Real Kyper & Bourne - Game 1 Gut Check

Episode Date: April 18, 2023

It's playoff game day! Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look at the long-awaited Game 1 between Tampa and Toronto, the different feel from last season, balancing discipline with physicality, a game of 'Leafs, Lightning, or Wash,' and how seriously to take the Lightning's end of season struggles.  They are joined by Craig Simpson (44:33) who will be calling tonight's game, and he gets into the difference in officiating in the regular season vs. the playoffs, managing postseason anxiety and if the Lightning can flip the switch. Then, Leafs' legend Wendel Clark shares his thoughts on Michael Bunting picking his battles, what the new additions have brought from a physical standpoint and pressure on the core four (1:06:13).  From Lightninginsider.com, Erik Erlendsson provides insight on Tampa's Game 1 lineup, the teams struggles to end the season and Jon Cooper's mind games (1:15:58). The guys close with a look at the action from Day 1 of the playoffs last night.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.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. If last night's indication was we're in for a fun next eight weeks, I can't wait for tonight. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Frank the Tank, Derek Brandeo, and Sammy McKee. We're going to get you guys ready for the big tilt tonight between the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning,

also on board tonight. Battle of New York or New Jersey. Between the Rangers and the Devils. Sportsnet 360. Winnipeg another canadian team in action tonight will go against vegas on sportsnet west and then seattle makes history as the kraken are first timers to the dance yes and they'll see action against the defending stanley cup champion colorado avalanche in the

meantime jb you write for the sportsnet.ca i do if i asked you to write an article before puck drop to give me five good reasons why the Leafs will advance against Tampa and five good reasons why they won't, I bet you can come up with 10 compelling reasons. I 100% agree. Oh, I know. Which really has everyone not sure what to expect tonight, correct? It's a Rorschach test.

You can see what you want to see in the same stats, in the same history, and the same players. Whatever it is you already believe, I ain't changing your mind at this point. I don't know, Kip, or this is, you know, even as prepared as you can be for something, the moment it arrives, time for it to happen, there's some nerves.

I feel a little bit nervous. Our show, we're in year two here. It's game one of playoffs. I imagine the players are like, all right right three o'clock on game day what would you be doing right now if you're a player trying to sleep you still sleep for at least another hour wow yeah i could take it to four 7 30 puck drop too that's right yeah so i could take it to four by 4 15 maybe a coffee and a bagel little some peanut butter

I never understood people like that there's lots of them asleep until late as they can I'd be at the rink well before 5 o'clock I'd be in there about 20 to 5 not for 7.30

almost 3 hours I love that you're right you're unconscious and then you're at the rink to five. Not for 7.30. Oh, yeah, 7.30. Yeah, almost three hours prior. Almost three hours. I love that you're right. You're unconscious and then you're at the rink. It's just like, let's go.

And just like, I got the high pace going too. And that's better than me though because I'm not a great day sleeper. So I'm trying to figure out what to do with time and stress. And that's a much better plan. Were you a napper?

I mean, I would. Did you try? Yes. Every day I would turn out the lights and I'd be in bed and I would do my best. But I just, I'm not one of those people and stress and that's a much better plan were you a napper i mean i would did you try yes every day i would turn out the lights and i'd be in bed and i would do my best but i just i'm not one of those people who's good at it i was jealous of people who who could nap some guys like four hour nap or something like that's another night no no some i'd be like why are you bringing so much uh plastic tape with you and then you get to the the hotel room and they start taping the drapes to the wall

so there's no cracks. No light at all. Like complete dungeon. Those guys got a room together. They got a room together because it's not cool if you're the opposite. What are you, a bat?

I go, stop it. Yeah, that's not the way to do it. Yeah, and I don't think the hotel really likes seeing, you know... Not like they're staying at a motel. The Ritz has a sock tape on it. The Ritz is really upset that the wallpaper is on a roll of plastic tape right now. Sammy, you feel a little better today than you did yesterday?

Health-wise, I feel better today. No, mentally. Nerve-wise, boys, I am a wreck. I wasn't feeling it until I got in front of this microphone and was sitting with you guys. I am really, really nervous for tonight. I love it. That's great.

Listen, I've been a diehard fan my whole life, and I decided to tie my entire livelihood to a team that I love. So now not only do i have the emotional investment of wanting the toronto maple leafs to win and go far because i love them i also have the and you know the actual investment of my money this investment where like the further they go it's better for us and everything goes up and everything's great so i really am dying for them to go on a run here boys i know i feel pal. Safe to say you've never been emotionally, spiritually, physically more invested in this team than today.

No, no. It's a different relationship. How far would you go back then? Where was it the most for you? Like when I was a kid. Okay. It's different when you're a kid. The 90s?

Early 2000s. Like the early 2000s. But I would say at the end of last year, you probably were with a collective, a large group of people who said, I'm not paying attention until next year's playoffs. Well, wake up, everyone. It's here. That's it. We spent all this time, all year, talking about basically meaningless games.

Where we always knew that they were going to make the playoffs. Outside of that trip to California. Things got a little greasy to start the year we're like oh do they suck do the leafs suck i remember having those conversations but now we've arrived at game one tampa bay cooper's condescending people already you know the i saw leaf flags on cars i walking into the work i saw a couple leafs jerseys. People are juiced up. The city's feeling good. It's Go Leafs Go season, and I'm fired up. I can't wait.

Oh, I'm on the second floor. I saw a couple employees here with Leaf jerseys on. That's probably one of those is my good friend, Kibbo. Was it the president of the company? The panel. I'd be lying to everybody if I said I didn't put on my good Leaf chapeau today. Got the corduroy one on. I'm ready to rock, boys.

So yesterday we had a conversation on what a convincing win or loss would do for the psyche. Interesting enough, 24 hours later, Sheldon Keefe revisits game one from their season last year. Yeah. So let's go to Sheldon Keefe for our first Kippers Clipper of these Stanley Cup playoffs on his thoughts on last year's game one. It was a funny game. If I remember it, obviously we had a huge penalty kill to get through early in the game.

That gave us some life and momentum through that. We found our way through it fortunately and you know other than that it was a bit of a snoozer of a first period for the most part we found a way to get one in and then the second period came alive but you know we don't uh i'm not looking at too much there in terms of what it what it means right now um you know if anything it's just a sign of just how long the series is, you know, and the ups and downs that come with playing in a series. But in terms of here for tonight's game, we're just, you know,

obviously do a lot of preparations and you know what's at stake with the playoffs and all these kind of things. But generally, you try to just make it seem as much like a regular game day as uh as any other does that make you feel better that you know win or lose tonight doesn't really well i think it's an important lesson for everyone including myself including us when we come in tomorrow and we talk about whatever happens tonight at scotia bank arena that one game does not make a series and we talked about it yesterday how game one is massive and i still think it is but it's a good sort of reflection to look back on last year where kyle clifford takes one of the worst penalties you could ever take in the first period of a playoff game where just absolutely

bury somebody from behind five minute major and then they go on and they roll they win five nothing they beat the crap out of tampa and i remember us coming and they roll they win five nothing they beat the crap out of tampa and i remember us coming in here and being like oh boys they look slow saying it was not saying it was over of course but i i think it's a good lesson and what he said there to just not take too much out of tonight i can't remember what i had for breakfast today let alone a five nothing win two i was like did we still work together a little year ago do you remember what we said yeah just the feeling after game one sammy nailed it with like i think we had questions like had tampa do they look tired are they at the end of the road this is part of

the conversation that's been had about them more recently too you know i i do feel like more this year than last that they have had more struggles. They have had less success and more reasons to doubt themselves. You know, would another early victory like that, would it be more effective at sort of quelling? They came out the next game and scored seven times. You know, they're not going to go away, but does some early success make Tampa doubt themselves where last year they wouldn't have had any reason to doubt themselves.

Just to tee up the rest of the show in about 40 minutes, we gonna have craig simpson former nhler hockey night in canada analyst uh does a terrific job he's getting ready for the game tonight as well we're gonna squeeze uh a few minutes out of his busy schedule to uh to tee up the game and uh what he expects in the second hour leaf legend wendell clark i can't think of a better guy to tee up the start of the stanley cup playoffs for the toronto maple leafs and wendell leaf show wendell clark is your guest folks hope we did okay eric uh uh earlinson eric earlinson yes sir that's a tongue twister for me. Tampa Bay Lightning writer over 22 years. He's going to give us his side of

the story. What do we expect out of them? Because we have no clue. No, I can't wait to get into Kippers or Clippers on John Cooper today. Coopers, Kippers, Clippers. Kippers, Cooper, Clippers? Oh, there's

going to be a lot of those this week. You know that one. Hey, Sammy? Oh, yeah. Get your lawyer talking. We're not going to coop just yet. We're going to stick with Sheldon. Sheldon's been there for us all season long.

And we're going to get in a little bit of where his team goes now with a little bit of an emotional element and and the ability to uh to maybe let's say it stay out of the box don't give tampa bay any opportunities uh let's get sheldon's feeling on staying out of the box No? Okay. You didn't clip it? Yeah, we've talked about it. We've been talking about it for a few weeks now,

not really even long before playing Tampa last week. We want to make sure we're staying out of the box as much as we can and being smart with that. We want to be hard and competitive and want to stand our ground and all these kind of things, but we've got to be very smart with it. You know, there's a lot of penalties called last season

and I didn't get a chance to see too many of the games yesterday, but in some, certainly, there was some calls being made after whistles and stuff that they don't want to let things get out of hand that way. So we just got to play smart hockey, and that's really it, and just keep our focus on the things that matter during play.

That's going to be something to watch tonight. Oh, I think it's everything to watch. And if we go back to last week, and a lot of praise for the toronto maple leafs going into tampa playing as hard as they did and standing up to them and having a guy like luke shen battle patrick maroon yep but eight penalties eight power play opportunities here is that is that something to worry about i would say that is a big concern but that is the game

to do it right it's not the playoffs you're going to stand up and you want to get involved in the muckety muck that's your time to to get in there and do it now i think you've sort of made the statement we're okay doing that we showed we can hang with you guys. You know, can we buckle down and play hockey now? I don't know. To me, that's the one worry I would have for the Leafs, that between the time that they went with this plan B philosophy of being tougher and in your face and we're going to play a different style,

there is an adjustment period. And that includes being able to kind of toe that line of being in your face, standing up to a guy, looking a guy eye to eye. Like even scrums. I know people can look at scrums and just think they're scrums. They're nothing. They're calculated. You've got to be smart in scrums. I know people can look at scrums and just think they're scrums. They're nothing. They're calculated. You've got to be smart in scrums.

You've got to know how to push buttons in scrum and not be the one that gets pulled out for a penalty. It's still new to me. For me, watching the Leafs and watching how they've evolved to get to this point, they went from a team over the last few years, and let's just say it, soft. That was the one thing.

From opponents talking about them to their own coach talking about them, soft. Just how we play, soft. And now you went to a trade deadline and you brought in three or four guys that are changing that yeah did it change for all 20 or is it still just four guys and and the other one's still learning and i don't think it was a coincidence that you went in last week and and played a style that you you think you might want to play but you you just, you don't know, you're not sure how to do it just yet.

And I don't think it was a coincidence that you followed it up with giving Tampa Bay eight power play opportunities. Is your worry that that would happen again? I just think that, yeah, that there hasn't been enough repetition of of playing this new style of of grit and finishing checks or initiating not retaliating was there enough time between the trade deadline to go into this new look for the leafs with great physical power comes great responsibility i suppose you know one of the things that i find really interesting or i'm full of crap no hey listen it's a it's a take it's a

take and i you know there there may be something to it one thing i think that is interesting i sent you and sam this from an article in the athletic cam charron wrote about penalties and when they get called so in the playoffs more penalties get called than in the regular season by like a hair it's almost identical the amount of penalties penalties get called than in the regular season by like a hair. It's almost identical, the amount of penalties that get called. But they all get called like so heavily in the first three or four games of a series. The refs come out and they want to set the tone just like the players. The guys want to come out and set the tone to each other. The refs are more likely to be on it.

A ton of penalties get called in the first few games and so i am concerned that you know knowing how to walk that line is even harder in the first few games when the refs are on high alert and the refs are trying to set the standard for the series and you know for both teams so it is going to be you know this tampa bay lightning team was third in the nhl and power play percentage and we know they have the veteran guys you saw them put away the Leafs with it in game six. They come back. Kucherov scores the goal. It's going to be crucial to play five-on-five hockey

because I believe, and as many people do, they play five-on-five, they're fine. I don't think they want to get into a special teams affair. Yeah, the other thing, too. We have Keefe on this, by the way, on Walking the Line. Something tells me that it's going to be hard to keep the bolts to over eight again ever ever and the next time you ever play them like i that was an anomaly the fact that they went eight chances without getting a goal i i think the special teams battle and i mean we talk about this every year in the playoffs but

it's the number one thing goaltending and special special teams. And special teams, to me, the Leafs got to be good on the power play, and they got to be dynamite on the penalty kill. Let's listen to Sheldon talk about trying to walk the emotional line. I just think our guys have been very businesslike. Like I said, I don't think we're getting too worked up or focusing too much on changing anything. I think the guys just have a quiet confidence about them. They were just going through their routines. It was, you know, we had great attention, great focus through our

meetings the last few days in preparation for this. But I think, you know, like always, when you get through their prep, you know, you get to a point where you just want to drop the puck and play hockey and that's where we're at. so one guy i'm really interested in watching now because there there has been this this question mark on where michael bunting is right now with his style of play and for the majority of his leaf career or his nhl career since coming over from from arizona he had been this kind of tenacious dog on a bone chirping in and out kind of guy still managing to find a way to score 25 goals and what math what michael bunting are we going to see as early as game one? Is it going to be this turn the other cheek and not get involved, not yapping at the opponents

or just not yapping at the ref? Where is his fine line? What do you expect out of Michael Bunting tonight as he runs shotgun with Austin Matthews and Marner? I hope nothing changes for him. I don't want to see him come out and try to be some unemotional guy you know like that's not going to work for him yeah he's not effective like i agree and so i

also don't want him to come out and try to be like the agitator and cory perry i just he's been really good for them and i think you know there's been a lot of noise around this sort of not getting the calls because there were a few distinct moments where you know he got called for embellishing or you know didn't get a call against him but to be the guy that helps marner and matthews he has to be the guy that's in the blue paint and falls on the goalie and gets the puck out of the corner and you know he's a he's a good smart hockey player i'm a michael bunting fan i just you can't try to be something you're not you know so i i hope they don't try to rein him in too much the other thing i the other thing is the effect that scrums would even have on an austin matthews he doesn't like scrums he doesn't right he doesn't participate in them maybe he doesn't participate in them and if we've seen you know history has shown us this time of year whether it was uh

ben charrott um or or anyone else that that conference he wants to play yeah right it's almost as if there's a rhythm to him he just wants to go and tampa's greatly incentivized to stop that rhythm it's like a 21 where you don't throw it back to the guy at the line who's hitting shots. You throw it off the free throw line. Give that little spin pass. Oh, sorry. Maybe that has a lot to do with Michael Bunting too as well. Not necessarily pulling him into that. Yeah.

You know, they've had a lot of success together in the past. I hope if Bunting wants to do that, he does it. You're right, though. It is something to keep an eye on how much he wants to be a lot of success together in the past i i hope if bunting wants to do that he does it you're right though it is it'll be interesting it's something to keep an eye on how much he wants to be a part of that stuff i like that what they're going with tonight is saying we believe we still believe that our best players are our best players matthews and marner are paired if they're not going to win without those two guys doing great things, you watch the Oilers last night. I know they lost last night, but watching Leon dry side will play hockey last night. It's like a reminder of how important it is that your superstars be stars.

He was unbelievable. I know they lost, but they need some of those showings. Connor was okay. Yeah. I, you know, I watched the first half of the game.

I have children get up early and i woke up and watched the the highlights the rest i thought he was good in the first part yeah but it just like he had that dynamic rush again yeah right where you had la and mikey anderson chasing him shot it mostly through corpus almost had another wow moment yeah drew two penalties in 18 seconds but yeah and then they get the goal outside of that though he he was okay he wasn't great and he gets blanked at a game he's not going to be happy and he gets two points a game and we know he has to be great yeah he does oilers can't win without him being great okay i want to go through a bit of i know we got more clips but i want to go through an exercise with you guys um as we what half an hour away from Craig Simpson. And we're going to go man for man.

Okay. I want you to pick a name when it comes to the advantage. You have a choice of picking a lightning, a leaf, or calling it a wash. Okay. I'm curious to see how this has been constructed all right there's no way there's a narrative being built here point point versus matthews matthews 34 all right two for 34 how about you are you doing it too uh i i take point all right uh just based on

been there done that shocking development there i don't raise i don't yeah okay raised uh raised it before right been there do you want to con smith maybe forget kucherov versus Marner. Oh, God. What are we doing here? What? Well, listen, Kucherov. Okay. Kuch. I'm not sure. Wash.

Wash. Wash is an option? Yes. Wash. Okay. Does Kuch have a consmith? No. Who are their consmiths? No.

Hedman. Vasilevsky. And some goalie yeah right tavaris versus stamkos it's okay put the put the pom-poms away tell me who'd you rather have who's better who's got the edge yeah stamkos okay nylander versus hagel nylander yeah okay i got nylander too just better break uh game breaker but it's you know now hagel's pretty good i think he finished with what 32 goals 33 okay riley versus headman wow i'd be pretty dumb if i said anything other than okay that's all yeah all right um tj brody versus sergachev tj brody yeah me too i i don't know what We've gone away from forwards versus forwards now. Now we're okay.

Depth D. Pass those guys. Okay. I'll take the Leafs. Yeah, I'll take the Leafs. Okay, I'll take the Leafs. Sammy, you Leafs? All day.

All day long. Yeah. Vassie versus Sammy? Vassie. Okay. Yeah. Keith versus Cooper? Yeah, it's got to be Cooper.

He's won Cops. He's won literally everywhere bottom six Leafs Leafs uh you gotta wash why you stinky pretty close it's gonna be tight it's gonna be pretty darn close like I think that's actually like as much as I thought you were forming a narrative there Kipper narrative I don't know that the Leafs suck andipper. What narrative? I don't know. That the Leafs suck and the Lightning are going to win. I don't know what the hell you're doing there.

No, it's good. You did a good job. It's true. I'm just breaking down like man for man. Yeah. Like how close this is. She is tight. Right?

It is, yeah. No, no doubt. No doubt. Marner's one of the best wingers in the game. Yeah, he's been voted. But he's up against one of the best wingers in the game. Yeah, he's been voted. But he's up against one of the best wingers in the game. Kujo won a heart trophy as the best player in the league. And Point and Matthews are close. Very close.

You guys know I love Point. If this is a lightning show, it's close for me. That was the point of the exercise. It's a good exercise. I'm here for it. To just give you, man for man, how close the matchup could be here. Yeah, Point had 50 this year. 51 or 52.

And Cooper this morning, I didn't put the clip in, but he was bragging about how none of them were into an empty net, except for the 51st. It's like, what, you can't put them on the ice at the end of the game? Exactly. It's like, oh, is's brutal defensively yeah all right um you want one more on sheldon keeper we to go to coop let's go to coop all right let's go to coupon uh we heard from sheldon keep on game one let's go to uh coupon on what he expects game one or

how much stock he puts into it game one is game one it's it's an unknown um you think you know what's going on until you get in the trenches and then all of a sudden you lose five nothing and you're like oh my god what just happened so it's uh you're feeling going into every playoff series you're on a high you're feeling good about yourself, your game and everything, and then you just don't exactly know what's going to happen. So, do I feel like we're confident

and do we have good vibes and all that everything going on? There's no question. But I have no idea what's going to happen tonight. He's another one. He sounds like us, for God's sakes. Doesn't know what's going on happen tonight God he's another one he sounds like us for God's sakes doesn't know what's going on another one Ryan O'Reilly

versus Sorelli yeah that's a good battle so Sorelli's the guy there Sorelli is just prime you know prime Ryan O'Reilly I'm taking Ryan O'Reilly I don't know I'm going to play off O'Reilly that the switch is going to flip but I'm going to go with O'Reilly on that one.

What was it? Four years ago, St. Louis won. And he did win the consummate. He was the reason why I picked him. Yeah. As soon as I found out Buffalo traded for him, I said, that guy's the differential. Yeah.

And he could be the same guy. He's been rested here. He's been here long enough and in different roles. I'm excited to have him add another element okay let's go straight to john cooper on his thoughts on ryan o'reilly well um i think anytime you bring in a player of his stature and i'm not sitting here saying you know let's let's take away thatice product. Let's talk about what else he brings to the table. And I had him in 2017 at the Worlds, and I couldn't be a bigger fan of that kid.

And now you chalk up 2019 and the part he played in St. Louis winning the Stanley Cup. I don't know. I can't do anything but help their locker room. And the fact that he can – he's been in the league for a while, but he can still play. And what he just brings in big moments of the game, what he can do in the face-off circle,

I think he makes guys around him better. It was a great ad for them, no question. And, Kipper, while we're piling on, Ryan O'Reilly, do you want to hear what Pat Maroon had to say? Pat Maroon and Ryan O'Reilly are best buds. They're in a commercial together. They won a cup together. Here's Maroon on O'Reilly.

Yeah, it's going to be weird. Like I said, I talked to him after the game, the last game that we played them. I said, you know, I just wish the best for him. You know, no matter what, we won together. He's honestly my best friend. So I'm just so happy for him. He gets the opportunity, you know, to play for the Stanley Cup again.

So it's going to be fun. Obviously, it's going to be sad for whoever loses. But I think you just don't look at that. You just look at the guy he is and what he brings to the team and what a leader he is. And I'm just happy he gets an opportunity to play in his home city and get an opportunity to play in front of his family and friends. So it's always neat. I got the opportunity to do it myself.

So he gets that chance too. A lot of Ryan O'Reilly love, boys. Okay, let's get to one more, and then we'll just have a little bit of a recap on Tampa Bay here. And I want to hear about Cooper and the struggles in the back half of the season and how

that might play a part in what we see in the next 10 days. One of the toughest stretches I've had in recent memory was probably like after the trade deadline and as you said like as a coach you look at the standings and you're like yeah we are in a pretty good spot and it looks like we're going to be playing the Leafs now at the time you're trying to force that out of

your head but reality is that's that's what you're staring and I'm pretty sure the players look the same thing we're actually playing pretty well, and then we went through that All-Star break, and we just, we had some phenomenal stretches after the All-Star game and some dreadful ones. And do I chalk some of that up to, let's just wait till we get to the playoffs? No question.

And I think that we were playing extremely well until the night we clinched. And then after that, it kind of, you know, our game slipped a little. And then we, you know, there were times we got it back. But for me, as a human nature, there's no question. No question. They're all playing up this we didn't care at all narrative.

Yeah. Really? I don't get that sense. What? No, I don't. We can just listen to? I get the sense that there might be a tad. First of all, I don't get that vibe from him.

Maybe he's a really good actor him saying like the human nature part to me where it's like natural to have a letdown you know you know there's nothing to play for listen that letdown could continue in in in game in this series like so i do question at times watching them in the back half and and just some of the bad losses and giving up five six goals and vasilevsky like is it is it legit to ask like how hungry are these guys you know they do have that to fall back on where they can say we've won two cups we've been there a bunch of times they just the salary cap stripped us of all the surrounding parts, and we hung on as long as we could.

Honestly, that's kind of a sense that I'm getting out of Cooper. I'm telling you, there was none. I just don't know if he's a really good actor. He's funny, like the way he kind of, I don't want to say he's playing dumb, but the way he's just like, yeah, we're just going to give it our best. I don't know. We're not putting much thought into it.

It's like, surely they're grinding behind the scenes, like, you know, pouring over video, pushing the guys. They were grinding, and they were still losing. Don't tell me they weren't grinding. He benched his stars. He embarrassed them. Wouldn't let them go out for some third periods. Like, that's grinding.

Yeah. They did. I mean. That's like, I'm out of ideas. I gotta now embarrass the guys that have won me two cups. That's why I do feel like if it were to go bad for Tampa early, could Kucherov start being a sulky baby? Like, could those things come about?

And why I think the start's important. If you want to give this team life and belief in themselves and remember, you know, who they are, who they've been, it's scary. It really feels to me, out of anything I've heard from Cooper leading up to this already, that he's pre-softening the blow. Oh, boys. I don't, listen, I'm not. He's softening Toronto.

Which blow, that they're going to come in and beat Toronto, or the one that says we're finally relinquishing our status? If they end up losing, which is not what I'm saying here, but I'm just saying that he actually maybe thinks they're going to lose for the first time. That not what i'm saying here but i'm just saying that like he actually maybe thinks they're gonna lose for the first time that's what i'm getting at that he okay that he thinks that they actually may lose for the first time here like he thought for sure there is vulnerability in his tone and and his in his words and maybe you know the thought that uh palat and mcdonough aren't there anymore and those guys were proven playoff reformers.

Like that's a huge hole. Yeah. With guys that are younger, but are they as savvy? Can they come up with big plays when it matters most? Like these guys have in their run as a lightning. Let's get Coop's thoughts on what it's meant losing those two guys. When you say those two names, you kind of get sad up here because they meant that much to myself personally and our organization.

But then you can go down the road and say Barkley, Goudreau, Blake Coleman, Yanni Gord, David Savar. Like I can go down a list of guys that had that impact with us in the playoffs. Now, you know, Pally was with me for his entire career and Mac had been with us for a long time. So little different animals, but guys, in the end, they all had big-time impacts on our playoffs and us winning. But in come new guys. In come Hagel and Paul, and this year it's Cole, and you just go down the list of you've got some new guys, and they've just got to fit into what we're doing.

But can I sit here and say those guys aren't missed? No, they'll always be missed. They'll be missed. Once I'm retired, I'll still miss those guys. It's so melancholy. Guys, they're not as deep. We know that. Yeah. Tanner Janot, even if he plays is not yanny gourd yeah someone's telling me he might even play tonight do you know well i don't know if it's just rumblings or do you know what i mean i'd be interested would you be very tampa i think there's a chance that we may see him there's all of a sudden there I bet you he warms up even if he doesn't play.

May warm up. Because, you know, the fact that he's skated with the team, he can skate. It would be like Tampa to throw the Leafs off their scent a little bit. But... Have them take line rushes and summon spots. And Cole's a good depth guy, but he is not.

And I know he won cups in Pittsburgh, but he's not Ryan McDonough. No, and he's also you know 34 years old and you know not a big physical specimen by any means so yeah that's a you know i see all this and i hear all this and it does come down to how much you believe in experience mattering for this team because it looks like a team that could be had. No one wants to believe it. I know that Leafs Nation won't believe they can beat this team until they're beaten.

They just need to see it. They just need to see it. It's the optic test. Nothing said will matter. No amount of words you and I can do here it's gonna convince anyone well we're not convinced no we're not we can't convince anyone else if we're not convinced that's a really good there's always that little from column a a little from column b right right right little doubt do we have stamp coast is that what it's actually yeah even stamp coast it's him

filling up a four up a familiar narrative, if you would like to hear it. On game one, yeah, let's do it. I think we just rely on some of the great experiences we've had, especially the last three runs. You know, obviously a little difficult for us down the stretch here in terms of getting up for some meaningful hockey. And we'll look to obviously get up for the game one tonight.

It's the biggest game we've played in a long time. So we're looking forward to that. We haven't cared about hockey in forever. Of really selling this hole, it hasn't mattered to us. Which they must be trying to talk themselves into that because there's no chance. There was none. Well, I don't know.

They've talked themselves into it the last's no chance it was none well i don't know they've talked themselves into it the last three years yeah well i mean good good a little bit of at least truth to what he's saying and there's definitely some you can't bring playoff like intensity every game particularly when it doesn't matter if you win or lose. You know that old saying, you fake it until you make it. Right. But they haven't even been faking it. He likes it here too. Cooper?

No, Stammer. Oh, he didn't like it here that much. No, does he not light up the Leafs? Is his numbers not good against the Leafs? Well, here's the thing. Any guy who was a good player through the mid-2000s has great numbers against the Leafs because they stunk. Yeah.

Like Sid and all those guys. Like, I can look it up here quickly, but I can tell you he's probably over a point per game. Probably has a really good record against them. But, yeah, like every player who was good during that era really lit them up. Do we want to do one more clip or do we want to get to our... I would like to hear him talk about Sheldon Keefe

because this is the last clip we'll play today. But I just love this clip from Cooper on Keefe. Sheldon, I probably got to know, or I spoke with him the most, was when my brief tenure as a Olympic coach. And when we were kind of putting the team all together, so I had communications with him. As a matter of fact, right in that hallway right there is where we would meet and talk players.

And I thought he was very honest. He was definitely not, you know, he would, I guess, he wasn't holding anything back about if his players had weaknesses or anything like that. He was really, I thought he was awesome. As for his coaching, I told him

this last year after our series, he shouldn't change anything. That series went down to the wire. It could have gone save here, save there, either way. I think he's done a heck of a job with the team i think what do you think sammy don't change anything losing game seven it is hilarious to be

like yeah yeah we beat you last year you guys do nothing different do exactly what you did i also thought it was funny in there where he's like yeah when i was gonna be the olympic coach we talked about his players and he said he was super honest about them and told me all their flaws. He's like, yeah, so the coach told me all his good players suck. Who was it? Who was it? What coach did we recently play a clip of where he said there's no secrets in the NHL anymore? Gerard Gallant said it recently.

There's no secrets. So who were the guys that he would have been talking to him about for the Olympic team? That's Tavares. Mitch Marner. Yeah. Morgan Rielly. Morgan Rielly. He had Mitch at the the worlds so he knows him raved oh yeah about him so oh yeah anyways you guys ready for some playoff picks but listen yeah can't have it both

ways sheldon comes with his kippers clippers all year and he's very honest. He does speak from his heart. He does. Yeah. And sometimes it gets him in trouble. Thank God. And when he puts his guard up and protects it, it makes for some boring shows. I love how we've just kicked Sheldon to the curb.

Like we're immediately straight. We're just like, oh, Cooper, Cooper, you know, it's like No, we're still a Sheldon show. We kicked Sheldon to the curb. I made it abundantly clear we're immediately straight. We're just like, oh, Cooper, Cooper. You know, it's like. No, we're still a Sheldon show. We kicked Sheldon to the current point. I made it abundantly clear we're leading today's show with Sheldon. Yeah. And then we played it. We had way more enjoyment from.

Yeah. All right, boys. Ready? Yes. All right. Some housecleaning, Sammy. It's time for playoff picks presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds.

And I just wanted to focus on the leafs and lightning um who so do you guys want to do your pick right here and give me what you think the least are going to win in or the lightning are going to win in yeah i wanted to go leafs and i think to give themselves the best shot at boston they got to get out of this thing in five five yeah it's you know i don't hate you i'll tell i'm taking six just because five seems very short but i do think that it can't go seven so i'll take leafs and six seven won't help them against boston so i think i'm saying leafs and five as well and for the only reason that i don't think they can beat them in six or seven like i think the games will get too tight in those moments

and the leafs demons will come back in so even six is too much for you it's tampa series at that point tampa i get maybe they could win in tampa yeah in game six where they had a good they had a good game last year in tampa in game six they went into the third leading and then a couple bad penalties including alex kerfoot high sticking a tree somehow um so that was so if you're looking at the leafs in um in five it's four to one so maybe some value there if you're interested in that yeah and who do you think will be the highest scorer in this series so someone who's on the power play someone who gets a lot of touches you know you got it gone he's gone you got to think of kucherov

on the tampa side and probably mitch mitch on the toronto side those are the two favorites yeah what's uh what's my point point in the bumper yeah to me has a chance to lead yeah we have been saying you know the superstar's got to get him through austin uh look good in the last stretch what's his number i'm just looking it up right now i think it was plus hold on a second here but yeah i he's second the the one that i looked at was um nylander who's been an excellent playoff performer for that i don't know how much he can get on at 15 seconds oh yeah on pp2 yeah like that's that's a huge that's a huge thing he's not starting on the on the top unit. Great point. Yeah, not a great bet as long as he stays there,

but if their power play struggles for, I don't know, three rotations, he may be back on the top unit. So Austin Matthews is the third favorite to lead the series in points. Okay. So there you go. Braden points behind him at plus 750 if Kipper's point there about potentially having him

in the bumper spot and leading the series. I don't know that we all picked the leafs to win so heavily last year so we'll see how we did with team i definitely did kip might have taken tampa last year you did no kip might have i did take i don't know yeah maybe i did what about you born what did you do remember i've taken the leafs for three straight years. Could you just take Lantana? Who didn't take them against Montreal and Columbus? You have a long way to go to beat John Garrett's 30 straight years of picking Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup. Well, that's like, what's his name?

The guy, Chris Berman, picking the Bills and the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl every single year. Yeah. No soup, huh? No, it never worked for them. Boo-er. Anyways, that's been Playoff Picks presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds, fellas.

All right. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. Craig Simpson, former NHL or two-time Stanley Cup champion, calling the game tonight on Hockey Night in Canada. But we get his thoughts first right here on Real Kipper and Born. Back after these words. Breaking down the top stories in hockey and Elliott Friedman every day. The Jeff Merrick Show.

Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Real Kipper and Born on sportsnet 590 the van all right our next guest will describe everything for you as you watch the pictures of the toronto maple leafs and the toronto maple leafs battle game. Let's welcome in Craig Simpson, Hockey Night in Canada analyst and one of our top dogs here on Real Kipper and Born. Simmer, are you ready? And are you like us?

Who knows what to expect? Yeah, absolutely. And hey, before we get started, I got to say a big hello to Justin. Because I guess last time I called you Jason. So I'm sure that's not the first time that's happened. It's the movie thing. It's not your fault. It's all, yeah, the movie's fault.

I take no offense at it. Here at the wardrobe at Sportsnet, it says Jason Bourne above my suit. So you're not alone, Simmer. All good. Yeah, no kidding. Yeah, I think we're all pretty excited to get this thing started.

You know, it's been a while. It's been a foregone conclusion that it's going to be the Leafs against the Tampa Bay Lightning. So I think everybody's excited. I don't know about you, Kipper, but this time of year, you know, your body just sort of reacts differently. It becomes spring and it feels like playoffs and you get excited. And it's something that's really special to get going.

Simmer, as far as what we've already seen from last night, and I think Islanders had, what, six opportunities on the power play, if I'm not mistaken, JB? A lot, yeah. And then, you know, other games that kind of cut down. Is it just an automatic here, as much as it's been over history that the games just get called differently and it's up to teams to adjust as early as game one?

Yeah, absolutely. And I think you always look at what potentially will happen in a series. Is a refereeing crew coming in with a mindset that this one might get out of hand, so we're going to call it close early. And I do think you've got to get a feel. You know, tonight a guy like Wes McCauley typically likes to let the game go a little bit and let guys get into it and be physical

and maybe not call. But, you know, it might not happen that way. And I think that's why it's always really important, especially early on. You get an opportunity on a power play early, especially maybe if it's a questionable call. If you can get that first power play goal, it just sets the stage for the series. And if Tampa, which I'm expecting, tries to draw it into the ditch a little bit,

do a little bit after whistles, you get one of those calls, and all of a sudden you score, it forces them to back off a little bit, do a little bit after whistles, you get one of those calls and all of a sudden you score, it forces them to back off a little bit. And as you know, special teams are going to play such a role, but you also have to get a feel for how the refs are calling it. And so if it's early on, if it's a parade to the penalty box, I do think it changes the way you have to play the game and you have to be much more careful.

You can't play on that edge. On the flip side you know we have seen some games guys where the edge is okay and they've let guys play and i and i would be probably closer to say west would let a game like that go i don't know what frederick laquie is going to do on the other guy on the ice but if nothing else i'd try to push it early and try to be as physical as you can and until you get a sense of what the standard is going to be, you have to be as aggressive as you can to try to set the stage for the series. Simmer, I don't know if you get nervous anymore doing broadcasts,

but as a player, I'm sure there were times when you felt pressure. Surely the Toronto Maple Leafs, their season has culminated, built to this moment here. What is your experience with dealing with pressure how do you remain sort of flexible to the game as it changes because really if you get locked into okay we're going to be physical or it's just tough to predict what happens once that puck drops you know was there anything you did or anything that you went through that kind of gave you an education in handling pressure yeah I think you you have to embrace the pressure and embrace the opportunity. If you've been listening to the catchwords and the phrases of the Leafs,

that's what they've been trying to convey in the past with Tampa, the same thing. You know the opportunity. And everybody in Leaf land has been using the word opportunity as opposed to pressure. And I think that's a good mindset to go in with. I think the playoff atmosphere, and I heard Austin Matthews say it about nerves going into game one, it's more anxiousness

and anxiety a little bit. And I always felt that that kind of grows. Before you drop the puck for that first game, you've got that built into your pit of your stomach. You know it's different. You know the game's going to be different, you know what's at stake. Everybody's back to zero. Nobody's a 50-goal scorer.

Nobody is a better team than the other. You're all starting from zero. So I think managing that anxiety of waiting and waiting, and I think the way I always got out of it, I always said either hit or be hit in your first few shifts you know that physicality snaps you in gets your blood running and gets your mind off of the overall you know scope of what you're trying to accomplish and more on just the task of every shift and I found that getting a good hit or be even being hit sometimes getting

rocked early on sort of snaps you into the game. And I think that's why, especially, you know, the first round games are the best, quite frankly, of the entire playoffs. Everybody's fresh. Everybody's in the starting blocks. Everybody's got so much energy and emotion, which wanes on you as you get deeper and deeper in the playoffs. So I do think that's one way, Justin, of just sort of calming your nerves,

making you realize, okay, it's just back to playing hockey again, but you have to play at a higher level, and you have to find that next level than you did during the regular season. We're talking to Craig Simpson, who gets to call the game tonight with Chris Cutbird on Hockey Night in Canada. Simra, we just heard from sheldon keith a little earlier talking about a game one convincing win by the toronto maple leafs last season i know you called the game i'm not sure what you remember about it but uh maybe uh your overall thoughts on on on the

potential of a of a win or a loss for the leafs and what it means moving forward and what you remember it as a player. Yeah, I think you have to have that mindset. You know, last year, I remember you get the Kyle Clifford five-minute major. And, you know, I think on the bench, there's an example of how a big kill was a huge momentum swing for Toronto. And it almost settled them into the game. Like, we're okay. We can play with these guys. And to shut down a power play that early that is so important to start a game

I think settled them into it but the 5-1 or 5-0 win is another great reminder of you've got to be in the moment because that game goes away and it doesn't really matter you know you lose the next game on home ice and just like that you've lost home ice and dead so i i do think it's a great reminder of how uh that's part of the anxiousness and anxiety that builds with each and every playoff game is because the last one okay maybe you can take some confidence out of it but that one's done and it's all about the next shift and it's all about the next game and it's all about the next game and it's all about the next goal. And so I thought they played a really good game.

One John Cooper had enough experience in his room to know they didn't play very well and they got embarrassed. And if nothing else, that was his early wake up call to his team to get them on track and they followed it up. So, you know, I don't think you can get too ahead of yourself. It's the old don't get too high, don't get too low. You win game one here for Toronto, and it's okay.

You know, check that first one off the box, but now you've got to go into the next one desperate and feeling like maybe you even lost the next one because you know how quickly these series can change. You know how, you know, damaging one bad goal or a come-from-behind victory from your opponent changes the whole mental landscape of the series. So I thought it was a good reminder, and tonight will be again. You go in thinking you've got to win this game

and you've got to play your best hockey, but win or lose, you've got to park that one and get ready for the next one and I think that has to be the mindset to eliminate any of those doubts you know you often talk as a team and I remember as a player let's plant the seed of doubt early and plant the seed in your opponent take away their will to win let them feel like you're a better team and that's the thing that good teams are able to oppose in the series and that's really the challenge for Toronto that you know quite frankly they haven't been able to establish and that'll be their task this year to try to knock them off yeah and you know one of the things that's going to be so big for them is getting production from their stars and they were

pretty good last year but we know there's another gear that they're going to need out of those guys how do you feel about the way they've constructed their lineup here in game one which is you know pretty top heavy all the superstars uh playing together and comfortable lines and um you know matthew nye's watching from the from the press box yeah i actually like it i i heard you guys yesterday about the nye's factor and how damaging it might be to the spirit of the team that's got you to 111 point season to have somebody sitting in the press box i think it's appropriate for him to be sitting there for him to get a view of of just what playoff hockey is like and get a sense of what the game and the pressure and the speed of it all but you know i i do think it's a i like the fact that

they've loaded up the top two lines. I think more than anything, guys, if I was Sheldon Keith, I go, we got to win this series quickly. You know, all the mental gymnastics that have gone on with, you know, game six, when you can clinch, you don't. And then game seven, God forbid, you don't want to put the guys in that situation again. So my view, if I'm gearing up my top guys is you got

to take control this series right off the bat and the best way to do it because he trusts the bottom six now and there's an ability to have a good defensive couple of lines but also a chance for some offense from there i think you really you know take the whip out a little bit to your top horses and get them running early and i think it's really trying to establish those top two lines as so hard to handle get something going offensively and i do think they have to have the mindset we got to win this in four or five now it might not happen and you got to readjust there but that has to be the mindset of the team going forward uh kudos to willie kneelander for putting together

a pretty solid year uh top goal scorer i think matthews caught him at the very end with 40 but you know craig he's not starting on the first power play unit and i'm just wondering you know how much of a calculated move is this by sheldon or Kyle, Brendan to a certain extent, and how much work would have gone into making sure that he's managing it or he's okay with it? Lord knows me and you, we've played with a few guys that would sulk like crazy over something like that and maybe affect the team.

But what are your thoughts on Ryan O'Reilly now there and Willie sitting on the bench to start coming out of a commercial break yeah it's a bold move but I think it's one that's maybe just you've got to sell it that I need you to be the leader of that second group and we're going to need the opportunity for that second group to get a big power play goal so you know you can always understand the frustration of the player or the desire for him to always get the number one spot. But you just have to take it with really, like, we're not punishing you. We just feel that you can be a driver there and, you know,

go show us that you can and go show us that you can take a lead in that unit and maybe be a difference maker. It might be the last 30 seconds of a late power play against a second-unit penalty kill that wins you the hockey game. And so, like anything, those are the tough decisions coaches have to make all the time. Tough for the player, but I think the mindset has to be, and you've been on a championship team, and you know that it's all about the team goal.

And my view of where I stand in the pecking order is irrelevant at this point. My goal has to be wherever I play. If I play on the top line in the first power play or if I slide down to the third line in the second power play, I've got to be productive. And that's my job and that's my role. And, you know, maybe it gives you even a little bit more edge. Like, I'm going to show you. I'm going to be dominant and that's my job and that's my role and you know maybe it gives you even a little bit more edge like i'm going to show you i'm going to be dominant in that role and so it's a bit of a calculation but i think overall it strengthens what the two units look like collectively as

opposed to just having one loaded up simra before we had you on today we played some clips from john cooper we played steven stamkos and both of them said something to the effect of you know it's tough to get up for games at a point this year they knew where they were playing they knew it was toronto they couldn't move up it couldn't move down it's just tough to get motivated in your experience can teams really flip a switch do you have confidence that this lightning team can be a different team than they've been down the stretch? I think so, Justin. I've lived it as well, both in 88 in Edmonton, my first year there. Calgary was first in our division. We were sitting in second.

We knew we were going to play Winnipeg. It was a foregone conclusion. And the last probably 15 games of the year were just tough for guys to be at the top. You knew your focus was starting tonight and so I do think the fact that you've got a team that has the experience they have the muscle memory they have the mental memory of what you have to do and how hard you have to compete to win a Stanley Cup and it doesn't necessarily mean that their game will get to that level automatically, but I do think it's hard to ask of those guys in game 72 against Columbus somewhere

to have that same intensity, knowing exactly that every single guy is just trying to get to that finish line of the regular season so we can start in the blocks for what matters the most. We've had it a couple times in Edmonton and able to win both Stanley Cups in that kind of stuck in, in a position and not being able to move. So just trying to play it out. And I think Tampa has got enough experience and they've got enough new

guys that are hungry that you'll, you'll find that there'll be a different team than they were the inconsistent one down the stretch. Summer watching last night as 2023 playoffs kicked off, a friendly reminder, man, there's not a lot of room out there. Hey, like

lanes close up and goals are harder to come by. Do you see this thing not maybe opening up this series? Well, I can see you could get maybe opening up this series well i i can see you could get into stretches in this series where you can get trading chances both these guys both these teams can play a high pace like look at the point line of you know the speed that they can have sorelli in the

middle and and i think there will be some track meet times where the game opens up, where you miss at one end, you better be ready to get back the other. And both teams are really good transition teams, transition offense teams. So I do think that the sense in playoff time is in the offensive zone, it's just a battle to get into the net, get into that tight slot area to win. You know, you're going to be wrestling Sergachev. You're going to be wrestling Hedman. You're going to have to find a way to get through those bodies to get to those pucks.

But this is a series that you look at those top two lines, and there's no reason to think that if you get an odd man rush one way, you better not miss the net or leave a long rebound going the other way because that's when you'll see maybe the track meet open up and i do think you'll see times where it'll evolve but you know the the cornerstone of being a stanley cup champ is being able to play and win battles along the boards inside your zone to make sure the puck gets out and maybe catches a guy pinching on you that you can get an odd man rush or win those battles in the offensive zone along the boards to keep a cycle alive i mean that that's playoff hockey where

those little in the trenches and the one-on-one battles are where i i think camp has always been good at that and that's been one of the things that has allowed them to be so successful and that's one area where you know the, the Leafs have really improved on. They've got great sticks. They can turn pucks over defensively that then quickly can go into offense. And I think that'll play a big part in how this series goes.

A little over three and a half hours, we got puck drop. You and Chris have a great run and looking forward to you in our homes tonight. Simmer, thanks for doing this. Thanks, guys. Take care, enjoy. Thanks, Simmer. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, guys. Take care. Enjoy.

Thanks, Simmer. Appreciate it. Craig Simpson, Hockey Night in Canada. I got to tell you, there were some people wincing at the answer he gave me. Yeah, me. I was like, you know, do you think this team can turn it on? They've been saying there's nothing to play for. He's like, I do.

I was like, oh. He's like, yeah. How about this exact perfect parallel? Yeah. How about this time perfect parallel? Yeah. How about this time I've lived through that and we did it? And we won the Stanley Cup. Yeah. And that's also playing with some of the best players in the game.

Yeah. and Point, Edmund, Kucherov, Stamkos will go down as this generation's best players. Yeah, three or four Hall of Famers there. Right? Yeah. So, yeah, there are parallels, and that's why you don't be dumb. Don't write these guys off until you see it to believe it. I am feeling progressively more sick as the show goes on. I just got to see it on the ice.

I have to see and feel the way it's going to feel. Every champion goes down, guys. That's our point. Sure. Father time is undefeated. Cheer up, Sammy. Yeah. I'll be excited.

I just, it's just so much leading up to this, boys. The extra half hour on puck drop tonight. Horrible. It was particularly cruel. Just drop it at seven. Get it over with. Drop it now. Like, let's go.

Afternoon games. It's like your wife saying, yeah, we'll talk when you get home about some, like, spat or something. It's like, can we talk about it now? Just get this over with. Rip the band-aid. Yeah. I've never been there before. No, I'm really, really hoping for an electric crowd tonight.

I think this team has been excellent all year. They're a likable team in terms of they can play with some physicality. They score. The stars are growing up. Ryan O'Reilly, Sammy, they love. Listen. I'm hoping for an electric crowd. The stage is set

for the Leafs. Raptors out. Jays can't pitch. They also just took two of three from the team with the best start in the history of baseball. What was the score last night? Baseball on last night?

No comments or questions on the Blue Jays last night. Like I said, the stage is set. Yes. Runway's clear. Land the plane. Like, listen, this could be a really, really fun spring for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The first round is such a huge mental hurdle.

I truly believe if they get past the first round, the sky's the limit. And I even include Boston in that. You know, I forget who told me this once, and it may have been Kyle Dubas himself, I think, who talked about how nervousness is worse the farther you get from being able to control it. So for a player, you're a little bit nervous,

but then you get out there and you can play. You can affect the play. You're in the moment. It's not as bad. A coach, you can at least affect the lines, a little more nervousness, whatever. A general general manager you can't do anything you're helpless and worst of all is the fans who just can't control a damn thing but live and die by it we know we know starting tonight hockey night in canada will take shots at maybe brendan or kyle

every chance like body language just says everything. Oh, they're going to be on camera tonight. Oh, yeah. Prepare for your close-up. They'll probably scream at the producers and get calls. Don't show us so much. Or show us once or whatever. But pictures are worth a thousand words.

We need a failed coaches challenge by Sheldon at one point and then a Zoom on Dubas and Shani. On potty mouth Dubas cussing out Shani and Dubas. Are they going to be in the same box tonight, fellas? No, they split up early. A while ago. Maybe they'll reunite for playoffs. Reunited.

No, he'll be sitting by Spencer. Reunited and it feels so good. Yeah, you know when they're reunited? After they clinch. Wins, wins, wins. Win, baby, just win. All right, we're going to take a quick break. Wendell Clark, Toronto Maple Leaf legend,

will help us ramp it up after the break. Real Kipper and Bourne after these these words get smarter when you listen to hockey talk the hockey pdo cast with dimitri filipovich subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts this is real kipper and born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. All right, as promised, Maple Leaf legend Wendell Clark joins us now. Hey Clarky, I know you've got ready for these type of games almost 100 times in your career and now, you know, we know you bleed blue and white.

Are the jitters still there after all these years uh i don't think i don't think i got the same jitters but uh this is the as you know as an explorer this is the time of the year that you miss let's get uh your feeling about this series heading into it obviously we know the history of uh past years how are you feeling about this year's toronto maple leafs against this year's lightning um i'm probably more confident this year than any other year i think we've got a deeper team uh we can play different levels of the game and we prove we can score and win one goal games versus just the 6-5 all the time. You know, Clarkie, it's so imperative that, you know, you pick and choose when to be engaged, when to disengage, either scrums or one-on-ones.

And, you know, I mean, I think about a guy like Michael Bunting who likes to play on the edge. And, you know, how do you pick your spots um but you know when you watch a guy like michael bunty where is that fine line for you uh watching him well i think he's had to be a great energy guy he's going to be in the middle of everything and the first game of every series and a little bit into the second game, there's a lot of players crossing the line trying to figure out where the line is. There's going to be penalties, as we watched last night, that players took,

but it's just so much energy in that first playoff game until the teams settle in and play. Well, and as they try to find that, a crucial thing this year we know is going to be the stars having a lot of success um you know do you what would you think the stars could take away matthews and marner in particular from previous playoff years heading into this one where we kind of know they're going to need to come through even more than they have in the past where it's been okay well i think you have to be patient i think they have to know that they're good, but they have to play well on their own end

and the whole game, and not go out of their way to play defensive, but just if it's a 0-0 and 1-1 game going into the third, don't think you have to open it up and win it the first shift of the third period and give up a three-on-two or two-on-one the other way. It's something to just rely that the team is going to be better than the other team, and your big guys will,

if given enough chances by the end of the series, will win it. We're talking to Wendell Clark, Toronto Maple Leaf legend. Clarky, just the commitment at the trade deadline and the players that they brought in, more straight-line players. We knew you could always score, but we always knew that you could finish a check. But what has it meant to the Leafs, particularly players like Achari and Lafferty?

Well, I think they were a little heavier in the lineup as in those guys finish their checks. They're hard to play against. It may not look like much of a hit sometimes when they're hitting it, but they both are heavy guys, and the other team feels it when they're forechecking. And that adds a lot to your team.

It might be only 10 minutes or 12 minutes a game, but it's something that's really needed. And a lot of times those are the players by the end of the series have got the important goal or the important shift. And I think adding the players we did and not more skill was a, was a good thing. We had Brad May on yesterday and he talked about the big goal he scored and Ray Bork talking about how he thought that may would dump it in the

corner and try to hit him again. He had just basically worn them down over the series. You know, is it worth making that a priority for a team that that hasn't been their game like the maple leafs i think have uh as you guys mentioned added some element of that but is it still something in game one or two that the leafs should say okay this is going to be part of what we want to do in the first night well i think you want to finish the guys we got i'm hoping they don't start playing like the guys we already had yeah that's so we already have the skill and finesse and dipsy doodle

and are some of the best in the league. What we needed is what we got in sandpaper and play the other part of the game. Because the one thing about the hockey game, it's not one-dimensional and one way is going to win. You need all the players playing their role, whether it's the five minute guy or the 22 minute guy it you never know which one's going to be most important any given night but you need it

you need them all if your team's going to win clark you a lot of leaf fans still remember in the 90s uh yourself uh dougie gilmore and or chuck leading the way. And just take us back in terms of what you felt, how much pressure you put upon yourself to carry the team in terms of that leadership role and what Austin Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander might be feeling this afternoon going into game one. Well, they're feeling that they want to get off to a fast start, but I think they have to realize they have to stay calm and wait and see how it all

plays out, but they're going to want to lead. They've been there four or five years now and lost the first round, so they want to make the next step, and they realize the team's better around them, and they're more mature and better players as well. It's just go out and they're more mature and better players as well so it's

it's just go out and and throw everything at it every game you're you break the game down if you're a 15 minute player you think about easier and how good the game is it just every every 48 hours you work for 15 minutes so you can definitely try as hard as you can so what would you think you would do i know what it would be unbelievable for this city, but you play a huge role with the Toronto Maple Leafs still to this day. And there's so much doubt out there, isn't there? This is a very good team. Would a round get people feeling things in a different way in this city?

Do you think that would be enough this season? Well, no, I think we were looking uh farther than that just be five years of being a very good team but i think i think the confidence is the players if they get through the first round then they're the ones okay we know how to do this we've been here we've done it now and you're going to see the confidence in them and then the fans they'll just they're always there we don't have to worry about the fans. We have the best ones in the game. So they're always there. It's just the players that if they can

figure out how to do it, they will have the biggest learning curve or obstacle that they have to face is winning the first round. We need a moment where you take on a Marty McSorley. That's what we, I think I'm looking forward to.

No. That's an accidentally on purpose run the goalie thing. We can't have that. No, skill, skill, skill, skill now. Clarkie. Hey, enjoy the series, man. We know you're going to be busy tonight at the at the uh scotia bank arena but uh also uh enjoy every moment pal thanks for doing this thanks guys all right

all right wendell clark oh my god you remember that you know what i don't remember that honestly i don't is it really like oh yeah i google it just so early yeah marty and and Oh, yeah, I Google it. Wendell McSorley? Yeah, Marty and Wendell. Yeah, after Gilmore, right? Yeah, he took, Marty took the biggest run at Killer. Yeah. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. And did not hesitate. Yeah. And the roof just lifted.

So there's a YouTube video. Oh, my God. The first three he hits McSorley sorely with what have you been under a rock well i have seen it yeah you've seen it oh it's awesome so it's there's a youtube video that if any leaf fan listening to this uh right now after our show clearly you don't want to leave our show but it's called all heart and it's set to uh hero of the day by metallica it's about a five minute long video of just wendell clark being a total badass it is high i couldn't recommend it high enough walking downtown with his jean jacket and a toothpick

in his mouth yes buddy he looks like he could just crush you with your with his eyes oh yeah so the thing that um derek said to me while we had him on the phone with about his fights is like he hit first oh he's he's got a second yeah he hit first a and second and third yes there's a couple clips in there that just if they happen today there would be a referendum are you going to call eric yeah let's get uh we'll touch base on eric yeah you're allowed to throw the first punch yes you know now we don't see much of it but we are seeing some very big hits yeah last night yeah we haven't got to that yet no we have not matt dumb so the minnesota wild maybe the less talented team between them and dallas i love the idea that they were like we have an idea how to win

big hits physical play brought him into the alley Bill Guerin on our show said they were not afraid to play in the alley. Got her done. I don't know if we're going to get Eric. See if Sammy can find us. Eric Erlinson, who is with Tampa Bay, will just get his quick thoughts on Tampa's expectations. I got to think. Eric, let's welcome you in now.

Thanks for joining us. Just want to get your quick thoughts on the anticipation and just really the expectations, Eric. In terms of the rest of the hockey world, we're all sitting back saying, okay, is this the spring that Tampa Bay runs out of gas? And from your side,

your perspective of following them all season long, do you tell me yes or no? It's a concern. There's no doubt. I mean, you've been to three straight Stanley Cup finals. There's an extra 80, 90 playoff games, intense playoff games that they've played. At some point, you have to wonder about how much they have left in the tank and but you know those questions were there last year and they forced their way through

that first round series against toronto and came two games short of winning the stanley cup championship for the first three years but i think as you kind of sit back and you look at the way things are this season the leafs are a better team. The Lightning are not as deep as they have been, certainly on defense. There's no Ryan McDonough. I think there's a lot of factors that point towards Toronto's favor in this series, except for the fact that Toronto

has to battle themselves here, too. So set the scene for us in Tampa Bay. What's the lineup look like for tonight? Are they going to be sneaky and fit in Tanner Janot on us? What are we dealing with here? You're not going to see Tanner Janot. The fact that he hasn't been ruled

out for game two, I think, is pretty incredible considering what it looked like. A pretty bad injury last week, but he will not be in there tonight. It looks as if they're going to go 11-7. It seems that Pat Maroon and Hayden Fleury will be the two healthy scratches based on what was taking place this morning,

which means they would go 11-7. So Zach Bogosian looks like he's going to draw in as that seventh defenseman. And, you know, you give extra shifts to Nikita Kucherov or Braden Point, two or three extra shifts per game. You know, who knows where that can go. Eric, just in terms of Vasilevsky, everybody has him as the X factor. No matter what, they always have this guy

as a proven goaltender in modern day history. Yet, were there times when I dare say it, but maybe the team didn't have the most confidence in him since January moving on that he actually looked human. He looked human a lot of ways because of how the team played in front of him.

Yeah, there were a few games where he gave up seven, and we're not used to seeing this team, and specifically Vasilevsky, not give up seven goals in a game. But when you look at the areas where some of those goals are coming from, his team didn't help him out. Then you look at a game in Detroit where he looked superhuman, 45 saves and just multiple grade-A stops that he made. The shutout he had against Carolina, the shutout against the Islanders,

he has that there. And I think with the experience and everything else that he has, he knows the level of intensity and focus he has to be in to give his team a chance to win. Now his team has to help him out. Don't be giving Mitch Marner and Austin Matthews and Willie Nylander those grade-A chances from the slot and the hash marks because that's going to make it a long night for you.

If he can see the puck, there's a good chance he's going to stop it. So I think it's more on the Lightning's defensive scheme and the way they try and keep those shots to the outside rather than the inner slot area. That's going to be the key, because if Vazzy can see it, he's going to stop it. So what do you make of our assessment here? So we played a bunch of John Cooper clips earlier today,

and we played a little Stephen Stamkos, and, you know, Coop's kind of giving it the ho-hum. You know, we were maybe a little tired. We didn't have incentive. We had nothing to play for. You know, we're trying to figure out the tone and where the coach is at with this team. You can probably give us a better perspective

of how you think Cooper feels about the team right now. You think he's trying to lay some groundwork here to try and... Oh, not Cooper. He would never think of that. No. Not a chance a head coach is going to do that, especially not one as savvy as John Cooper. Yeah.

Look, there is a confidence and a swagger that this team has. Has it taken a dent this year? For sure. Since the All-Star break, they're an under 500 team, and everybody looks at that and goes, oh, well, they're on decline. But they don't feel that in the room, right? You see some of the stretches they have had when they have turned up their intensity and their focus and everything that they know

they're going to have to have in this series. They look like a team that could do it. Now, they weren't consistently doing it from February on. They have to obviously be at the top of their level to have a chance to win this series. So, yeah, he's trying to lay that out there for Toronto to hear and listen to and say, oh, my team is tired. I don't know if we can get through it.

Look how much better this Leafs team is. But at the heart of the day, you've got Vasilevsky, you've got Victor Hedman, you've got Mikhail Servichev, Nikita Kucherov, Stephen Sankos. They have enough players that have been there, done that, and understand how to do it to at least make this a good series and potentially push them to the second round again. A good series indeed.

Eric, thanks for doing this, and appreciate your time, and we'll catch up soon, okay? All right, sounds good, boys. Be well. Thanks so much. Erlinson, Tampa Bay lightning writer for, oh, what? 20, 20 plus years working at lightninginsider.com. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Very good. Everybody believes that there's a switch. I know they do. I just don't know if they're going to hit it or not. The switch, the mythical switch. Yeah. I mean, gosh, how do you doubt them all these all

these smart hockey people see it we're just i have to say there's just so many eggshells being walked on around this team or tampa they have stunk for two months they were low 500 since february the leafs are big favorites and they should be and they should beat them the only reason they should lose this series is ghosts. That's it. That's it. He's right. How is he not right? They've stunk out loud. And we're walking on eggshells.

You know, losing to Montreal. They had a 3-1 lead in that series and ghosts took over. The only way the Leafs lose is if they just hand it to them on a platter. And they have been presenting some nice charcuterie boards. I said that with Montreal.

Yes. That they have to hand it to them on a platter. And they did. You don't hand Stamkos and Point platters. No, they went into your fridge and made their own platter. They're making a prosciutto sandwich. Yes. I just. Yes. I just...

Correct. The Leafs are in a very good position to win this series. Yeah. Are we... Who's capable of a Matt Dumba hit in this series? Luke Shen? McCabe? You know, McCabe's always out there sniffing around for something.

Yeah, Sergachev's a good pick. Didn't he smoke Tava tavarez last time i really do feel like mccabe is gonna lay a serious changer at some point i'm a little worried he's gonna be over excited and run out of position there's times when he stepped he's over aggressive for me in the neutral zone yeah for sure we could definitely get a horned up jake mccabe tonight yeah and you know who could blame him but that's on the team to recognize that. I think it's really good, by the way, to have a guy who's like a sled dog that you have to rein in rather than a guy you got to poke with a stick to get motivated.

He's a sled dog. Okay. We all saw the hit. Matt Dumba and Joe, little Joe Pavelski. I'm not asking you if you thought it was clean or dirty. Good. I'm asking you, what did you think of the hit and its place in today's game? Let's start there.

I thought. Let me just say, there, yeah, yeah, yeah. There are people that regardless clean or not clean, they don't like it anymore. And we're hearing more of those voices. And of course, social media runs crazy. And does hits like that still have a place in your NHL today? Yes.

I thought no better place than game one of a series so i don't think it's a good hit a clean hit a great you know like i'm not defending that it's a virtuous hit i'm saying that i'm the coach of the minnesota wild and we want to beat the dallas stars that's one of their most effective people i think it's borderline whether it's legal or not game one i'm okay with it i'm okay with our guys saying it's not going to be fun to get the puck what uh see to me it's black and white either it's an illegal hit it crossed the line it was late it was a head shot or it's a good hit there's no borderline it's either good or no good nah i don't agree with that okay where where is it borderline for you's either good or no good. No, I don't agree with that. Okay, where? Where is it borderline for you?

Well, you know, he's going up into a hit, but he gets shoulder. So technically, it's not a headshot. It's late. Pavelski has moved the puck, but I think it's within a steamboat. But it's not late. Not by the rulebook. It's not considered late. Not by the rulebook.

It's probably within a whatever it is. If it's not by the rulebook, then it's not late. Not by the rule book. It's probably within a... If it's not by the rule book, then it's not late. But if everything is on the cusp of legal, it's legal, but it's pretty close to not legal. I think that's borderline. Sammy? Loved it. I mean, I know, I hope Joe Bavallese's okay,

but it's a war. It's a playoff series. You're trying to win the Stanley Cup. You have a chance to put a lick on one of their best players or one of their leaders. And he admires his pass. The reality is intimidation is still a part of NHL hockey. Nick knows that. Nick's career was involved in that.

I've been on the other side of it where I've been like, God, I don't want to get that puck this shift. You know, it affects how people play. 100%. shift you know it's it affects how people play 100 and the one thing that stands out to me this time of year is like those hits those hits are you're focused on those type of hits way more now than you are in the regular season i don't't think... Our biggest thing that stood out to me again last night is that we have two products that we sell. We sell the regular season, and then we sell real hockey. 100%. And this is real hockey now.

Yep. I think guys are more apt to get hurt now because 82 games does not condition you... To look for that. ...for that hit. Yeah. And guys you to look for that hit. Yeah. And guys are now looking for that hit. And the difference between, again, the regular season is I am now trying to hurt you.

I'm not trying to separate you from the puck. I am trying to hurt you. Matt Dumba. Not injured. Went into that. And said. I prefer you not playing the rest of the game. With this hit. That would be better. Be better for us. You're a good player.

If I can get you out of this game. With a legal check. I will do it all day long. Legal. You're allowed to hit hard still in the NHL. That is legal. Hitting really hard is legal. And I'm do it all day long. Legal. Yes. You're allowed to hit hard still in the NHL. That is legal. Hitting really hard is legal. And I'm watching it throughout the series.

Whatever I watched, I'm watching guys. Marcus Foligno, like that guy's going out there and he's trying to hurt you when he hits you. And do you see Robertson after Foligno gets to the bench be like, oh, what are you hitting me? This didn't happen to me during 82 games. Where did this hit from? And I'm not used to this.

Yeah. Yeah. That team does not seem like a whole lot of fun to play against. You could sell me on the idea. Dumba. Yeah, yeah. Hartman's. You could sell me that the NHL could push a product like the NFL where they played once a week or something like that.

And you get this playoff energy each week at that pace intensity not 20 games off the schedule and we got a we got a much better chance of getting playoff type of looking like this type of hockey yeah to make the playoffs yeah over 32 teams and only 16 make it go to 60 games and watch them play a lot harder well and it's insane that like try to mirror the nba schedule you know how much more physical hockey is than basketball i know basketball is physical it ain't the same they're not dumb these guys they know they cannot sustain that we have more three games in four nights than i can ever remember playing myself tampa bay didn't have two

days off in a row for five weeks we have we have uh all-star breaks where guys get a week off and disappear and all you do is shrink the the schedule and the guys are like i'm not playing hard all the time i can't i physically can't yeah sometimes you choose not to hit someone of course it's not even the being here it's like i just you're not choosing that game one of the stanley cup playoffs it's like playing in the nhl games you're just mashing the hit button every time you get a chance just hit hit hit yeah so you know that's a tough pill for people to swallow today thinking that that guy's out there to hurt you and yeah it's true well it's not like in the nfl that you know uh

guys your safety trying to hit a receiver is not trying to put a lick on him to make sure next time the ball's coming his way he's looking over his shoulder trying to separate your shoulder i'm trying to uh you know legally yes i have to take that gamble cost me a lot of money if it's not if it's not done right right and yeah pavelsky was vulnerable and i don't think he expected dumb but to come in and maybe you didn't even see him i saw someone wrote i just saw the headline and essentially it was if that hit is legal and it may be legal then we need to rethink the rule book yeah says who well that was this opinion that i saw by somebody who has no skin in the game yeah okay pal because you get to write about it you're gonna come in and change a hundred years of the history

because you say so i don't think so. You know what fans like? Some of that element. Fans who watch UFC and MMA and NFL, you know, like they like hyper competition. People going to war over a puck. They like it. You know what I'd be afraid of? Anytime I was on the ice with Jacob Truba during the playoffs.

Oh, you think he's going to be hunting? Oh, my God. Jack Hughes tonight and Jesper Bratt. Nightmare. That's a nightmare. And that's before you've even stepped on the ice, you have an advantage because you know he's looking for you. It's like, hey, boys, on zone entries, don't do it.

Just don't bother. Don't enter. See the right side of the ice? You can try the left. Listen, I mean, again, I'm watching last night. And like I said, there's a lot of guys that played 82 games. And they're like, I'm not comfortable with this. A lot of young guys who grew up not really hitting as much.

This is not, you know. And it changes their game. And it makes them a little bit more apprehensive. And maybe they're not going to go race as hard to to get a puck yeah and maybe they're snap their fingers and blink and they're down 3-1 in the series yeah for sure on the other hand if you are a team that's solely focused on that on hitting on physical play on intimidation while the other team plays hockey around you you

can get burned right and that's we're talking about mccabe the worry of running around and missing a hit or true but even hunting and all of a sudden he's out of position so but there are guys that have done it maybe over years yeah and have the experience to pick their spots, pick their spots, know when to do it, when to back off. And then there's others that just, just never were comfortable with it. But if you want to stay in the lineup for the Toronto Maple Leafs with Matthew Nyes,

who is knocking on the door to get in the lineup. Yeah. Zach Aston Reese better be running into people and Sam Lafferty better be running into people and Nola Chari too. You know, that's what those guys, you know, no one's going to mitch marner to do it for a reason it's not his job yeah but and i don't and listen they're not uh i don't know if they have the capabilities of a big hit like that but you know it's it's the constant hitting that yeah maybe doesn't show up in game one, two and three,

but now you're into four or five and six and it's like their D Russia play. I don't want to get hammering a boulder. Right. It doesn't look like you're doing anything. And then game six, it splits open. Yeah. Any other big takeaways from last night's fellas?

Well, uh, Oilers, Oilers, three, one, that 11 minutes to go you you put teams away conor mcdavid on a two-on-one with leon dry sidle with 10 12 minutes left maybe something like that and uh gavrikov their addition breaks it up pokes it the other way kempe goes down the ace and shoots it in that's three not good three nothing to two one pretty big swing huge play by gavrikov there great backhand by kempe maybe you want to save but yeah no no great back you know stop that yeah yeah i know he got a lot

on it but come on it's uh the other one too from kempe just shot it right past him kempe's got a shot boy listen he's uh he is a-breaker, but nobody knows it because he plays out west. Yeah, 41 goals, you said, this year? Not too shabby. Come on, you've got to mention Kopitar and Philip Deneau, too, going up against Conor. Yeah. And Conor had that one dynamic rush, but outside of that, those guys did a pretty good Connor. Yeah. And Connor had that one dynamic rush,

but outside of that, those guys did a pretty good job. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you're right. He almost scored the goal of the playoffs already when he got that hold. Mikey Anderson put him on his hip, but man.

Do we want to talk about how it fell apart for the Oilers? So here's my thought quick, which is just in past years of the Leafs, we have seen their inexperienced players cost them. I don't need to go through the whole Galchenyak or Dermott or whoever you think the blame is, but

last night, Vinny Desjardins takes a bad penalty. Bouchard takes a bad penalty. He was vicious on the official Desjardins. Oh, Desjardins. The trip, right? The accidentally swung my stick over. bad penalty he was vicious on the official day oh day our name yeah yeah well the trip right the accidentally i yeah i think it's a penalty i mean that's just him taking out his incredible embarrassment for taking a penalty in overtime on somebody else yeah right like that's why he was

so your young guys make a couple of blunders i even thought the kempe uh second goal bouchard kind of let him go a little bit you know gave him some space off a face off they're young guys you know we said about the oilers only weak spots are we're not sure about d depth and goaltending it did catch them last night yeah nurse and cc uh on the game tying goal a nurse just hold your spot you got kopitar standing in the middle and just started fading off the left post and he wanted to know after he shot it right yes and it's just literally you got a goalie there but you do not stay home do not leave the area i'm not saying that you need body perfect body positioning to box out a guy like kopitar gotta be able to get a stick but give yourself a chance yeah and you didn't because you bailed out the most important space of the

play yeah i know oilers fans are pissy about the power play situation the oilers get the five on three they score they go up to nothing i don't think they get another one one for three kings go you know whatever two for six pretty big swing and a power play opportunity so oilers fans aren't pleased about that you're so pissy you know and i'm the first one to admit i can tell you wasn't thrilled about uh corpus sello in la what about oh. But he's been good, yeah. And Leaf fans can remember him in the bubble, right? Along with Elvis. Yeah. But shades of Corpus Allo being pretty good.

Bubble jackets, Corpus Allo. Yeah. He gave them a chance. He was good. He was good enough. Yeah. Yeah, the Oilers were pretty good, but that was the recipe for the Kings. They gave it away.

Two positives for Oilers. Dry sidles. Good. Oh, yeah. What a force he is. And that Bouchard, like you said, God, he has a bomb. Yeah, he does. He's an offensive dynamo.

That wrister on the power play that he scored was just a whole nation. Delicious snipe. It was so nice. Philip Deneau. Everybody was like, he's not worth $5 million in Montreal. It's a bad take. He is worth that. Yeah, bad take.

He's worth $25 last year. He's not Patrice Bergeron. He's not as good, flat out, right? We know that. No, but he's PBL. He is. Patrice Bergeron. He is, right.

He's right there. He is. PBL. Not PBR. Man, he's a good player. Two. Yeah, I like the Kings the kings man i've said it all year that i like the kings they're gonna be a tough one you have one four points goal and three assists that good not bad including the tying goal with not 20 seconds left yeah and on the road

okay honorable mention to the florida panthers last night who threw the kitchen sink at the boston bruins i don't imagine them playing harder or playing better but just not deep enough to go against boston when you are trying to upset a team that is better than you your goalie cannot let a puck in from the top of the circles on a weak wrister that might have been going wide you just you can't flutter puck yeah you can't take one of those on the chin and survive. It's too much. That Marcian goal is too much. That's the difference between maybe Florida going into overtime

and losing the game. If it's 2-1, you're hanging around, get that late push instead of just kind of a 3-1, run the clock out. There was one shift late where I'm watching Gutis out on the ice. He cannot move. God, I wanted him for the least once i wanted him for the league all around him and um that that was my moment where it's like yeah you guys don't have a chance against boston the bertuzzi play to pasternak was like oh man bertuzzi's just another element for them that

was just a super nice play for those of you that maybe have felt like maybe all mark could have some jitters going into the playoffs. Big stage. Just seamless in game one. Because Florida, they played excellent. They threw the kitchen sink at Allmark. And Allmark looked like he did in November, in February, and now in April. Just steady. Yeah.

Felt like a lot of Mark Stahl, too, for the— They just don't have options, man. That's what it is. It's more hurrah than if you don't want Stahl or Gutis. He's playing so much. It's like, holy. Any mention of your Islanders? I didn't watch a lot.

They just can't create a lick, Kip. I got to be honest with you, boys. That series is going to be at the bottom of my viewing. Two to one. They can't create anything. The Carolina Hurricanes are, like, the best defensive team in going to be at the bottom of my viewing? Two to one. They can't create anything. The Carolina Hurricanes are like the best defensive team in the league, them and the Kings, and the Isles are weak offensively. They just couldn't get to the inside.

No real chances. I do love that two guys with the exact same name are playing each other. The Ajos? Sebastian Ajo versus Sebastian Ajo is hilarious. It is fun. But, no, the Isles has got to find a way to score goals. Carolina's goaltending, they gave up one absolute muffin. Yeah.

They just got to find a way to create something somehow. Matt Barzal, first game back in a long time, so you could justify a off night. I know his coach said good things about him. He made a pass on that late power play they had. Just to stick in the lane? It was an easy get it back into the opposite corner. He tries like a backhand sauce. things about him he made that one he made a pass on that late power play they had where it was just a stick in the lane it was an easy get it back into the opposite corner he tries like a backhand sauce across it's just gone not a whole ton there okay don't love don't love him let's move to

tonight rangers against jersey speed versus size yeah what do you like you like? I got the Rangers in this series. You know, it's an experience thing for me. The Rangers just did this. I love that third line of theirs, the kid line, you know, and then the additions are significant. They got guys who can defend. Yeah, I'll go with the Rangers too. And Jersey's good.

Like, this would be a good series. Rangers in seven for me. That would be a throw right. Okay. What a coincidence that Mark Stone is ready for game one. Just the timing. The luck for Vegas here. The luck.

Who would have thought? It's just, you know, luck of the Irish, I guess. If he's anywhere near as good as he normally is, what a boost for Vegas. Rematch of the series where the Jets look poised to go to the Stanley Cup final and the Golden Knights stole it from them in their first year when Marc-Andre Fleury got red hot. Yeah. What about Hellebuck here?

Can he not steal the series here for Winnipeg? Well, you know, Ehlers and, you know, they got guys who can shoot it in the net. Connor, they got guys who can score. They got a great goalie. So they got the pieces they needed for an upset, but I'm all over Vegas in this one, I'll be honest i'm vegas is solid all the way through they got all their pieces they're d pet was it petrangelo shea theodore white cloud hag like they're just they're really good on the back end i'm zagging yeah you're going jets i'm gonna go jets in seven

okay zag it up how many many games does Seattle win? None. Oh, I don't think. See, I don't think Colorado's that great, and Seattle's annoying. Oh, no land in this cog. It's big. Nope. No land in this cog.

Nope. Okay, they'll win one. Yeah. One? One. Seattle? Yeah, Seattle. Five.

Yeah, abs in five. McKinnon is just like, he's dry-cidal. He's a goddamn force he is a menace ranting and scored 50 for them this year you know behind them the chushkin's good they're good there's caves mccarrad no manson they can do it so yeah i think they'll get through seattle i'm gonna call it six give them the squids a couple how nice yeah yeah courtesy couple eh hey they need hrr hockey related revenue since seattle brings it well they yeah there's another game tonight too right oh is there there is game one toronto maple leafs tampa Lightning. Give me a score. 4-2 Leafs.

Regulation win, huh? I think it goes to overtime tonight. Empty netter. I'll do 3-2 overtime. Overtime. Who gets it? Give me an overtime. Achari.

Oh, my God. A greaser. A total greaser. I said, I was going to say 3-2 in overtime exactly for the Toronto Maple Leafs all three of us pick and lease I'll switch up the juju 4-1 Lightning win you're my favorite

you're the best part of this show you're just protecting your feelings I mean you are I told you it would happen the Leafs and the Cubs are real listen You are. So we can come here tomorrow. I told you it would happen. Yes. The Leafs and the Cubs are real.

Listen. We can't all pick the Leafs to win the first game. Listen, we all pick them to win the damn series. They got to win sometimes. Yeah. So if my prediction's right, they're going to lose tonight and win four in a row. You should bet that. Old bet 365 probably pays nicely on that.

Just go home between now and 7.30 puck drop. Deep breaths. Home. In with the good. My son does five finger breaths. Out with the bad. Out. In. Out.

Out. You'll be fine, Sammy. Okay. Who was on the show? I don't know. Wendell Clark? Simmer, Wendell Clark. Wendell Clark, Simmer, Eric.

Eric. Thanks. Thanks. Enjoy the game tonight. We're back tomorrow. Go,ell Clarkson. Wendell Clarkson. Eric. Thanks. Thanks. Enjoy the game tonight. We're back tomorrow. Go Leafs go. Will Kipper and Bourne. We're just getting started.