Real Kyper & Bourne - Game 4 Litmus Test

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne look ahead to tonight's Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final and discuss the Edmonton Oilers' decision to stick with Stuart Skinner in net. Then, Stanley Cup champion and TNT analyst Eddie Olczyk (6:07) shares his takeaways from the Panthers' Game 3 blowout, Florida's versatility, what other GMs can learn from the Cats' blueprint, Sam Bennett's impact, and the Oilers needing their depth to step up. Later, Nick and Justin discuss the Rangers trading Chris Kreider to the Ducks, Brad Marchand's potential fit in Toronto, Anže Kopitar winning the Lady Byng trophy and Cale Makar winning the Norris trophy.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.

We're live on Sportsnet 590, the fans Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet plus from three to four PM. Of course you can download us anytime you want on any of your podcast platforms. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne. Hello. In for our Sammy who's on assignment, Daniele Franceschi. Yeah. Derek Brandeo and Jake the Snake Schultz welcome into Dark T-shirt Day on the Real Kipper and Bourne show as a reminder. Yeah as a reminder this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by bet 365. All right all the business is in in a few minutes. We'll welcome in at old Chuck. Yes TNT analyst

We'll get his thoughts on a pivotal game tonight in Florida where the Panthers can take a Commanding three one lead in the series. I like whenever someone's not here You just say they're on assignment and we just never We just leave it at that. Yeah, sorry about what the assignment is and people like are like thinking our Sammy's out there Working his little tail off. Yes. He's digging up dirt. He is so uh, you know, like yourself I talked to a lot of people between hockey games and they come up to me and they say things like so

What do you think? What do things like so what do you think what do you think what do you think game four oilers what do you think got a shot and so i put it to you yeah where are you sitting this morning yeah uh okay first of all no more blowouts no more a gazillion penalties so i think everything will settle in and we will once again see something that mirrors And we will once again see something that mirrors game one and game two. Yeah. I don't know if the Oilers will win, but I can assure you that I believe that this is going to be a much better, different look from the Edmonton Oilers. I think you're going to get the Oilers' best game, the best performance that they can give you at this point. Ryan Nugent Hopkins, you know, it was a game time decision last game, played 15-30. I imagine that the break has been good for him. A couple of days, maybe you get a little bit better game out of him.

Stu Skinner going back in the net. You surprised at all? No, no, no, I'm not. I think me personally, I thought it would have been a really bad look. Oh really? To move off of Skinner. At this point, I think he's your guy. He's your number one guy.

Totally agree. And at this point, if you would have gone to Pickard and they would have lost, but you also would have been accused of bailing out on a... Why did you keep them? When everybody all season long was telling you, well, they can't win with Skinner or you need to get another goalie for the playoffs and you didn't and you bailed on them as early as, you know, game three. Then what was the point? It reminds me a lot of, you know, we're doing our Toronto stuff here and the decision to

stick with the core in Toronto had it Pushed through, you know had they won you'd have said that the they were rewarded for their patience their trust their whatever and if it doesn't you say it's stubbornness and But it's it's okay. Yeah, it's okay because it's not the first time that a that a coach or manager Or in this case in Toronto, a president, Brendan Shanahan, would go against the grain and say, everybody's telling me to do this, I'm going with this. Is that what this is? That's what this is. That's what this is. Exactly. That's what this is. Exactly.

It's, if I'm going down, I'll go down my way. And I'll go down with my guys. And we can look at Brendan Shanahan in Toronto, doubling down, tripling down, quadrupling, how do you say it? Quadrupling? Quadrupling. Non-nupeling?

The core. Deca. The core. Yeah. But henupaling the core. Yeah, the core. Yeah, but he went down with a ship. Yeah, you didn't bail. Nope. He was captain Ahab. He was as that thing sunk. He said, thanks.

So that's where I think the oiler should be with Skinner. Yeah. Okay. If we're going to lose, that's my guy. I, I stuck with them. I brought him back after a disappointing Stanley cup final last year, losing game seven. And I told him he's our guy. I'm not bailing on him.

A couple other small changes. Jeff Skinner is coming in for Victor Arvidsson. So he gets his third playoff game. If I'm not mistaken, Troy Stetcher is going to return. I thought Stetcher was really good. Yeah. Like we, we, you know, I didn't, I did one game in the playoffs or, you know, and with Ron and Kelly and Jen and we showed stature highlights. I hope you didn't jump the shark. I hope that's not as good

as it gets for you. And now it's all downhill from here. That's your highlight pack. And now all your left is with me and Sammy for the next 20 years. God, I hope that doesn't happen to you. I'm telling people about the time that was mine anyway. But yeah, so, Stetcher back in. He is a solid defender for them. And yeah, I've said to people when they asked me about it, like, I don't feel great about things for the Oilers.

I mean, 100% honest, you're in Florida, Skinner, I'm not sure about Hyman not being there, Hurts, R&H has no points in the last four games. I don't feel great about it. However, two really good teams and every time you count the Oilers out, they win a hockey game. And if they do, all of a sudden it's a three game series, best of three, they have home ice advantage. They have the best players in the series, you know, in McDavid and Dryas et al. And you go, I don't know, coin toss. So tonight, tonight's the night. Okay. As built up, this is really our show at the end of the day. Like talking Eddie. next 20 minutes because you know, we're, we're tired. Edzo we're like, you know, on fumes me and JB here, but you come in for the next 20 minutes

can shoot us right back to the top. Little pressure on you. Is that pressure? Who do I invoice? Triple invoice off. You the same deal as Doug McLean, you know what the square root of zero is right Close your eyes. Tell me what you see so Eddie tonight

First of all, let's just go back to game three for a second We saw two incredible games to start this Stanley Cup final, both of them going in overtime. How surprised were you to see a blowout the other night? Well, I mean, I don't know if I was surprised Kipper, but first off, thanks for having me boys always great to be great to always be on with you guys. I think both these teams have that ability to get some separation in a game. And if the other team is gonna make a parade and wear out the path to the penalty box like Edmonton did even when the game was

endowed at four to one, that was what I talked about. On our broadcast down here in the States on TNT is a four one game, you're still in it. Especially with, I heard you guys talking about the big boys there, and Connor, and Leon. So I think that was probably more surprising than anything else to me is that they tried to play that way and stand up.

And I guess the only way you can say it is they tried to send a message when they were down four to one in a second period. I just thought, look, if you get one, you get one on a power play, it's a one goal game. And with the two big boys on Edmonton, why can't that happen? And I just thought that they, you know, they obviously lost their composure and a lack of discipline. And look, when it got to five or six to one, I mean, I, you know, I don't have a problem with it. Kipper, I mean, we, we had plenty of times, you know, in our time with the Rangers and then playing against you. And I'm sure it happened in my career at other times where when a game gets out of hand, somebody's going to decide to,

they can't take a win out of there. They're going take an arm. They're gonna take a leg. They're gonna take a, you know, a finger, whatever it is. So I really wasn't surprised that we had a game like that. I'm just surprised at how it got out of hand for the Oilers as quickly as it did. But I thought that had a lot to do with them in that second period of wearing out a path to the penalty box. It's almost too much respect for your opponent, right? Where you're down three goals and you go, well, we can't come back now. You know, they had a lot of hockey game and they're very talented. So it does speak to all that Florida

has been to other teams. They're a frustrating opponent to play. One of the reasons they are is the penalty thing you talk about in the regular season, they take the most penalties of any team. And in the playoffs, it's almost like, we're going to take a lot of infractions and we'll just see if you'll call them all, which you definitely won't. Is there some art to working the officials to gaining that upper hand in these playoffs series? Well, Bernie, I think probably experience has a lot to do with that.

But I don't know if it's a tactic. But I think if you go back to period one of game two, Florida was trying to play that type of game, like the game that we know that they can play, right? Because they want to play six, five, they'll play that. You want to play two, one, they'll play that. You want to play a freestyle game where there's not a lot of hitting, they'll play that too. But then they're also going to play, we're going to punch you in the mouth and we'll see if you react. And if you don't, we're going to punch you in the mouth again. That's, that's how they play. Once they got out of period one and game two, where it was

all Edmonton, he got to four on four in a situation. I remember a nurse, the challenge Kachuk took him off the ice and all of a sudden Leon and Connor, they went crazy and they're scoring goals at four on four. And so I think after period one of game two is where the mindset changed for the Florida Panthers and said, look, let's play whistle to whistle. We're still, we're still going to bark. We're still going to, we're still going to bark. We're still going to, you know, play a certain way, but we're not going to get caught up in any of the, you know, the shenanigans and the scrums

and the initiating of a lot of the after the whistle stuff because they came out and they had a different frame. They had a different look. We touched on it, myself, Kenny Albert and Brian Boucher, we touched it on it in that first period in game two. Gretz came on in between periods and said, if Florida's gonna win, they gotta stop going to the penalty box.

And I mean, very similar to what we said, he just was able to be elongated in between the first and second period. And since that time, there is no doubt that they have shown that experience. I just touched on Borny into the heart of your question, where they're much more selective on how they're playing and what the game is dictated.

Now, if it's four to one after one tonight for the Oilers, I mean, you know that at some point somebody's going to be on the line or cross the line and you know, somebody's going to be looking to take names and numbers and have a conversation a little bit later. So I just think that Florida realized that we can't, we can't do this to ourselves against this team because Connor and Leon are going to be out there the most important situations are going to make you look silly. And they figured it out. And then March and scores a huge goal in game two. And we know where we are now on a series going in a game

for tonight. You're watching and listening to my former teammate Eddie will chuck former NHL forward Stanley Cup champion covering the NHL on TNT. So is that all you have there? And you're well, what one time Toronto man of the city, Toronto Maple Leaf top score. What else you want traded while his wife was giving birth? What else can I do?

Yeah, that was, I like, I just lead off with that one. The next time I'm joining us now, while the next time. Just lead off with my wife. Joining us now. Well, the lovely and talented Diane Olchek was on her back at Scarborough Centenary on November 10th at 2.40 in the afternoon. Yes. A young Eddie Olchek got pulled out of the delivery room and was told,

we traded you to the Winnipeg Caps. Come on! What? Oh, yeah. Out of the delivery room. You know, I think he might have told this in the first year on our show. And it's all coming back to me. That's insane. Plus, Borny, we were playing that night against Chicago, oddly enough, my hometown team. And at that time, look it, 1990, I didn't have a cell phone. Okay, I didn't have one.

And I don't know if I should have or whatever, but if you did, it was like this. I put your shoe back on. What'd you, I know. Thanks. Yeah. The team, the team knew I was at the, we had been at the, at Scarborough centenary, the hospital the night before. So I called, left a message on the voicemail at the rink for Bob Stelek, who was our PR man. Then I finally talked to him. I said, hey, look, I'm not gonna be at the morning skate. I'll be at the game at eight o'clock, hockey night in Canada. My wife will have the baby by then.

About three o'clock in the afternoon, my wife's on a scale of one to 10, she's about a seven. And all of a sudden the doctor doctor saying, hold on, let me get my let me get my mask and my my catcher's mitt on here, we're gonna have a baby. And then the nurse comes in and hands me a note and goes, you know, I read it says, Mr. Olchek, the maple leafs are on the phone, I go, tell him I'll be at the game. She comes back 30 seconds later. She goes, No,

no, they really want to talk to you. And I'm like, are you kidding? Yes, the audacity. I left I left the room. I went to back 30 seconds later she goes no no they really want to talk to you and I'm like are you kidding the audacity I left I left the room I went to the nurse's station which was about 30 feet away and uh they got on the phone they said uh we hate to do this to you but we just trade the tickets for winter bag jets Eddie what did you say his legs pushing at the time you remember those calling cards you used to have? I had one in my pocket. So I called, I got traded with Ozzy, my buddy at Mark Osborne. I called Ozzy. I called Gary Lehman, my, my close friend. I called my dad and I called Ricky Kern and Billy Waters who were my agents. And I was maybe gone maybe five minutes. I walk into

the room, my wife's still in that same position on her back You know the whole nine yards doctors at the foot of the bed mask on gloves on and she goes where you been I go My aunt's sick. I don't know what the hell to say Yeah, I don't want to say anything. She looks at me horny. She looks at the ceiling and she goes Where are we going? Oh Yeah She looks at the ceiling and she goes, where are we going? Oh, yeah. And I said to myself, In between contractions.

Yeah. I said, psychic and pregnant. I said, this is unbelievable. So I figured, well, guess. That's all I said was guess. Guess? Guess. She looks at me and she looks at the ceiling and goes, Winnipeg. Come on.

All I see is the doctor with this most disgusting look at his face at the foot of the bed, takes his mask off, he pulls off the rubber gloves and he stands up and he goes, this baby ain't coming for about four hours. It's going back in. That's it. That's what happened. But you know what? Ended up being one of the best places ever played in the pegs.

So yeah, so sorry to go off on a tangent there, but that's the story like that. That honestly your own like comp owed compensation from the team or something. You can't call someone out of the delivery room. I tell players that story now. Like you know, art like our current players in the league or whatever. They'd have quit and they like, no, come on. I go, no, no, no, no, no. now like you know art like our current players in the league or whatever they quit. And they they like not come on I got no no no no no it that really happened that that that really like imagine being on

the Leafs and being like yeah, his wife's given birth to the car will call the hospital that could we do this tomorrow. No one can wait a day. It's OK Floyd Floyd Smith was on the phone to Joe manager at the time says we hate to do this to you, but they didn't hate doing it that much. I know. I know. I know. And it's okay. Sorry. Can we get back to the final? Hey, every time hold on a second. November 10, 1990. That is the anniversary. That's my son Tommy's birthday. So anytime we get around that date or, you know, on his birthday, we we have a little chuckle back in the day

You know what I mean? That's wild For that and more by Eddie old Chuck's book with Perry Lefkoe Very nice. Thanks skipper. Thanks All right, at least my didn't come with crayons And so As far as the goaltending scenario regarding the Edmonton Oilers, a lot of talk on whether or not you go back to Skinner or not. We know that he is, we know that they are, but how close was it for you on making a decision?

No, I thought to go right back to him. Now is he on a short leash to maybe try to change the momentum of the series like Coach Knoblach did in that LA series? Hell yes. I think anything goes now. I look at you, you wanna argue a goal or two the other night in game three that you'd like to get a stop or whatever?

Yeah, for sure. But I did not have a problem. I think you go to him and then, then I think you gotta let, you know, you gotta let Pickard in there if he happens to, you know, give up a couple of soft ones. I don't expect him to give up a couple, but I think anything goes now. I think that this is obviously, I mean, we know what it is.

It's obviously a gigantic game. And I know what happened last year. We understand that both teams are different now. No Hyman, a banged up Ryan Nugent Hopkins, lineup changes for Edmondson. It's an interesting dilemma, but not for me for the goaltender. I think he's been pretty darn good

and I'm okay with the decision. Eddie, one of the defining traits of this Oilers team is when we write them off, they have success, right? Start of the year for a couple years in a row, they're done, they're not going to make playoffs, whatever, and then they get hot. You don't need me to explain it all. With Florida, so my point is, we don't know that Florida is going to win this series, win the Stanley Cup again, but if they do, if they manage to look like the team we've seen through a couple of games here and they get it done again, I wrote an article that was like, basically said, I think general managers are going to take the wrong lessons from the Florida Panthers success.

Because I think right now you hear a lot of people saying, you know, you need to be tough. It's because the Panthers are tough and that's why they win. They're mean, they're gritty, they're whatever. But to me, the lessons are they have great offensive players who play 200-foot game. You know, they commit all over the ice, these guys. Reinhardt gets selkie votes, and so does Barkov and Marchand,

and they got six guys getting selkie votes. What do you think the defining traits are that are leading to the success of this Panthers team for three straight years now? traits are that are leading to the success of this Panthers team for three straight years now? Wow, I would say depth for sure. Yeah. You know the guy in goal has, I mean he's gone to another level here. I don't think that Bobrovsky, he was pretty good early in that first period I thought. The other night in game three, I know one hit him right square in the mask. The depth of this team you know I think the size of this team for sure. Yeah. But then also the willingness though Borny is for a coach like Paul Maurice he he he does

play his bench you know he doesn't have to don't want to say exhaust his top players, because look, they get the four on four and they get the power play, whatever, but if he has Nozick Gajdjovic and Greer out there, that trio I thought made a difference the other night in that game. Greer without, that's just a different look for that line, and I know Boquist has come in and perform well at times in these playoffs for them And I think he got a chance to be with I think it was with Barkov earlier in the playoffs And I think he might have scored maybe in the Toronto series

I can't remember but anyways what I'm getting at is I just think that you know the depth and size of their team and They they just they just play a certain way. And like I said, they do have the ability to play, you know, play any way that you want. And they got some really, really, really good players. There's no question about it. You look at their back end, it's pretty mobile. They have the ability. I think when you talk about the lessons

for other managers, Barney, when I look at it is the ability on the back end to go ahead and either make a play, skate yourself out of trouble, Make a play, skate yourself out of trouble, or be able to get out of a four check, make that one move, and then make the right play out of the zone. I think that their D really has a good job of it. Sometimes it's okay to go around the boards and around the glass and just get it into an area. And that's not just in a neutral zone where they do a lot of high flips, right?

Like they like to just get it into an area, get into a foot race, put some pressure on the other team in a neutral zone. But I think that their defense have the ability to do all of three of those things. And by the way, they got a couple of, you know, outstanding defenders back there. I mean, Seth Jones has really gone to another level here. Paul Maurice was talking about him the other day. And just about when he got here, he kind of felt it might take six to 12 months to really kind of get really comfortable here. And he's really grasped what they wanted to do.

And he gives them another body back there. Uh, remember they had Brandon Montour back there who was a pretty darn good defenseman and can skate you out of trouble and Kipper, you know, this is, is, uh, you know, playing forward. I mean, you know, we loved when the fencemen were able to make a play and just put it right on your tape when you're in stride or, you know, to get out of the zone and they have guys that are able to do that. I think that really makes a big difference

on how they wanna play night in and night out. Two Hall of Famers for us in 94, Leach and Zuboff. Simple as that. You know, when I think about what defies the Florida Panthers and yeah, of course, all of the things that you just mentioned, but the one thing that keeps standing out above all of it for me, Edzo, is they pass the puck better than any team. Like I'm, I'm, I'm amazed at the way that they can move the puck north, south, east, west,

the rim arounds, the, the, the clean, the way they can pick up a puck clean on a, on a wrap around and get it back to the middle of the ice. And it's really led for me by the three guys up the middle in Barkov, Bennett and Landell. Like no one can touch that middle of the ice. And that's where the domination starts for me, is those three guys and their high IQ, especially when it comes to moving the puck. It's a great point. And they have the heaviness, they have the girth. When I say heavy, I mean, they just, they have, I mean, when Barkov gets the puck, it's,

I don't know what the numbers are, Borny, but we'll probably believe when he has the puck, it's probably pretty damn hard to get the puck off of him. I mean, he's a big body. Lindell has gone to another level here. Marshan has made, I mean, he's played terrific for him in that line, Los Serena and Lindell and Marshan. They've been just absolutely dynamite as a so-called third line, but they're slotted in an absolute perfect spot. You know, guys are always banged up and we understand that, but you need those other

guys to be able to step up and have games and have a game and a half. And it seems like every time that they need one, somebody is able to do that. So I mean, it's a great point, the center ice position. You got to be strong down the middle with, we know that defense went through the center ice and then you can work yourself out from there but those guys are all pretty big bodies and and we know the playoff that Sam right now Sam Bennett's the favorite to win the Calder Calder trophy I'm sorry the consulate. Sorry yeah the MVP I mean he's I mean he is just that

shift he had we're gonna isolate him tonight I know it's not that difficult to make the decision, but I mean, the shift that he had before he scored his breakaway goal, I think that ended up being a four-one goal where he took out Pot Coleson, then he took out Klingberg, and next thing you know, the guys got a breakaway from the red line in,

and he had the puck right, I mean, he had the puck in front of him. And I always tell young hockey players when I work with them is that if you can, if you can get the puck to the side, it keeps the goaltender a little bit more honest because you could pull the trigger at any time when it's off your hip or it's in front of you, right?

I mean, right, that's your skate. So I was left-handed. So if the puck was off my left foot and I kept it here, and I know you got to worry about somebody coming, and I don't think Bennett had to do that, but what I'm getting at is he had the puck right in front of him. So for Skinner, he was either going one way or the other.

If that puck is here, he could shoot it, he could fake, go this way, he could fake and go that way. He had three options. And I think Skinner, I think he guessed. That's just my opinion. I just think that when he was here, he thought he was going to maybe go to, you know, Skinner's left and he ended up going back and all in one motion, a quick little backhand and then a shovel and then he just buried up top.

I mean, that was a shift. I mean, that was... shift. That's Sam Bennett. It's just the middle of the ice to your point Kipper and well taken. They're pretty damn good and it's tough to find a center ice that they have. I go back to the fourth line again. When Nosik Gajcevic and Greer are playing together, they were really effective late in the Toronto series, because I think that's where they made the change. I think it was early in the Toronto series when they put those guys together. And then against Carolina,

I don't remember which games the guys were banged up a little bit, but they're an effective line. Paul Maurice told me his plan was, you know, get that fourth line compared to earlier in the series because Greer didn't play, he'd like to get them two to three more minutes in a game. And that's a lot of hockey. I mean, that's five shifts, four shifts, six shifts.

I mean, so they got depth up and down the forward unit. Last one from me, Ed Edzo just quick, you know If the Oilers are to come back and win this Stanley Cup Is it more than McDavid and Dreisle or is it just those guys gotta be be the best guys? Can I say both? Yeah, go ahead There's no rules. I think it's got to be both. Okay, look at both those guys that have Have a great game tonight now whether or not they score or not, but I you know I don't know but I think they're gonna generate some chances and they're gonna get some looks but they do

We know that they have that being Edmonton. They got guys banged up and That's just that's just the reality of it just like Florida does but they they need their depth They need somebody to step up. I will say this I am surprised I've liked the way that John Klingberg has played to be honest with you I thought he was I thought he was pretty good in both the first two games of the cup final I did. I don't know what to look at the numbers and all that I'm just saying I test what I saw in the building. He has that ability to avoid contact, take away the four check, make a play on somebody's stick. So I am looking at maybe maybe he's banged up. I don't know. But I just think that that's that's a little bit bigger of

a loss in my opinion on the back end without Klingberg, because I think he's played pretty good and I think he's been a good pickup, along with Wallman obviously. And so just to follow up one quick one before we let you go here on 97 and 29, we marveled at the depth this year for the Oilers, much better than we thought even last year, right? Coming into this playoff.

If the depth around McDavid and Dry-Sidle, they don't get off to a good start tonight. Is there a danger that McDavid and Dry-Sidle take it upon themselves more as individuals to change it? And we see that, you know, that those two guys now are in a position, if I don't do it myself, then it doesn't get done once again.

Are you saying by themselves when they're together? More, do we see more individual efforts? Do we see Connor taking it upon himself, you know, with these dynamic rushes or many occasions going one versus two or one on three. And, you know, do we see those guys feel the pressure of carrying it more if the depth around them doesn't step up? Yeah, I mean, I think it's just human nature

because if anybody can do it, they could do it. I mean, you draw a penalty maybe. And then all of a sudden, you know, you get a power play and you're, you know, you, you put a crooked up on the board. So the really interesting dynamic for me is, is that when coach Nablack does. Uh, load up with the big boys and I'm, and I'm not saying coming off a penalty. I'm not, or, you know, or I'm not talking about that or going into a TV timeout because that's, you know, that's expected is when they do load up

Or if they fall behind, I mean look at you you're ready for every scenario If you fall behind a couple of goals and you don't have a lot going Uh, and they do go together You you like somebody yeah the the depth and somebody somebody's got to step up in a big way. So yeah I think that it's just human nature especially with two you know I mean obviously Conor's the greatest but you know I mean Leon you can put where you want to put him you want to put him top three okay after Conor great whatever the number is like he has that ability to take the game over and do

what he does. Though the one last thing I will say quickly is, is I thought, I thought Adam Henry, I'm looking at Adam Henry to be a key guy tonight. I thought he had himself a sneaky good game the other night offensively. Yeah. I thought he played, he was very noticeable. So maybe he's got some traction here. So I'm going to keep an eye on, on Adam and Rick. He's my, he's my X factor tonight for the order. Enjoy the game tonight, Eddie. And we really appreciate your time here on the show. Thanks for doing this pal.

All right, boys. Love you. Talk to you soon. Appreciate it. TNT covering the NHL. Guess what? It is game time presented by bet three, six, five, visit the app for the latest odds to find out why it's never ordinary at bet365

must be 19 plus ontario only play responsibly couple of numbers for us tonight kip the uh oilers are underdogs plus 20 125 if you want to bet on them uh minus 150 for florida i think if you believe the oilers are going to win there's probably better ways to make your money on that which is you can bet two points for Leon Dreisaitl plus 128 minus 115 for McDavid for two points, which is crazy, but plus 125 You like the Oilers if they give you a little extra money on your bet Yes, yeah do. I think, you know, to my earlier point here that it's imperative and I don't like the Oilers chances if, if it's just down to McDavid and Dry-Sidle. You

don't. No, no, not, not against this team where four lines come at you in waves. It won't be enough to my point to Eddie is that like, I don't know, Kaepernick Brown, put Coles in cane. Henrique, Henrique, has he just mentioned the, we, we, he, oil or fans need two out of those names that I mentioned to to play out of their tree trunk tonight because It won't be enough to just Tell McDavid go do McDavid things and and find us a way to win tonight It won't work like that against the Florida Panthers. No, well, you know, there's not really, there's actually not another Euler forward even listed that you can bet on for the Kahn-Smith trophy. Sam Bennett plus 115 is the favorite,

McDavid plus 240. Brad Marshand has moved ahead of Sergei Bobrovsky to be in third at plus 500. That's crazy. Brad Marshand won the Kahn-Smith trophy with Florida. That'd be some story. And we're gonna talk about that after game time, which I believe I have to read that again visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary bet three six five's must be 19 plus

Ontario only play responsibly that was game time good job pal okay so we'll get into that a little bit more I wrote an article today in the Toronto Star on Brad Marsh and and which team in the National Hockey League need this guy the most. Did you say Columbus? A lot of talk about him being 37 and the windows missed on signing him on a big contract. I'm going to tell you why it isn't missed. That and more when we return to Real Kipper and Born brought to you by Beth 365, Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee on a deep, deep assignment. Gathering intel.

Yes. We're going to get into some news and notes as well. Chris Crider has got a new home. Yes. Leaving Manhattan. Can't be too happy about that. I've already built a nice home too. Is that right? Just finished a nice home there.

But he'll probably make that his retirement place. Where's he from? Isn't he from Long Island? From somewhere around there? He's American, right? Oh yeah. Yeah. Anyway.

Yeah, so that's not awesome for him. Here's American right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, so that's not Awesome for him. Well, here's my question with the Rangers. It's really easy to tear down Well, how are they getting better? Like they traded for kid named Casey Torrance. Yeah, I think which you know, maybe he's a player. I don't know well, I Think they got six and a half million off the books. That's a okay. That's a good start I guess it depends what they do with that. Yeah, sorry credit from Massachusetts, right? Yeah Yeah, there's always talk about him going to the Bruins too as well

but I think Terrence Salary cap room is like gold. Yeah, right Well, but I do think depends on how you feel it though. That was the case. It was the case when the cap was flat. It was really valuable to create space. Now a lot of teams have space like if they are entering this environment where they think they're going to go spend money on players, they're getting into bidding wars with other teams who have money now. Yeah, so I don't know. I, I understand why they're moving on from them. I just, I hope that Terrence is a good player for them. They get the third rounder as well. And we'll see what they do with the calf space. Okay.

Let's get right into this whole Brad Marchand thing because I wrote an article today in the Toronto Star. I did mention that despite all the reasons why you don't think that you should spend money on a 37 year old who's probably deep into the back nine of his NHL career, he's shown us more than enough at this point where whether it's next season or season and a half, I don't know if we're going to see much of a drop off. But to your point in your article that you have out for sportsnet.ca, you also speak of the depth around him. And that's what GMs have to be careful with, right?

Is understanding the depth around Marchand. Is this a perfect storm for him if he goes to Toronto what do we see but my my point of why I have them linked to Toronto more than any other team is because they they need those things outside of those intangibles those intangibles out off the ice to bring a team together and Kristanov certainly did a good job but he needs help. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. You know, all the conversations we've had about Mitch Marner by all accounts, he's one of the guys who brings energy behind the scenes, you know, is a good sort of room guy. They like him, you know, with that energy gone. Marshand is a guy who pretty much wherever he goes, picks up the energy and

the, you know, the, you look behind the scenes, any videos we see, he's, he's that guy. So you can see here, they're firing rats at him. He's already got his own little routines with the boys. Like he gets in quick. And like he's done already, he not the Panthers needed it. But he certainly added to it. But he is another guy that will drag people into the fight. Forci into the moaning, right? Forced you in running, running and tell me then it's moving forward for the Leafs. Who needs that more than

Austin Matthews and Willie Nylander moving forward for the Leafs, who needs that more than Austin Matthews and Willie Nylander moving forward? It's good to have those guys. You just need, as long as some people are willing to answer the bell, Brad's not exactly a fighter. No, no, but neither is the league. No, that's a great point.

Neither is the league. No one's fighting anyone. I shouldn't say no one, we just watched game three, but. But the ones that do it, and we know there's a handful of them, they usually find each other. I do think it is worth noting, like if Sam Bennett goes somewhere,

if he goes to the Ducks or he goes to the picker team, Columbus, I don't think he moves the needle the way he does on a team like Florida, where you're surrounded by other dogs, if you will, you're surrounded by other people who protect you a little bit Marchand has had some of that help him in Florida how much can he do without that protection well the Leafs are a pretty good team too he should be able to be a pretty impactful player still the gist of my article too as well is that if you're Sam Bennett and you do

end up in in Anaheim or if you're Marchand in Toronto, it's not necessarily to win a Stanley Cup, but it's definitely there to change and we'll use Brad Tree Living's words of the DNA, the culture, the... I'm going to show you guys how to win. We may not win,'m gonna show you guys how to win. We may not win, but I'll show you how to win. You think they would go somewhere where the Stanley Cup is not the focus? Not that it's not the focus,

but it's, the odds still may be against it. So, I mean, you pulled up Anaheim. Anaheim's not ready to win the Stanley Cup anytime soon, but would Sam Bennett feel obliged to take their 12 and a half million dollars a year that they might offer just to come and teach the young kids something here, moving forward? And what could Brad Marchand do for Easton Cowan

and Matthew Nyes moving forward? And maybe it might not end up being a Stanley Cup in two years, but what about the things that they will take from Brad to move forward with? Where's the value in that? Well, there is value. I think if you look at the Ducks, a great example is they tried to do this a couple years ago

and they went out and got the hard-nosed, gritty playoff guy and they said, "'We'll give Alex Cullorn six million times five years or whatever the Cullorn deal was and it's like he's Alex Cullorn now he's playing on the top line for Anaheim and they're no good. You know like can I don't know Bennett is Cullorn plus for sure. I don't see him going to Anaheim by the way. Okay. Yeah.

I don't see I don't see him signing for number, but I know you bring it up and no no I mean, that's what you'd overpay to get him to go there You have to get him somewhere if he's not if he's just about the money if he's just about the money I gotta tell you if I had two Stanley cups in my pocket, and he doesn't have two yet He has one Sam Bennett, and I'd only made it been making what's he been making five million a year I think for a I don't like five five and in knowing it's kind of your last Take it. I'd have a hard time not saying sure I'll go to the Ducks for if it's 12 You know, okay Like I'm gonna try to set me and my family up for as long as possible here

Well, I don't think I said it's taking eight to win another cup or whatever. I've got a couple I don't think Brad Marchand is apologizing to anybody that he's making it clear he'll listen to anybody and he told our Elliott Friedman that clearly about Canada. We do know that for all intents and purposes he was vastly underpaid. He's probably been underpaid by half. Of the contract. But the last four out of the eight year deal that he signed Like grossly underpaid. I mean by half like he's been making six. He's probably worth 12. Yes

He's got heart trophy votes. Yes, four of those see Yes, so I don't think he's gonna apologize for going out there and and asking for top dollar here And I wrote in my article today that I believe that number could come between eight and $9 million for him. I think if he, again, wins two cups, he always has a second cup, it's a lot easier for him to say, I'm owed money, the league owes me money.

So, yeah. And I did mention too that like, if I'm the Toronto Maple Leafs, I don't want you to come for three or four years and then leave. I want you to stay for the next 20 years. Oh, Marchand. Like have him be a part of what they're doing here in some way.

100%. Right? I could see that. You're a Canadian. But he's a Boston Brew. Well, I want to change that. Yeah, that'd be hard. You'd have to win a cup.

Which I think they're trying to do I've heard. Yeah. Or help us build it in a managerial role when you're ready to retire. Yeah. You think the Leafs would do like three, four years at eight, nine million? What did TANF do? I don't know. You got to use your imagination. Could you squeeze five, five years or six years and wash a couple of ways? I don't know. Do you trade?

LTI retire. I don't know how it would work, but that guy's a culture changer. Yeah. Well, you see what he's done there in Florida. It's been pretty decent. Does he have an outside, is there enough games where he could actually

take the cons might the way from Bennett if if the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup it would have to have to go pretty bonkers but he's at almost a point per game 18 points in 20 games you know Bennett's got 20 points 20 games only two points behind him how about him setting a record for goals on the road in the playoffs that Bennett yeah yeah Like that's crazy. Yeah, 42 PIMS point per game plus four. He's playing, he does it in 17-16 per night.

Not too shabby. Couple awards news, Kip, if you're good to move on from that. Yeah, how do we find out about who won the awards? Daniele puts these packets together. You didn't watch it on the, I didn't go through, I didn't scroll my phone. I didn't scroll my phone. This is the problem with how they're announcing it is you have to like organically fall across it.

So the one that I did come across was, uh, on Zay Copetar won the lady Bing trophy for being the nicest player in the league. And that's actually what his kids called it. His kids gave him the trophy in Slovenia on a golf day and they said you won the award for nicest NHL player, which a lot of people would pay to not have said about them. But Kopitar has won enough that he's allowed to be that. And then the Kale McCar won the Norris. So I found out today.

I had Brian Burke in Hartford and he added a clause in my deal saying if I won it I'd owe him money. That's such a funny thing to put in. Yeah, and that's maybe why you and I work on this show is I won that almost every year I played this guy nicest guy wouldn't hit us all soul. Yeah. And the big Norris. And Norris was Kale McCarr who outlasted Kale or sorry, Quinn Hughes and Zach Wransky. Okay. How do we know how many votes?

Because I thought Quinn Hughes. Yeah, I think it just came out of games played for Hughes. He ended up being too injured. Too quiet at the end of the year. McCarr ended up with 30 goals and 92 points. That's the bottom line right there. Kind of made it a no-brainer at the end of the day. NHL Awards ceremony will air tonight at 6 p.m. ahead of game four.

I don't understand. They handed out the awards. Now they're going to do it again? Are they all going somewhere on a stage or something? No, I don't understand. They handed out the awards. Now they're going to do it again? Are they all going somewhere on a stage or something? No. I don't know. We don't know. I don't know. Kate, we worked for this station that's doing it. They're going to have someone. There's going to be Zoom calls, I'm sure.

They're going to talk to the people who won the awards. I made that up, but... 6pm tonight. I made that up but okay now 6 p.m. Tonight now we can we can We can tell everybody why Sammy McKee's on assignment. He's gonna find out what the heck's going on with the show Or it's maybe he might be at the awards getting the details We have a couple other interesting notes in here. Could Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle buy back the paint. Yeah, lots of talk Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle buy back the Penguins? Lots of talk leaking out, I guess. Pierre LeBrun, I think, was the first one to mention that there's a possibility that

Mario Lemieux could still come back and own the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, if I'm not mistaken, he still has a minute share of the team. And not because they want to say he's still an owner. Yes. It helps the franchise. Which would be like single digit percentage. Yeah. He, they sold the Fenway in 2021 and the Fenway group has been looking to sell a partial share

of the franchise. So the number reported out there was that they sold it for 900 million and now do we think that they might buy it back for how much? Well what's funny is that Forbes has them valued at way more than that 900 million now so I don't know how that would work exactly but okay but ask yourself this okay if if it's like whatever Forbes says yeah 1.75 why do they want to get out if it's like whatever Forbes says, yeah, 1.75 Why do they want to get out if it's something that just keeps going up and it's doing great? Why does the Fenway group want to get out? I

Don't know but it's a question that's worth some pursuing and usually it's fall So if you don't trust that the dollar yeah Well, if you're in your're Mario and you sold for nine, wouldn't you want to at least get back in for nine? I would think so. I wonder if Fenway thinks they could get their 900 out that they put in if they bought it for 900 and then just kind of hang on to the rest.

It's not helping the Fenway group that the team's really, you know, Gonna stink for a bit? in the dumps right now. Everything's great. There it is. And I wonder what this means for Kyle Dubas. I don't know.

Fenway Group signed him to a 30 plus million dollar contract. I'm guessing he's going to get that money. Jonathan Taves narrowed down the spots that he would potentially sign with. The Leafs and Jets per reports are two clubs that have expressed interest. All right. Do that. Would you that way? Well, you will.

Would you take Jonathan Taves over to ours? Yes, you would. After being off for such a long time and a guy just scored 38 goals, he's one Stanley Cubs then go. We're going to pick up this conversation when we have more time. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Enjoy the game tonight.