimilar to Jake Sanderson and what was called on him in Ottawa.

He ain't Jake Sanderson. Wow. He's not. You don't think he's Jake Sanderson? No, not yet. Okay. Yeah, he's not. You don't think he's Jake Sanderson? No, not yet. Okay. Yeah, he's not yet. Okay, what is with Montreal here?

Can I take you guys back a few years ago with the name Victor Mete? Mm-hmm. 19 years old, came in, started playing 20 minutes. Okay, where's Victor Mete today? Yeah, and he bounced from, I think, Toronto, Ottawa. He was, can't miss, playing with Shea Weber, and he's the man. He's the future.

Yeah, he played 24-10. Be careful here, Montreal, with this kid. I'm not even sure he should be with the team right now. Hudson maybe should be in the American Hockey League. But go ask him to play 25 minutes with the shimmies here and the 10x2s over here. He'd drive me nuts, by the way. He would drive me nuts.

But one thing to factor in, Gouley was injured. Matheson was banged up. I think they maybe feel compelled in a way, and maybe they shouldn't feel that way, but I think it wasn't by design to play him 24 minutes. I think if you're listening to this and you're a Canadiens fan, you're saying, we want him to play as much as possible, learn, get experience, make mistakes.

The making mistakes part is very dangerous, too, because you could crush a guy. You could hurt a guy's psyche. You can hurt a guy's confidence. Rasmus Dahlin. And I love rasmus dalin as a player but i think it's just it's played 400 and something games of losing hockey and it's not on him no but i think it's it's he's starts to weigh on he's still very much in the development and but you can you you can stunt that development uh on on nights like that last night for for insulate him a bit.

Well, have you seen that lineup? Where are you going to hide him? Where are you going to insulate him? That's kind of what I was getting at here. Justin's point, yeah. They might need a couple of guys here to play. Because right down the middle right now after Suzuki, it's Oliver Kapanen, Jake Evans, and Christian Dvorak. Yes, Lufkoski missed last night.

No, you make a very valid point. Lufkoski missed last night. No, you make a very valid point. Lufkoski missed last night. Lyon is obviously out. Doc hasn't been what they had hoped he would mature into. You have to go. Okay, no, no, no, no. Hold on, hold on. I'm watching the Leafs last night.

The three of us do a lot of Leaf games during the year. I was so happy we weren't working last night. Unless someone else deal with that, right? It was a very tough game to call coming off the best night of the year on Monday. Yeah, I felt for those guys. I don't like to see you sad. We've been there. We've been in those situations.

We did a 5-0 Columbus game last year. They called me at that incredible third period. But, yes, we've been there for that. Okay. You've got a big night ahead of you. Wednesday night hockey here at Sportsnet. It's the Philadelphia Flyers, the Washington Capitals. Ovi, ov just one goal he's on pace for i think 15 goals are you concerned at all um about the record big time no i think it might not be this year only only one time as a player

his age or older had a 42 goal season which is what it would take for him to set the record this year that was gordie howe at age 40 had a 44 goal season one time ever that's happened so you're asking a lot of ov but i think we learned last year kipper in the second half of the season don't sleep on alexander ovechkin when you sam's opening just retires sam's opening just retired and some credit to that coaching staff because they they're off to a good start yeah excellent right sneaky good off season for washington we'll talk about that more after okay DA have a great night pal thanks for dropping by get me back on again

and enjoy the game tonight yeah thanks for your time man he is David Amber Hockey Night in Canada and NHL on Sportsnet and we'll be back with Sammy McKee in game time

next Big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, Jays, Raptors, and the NFL. The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne is brought to you by Bet365 as we kick it into a little game time on a very quiet night in the National Hockey League, Sammy. Yeah, it's been two quiet ones with a very busy one this week. So, they could just maybe meet in the middle somewhere. It'd're great.

It's game time. Is that my bet? Three, six, five, visit the app, latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary at bet. Three,

six, five must be 19 plus Ontario only please play responsibly. The Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals, like you said, are the only game in town tonight on sports net on Wednesday night. Hockey, our boy, David Amber,

who was nice enough to come in here is hosting the show. Don't really have any idea who's gonna win this game capitals to me have looked really good to start this year uh you mentioned that they made some good moves in the offseason like i watched a lot of that game before the lease game started last night uh and it's like yeah like angie apani's a good player chicken's a pretty good player here like they like they did add some guys so i i like them a little bit but i have no feel on the game tonight what i will do is ovechkin's got to score more than one goal at some point this year so give me an ov anytime goal at plus 130 uh the toronto raptors get their season underway tonight the home opener wearing all purple uh 30th anniversary i believe our co-worker vince carter is on the call tonight for sports net so that's really good what yeah he's

doing a few games for sports that's great yeah my favorite co-worker um the cavaliers are heavy favorites tonight minus 250 against the toronto raptors at plus 205 but i'm gonna take a shot here okay you can bet on bet 365 the first bucket of the game the first basket give me grady dick to score the first basket basket of the game tonight at plus 1200 so200. So there's my little shot for it tonight. Love it. There you go. Right after the Nick Robertson shot yesterday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the Toronto Raptors probably not going to be great this year, but you know, watch the games, listen to the Raptors

show, rebuild the year maybe. I don't know. Find stuff to be positive about, even in a rebuild, like Montreal and Lane Hudson. Okay, where are we on? Are you good? Yeah, I'm good. Okay, alright. That was Game Time,ented by Bet365. Visit the app, play this thought to find out why it's ever ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Oh, oh. No sneeze? Almost sneeze, boys. Kipper's streak is still intact. I'm jealous. 30 years, no on-air sneezes.

No on-air sneezes. That was as close as I've been in a very long time. Really? Yeah. I had a big burp earlier this year, but that was a sneeze. It was percolating during my read. This is like the Seinfeld

black and white cookie. At some point, it's coming for you. A sneeze, no one can say anything about a sneeze, but if you burp, if you belch really loud on TV,

that's fireable, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, if I sat here and had a can of Sprite and looked at you guys and went, like,

that's fireable. But if I turn off my mic, I don't think it's as fireable. It's not even Friday and we're having this conversation. It's Wednesday. It's Wednesday. Okay, where are we with the Washington Capitals besides that they made a couple of moves and they're holding their own. Pierre-Luc Dubois back.

Dylan Strom is off to a nice start. But Ovi, just the one lone goal. Is this a continuation of the early struggles that we saw last season with Ovechkin? Can he salvage it with a big push again? know i their gm there's a brian mcclellan i he does a great job i really think you know keeping them competitive during the ovi era bringing in pierre luke dubois whatever you think of him he's a real player nhl player uh second line center and then they signed verona and they've done some good things this offseason chikrin mangiapane they're a bit better but i just don't like this roster like they're not a playoff team

to me are they last year decor and they're very macklerath van reams dyke i don't know i just don't i think there's just a lot of parts holding on right now yeah that's kind of how i feel about it that everyone's okay they're okay they're again gonna finish 14th to 18th probably how about that yeah i think i think they could be in the conversation for the last playoff spot ov goal total in the season prediction for you he's on pace for 15 like you said 27 i will say he won't come off the ice like he's those power plays he's gonna milk every single one of them it's an, he's going to milk every single one of them. It's an empty net.

How many did he get last year? He's going to milk every single one of them. He ended up with 30-some, didn't he? I don't know. Did he really? Let me look. Like, it would be 30 or 31. Oh, Caps GM is actually Chris Patrick.

It was McClellan before, right? But, yeah, so anyway, so Ovi, I got. He had 31 last year. 31, and he was really low he was the second half of the year where he went on a tear but he was also a guy who forever just shots shots shots you know leading the league in shots right now austin matthews at what 36 through and that's usually that's always been reserved for ovi over the course of his career. Absolutely. So where is he now? Great question. On shots.

I'm heading there. Let me just throw off this. Last game, I think he ended up with three or four, if I'm not mistaken. And there's some games he'd go 10, 12. He is 96th in the league with 16 shots through five games. That is stunning. Stunning. It's still three shots a game.

And McClellan is the president of hockey ops still. There it is. Okay. He's still in the playoffs. Yes. But he used to work where, and it's been well isolated by many stations, that once he finds his spot, he doesn't move. No, he's just there.

Like, he's on the first tee box just waiting for someone to set it on a tee. And it used to work, but I'm not sure how much it's working anymore. I just don't know if he's going to have those insane hot stretches like he used to that would balloon his numbers where he'd get, you know, six in three games or six in four games. It just comes off his stick so crazy. Like, it does. Like, little ones off the face off. Yeah, he literally has the second most goals in the history of the league yeah he

does come off a little different like he doesn't if he's just on the ice 18 minutes per game and it finds him enough he'll shoot 20 some in i think there's potential for this to take three seasons oh that would be lovely because i don't know if he's got three and. I think there's a world where he scores 20 this year. 25. And then he gets 15, 14. Okay, so you're talking about two years and then the third game in the third season. But if he doesn't do it in the next two, who knows what happens? Is there a CBA that's up? Is there a war going on?

Is he definitely going to be here? Does he get injured he's too slow could he just be too slow to play and the caps say listen so you're gonna have to get it somewhere else yeah i'm sure the washington capitals who have made their entire franchise about this guy forever protected him through thick and thin are gonna let him get the goal scoring record somewhere else other than what if he's not effective they don't care their whole team the point stupid thing to play for i don't know if it is i really don't know if it is i don't think how about stanley cuffs yeah they got one like i think it's good forever this is

this is really a job's on the spot that the organization's in if i'm the owner if i'm ted leone's no it's not this is he's not getting it anywhere else. I know. You're right. I mean, you're right. I know. But maybe you shouldn't be. Yeah, no. But the part is that, like, there's 19 other guys that this has become. Like, it's never, it's not supposed to be this way where one guy supersedes the greater good of a team. It's the opposite of the spirit of hockey.

It's completely off the opposite. And I'm not sure how much, if it may look as extreme as, we're not about the Washington Capitals, we're about OV, how that will come across or sell eventually to get to this record. Will it take away from the record? If everyone just remembers this.

If it's just a complete mockery of of of the spirit of the game of the spirit of the team game that we've known forever and mr 3000 our game has never been historically about one guy above the team and if it is so clear that that's what they want to do maybe they should run some plays for maybe the power play power play should just be, wait, don't shoot till OV can shoot it. We're not talking about the Mark Giordano block shots record here. This is the literal best record in the all of sports. Like, maybe all of sports. Well, like, what was...

Points, obviously. No, like... No, no, no. I'm with him. I think the greatest goal score record in NHL history sits at the top of ahead of points ahead of points agreed that's nonsense gretzky is like a thousand more yeah but the puck you put the puck in the net the most you create putting the puck in the net but you know you gotta understand my grandpa sister just as good as his goal the reason why he was you know the gretzky points so phenomenal

is because it also came with the most goals right it wasn't just gretzky with points us people it was it was gretzky's the greatest goals goal scorer in nhl history your job as a hockey player is to help your team score goals and if you create zillion more than the next guy like gretzky did i don't care who's putting it in our team put it in he helped his team put in so what's sexier home runs or rbis it's a different tell me no it's a different debate no it's not who's the all-time goals are can i have no idea no one does home runs or goals points or rbis okay so sexy is different than useful or valuable then. Because I want guys on my team who help the puck get in the net more.

What's better? If you go get 40 goals, I'll get 100 points. I'll tell you which guy I would take. The passing yards or the touchdowns? Which record do you want to have more? The sexier debate is stupid. I'm not sitting here saying it's sexier. Okay.

I'm saying what's more valued and therefore more logical. But sex sells. Sex does sex sells if it bleeds it leads baby and i'm not arguing that either i just i'll hear the sexier argument for sure i i just i'm really you know we could i'll put aside my ovi hate for a minute here i can't believe that in my lifetime like you we used to talk about Bud's, you know, I used to know every record and everything. And the 894,

894, right? Of Gretzky. 892. Was something that we were like, that is the most unbreakable record. Like that is something that will never be touched in this day and age. It was Cal Ripken consecutive streak.

It's just, I mean, his points will never be touched. I think, I think we can say that that's going to be, maybe McDavid gets there. At some point,

gets somewhere close, gets over 2,000 at least. But it is really amazing that we're sitting here and talking that he's 40 goals away from it. It really is. It's also crazy

that we cover a guy who's ahead of Ovi's pace and we spend half our time going, he doesn't pass enough! And then we sit here and yell, but what's sexy?

He is having a pretty good start. Jesus. All right. God, I love you guys. Text us. Let us know what's sexier, goals or points. All right. Birdies or eagles.

Somebody text it in. Earlier in the show, we talked about a very big hit by, once again, the greatest open ice hitter. Since Stevens. Since Scott Stevens. Yeah. And Jacob Truba. And it upsets the social media world.

Yes. Some of them want him in jail. Some of them want him suspended. Don't need it in the game. And I'm sitting there going, man, if that hit is no good, we got to rethink the whole thing. We got to go back and change the rules on body checking. Do you think that they might do that?

Do you think the NHL might go to the IIHF? Zero chance. Really? Zero. that they might do that do you think the nhl might go to the iihf no zero chance really zero not not under gary betman and because uh again sex sells they like the big hits uh yeah that's just a a part of the sales of of our game i mean when you talk to americans and i've lived about half my life in the U.S., and they talk about the NHL, the first thing anyone says is, oh, hockey, the fighting and the hits and all that. It's funny, right? It's like...

Fighting is almost non-existent. Right. The numbers have never been lower. That's still the association. But it won't change if they see just one fight. It's still there sometimes. Yeah. And that's what makes...

I mean, we've made this point before in the show a million times, but like the beautiful, you know, the skill, everything about hockey with the threat of extreme violence is what makes it hockey. Like it's like, that's what, if you're in the arena, an amazing goal is one thing, you know, a great pass. Like you like the most nice pass is your favorite thing one of those is great but there's nothing that gets you like oh my like a big open ice hit brad kogutis hitting david camp and oh my god two years ago yeah where you

just ran them through the end boards like you know you see holmberg get lit up last night you see alvarekman larson nail genzel It's what makes hockey unique, and football has it. I think it's a different thing in football, but a hockey hit, there's nothing like it. So if you don't think it's coming out of the game, there is a provision in the rules about hitting that you can hit the head. It just can't be picked clean.

It can't be the sole or primary principle. And Trouba skates on the ice. He's so good at it. He's right through the middle of the body of a player who's, you know. And how many guys? Well, your arm's going to come through. It wasn't. We got 750, 800 guys in the league today.

How many can do that? How many do do that? Was it one? Exactly. is it one yeah throw hits truba throws devastating you know who actually is sneaky high on the list is a guy that plays the least in jake mccabe yeah he throws once in a while he catches somebody but it's not like the threat of jake mccabe isn't the threat of true but there's no one that no one's like you can't go down mccabe's side because but i think tr does that. And I feel for the kid last night that gets smoked. But you got to read the game sheet.

Where is he looking? There's a snapshot that I saw on the internet where it's like, he is right in front of you. And you aren't, you're not looking at him. You're not seeing him. In his defense, he grew up in a generation where those hits are very, very rare. And Trouba might be the only guy in the league,

to your point. Like, you just don't anticipate that hit. Yeah, people aren't expecting to get hit like that anymore. And that's people come across the blue line who no one hits you there in the way they used to anymore either. And that's how you end up Timo Meier with Trouba.

You know, like like it's just, it's the anticipation that these hits don't get thrown anymore. And one guy's like, I disagree. Yeah, I think I'm going to hit you. Yeah. Hard. I'm allowed to.

Yeah. You're eligible to be hit. I'm going to do it. But there's still nothing like it. And good for Matheson for standing up for his teammate. Got some licks in on Trouba. Okay. And that was one that's

worth if i am as old school as anyone when it comes to you know standing up and i don't care don't run my player i'm coming after you but i'm starting to feel for jacob truba every time he has a big hit like this he's got a to fight. He just gets off now. That one was particularly violent. That was one where I'm like, yeah, that has to be a fight. That's a fight. I just. You're right, though. He does have to fight after a real fight.

Yeah, I just don't know what the answer is. I'm not here to pretend that I have the answer, but I just. I'm tired of it always just automatically leading to a hit or a fight. A hit leading to a fight. But to the ref's credit, there was no penalty on that play. They didn't see a penalty. And that usually is the violence of his hits makes people raise their arm. Yeah.

I don't know. Could you, there's an instigator rule for sure. But is there anything more that you could tag on that if if it's to discourage someone from discourage somebody from or or just you know like the game's not over after that hit you know take a number or get them later or square up with them the part that bothers me the most is the jumping, right? Not allowing a guy to square up or... Like saying, hey, you got to answer for that. Let's drop our gloves rather than just we're coming in.

And then... Yeah, like kind of like, hey, we're going right now as opposed to what Jacques I did to Cedric Paré. There's also a stigma or a feeling that, that if you didn't, if you were challenged and didn't drop your gloves, you're a coward. And I don't believe that anymore. I don't,

I believe that someone can ask you to fight and you have the right to say no. Whatever the consequences is for you personally on that, that, you know, it's tough to look at your teammates after that or you feel like you let your whatever you have to go through you you need to go through but you should have the right to say no to a fight and move on that's a new stance for you yes it is a new stance for me we've done the show together yep it is i think that's totally fair is that

there are probably social repercussions of not answering the bell and you have to and maybe within your own team from your coach you might say i don't think yeah i don't like you not you turning around it makes us look weak uh we look scared whatever the case is you can deal with that with your own respective club but for me i i don't think that the players and some of them are not comfortable to your point whether it's bearing on an open ice hit or a guy that says i i never fought in college i never fought in junior and now you know i'm getting challenged and i'm not i think i can get hurt it's like well then don't do it then just don't do it and it it should be more accepted i guess from us as gatekeepers or

referees or the league to say you have a right to say no and we need to respect that right i like that i think that's fair kip well okay and i do think that the way the new generation like of hockey is coming up like we're gonna be having a lot less of these conversations like in terms of fighting in terms of physicality like but i tell you what if you're a young kid looking to make an impact stock and make an impact the next guy who wants to throw hits like true there's gonna be 32 gms going that's cider i'll take one of that cider of detroit i'll yeah i always wait around once in a while but But I just, you know, I go to a junior hockey game now. When I was a kid, they were four hours long.

Yes. Right? It's changed a lot. So. The Todd Fedora, Kelowna Rockets. Yeah. You put on a good show, let me tell you. Boy, I go to a Wednesday night attack game, get home at 1130 at night. Yeah.

Starts at seven. Anyways. We got a couple of sound bites. We got lots of sound bites. What do you want? Justin Kirkland. Okay. Because I.

We got two separate ones. Heets the nod in the shootout, scores the game winner against the Penguins. Yeah, let's listen. First one, Derek, Kirkland. You know, really wasn't expecting it, but, you know, I kind of had that, had that move for a little while, and it's worked before, so, yeah,

it was the most nervous I've ever been, but, yeah, just unbelievable. And number two? Pretty good move for a nervous guy yeah number two there derek i just heard my name called and i looked back to double check me me okay um so yeah it's it was exciting i knew uh you know had a job to do and that was to go and try to score and um yeah happy that it went in and uh obviously wolfie made a big save on the next one so uh all in all a fantastic night just absolutely living the dream you love that man living the

dream is one of that's that's a beautiful thing to hear it is and I also love the idea that like some guys are looking at the coach like me meet me and he heard his name was like me didn't look like he was like you said didn't look like it was there was this beautiful shot yeah it was well done loved it uh love those nothing calgary's done to start this season makes you believe that they can make the playoffs uh i disagree i there's six oh okay all right i look at that all right and i'm like and i'm like i am not sure why i thought they were so bad what it is is i saw the outlist the players who left and went, oh, they're trying to lose. They're going to be terrible. But if you go there and look at that team,

it's a lot of good hockey players. I mean, they do have an 11-point head start here. Rasmus Sandin, sorry, Rasmus Andersen is having an excellent year. He's way up the rank, and he's a big guy too. Wieger is really found as his game. You know, like, I think that's sneaky guys like Sharon Govich who actually can score 25-30. Like, would I bet on them to make the playoffs no but they're 5-0 and 1 i mean that's an 11 point

start i don't like the pacific division i'm getting close you're talking to believe it in the place well think about the canucks hot start last year remember we thought they sucked and they had a really hot start 14 point season we can go down every team and find some pretty major flaws. Yeah, it's the salary cap and the job. The gap, yeah, exactly. So, like, maybe we do give too much credit to certain rosters. But there's a few other teams where you knew they were going to miss the playoffs before

the season started. Yeah. San Jose just attempting to be competitive. Columbus, Anaheim. Columbus looked pretty competitive last night. Dean Evison did a pretty good job last night for me. Scary face. He's a scary

individual. Montreal, we thought we're not ready for prime time. No, you're right. But then anywhere from 5 to 25 in the league and it's like a couple things go right, a couple things go wrong. You can go either way. Let me continue to please our Calgary listeners here

with Kipper's favorite jersey takes. They have the three maybe the best jersey sets in the league. So I don't like red jerseys, and I think the Reds have great sweaters. Their red jerseys are beautiful. Their whites with the red shoulder. And the black one with the horse in the front,

beautiful. I love all three of those jerseys. What do they call it? The horse head, what's the name? Yeah, there's a name for it. I don't know. Horsey? Fire Horsey?

Is that what it's called? Definitely not. Fire Horsey's not right? I think it is. It's Fire Horsey? Fire Horsey? Is that what it's called? Definitely not. Fire Horsey's not right? I think it is. It's Fire Horsey. I think last night Calgary steals a point off of Pittsburgh. I think they were better last night. Malkin's actually.

Blasty. They call it Blasty. Oh, that's okay. Kipper's going to Blasty Dubas coming up here. No, I'm not. I'm not. But they got to be concerned. Yeah.

They do have to be concerned. I, you know, I going into the season, looked at that roster and said, boy, there's some pretty good players here, but they just give up so much. Like defensively, they are a complete mess. Yeah. I got to say, this is maybe just a pure coincidence but the dubious penguins defensively are what people thought the dubious leafs were defensively yeah the uh sheldon keith devils had to answer questions the other day about a big hit that wasn't answered oh my god

from his small roster and these two guys must just be going like god give me give me some players not the same thing again. Everything followed us. It did. Both guys are dealing with, like, the same reputation for their teams, which is sub-awesome for them. Listen. Hey, Dustin Wolf's a good goalie, too, though.

Give him credit last night. Two-time AHL Goaltender of the Year and Goaltender of the Year in Junior Hockey. Love the look of him. And Pitt had a couple of opportunities in the shootout to get the extra point. He ruined the post. Gino comes down on him. Makes a great move and he reads it. Five-hole stop. It was a nice save.

I like him. Looks good in there. Gino's been not bad this year. They still don't look very good. They're in trouble. Hey, how about the Jets? Again, they are sick. We just give them one minute at the end.

Six straight wins. Six straight wins. Coming into Toronto next week. As a fringe playoff team by most people's accounts, when I did, how many Canadian teams made playoffs? I said one of Ottawa or Winnipeg. Leafs in Winnipeg. No?

No, I think it's here. Is it not? Or maybe it's in Winnipeg. My bad. That's okay. I'm not sure. You got a 50-50 shot. You No, I think it's here. Is it not? Or maybe it's in Winnipeg. My bad. That's okay. I'm not sure. You got a 50-50 shot. You know? I think it's here.

So we had Matt's on, right? We had Matt's on the other day, and I didn't tell him how much you loved him, but I did when I was in the box. You got an autographed book for Sam. That's great, too, Sam. Matt's home and away for Oh, Kippy. You got an autograph book for Sam. Oh, that's great.

To Sam, Matt Sundin. Matt Sundin, home and away for you, my friend. Buddy, you're going to make me cry. You made me feel bad because you said I would have embarrassed you.

Yeah. And I'm like, you do that all by yourself. You don't need my help. That's fair. Listen, Kipper, I got to tell you, that means a lot, buddy.

Okay, pal. You know, we say a lot, we make fun of each other a lot, but that's really sweet. I appreciate that. I do. The world for you, Sammy. Okay, Sal. You know, we say a lot. We make fun of each other a lot, but that's really sweet. I appreciate that. I do. The world for you, Sammy. Oh, stop it.

Okay, make fun of me again. One game on tap tonight right here on the network. Philadelphia Flyers versus OV and the Washington Capitals. Have a great night, everybody. We're back tomorrow. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you.