Real Kyper & Bourne - Flyers Taking Flight with Keith Jones

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with Flyers' President of hockey Ops. Keith Jones (4:37), who shares how he has transitioned from media to management, the development plan for Matvei Michkov, working with John Tortorella, the surprising jump from the D-corps and what he would see as a successful result this season. Later, news and notes - how important a coach implementing their personality on a team is in the modern NHL, whether Crosby would ever play outside of Pittsburgh, Calgary continues to stick around in the standings and - after the first hour's debate on Tavares' HoF case - they discuss some retired players' cases for the Hall.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.

welcome into the tim mccallough studio here at sports net nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee it's the real kipper and born show national edition we are live on sports net sports net 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Okay, out of the gate. Let's welcome in Keith Jones. We got Keith Jones. Sammy? I don't think he's... I'm so excited.

And he's not on the show yet. I usually do five minutes off the top on the national hour here, as we've done for most of the days of the full season. I'm just a little anxious. Well, I mean, I heard him say, Jones, he's on the phone. And I thought he meant he was on the phone. I'm just a little anxious. Well, I heard him say Jonesy's on the phone and I thought he meant he's on the phone. That's what I thought. It means he's on the phone,

not Zoom. Classic miscommunication. You understand me now. Yeah, I got you, pal. You speak Kippenese. Welcome to the real Kippenese show. You said we've got him on the phone. Yes, and I meant that we

usually let our guests be Zoom, but we made an exception for the president of the Philadelphia Flyers, which is a very big deal. And one of our favorite guests that we can't have on anymore. Just like talk it. And like you were saying with Doug McClain, should go be with the Blue Jackets. We lose three of our favorite guests. No more.

I love that our show's been around long enough that we have marital spats on air now. This is a very marital conversation. Okay, so go. You got five minutes. Tell us anything you want. I'm just waiting for Jonesy.

Okay, I'll tell you something. Oh, let me have it. Sam and I have a proposal for you on Thursday for the show, which is we just call all of the show's friends. We call Doug.

We'll call... Oh, it's our last show before the christmas break our last one we just do a little christmas party and we call all our friends what do you they call me i show up and that's who we would call we call colbs all for it you two can make so many calls that i'll stay home and listen to the show i used to to, well, when I was working away on the weekends with my good friend Ben Ennis, I think for two or three years in a row, we did a Super Bowl show,

and we would just call all our friends. We would do a four-hour show, and it would just be full of 20 guests. We'd just call people and say what they're doing for the game or whatever. So I thought we should do a Christmas party edition and just call everybody. Sounds lovely. I remember you used to do that.

I remember listening to one Hockey Central at noon where it was you and Millard and you guys were just talking to everybody. Yes. And I love that. That's what a Christmas is all about. You just get together with people and you just, you know, you chat. So you chat with family maybe for a little too long. Have you guys put a checklist together?

No, we were discussing it. We hadn't run it by yet. We don't talk before the show, so we thought we had to talk about it on the show. We thought we would do a show plan on air. Okay. I mean, it's not going to get down to the list, you know, the guy that pumps gas at your corner, is it? No, it's going to be our, I mean, it could.

Unless he's got some strong opinions. Listen, we're open to hearing. The guy that pumps gas, the guy at the SO by my place, we have a blood rivalry, So he will not be called. Oh, really? What's the problem? We don't want to get into it. The guy, he's never at the cash.

He sees me coming. He doesn't approve the thing. He's always in the fridge. He's a nightmare. And he's always on me. I'm telling you. He knows I'm coming. He sees me coming.

And I'm like, oh, you're behind the till for once. He's like, oh, yeah, buddy. Okay, brother. I'm like, oh, you're behind the till for once. He's like, oh, yeah, buddy. Okay, brother. I'm like, oh, you're dead. I hate you. Now, I don't think I've had anybody pump gas for me in like 10 years. He works behind the cash. But like as a guy who worked at a gas station for four years,

you have to approve the. You worked at a gas station? I worked at a gas station for a long time when i was a kid really yes i worked a long time since there's been full serve in i don't know i didn't grow up in ontario i didn't full serve i worked at like max oh where it was like a shell station in like thing and i would i had to press the button for the to approve for the gas to work and it's the same technology i've seen the thing he's got to press he just doesn't press it he He's never there. I love this guy. He's always, oh, I can't stand him. That guy, the SO guys, we should have that SO guy on for real. Oh, he'd be like, hey, brother.

You got fired, apparently? No, I quit. Oh, okay. I went to college. That's good. That was the job you had before this. Boys, I worked a lot of jobs. You didn't go to college.

I did. I did. For four years? Yeah. No, not for four years. What are you, crazy? I didn't go to college for four years to do this. Oh, my gosh.

Off the rails. The Flyers. Today. The Flyers are fifth in the NHL in scoring chance differential. Oh, and now we have Keith Jones. Now we have Keith Jones. We are so excited because this is a guy that's given the three of us hope that we can get out of this

miserable broadcasting world and actually have fun getting a real job with a hockey team. Jonesy, you are our inspiration, man. You guys are the best, man. I miss doing what you're doing.

That was a great time. Great time of my life. Good things are happening right now. That's for sure. Okay, so let's just talk a little bit about your year and where you thought you'd be or expectations both on and off the ice. Just tell us what you've experienced since becoming the president. Well, it's been great. It's been a lot of fun.

It has been invigorating. It's been challenging. And it's been something that I've thoroughly enjoyed. So I would say all of those things that made this job one that's been really an exciting time in my life so keith obviously you've known the nhl and continue to know the nhl inside and out when you're the president you know what sort of other things have you had to take on and learn this is a big challenge i imagine beyond the hockey part yeah it's it's not as tricky as you would think no it's surprisingly been uh kind of felt natural to me a lot of it's managing people a lot of it's continuing to be a good

teammate even though i guess in some regards some would consider me to be the boss but it's really not the way that we're doing things here. We have kind of a collaborative effort of everyone trying to do what's right for the organization. And I'm one part of that. But the business side of it has been interesting. Obviously very involved in that side of it. But the hockey part is the most important part for us right now. We're trying to get that back on track. And we've had some measure of success so far,

and I think fixing the hockey will fix the business side, and that's kind of the way that we've looked at it so far. Jonesy, before we get into specifics on your team and the job of John Tortorella, can you just speak a little bit to our era where we played in the league and Philly was perceived as this huge top market team

and how it sold itself. We never really ever thought about the Philadelphia Flyers having to go out there and sell the brand or sell in the community, but it's been challenging the last few years. Has it not in terms of where the Flyers stand in the pecking order?

Has it gotten a lot tougher in the last few years to push the Philadelphia Flyers in that market? No, there's no doubt about it, Kip. There's, you know, the Flyers were a brand. There's no question about that. They have gotten away from that. We're bringing it back slowly. As far as our attendance goes, it's improving marginally.

A lot of that has to do with some of the early success that we've had. But this city of Philadelphia is one that's loaded with very good sports teams right now a lot of those dollars have gone to the eagles recent successful seasons to the phillies you know being a playoff team over the last few years to the sixers being involved in the playoffs for multiple years uh flyers have not been. And when you start to, you know, lose the advantage of selling season tickets through playoff success and playoff rounds, it becomes challenging pretty much in any U.S. city. But for the Flyers, it's been really a big mountain to climb.

We're getting there. We're not there yet. We still have a lot of work to do. Stars do sell, and that was a big reason why we drafted Michkoff. Luckily, he fell to us under the circumstances. Not normally you get a superstar with a seventh pick, but that's where we see him. And by the time he arrives,

I think we're going to sell that many more tickets just based upon the star power and having the foundation of a good culture built like we're doing right now. How is Michkov's development going? How is his season? I haven't followed up on the prospects. Yeah, I watch him every chance I get, Ma's for sure yeah he's doing he's doing really well he has had pneumonia over the last couple of weeks so he has not played didn't participate

in the khl all-star game but was a point per game player prior to that playing for sochi and he can put on a show he is a highly talented player that's got you know an immense amount of skill and a desire to be great so we're really looking forward to getting him in the fold it's probably going to be a couple of years from now but the anticipation from our fans and really from our front office and our coaching staff torts calls him the mad Russian, so every time he speaks of him. So we can look forward to his arrival and at the same time continue to develop our prospects that we'll be playing in the World Junior Tournament. Like Cutter Gauthier and Oliver Bonk,

Chernak is there as well. So we've got some good young players that will be on display there also. We're talking to Keith Jones, former NHLer, broadcaster, and now president of Hockey Ops for the Philadelphia Flyers. So Jonesy, we all know Tortorella from covering him as broadcasters over the years. What did you think you knew about him beforehand and what have you learned after the fact that you are

now working together side by side? Yeah, no real surprises. I did work with him in television back in the day at TSN when I was first getting started. So I got to know him away from the game and obviously found him to be a really incredible person, a great guy to talk to, someone that cared about other people. And working this closely with them over the last couple of years, really when you're covering the Flyers, you're part of that team,

which I think our broadcasters feel the same way right now. But getting behind the scenes and watching the way that he coaches has been something that I've really appreciated. You get a look inside watching the way that he coaches has been something that I've really appreciated. You get a look inside to the way that he thinks, the way that he handles his players, his willingness to work with us as far as developing our young players. He's been really open about that, and he's incredibly honest with his players. So I think the kind of things that I think we all appreciated as players,

he is that type of coach with our team, and he's got a room full of guys that he likes. I think that makes it all the better for all of us. Jonesy, for any team to meet or exceed expectations, there have to be some surprises, some individual performances throughout the season that are positive, pleasant surprises. Who would you single out as individual performances

from you guys this season that have really elevated you beyond maybe what public expectations were? I would say it's our whole group of defensemen. I think our blue line has been outstanding. I think Sean Walker's done an incredibly good job and continues to do that. It's not a fluke. This is a very talented and smart hockey player

uh good teammates on top of that uh he's got a very good and steady partner in nick sealer who's exceeded expectations this year travis sanheim who you know we were in the works of moving on the offseason has you know taken that to heart and came in here and just taken the league on by Storm the way that he has played. Cam York's done a great job. Ristolainen's now healthy and available and is coming off a monster performance against Detroit. And Zamoula continues to grow as a player,

as a young player that we need to develop and continue to have him move forward. With some help from Mark Stahl, the veterans really fit in. So I would say the biggest surprise has been the way that our D has performed and meshed together, and it's not surprising anymore to see them perform well after watching them do it over the first 30 games. Hey, Jonesy, you mentioned development, and we know your organization is still in this transitional period and how important

that is uh is that a conversation that you had to have with Tortorella in terms of okay uh the wins are great this time of year and we love it but we have to we have to continue to kind of make sure that the young kids are developing and you know some coaches have reputations for not leaning towards young kids and is that something you constantly had to stay on or you just trusted torts uh to do the right thing as as you guys turn this ship around you know he's worked with us basically hand in hand from the start he been all-in on continuing to develop players like Bobby Brink and Tyson Forrester. Forrester was out there in the last minute of the game

in a one-goal game against Detroit. That speaks volumes for a 20-year-old kid playing for a coach like John Tortorella. So there's been no issue with that. Kipper, he's just been on board and continues to, you know, push the envelope with our younger players, putting them in key spots, you know, on any given night. And we couldn't be happier about that.

And again, it's not a one-man job here. It's a group of people trying to get things right, and that's been working for us so far. How do you handicap the uh the metro division this year uh the rangers obviously very good team capitals kind of right behind you guys um you like your odds of getting in playoffs here you see yourself in sort of that tier of teams oh that's a great question um i i would say probably not yeah but we continue to hang around. You know, it's a very tough division with some teams that have expectations

of winning a Stanley Cup this year. We're pretty grounded in our view of, you know, where we are right now. And, you know, I don't consider us a cup contending team. I do think we're going to be a pain. I don't think we're going to be an easy out, whether that means out of the playoff picture or out during the playoffs. But we're going to continue to push, and our players are going to kind of help us determine where we're at.

They've taken it to heart. They like being the underdogs, and they're kind of feeding on that us-against-the-world type mentality, and so far it's worked well for us. But we're playing the Devils tonight. We know they're loaded with talent, some first overall picks, and it's going to be a huge challenge for us. So when teams like Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto call you and say, yeah, what are you doing with Sean Walker and Nick Sealer?

You know, what do you tell them? Can we have one, please? Can we have one, just one, please? You guys are the best. Those are the tough questions, and they really are. We are not closing the door on anything. We've been telling everybody we're open for business and we're going to continue that way but we have a lot of players that have garnered a lot of interest and i think when teams that are

looking to try to win championships look and see how a team comes together and start to kind of navigate through that team to see which players have been key contributors. We've got some guys that have really done an outstanding job of helping us exceed expectations, and I think they've caught the attention of a lot of teams around the league. So if you are exceeding expectations at Christmas, is there the temptation, Jonesy, of speeding up the process here? You're currently second in the Metro division.

Not too many people saw it at this point. Speeding up the process in what way, Nick? Winning, baby. Making the playoffs. Winning a round. Oh, no, no. Yeah, no, we won't change our focus on that. As far as kind of building this thing back,

we've got a plan in place and we're going to stick by it, but there has been some curveballs thrown at us. Can't lie to you in that regard. We've had some players that have really performed extremely well and proven not just to be great teammates, but very effective players. We knew we were building a good room. We weren't sure how far that could take us.

But, you know, Tord started that work last year and identifying who he wanted to keep and who he wanted to move. And, you know, we helped him in that regard during the offseason with some, you know, key additions like Garnett Hathaway and Ryan Palin have both jumped in there and done an outstanding job for us but the players have just they've done the work they deserve the opportunity to continue to play together and allow you know this to unfold but there's no question on our minds we know where

we are we know where we want to get to and there will be some changes along the way have you guys found your cornerstone there annette carter hart he's a 919 save percentage his numbers have gotten better four straight years now at least say percentage wise in the crease for you guys 26 years old um i believe he's in the last year of his deal does this feel like the guy that's going to be a philadelphia flyer for a while yeah i'd be surprised if he's not. We believe he's a top eight goaltender in the National Hockey League, so they are not easy to find. When you get them, you want to continue to groom them and allow them to blossom, and he's done all of that this year

with a better team playing in front of him. I think we've all witnessed just how good Carter can be, and he's been battling a bit of a stomach virus or flu right now. So he won't be with us tonight. But we look forward to him getting back in the mix while Sam Harrison continues to, you know, carry the mail right now. And he's done an incredibly good job. I look forward to watching him get tested tonight by this Devils team.

Jonesy, we so appreciate your time, man. We know you're a real busy guy, and all the best of luck tonight versus New Jersey. Appreciate it, guys. Catch up soon. Thanks so much. Thanks, Jonesy. That is Keith Jones,

who stands as the president of hockey operations for the Philadelphia Flyers and doing one hell of a good job. I gotta tell you, that's one of my favorite interviews we've had in a long time i was really impressed with that he's just i love it so good though i just love the sound of his voice i miss it no it's true like yeah well he was he was a key contributor to our show for the first two seasons we have him on once a month like he was on all the time he gave us great stories he's a funny guy he's excellent super honest too you know like i thought really impressed like he mentioned with stanheim he's

like he's a guy we were gonna move you know and stanheim took heart that's a heart you know i asked him you know where they are in the division he says we don't see ourselves among those good teams so crazy but i mean very realistic and healthy is, if you're a fighters fan, you're like, yes. We don't want panic. Let's not be delusional here. So, I'm just wondering now, as we continue to progress in the National Hockey League and teams from top to bottom start looking more like each other, you know, and less as this personality.

Does the guy behind the bench become that much more important? I got to be honest with you. I was like many. That Tortorello is done. The game's changed. It's too far removed. And yet this team now reeks of his personality and his character. And I can say the same thing for Rick talk it in Vancouver. It's almost like everyone has so much video,

so many analytics and so much video, and they know what every team is going to do before you play them. You ask any coach, they'll tell you the systems of their opponent before you play the game. You all know what each other are going to do do and at some point it just comes down to balls maybe the best job of the year work ethic timing heart hustle like execution and so if you have a guy that's grinding your guys and you get that execution that might be the difference in today's hockey and cojones yeah and i love what Jonesy, the way he talked about torts.

It's like, yeah, he's really willing to play guys, but he's still himself. Right? Like he's still like a hard-nosed guy, but he's playing young guys. We've asked him to play the young guys. And he's doing it. Yeah.

I also love that when given an opportunity, who's been good for you? He talked up the one guy we know they're trading. He immediately was like, Sean Walker, this guy right here. You got to see this guy. I thought that was a business move on his part. I liked it. And you know he's on in Toronto.

Yeah. You know who's amazing? Sean Walker. This guy's going to cost something. You want him? Seeler. Do they go as a pair? I don't know. I don't know much about Seeler. Yeah, go as a pair? I don't know.

I don't know much about Seeler. I feel uninformed. I mean, I know he's fine. Carter Hart is UFA next year. I didn't want to grind him about that, but Hart steals up. This is it. UFA. UFA.

At the end of this year? Are you sure? Let me just confirm. He's definitely, his contract's up. Is he maybe not UFA? I think he might be RF. RFf he's gotta be he's contracts up is all i saw 3.979 is his current deal and he's an rfa when it expires rfa okay so all right can you uh give me give me the top eight paid goalies he just he just signed him no he said he's the top eight paid goalies. He just signed them. No, he didn't.

He's the top eight. So tell me who the highest paid guy in the NHL is in that. No, because the top eight highest paid guys are often bums. They're not the good goalies. How far does it drop now? What's Bob? How far does it drop? The highest paid goalies, 2023.

Carey Price, number one, 2.5 to 10.5. Sergei Bobrovsky, Vasilevsky, John Gibson, Matt Murray. 6.1. 6.4 for Matt Murray. 6.4. Connor Hellebuyck, 6. This is from last year. So he just got paid eight what?

He got paid 8 something 8.5 Bennington maybe 8 Bennington 6 Markstrom 6 Grubauer 5.9 Shusterkin 5.6

what a deal that is he's on a bridge though yeah if you could give me Carter Hart 5 times 6 or something no

he'd probably work his way up towards Hellebuyuck's numbers. If he can keep his 920. Yeah, he was like an 878, then a 905, then a 917, now a 919. The one contract, I'm just scrolling down here,

the one that we kind of not made fun of, but balked at when it was signed was that Allmark deal. And that's just such a great deal now. Oh, God, yeah. But everybody expected Allmark to be – where did he come from, Buffalo? Buffalo, yeah. Yeah, everybody expected Allmark Buffalo at that. Yeah, he gets played behind Boston's defense.

But he's been really good. Did he win Vezina last year? Allmark? Yeah. Yeah, like for $ five million bucks that's really good value yeah certainly is that all right sam game time uh by the way uh jb did a terrific job on game time oh yeah yesterday no that wasn't yesterday that was on thursday friday what day is today no idea tuesday yeah. Sorry, I had a Christmas lunch, remember?

Fair enough. Yeah, not taking your job anytime soon. Oh, my God. It's game time. It's game time. It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary.

Bet365. Must be 19+. on Terra only. Please play responsibly. Now, we've got a lot of games tonight, boys. A lot of games. Are you going to give me that wild one? Do you want Swoo's pick of the week? Swoo? Yeah, my buddy Ron. Ronnie Swoo? He texted me

a parlay. A same game parlay for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That is a 30-1 shot. 30, by the way, people. That 10 bucks win 300. Yes. Tavares, one assist. Mika Zibinijad, one point. Mitch Marner, one point.

And Morgan Riley with four block shots pays 30-1. So, there's Ron's pick of the week. There's two things I don't like about it. That it's not a point for Tavares and that it's four plus shots blocked for Morgan Riley. Tavares, if that was an assist. We could change it to

a point and see what it is, but yeah, there you go. And how many... What would Morgan average on block shots? I can tell you because I looked into this. It's 2.2 blocks per game. Yeah, he's not coming up with four. Last game against the Penguins, he had four block shots. It's not impossible, but it's unlikely.

So can we tease it to three? That's why it's 30-1. Can we tease it, though? Cowards parlay this thing. If you take it down to three shot blocks, it takes you from 30-1 to 12-1. Rather than winning 12-1 bet than losing 30-1 bet. That's the big one right there.

That extra one block. That they know isn't going to happen? Well, there you go. But the other ones that I liked tonight, we just had had jonesy you know it just made me feel great about this and i wasn't gonna do it good guy vibe pick good guy vibe pick give me the give me the flyers the big underdog tonight plus 135 in new jersey new jersey's goaltending's been suspect i know they're going with their backup too because of carter her not. Give me that one. And what else do I like today? The Tampa Bay Lightning.

What's the Ottawa? They got a new coach tonight. Oh, yeah, right. The Ottawa Senators with Jacques Martin. They are a large favorite. They're a favorite against the Arizona Coyotes who are pretty sure you're like, ah, the Arizona Coyotes. They're in a playoff spot and Ottawa is dead last.

The West isn't real and Ottawa hasn't played any games. Does Ottawa take the personality of Jacques Martin like the Philadelphia Flyers have with Tortorella? What's that personality? Eatin' Werther's and taking your dog for a walk? I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I think structured and defensive was a thing, right? Are they shopping hard for another guy now? Like head coach? Yes. It doesn't appear like. It doesn't seem like it.

This is just take it to the end of the year. Let's save this conversation for. There's a lot of games left. And the last one I have. The last one I have out here that jumped out to me as I'm looking, the Vegas Golden Knights are a pretty big underdog tonight in Carolina. So, you know, whenever you get Vegas as a plus 110, I think it's something you can look at.

So give me the Vegas Golden Knights as a plus 110 tonight in Carolina. And that was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19+. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, as Sammy teed up, we will get more into the Ottawa Senators and Jacques Martin

as he starts his tenure once again with the Ottawa Senators. Also in our first hour, we had a conversation on John Tavares and Hall of Famer or not. When we come after break, we're going to go through a list of 1,000 points and who isn't in the Hall of Fame, and you're going to tell me yes or no if they get in.

Love it. Okay, are you doing the work on that one? No, I'm going for a coffee, and you're going to collect all the names. Okay, I'm on it. Sammy McKee with the list. After these words. Teeing up the biggest games of the night. It's the Fan Pre Game with Ailish Forfar and Justin Cuthbert.

Weekdays at 6 p.m. on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcast. All right, 11 games on tap tonight, including the Ottawa Senators at Arizona. Are we allowed to give Arizona any love at all or not until they're out of that college building no you're not allowed to they're in mullet arena sorry they are in a playoff spot but they are kind of for them no they're not they're frisky unfun to watch wouldn't know claine keller is really good keller and schmaltz are both really effective players really good it's honestly i feel bad for

those guys and i make light of it i respect the fans there the players can't do anything about it they're playing their hearts out doing great i don't watch clayton keller also a plus handicap i think yeah well i live in an arizona and miss the playoffs every year yeah you should be on the tour well he's minus 13 this year oh my god uh you don't get rid of dj smith if you think you don't have a chance to get back in the playoff picture that's what you believe well i i believe you're hoping i believe it's like a fan thing that you can't lose the fans the fans are sick of you know falling short of recent expectations and i think think think this team is better so i don't know if they believe they can make playoffs but i sure think they would like to make a push and keep

fans engaged and win some games here because i do think this team is way better way better than where they're in the standings right now december christmas time and they're dead last in the in the conference so way better yeah i still think patrick wash should go there and it would just make the whole league that much more enjoyable to watch a wise man that would be you once told me this is entertainment at the end of the day it's more than entertainment he just makes our job was entertainment oh i will we'll get the entertainment out of him for sure but he he can sell tickets in ottawa and that's it that's important and i mean he just coached a team to a memorial cup win right uh is that last year it was two years ago yeah it was at some point he won a memorial cup yeah on top of being an nhl hall of famer and having nhl coaching experience yeah he

he's a no-brainer for someone to get back in the league i don't you know what i had people saying i want him in toronto well that was a conversation in the offseason to me like before they extended yeah it was i remember talking about patrick wad being like, I don't know. The problem is he is. I just don't, I don't feel right. No, but he's also like, you know,

he's oxygen to a flame. Like he, this is the place where you need someone who can. Yes. Manage him. Manage him. Yeah. And work with him.

And this is. Keith Jones. We just heard from Keith Jones. There might not be a more perfect guy to, to have daily conversations with john tortorella then keith jones yes someone to kind of keep him jones he's got like social iq like really good emotional iq where he can he can work around a guy like tortorella And I'm not sure a lot of guys have that in our league in certain positions with certain teams.

But I think you got to have a very special ownership and management group to welcome in Patrick Waugh. Is Steve Stahos that? I like Steve a lot. I do. And I think, yeah, but you're going to have to embrace that. You're going to have to embrace the fact that this guy, on most occasions, can come across a little bigger than life.

Yeah, but you're Ottawa. I don't mean that disrespectfully. That's great, though. You're trying to sell tickets. You're based out of Kanata. You're trying to get a new rink attention and energy would be great little chaos never hurt anything let's go like be in the storyline and i don't know steven well enough to say if he micromanages and patrick's not a guy that you come in there and say hey listen i really think you should play this guy

and like it's gonna that's that's probably the concern is not gonna work you have just bought a team yeah made stales kind of the guy to run it and wa seems like a guy wasn't part of the reason he was ousted in in colorado was that he wanted coach gm he wanted all the power yeah well yeah i can't really recall but you're absolutely right so it would be hard to tell him anything there was a struggle power yes a struggle of power power for sure but and then you also he's used to being the owner GM coach everything he sells tickets he does everything that hand it to Patrick and say hope it goes well you know yeah that's crazy it's just the information that i had bettered mind was that patrick was ready to just come in and coach

just coach just coach now we're talking yeah i heard some things and you know the other thing and it's just not steve stales but michael Anlauer now is a very hands-on owner, which, again, I don't know. If we went through 32 teams... You love it? There might be 15, 20 teams. We don't have a clue who their owner is. He doesn't talk.

He doesn't have press conferences. He doesn't go to the media. He doesn't have press conferences. He doesn't go to the media. He doesn't have relationships with beat reporters. Michael's owner, decision maker from top to bottom. He owns the team. Yeah, man. Don't be Jerry Jones. So he's 100% hands-on.

So between him and Steyos and a big guy like Patrick Waugh, I'm not sure it could work. Yeah, there is no shortage of options. Me personally, I have heard Steve Steyos and Michael Andlauer saying they're trying to calm things down. They want to get out of the, you know, they don't want to be negative stories, whatever.

There are other coaches you can hire that might be calmer, but I do think that if you want to sell tickets still. Listen, they tried calm and stability, but the record didn't allow it. But now they're going even more calm. More stability.

Oh, yeah. Their calm is an afternoon nap. Until Jacques 0 for 3. Yeah, then we'll see. Like, do you think, you know, you don't... At least that door's open now to hire someone to have another fresh start. I don't want to just slag on them, but like, you think you know you don't at least that door is open now to hire someone i don't have another fresh start slag on but like you know exactly they're really gonna be the guy that kicks down the door and wakes the fellas up yeah like that's to me it's like that's what this team

needs simmons is old he can't go home because he hates his wife what was that in liar liar yeah yeah anyway it's a line i get. Who referenced that to us the other day? I just don't know if that's the solution, is being like, these guys need to be fired up. Here's Jacques Martin. Yeah. You know? I don't know.

I feel like now would be the time to just call right away. It's like, you can't, it's way tougher to hold these kids' attention span than it was 10 or 20 years ago. Having Alfie there probably helps a little bit. You know, he could be the Paul Coffey on Ottawa's bench, right? Same kind of idea there. Here's a proven dude.

So what he's trying to say, guys, is that's Alfie's role now in the dressing room. Yeah, I guess. You go fire things up alfie yeah so i'll be putting on his skates on the bench today wearing a helmet out there for practice all right i wanted to uh challenge you to some math kipper oh yeah shoes and socks off well it was just with sid he moved into 13th place last night all time okay scored the game winning goal 13th all time already hey wow so of course that got me looking to the nhl records page and he now is at 15 35 and he is now 13th said? He's in 13th. Yeah, just past Mark Reckie last night.

Yes. So he is four points behind Joe Thornton. Yeah. So he'll get there this year. And then he would... He's four... Top five. He can get to top five.

You think he's going to get top five? Gosh, that's a big gap. He would need another... I don't know. I didn't even look at the list. He would need 250 more points, roughly. So yeah, Ron Francis is fifth all time was 1790 points he's gonna play for another two and a half seasons yeah it might get slightly worse 80

85 points 80 points point a game yeah i just you know it's remarkable looking at the names that are left in front of him and talking about him not being like, you know, with his accolades, we talk about everything that he's won. To me, he's a top five guy. You think he's a Hall of Famer? They got to wave the thing for him. But like, to me, he's in the, you know, conversation with the all-time greats.

Oh, he's already there. I know. He packed it up at the end of this season. Like, I mean mean as a younger guy and you know i'm not as young as i'd like to think i am but at some point you know everyone's like oh you can't put him up there with or you can't put him up there with how it's like well for me you can for me he is in that conversation like he is this generation's by far greatest player and he has moved himself into the conversation as one of the all-time all-time

greats when you look at the guys who are in the top 10 and points um look at the guys ahead of them thornton has played 500 more games than sid um ron francis was 1700 games pow was 1700 messier 1700 jogger 1700 sid's at 1220 wow what'd he miss? A year and a half? Yeah. To concussion? And there may be another 300 games left in his career or something. Whatever the number is. So there's lots to go. And then I agree. At that point, it's probably like, do you think he'll ever wear another jersey?

A non-Penguins jersey? Yeah. I don't know. We watched them on the weekend, and it just, I felt bad for Sid Saturday night. I was, I think, one of his worst shellackings. But that was one of the most embarrassing performances from a team. Their dad's weekend, Saturday night,

hockey night in Canada, Dubas' return, and didn't. No. Well, I was going to say that. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to say that. That is the expression I was looking for, though. Maybe not. We'll find out. So, do you think he'll ever, because I think we've had this conversation before. I can't remember what your thoughts are, but do you think he'll play on another team?

No. No? No. I don't either. So, he'd sign another contract there or just be done? I think he's on the Mario Lemieux track track he's gonna start and finish a pittsburgh penguin and there's no team that could tempt them you don't think yeah i don't know i don't i don't think so and mario 220 i don't i that's just a guess but i don't think so i think uh he's got his cups. He's got his awards. He's a penguin.

Yeah. And then it's... Just tough to envision such a competitor just being on a bad team in his later years, like willingly gets laughing it up. No disrespect to gets laugh, but there's a choice he made for his family. What does another cup on colorado do for him i mean i think he's

already like i said i think he's already an all-time great so like he's nothing he the only thing he should be thinking about is when do i stop having fun doing this and when do i start working with the fenway group and help run the team if that's what i choose yeah because that's that's the next move is he gets to write his own ticket with the fenway group i think so you go get seven million dollars a year like kyle to it? Be president, GM, hockey ops, head scout. Do it all. Yeah. I don't know. Where's Kyle in the organization in three or four years, right?

Running. He's got a seven-year deal. Maybe, maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. He's going to be running. They clearly brought him in because they see the finish line for this and they think that he's... Where's the finish line? I mean, bad.

Bad finish line. Where it's like at some point, I guess they just gave Malkin... It's bad. It's really bad. They just gave Malkin and Letang a really long contract, so maybe I'm wrong. He got... Was that Dubas?

Dubas got seven years. It wasn't Dubas. It's the standard five years but Fenway wanted two years for Sid that's how he came to seven years so it's for two years that I'm going to work on helping Sid maybe try to win another

Stanley Cup but after that the rebuild years it's the rebuild years but you don't know in two years what's going to be what's Kyle leaving himself to rebuild know in two years what's going to be what's what's kyle leaving himself to rebuild that in five years right he's going to spend to stay competitive with those guys god that carlson contract it could get ugly for him there too right he could leave the cupboards

as bare as the leafs are right now yeah Yeah. You know, that's just such a... Maybe he... I guess he just took the money because it's so much money, but it's an impossible... What does Carlson have left? $10 million? Four years. Next year, he makes $10 million as well.

Then the next year, then the next year. So, until 27. But also, like, Ryan Graves makes $4.5 million until 30. And Ricard Raquel makes $5 million until 28. How about Letang? Letang makes... Where is he at? $6.1 million till 28. How about Letang? Letang makes, where is he at? 6.1 till 28.

Malkin? Malkin has three more this season and two more at 6.1. They got a lot of money. He took over a really hard job. I agree. Like it's an impossible job because you have to, you're either the guy that continues to feed into this beast. That's just not, it's the car's not going to restart.

Imagine if they're bad for the next month and he just decides this year, we're not in it. And he's just starts selling. I mean, I don't think, yeah, I don't know. But Pittsburgh right now, they rot. They're bad. Maybe they can get better. They can turn it around. They can get some better goaltending maybe they can get better they can turn it around they can get some better goaltending things can go better for them but i have watched them play three straight

hockey games i know they won last night and i just don't see it all right before we start throwing some names out here uh just uh mention of uh markstrom coming back for calgary and having a pretty impressive win over the floridathers last night. Good win. It was a really good win. And Calgary's like... Can't quit them. Can't... Like, the whole league's waiting for them

to ship a few defensemen out, and they're not in any hurry, apparently. I remember I tweeted, like, their schedule till Christmas was like a murderer's row. They had this awful schedule. And it has been super hard, but they're 4-4-2 in their last 10, kind of humming humming along they've won two in a row if they get through this they'll have a pretty soft schedule the rest of the way you never know maybe the flames aren't done i think

you're gonna have to start one point out of a wild card spot right now i think if you're brad for living i think you're gonna be calling old keith jones before you're calling greg conroy i know we do the leafs hour sean walker i've mentioned this to you before a good player 511 i'm just saying for what the leafs need i don't know if that's your answer no yeah it's a valid point i would prefer i prefer a brute yeah of some kind i think most people are there are There are six to eight teams that want a defenseman so badly. Like, you're in an arms race right now. A pretty decent team could just decide we're not it this year and just start selling off assets and get a haul back.

Like, what about Washington? What if the Preds decided you could have Saros and Yossi right now? Oh, my God. I don't think they'd trade Rose. They'd trade their captain. Maybe they should. Who could take those contracts? Most people who want good players.

To send back Tavares and Morgan Riley. Saros is way more doable. Like, what's he at, five? Saros is not a lot of money. Five and a half or something. But he needs a new ticket. Yeah, but if you're a contending team who needs a goalie like you know i don't know maybe the toronto maple leafs maybe the edmonton oilers the la kings you could send back some contracts to make that work and you look at it as this year next with him and then

you worry about it later right yeah you see he's nine million till 28 oh really could you get him to eat three of that? Probably not. Pretty good. So what did you want to do with these names? Well, in our first hour, we talked about John Tavares setting himself up for 1,000 points. Tonight he'll be honored by the Toronto Maple Leafs,

which is great, but it got us thinking about others who have 1,000 points who are on the outside looking in towards the Hockey Hall of Fame. And I'm just going to throw out some names for you. Okay. While we can still debate whether or not John Tavares presently

is in a situation where he can get in or not, there's others who are still waiting. Like Ryan Getzlaff. 1,157 games, 1,019 points. He's in. He makes my Hall of Fame.

He's in. Why is he in? Cop. All right. 1,100 points. We did the whole show about team success mattering. It was like Olympic gold, Stanley Cup. Yeah, matter.

A ton of points. It matters. Dominant player. One of the best players in the league. Did he win a heart? No. He was in the stall 1300 that's the same and 65 games him and gets level such a same argument 1063 same guy well didn't they both win the cup in their rookie year wasn't the stall

a rookie year i was early yeah it was really early same with getzlaff like they won the cup so early in their career i'd say one's in the other one's in i think they're both in yeah uh not much debate for uh patrice bergeron or joe thornton patrick marlowe's uh numbers in the regular season are too great to be ignored yeah longevity patrick guys must have had a lot of playoff games too, him and Thornton. Yeah. Oh, yeah. As much as they didn't win a cup, they must have. Patrick Eliash, great career with New Jersey, Stanley Cups, 1240 games. I like that one because it was a different time. Like the way the game looked and he was a player of that era, right? Like he defended and.

He was a good player. He was a really good all-around guy. I feared him big time as a Leaf fan when they played him. My buddy Alex Kovalev. You know, soft as hands ever. Soft as hands ever. 1,300 games played.

1,316. And 1,029 points. The Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers, but was he a front-line guy? Did he lead the charge? He's not going to do it for me. You know, and that, I know you played with him,

so it's probably not a popular take. From a talent point of view, he's there, but I don't know if he was, if he set himself up for, for being perceived as a frontline guy. Rightly or wrongly, I think there's something to be said that the hockey community doesn't love the idea that they feel like you left something on the table. Nick Backstrom?

Yeah, I like Nick Backstrom. No. Not enough. Just one Stanley Cup in one year. I never felt like he was one of the five best players in the league. If you're in the Hall of Fame, if he's not good name. Same thing for me. Like never one of those guys where he's like, that guy was dominant.

Jeremy Roenick should be in, boys. Yeah, he should. The numbers are just too good. Brenda Moore should be in. Yep. McGilney didn't even reach 1,000 games. Like, Verbeek? I like Verbeek, too.

1,400 games. Our Hall of Fame's getting big here, wasn't it? They're in, they're in. Okay, enjoy your games tonight. We're back again tomorrow on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show.