Real Kyper & Bourne - Getting Back on Track at the Bank

Episode Date: May 4, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look ahead at tonight’s Game 2, the lineup-change chess game between Keefe and Maurice, needing more out of Marner and how the Leafs respond after Game 1. They are joined by NHL Network’s Mike Kelly (21:14), who shares his thoughts on the weird trend of away team dominance, why Tkachuk is built for the postseason, how the Leafs matchup and possibly slow him down and takes a look at the Oilers series. Next up, former Panthers GM Dale Tallon chats about the scrappy postseason performance from Florida, Bobrovsky's playoff rennaisance, how Tkachuk and Bennett have transformed the team's identity and Barkov's upside (46:25). Later, Kyper, Justin and Sam have a conversation about last night's Oilers/Golden Knights Game 1, Paul Maurice's comments about increased pressure in Toronto and building playoff momentum. Finally, actor Kevin Zegers discusses his fandom for the Leafs and the Hollywood hockey scene (1:12:51).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. May the 4th be with you. You're not a Star Wars fan. Or the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah. The Toronto Maple Leafs playing Star Wars Day, that's pretty good. It's not even written on my lineup today. That just went right over Sammy's head.

I thought for sure he'd go all cheese on me. I'm not a dork like you, like Star Wars, I guess. Are you guys into that at all? Mark it down as the day Kiprios gets called a dork on the show for the first time ever. Oh, no. When I was a kid, my cousin's cousin on his mom's side, John Tysadis, ended up making us a Star Wars home video. I was like a stormtrooper or something. Oh, my God.

I had to carry his brother. Makes sense because you couldn't shoot. I had to carry his brother who was like sense because you couldn't shoot i had to carry his brother who's a r2d2 like we made a a costume out of like i think a washer and dryer like cardboard machine and get this that'd be worth a lot of money now we we ended up like filming a good portion of it at like city hall like we had just like what walked into city hall and just start filming people are going up and down and get charged with seditious conspiracy try doing that today i don't think that's happening no not at all questions asked on the way in how old how old are you 12 and there was a show on global get away with that you walk into city hall dressed up with a video camera yeah i'm skeptical with a bunch of

kids dressed star wars you wouldn't get in trouble by the way describe the size of the equipment you needed to film it then and was it bigger than your cell phone it was actually one of those things oh no yeah it was it was like the flash that they'd like pull. Change the film. The film fell off the reel. You had to wind it back up. Oh my gosh. I would pay a lot of money. Yeah, that's worth a lot to this show.

If Mama Kip can pull that out somewhere. Back then there was a show called on Global That's Life. And they actually came and covered it. And if you go on the internet, you could actually find that segment. Of you dressed in as a super trooper?

Sorry, storm trooper? I don't know what I was. I just know I had no speaking parts. Thanks, John. No speaking parts, but there's a clip where you could see me. You could find me. It's delightful.

And I hope maybe it's erased by now. Strangest show of all time today, because we're talking Kip and Star Wars, and later we have on an actor from Air Bud. This is almost off the rails Friday. Yeah, this is teetering on the rails Thursday. We have, we're one day removed from uh the sheer craziness of a friday but we do have mike kelly hockey analyst uh nhl network sports logic on the show in about uh 15 minutes we're gonna get some numbers out of him aren't we

no probably do we care yeah we care yeah i want like, first of all, the craziness of road teams winning and just the comfort zone of doesn't matter anymore. Yeah. 33 and 19. What? Road teams? That number is scary. That is staggering.

Wow. They're scary. In about 45 minutes, Dale Tallon, former NHL player, player of course and general manager of the Blackhawks and the Panthers, he's going to join us here he has always been just this great guy to talk to, often on the air and I'm really looking forward

to that as well and then Kevin Zegers, Canadian actor from Ontario doing the thing out in LA loves the Leafs Like loves them Like Sammy loves them Like Sammy

So we're going to get him on and get his thoughts Out of California And that whole That small pack of Those actors Or celebrities Who are celeb vibes these days snoop dogg oh yeah brian reynolds oh no no for sure dog who else were they oh i think i think uh the rocks back in there just the rock right ottawa senators the senators are owned by the

rock and snoop dogg did anyone tell someone someone just tweeted me and said it took two seconds to stop find the star wars city hall video two seconds oh my god the internet is an unforgiving place kip i'm watching it as we speak no you're not that's how quick you're the one with the broad shoulders. That is... Okay, stop it. I made a horrible mistake. Can we start this show over again? Can I get a mulligan, please? That's life.

Global TV. Is that... I gotta find you. Okay, stop it now. Just focus on your work. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm just all in on this video now. Focus on your work.

Okay, so we do have a terrific show, sorry. I'm just all in on this video now. Focus on your work. Okay, so we do have a terrific show. Yes. I really hope, I really regret mentioning May 4th. Well, you know, here we are. Life happens. I have seen the first three Star Wars. I got there, so boring.

Big Lord of the Rings guy. Okay, focus. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Focus. Now, let me ask both of you, just right off the top, before we get into all the nuts and bolts here. Yes. Where are we on the Leafs needing to leave on a split? Well, I don't think if they lose, they can't win the series. I'm not going to call it a must win.

I'm not going to be dramatic. But I do think that, you know, this is pivotal for just like allowing them to play their game without panicking. You know, once you start panicking, I worry Sheldon will start doing some weird things with the lines. Or guys start to squeeze their stick. Their chances with winning tonight, obviously, just allows them to play a little bit more free and i know it didn't work out in game one but i mean it's big it's an important game so yeah i i woke up with the nerves today oh yeah yeah yeah i don't i i'm back more dire for you than i painted it i don't like oh and two going down there well now and on one hand,

we just mentioned moments ago that there seems to be a huge comfort zone of playing on the road and it's not like the Leafs can't do what they did against Tampa Bay. That's not impossible. I'm not sure it's probable, but it's not impossible.

But when you just watched where Florida is in their mindset or their confidence, do you really expect a team that just beat, first of all, on a four-game winning streak against Boston, Boston, Boston, Toronto? Pretty good. And do you envision them now slamming on the brakes

and losing four out of five games yes if if the leafs lose tonight it would be a uphill climb man yeah it's you know they they are starting to find it and really a team like this once they start to get confident they're a different team than what you would have seen in november december because of that so yeah no that uh that would be problematic to say the least what is interesting i thought is we have some palmeries quotes we have lots of good stuff here as always but you know we took you wrote about chuck today i did yeah and we talked about him extensively yesterday yeah and i'm still with where I thought that the Leafs should find themselves winning this series

and still at 1-1 in a very good spot if they go down 1-1 in terms of carrying a little bit of momentum and having the comfort zone of going in there and winning two if not three games. I'm all in on that. But he's turned himself into an issue real quick here for the leafs and it's not like i think you're you're looking at tampa bay and and covering two good lines and uh a fourth line that comes with uh a big thorn in your side like this is now really i'm looking at maybe one or two key guys the leafs should focus

on negate a little bit and and have a much better chance of success for sure and and yesterday on the show i made the case that that line has been awesome chuck had three points but you know when you looked at it's like i said i said yesterday it's nick cousins like i'm not saying nick's a bad player but he's not a first line guy in my opinion and then you know b when you looked at it, I said, yes, it's Nick Cousins. I'm not saying Nick's a bad player, but he's not a first-line guy, in my opinion. And then, you know, Bennett is a different type of guy, right? He's physical. He's whatever.

He's a good player. I don't know if he's in first-line center. He's good. Very good. That line in game one had eight scoring chances to at least three. Anyway, I want to play Paul Maurice talking about that line, because that's kind of how I feel about them. Chuck's awesome. It's a great line, but let's let Maurice talk about

it. Well, they just play and then everybody's got two arms and two legs. So I don't think that this is the greatest line in the history of the hockey. I think we're in Toronto. They had three points. So the puck's going to...

If they break the puck out better against that line, they're not just saving it for that line and say, hey, let's not break the puck out well against... It's going to be the whole focus of what they try to do and then what we try to do. I'll move that line around a fair amount. Verhege may be on the wing tonight. We all do that, right?

We move our guys around a little bit. They're going to... Their game two, game first period, they scored within a minute on the power play and got rolling face-off goal by Tavares. Then they scored a six-on-five Nylander down the side. They came out hot, and that's what they're going to try to do tonight. Our game two, after a loss, we were really getting the first period against Boston, too. So the advantage is Toronto right now. They get a little more fire.

Our job is to go out and reestablish our game. How about this guy? The advantage is Toronto. Okay, I'm not liking Paul Maurice being so honest, but it's not dripping with any arrogance at all. I know. Where's the sarcasm? The difference between him and John Cooper, for me,

is that he doesn't seem like it's phony to me. Like, there's not one part of what he's saying. There's times. Listen, I wouldn't classify John Cooper as a phony. Some of the stuff he says is a little bit phony. He's not a phony. But some of the stuff he says could be a little bit phony. Well, yeah, there's a little bit. There's a method to his madness a lot more, I think,

than what we just heard from Paul Maurice. He seems way more sincere, way more of an open book. Like, he did another 12 minutes this morning. I do think he wants to paint them as not. He came close to saying, that line's not that good, guys. He's like, I got two arms and two legs they did okay like you know but it's interesting him noting that the Leafs will try to break out better you wonder if they'll read ahead of that and try to do some different things against their breakout it's a bit of a

chess game with coaches I am curious to see how the Panthers play it once you get the win and the other team starts to tinker I don't think think that that's lending towards giving away state secrets. Nothing there? No. Well, come on. Not to throw off topic here, but a lot was made out of Edmonton and Vegas last night with the cross checks on Stone. And whether or not the local station really poured gasoline on the fire by

leaking the footage of him struggling and that added to all of it yeah they reported a player injury that seems like their job okay but my point is are you like you weren't going to go after a guy that had major surgery anyways you weren't going to do it you didn't have knowledge of that no different than maybe a different breakout against a line that's a great for checking again no state secrets were given away by a local station it was true now go after mark stone yeah i'm sure they wouldn't have cross-checked mark stone yeah yeah like he's standing in front of the net we won't cross-check him unless we know his back is hurt. And Gerard Gallant was the one who said, there's no secrets in the NHL anymore.

You know, like, they got their people. If it wasn't the news station cameras that were there, you don't think anyone's watching Vegas' morning skate from the Oilers? Yeah. They are. So, no concerns there. Lineup changes. Yes. Lafferty in. Lafferty. Astonup changes. Yes. Lafferty in.

Aston Reese out. Is that enough? I want you guys to hear Keith talk about this. Okay. Got a lot of pace to his game and we think that that can help. You know, that's really it. To keeping him involved. You know, that's really it, to be honest.

I was kind of looking to keeping him involved, you know. Obviously, when we first sat, he and Naston Reese together, when we went 11-7, I didn't intend to keep him out this, you know, for the two games, but that's just the way that it worked out. You know, having Bunting back in the mix, you know, changes the dynamic of that line a little bit. And, you know, so the speed factor is one thing.

Getting Kerfoot back on the left side is one thing. So it's just, you know, kind of looking at all those different factors and making a decision to get him in. I thought at this point that Lafferty had a chance to be a more impactful player yeah i almost saw him as a guy that that couldn't kind of be treated like yarn crock yeah he can go up and down the lineup and I would almost have envisioned him having spot duty with Austin and Mitch. But it hasn't happened. You know, maybe he hasn't been comfortable here, like nervous and wants to make a good first impression.

He's working, skating, whatever. Let me ask you, do you remember a play where Sam Lafferty has had the puck? Like just where he's carried it through the zone. Not a ton. I don't have one. And I'm not just saying that. I don't remember one play. Outside of, like, chips.

He'll chip it into the zone. He'll get on it and he'll hit. Did he not, when we watched Chicago come in here prior to the trade? He scored. Do you remember, like, he was a lot more noticeable and I think he did carry the puck a lot more. Probably in Chicago than he had here. Someone has to have the puck and score on the Chicago Blackhawks, right?

It's a completely different role. Whatever it is, but since coming here, I feel like people go from a bad team to a really good team that's established, and you don't want to be the mistake guy, and so you keep it overly simple. I wouldn't hate seeing him hang on to the puck guy and so you keep it overly simple like wouldn't hate seeing him hang on to the puck here and there but i think it might be too late for that we're in the second round of playoffs and he's just going to go bang it up i do think it's interesting that it doesn't seem like justin hall's coming back in like only because are him

and lilligren basically interchangeable and how long do you ever want anyone out for who has been an important piece and will be an important piece i i just think that lilligren has looked just adequate more fleet of foot just taking the puck north a little i don't disagree i uh and i think that i mean i love hall and the penalty kill but i just think it was too much in the spotlight of how bad he was for a stretch there that it's it's hard to put him back in unless there's another glaring mistake or an injury or something i never thought i'd kind of find myself in this situation of thinking about 11 and 7 for them in game two but i was leaning towards it you were i was just an extra defenseman for a blue line right now where multiple

guys are searching to find their game. I include Brody, include McCabe, and Giordano. I thought maybe Augustus coming in for spot

duty would reinforce those guys to go hey listen uh some of my ice times being threatened here and the other one was 11 forwards to build around marner and matthews just getting the top that the tar played out of them you know i like i like 11 and 7 here in that you're right like those top guys get a lot you can't line match when you're 11 and 7 which maybe it makes more sense on the road but because you're always juggling right like you're getting matthews out there with the bottom two guys you're getting marner out there you get different looks with that which i like i do worry about having 11 forwards this early in a round

where you know you can wear guys out i know they played a ton in the first game but you know you are saying those guys are going to play more you look at the oilers last night they go 11 and lose yarn craw or sorry yarn yanmark yanmark right off the top and so they're 10 forwards yeah you know it's yeah i like it too from the deep perspective in particular because giordano for me has been a major struggle point mccabe's interesting that you mentioned him not a good game one but otherwise i've liked his playoffs all right well we'll get into that after we listen to sheldon keith on uh on brody and mccabe like everybody else minimize mistakes you know uh those guys have had tough matchups and have defended really well.

If you look at anything with them, I think their issues would be similar to our team in a lot of ways where things have not gone well, which is just not spending enough time on offense. That would really be it that's impacting them.

They're defending too much, which is wearing them down. And not on the offensive side nearly enough. So they can't get any positive momentum. They can't get going that way. It impacts their numbers

and all those kind of things pretty dramatically because the offense just hasn't been there defensively. They actually haven't given up very much, more than anything they ever gave up in the regular season. But, you know, look at their numbers as a whole. It looks bad, but it's offense that's lacking, and that's an issue for our whole team.

That's an interesting fadeaway comment. It just feels like, well, they haven't spent enough time in the offensive zone for seven games in the playoffs. and we're talking about a team that usually cycles really well and just yeah top five possession team usually and they haven't had possession in playoffs right they don't think they've won the possession battle game yet i can't recall a game where i've seen mitch marner not handle the puck as much as he usually does or likes to. He did not get enough touches for me. Yeah, that's going to be key for them.

I truly believe that. Like, you know, the creating offense element of it is good defending as well. And for sure, Marner is one of those guys that can have the puck. I have these sport logic numbers at the end of every game. And it's usually top three guys on each team with just ozone possession time and it's usually marner you know minute and a half he'll have the puck in a game and he's been you know under a minute for a couple games so a few more touches for him would go a long way i also think that brody has played a lot with morgan riley someone who breaks the puck out pretty well you know mccabe maybe not

helping him in that regard as much, so it's such a challenging matchup. Those guys have been handed a hard challenge. Alright, let's go to the head coach on responding tonight. You can't help but to do that. Obviously, that's not what we want to do. You'd like to be up 1-0 and all of that,

but you have been through it, so you have the confidence with that. You can't just lean on that. You can't just lean on that. You can't just expect that it's going to happen. We have to prepare differently, you know, in the sense that it's a different opponent, make different adjustments and discuss different things and put the focus in different areas.

But, yeah, the mindset and the confidence that comes from having found our way back and to get the split here at home and get out on the road and do the job on the road, all those things certainly give the group confidence. But you've got a team on the other side here now. When you get into round two, it's the difference. The other team on the other side, they've dealt with all sorts of different things

and done really well and found their way through it. So the challenge becomes greater in that regard. So we're not certainly settling for the fact that because it happened before, challenge becomes greater in that regard. So we're not certainly settling for the fact that because it happened before, it's going to happen again. You've got to get out on the ice and make it happen. So prior to the... Alright, we'll pick

that up, that conversation because we've got Mike Kelly joining us now. Mike, how are you, man? Thanks for joining us. Happy to do it, Kipper. I'm doing well. How are you? Yeah, we're doing okay.

We just, just doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason in this first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. From Boston dropping out, from the Rangers, the Islanders, all these number one goalies all of a sudden disappearing to this incredible run of road wins. But you tell us where you want to start with some of the numbers that don't add up for you coming out of the first round. The road is really interesting. It's what, 600 plus percent winning percentage on the road, right? So far in the playoffs?

33-19. Yeah, not bad, not bad. You know, it's funny because I remember when the Leafs series started thinking I think the best thing for them would be to start on the road, just for that one team because of all the ghosts and the demons and the pressure and all that. You know, they found their way, and that was great, and they went a series. But I think that was true probably maybe for a couple teams.

But then as you go, I was working with Bruce Boudreaux at the NHL Network earlier this week talking about the road and where would you rather be on a game seven. He said, oh, the road's a good place to be in games like that. You don't have the stuff at home to deal with. you don't have the stuff in your city to deal with um remember talking to guys on the avalanche last year about game five at home when they could have won the cup on their home ice and you know some of them saying you just want the game to be over before it starts everybody's acting like you've already won so i think there's something to it what do you when

you guys were playing in big games in your career i'm sure you must have felt a little bit of ease being on the road even though you don't have your your own fans in front of you i'm sure the leafs are you know experiencing the pressure factor right like just being here too it's supposed to be easier supposed to win there's a lot of jockeying that goes on from the coaches of both teams trying to paint teams as the underdog and save yourself the pressure you know one of the things when there is pressure is you know guys play a little tighter they maybe create a little bit less and this leafs offense has not looked like it did in the regular season um they they just don't seem to be i guess maintaining possession as much mike what are you

what are you seeing or what are your thoughts on the leafs offense here in the postseason yeah i've watched a lot of games that they've lost um where they've kind of had more than their opponent and you know they were they were around the same as florida last game i thought that game for a number of different reasons could have gone uh in any direction like tor Toronto had some power play opportunities at the start of the game. They had some really good looks. One or two of those goes in, does it play out differently? Bobrovsky makes some big saves.

There's defensive coverage issues on some Toronto goals and it goes Florida's way. So you play that game again and it could end up being a different result. I didn't think one team was overly the better team necessarily. So I'm not overly concerned. Like, you know, one of the guys I was hearing a lot of talk about the last couple of days is Nylander, who can be a bit of a lightning rod,

but he hasn't scored in five games. But he's got some, in terms of what he's creating, he's creating a ton of offense. And eventually, you know, good players, these things start to go in the way that they should. And that's been Florida's story. Like, Florida all year was creating tons of chances and, you know, goal probability,

all that stuff you could get into. It was way up at the top of the league, and they were middle of the pack in scoring. Well, it all started to come together towards the end of the year since the trade deadline on, especially. And now we're watching what they're doing in the playoffs. So today I wrote on Matthew Kachuk in my weekly article for the Toronto Star.

And one of the things that I stressed is that this time of year, it seems like the ice shrinks for a lot of these stars. And he seems to thrive because he can handle uh tight areas where he can make plays his hands are soft high iq um in in very uh uh you know busy areas and i'm just wondering if the numbers that you see in the playoffs compared to what you see in the regular season supports that, does it look to you that it's obvious that the room tightens up for guys in general? Or am I making too much out of that? No, you're bang on.

A couple of years ago in the offseason, I did a research project with a coach. And you'll be shocked at what he asked. It consisted of two words for the playoffs, what wins. So one of the things I looked at was the differences in playoff hockey versus regular season hockey. And this is a debate that I have with people who do my kind of work often. And a lot of people think there's really no difference. And I don't believe that at all. I think there are huge differences.

So one of the things I could prove is dump-in rates go up. So there's less off the rush, less carry in the puck. Puck battles go up. So everything that you're talking about, Kipper, there is truth in that. And then this is where a player like Matthew Kachuk, it's just going to shine a light on all these things he does so well. Like you talked about making plays under pressure. He's one of the best. He's so good.

And his hands are good. And that's probably the thing maybe because of, you know, the running around and the yapping and all that can get overlooked. And overrated. He's one of the better playmakers in the league um like yeah we know he goes to the net and he scores and all that too like you watch the playmaking ability of this guy he gets behind the net he's finding guys in the slot he's absorbing contact making plays initiating um super super skilled for sure so you mentioned that the panthers

sort of expected numbers were better than their real numbers for a large portion of the season is it safe to say that you think this panthers team is um i guess better than most people assume like not a 92 point team but probably somewhere between there and their president's trophy season yeah i think so and like i'm not going to act like i've known that all along i think um i remember I said this during the Winter Classics right at the start of January because I was standing on a fake baseball diamond set. I thought they were dead. I thought they were done.

Because I had kind of given up. It's like it's been a few months, and none of this stuff's coming back to the middle here. So maybe there's something going on that I can't understand. But they're doing it offensively now, kind of scoring what they should be and more. Defensively, they've still got their warts. And I think Toronto is going to find ways to exploit that.

And this is going to be a great series because of it. So I don't think either team should love the way they played defensively in the first game. But Toronto is going to get its looks all series. But Brovsky, if he stands on his head, it'll be tough, but he's going to face a lot of tough shots too. So there's ways to beat them. I thought in the first game that Kachuk-Bennett-Kuzma's line was unbelievable.

And beyond that, Toronto kind of won the rest of the matchup. So find a way to do something with Kachuk. You know, one thought is match up a left winger against him. Maybe move O'Reilly to the wing and make his matchups harder. Find a way to do that. I think he'll be in good shape. That's interesting that you say that, you know, O'Reilly or Tavares on the wing. It just seems like there's a forever battle for Mitch Marner. And I referred to him earlier in the season as the whisper.

You need something, you know, something's not right with Tavares and Nylander. Put Marner there. Sometimes it's the opposite where Matthews goes a couple of games without scoring a goal, you're going to stick Marner back up there. But I'm just wondering now this time of year, if you guys ever follow a coach's ability to change lines, how often, how many different combinations of lines you see from the start of the game or the end of the game

and whether or not there are numbers that support it or actually say it's detrimental if you start getting the bingo-bangle balls out too much or too early? Yeah, you know, for me it would be kind of dependent on each individual situation. One team could move lines more or less and be more or less effective based on who was on that team. But, you know, 11-7 is an interesting one because Edmonton's gone to it, right?

And Edmonton wins a lot more when they roll out 11-7 than they do 12-6. I think that's probably one of the reasons why they've gone to it. Toronto has kind of flirted with it a little bit.'ve seen campabay have success with it in years past um that's an option for for the leafs obviously if they want to go that route but in terms of moving guys around you're right like anytime you move somebody with with marner it seems to have a positive effect um although you know marner when he was with Tavares and Yarncroke last game, that line was getting, in like three minutes, that line got beaten

up pretty bad. It set the whole tone to be quite frank with you. I thought, first of all, it was a bad decision to have three non-physical guys go try to confront the like of Bennett and Kachuk. And then, you know, even Sheldon talked after that.

Once I was able to change the lines, it seemed like we got going. But spotting them 1-0 on that decision was tough to watch. Yeah. Yeah, in hindsight, it might have been the wrong one, right? Entirely possible. So that's why I think it's going to be interesting in this game. It's like, what do you do? Like, you know,

I think bunting in spurts might be able to have some success against Kachuk because maybe you could just annoy him a little bit. Like, I don't think you're going full matchup mode on it, but there's examples in years past in the playoffs where teams have put a guy, a good defensive guy on a, on a score on somebody who's given them trouble and you can't stick with it for seven games because great offensive players figure it out, right? But if you can, hey, here's a couple shifts of bunting I'm going to sprinkle

at you just to kind of piss you off a little bit. I'm going to give you some O'Reilly now. Sprinkle it around a little bit. That's probably the best chance you give yourself. But, you know, Kachuk seems to kind of do what he wants uh to anybody yeah so uphill battle you know i i kind of like and this is you know you don't need to weigh in on this as much mike but i kind of like if they do bunting matthews marner and then go ahead and do your kerfoot tavarez kneelander uh nize achari with o'reilly you know like i like that third line

they've been good anyway so yeah i think that's not such a bad idea and go with the matthews line head-to-head against them um let's take it to some of the other series i know you kind of pay attention to everything around the league mike last night the oilers lose six to four in their season or sorry series opener uh against vegas how do you think these two teams stack up i know one game's not going to give us all the answers we need, but how do you think they stack up in general? So I was coming in, I picked Vegas, like narrowest of margins. This is going to be such a close series, but special teams

like Edmonton's power play it's what, 60% or something in the playoffs? Like I wonder how the other 40% killed it. It's so good. It's crazy.. I know. It's crazy. And Vegas' special teams have never been great,

and their penalty kill isn't. So is that enough, you know, maybe on its own? It wasn't last night. They got beat up pretty bad at 5-on-5, and that to me is where this is going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Can Edmonton keep pace 5-on-5, knowing they'll win the special teams battle? Not even necessarily win five on five, but just make it close.

And they couldn't in game one. When Connor and Leon were on together, they won every metric you want to win. When they were not on together, it was a beating. So what do you do? That's going to be interesting. I think some of the depth defensemen in Edmonton got beat up a little bit too. And Skinner had really bad numbers from the first round.

They won, but his numbers weren't good. He had a slow start, and then he was pretty good the rest of the way. So not throwing him under the bus or anything, but I'm just kind of keeping an eye on that situation also. Edmond, they can do it. Leon was unbelievable. Connor had a good game too. And they've had depth scoring in the first round from other guys.

They need that in this series. Mike, if we look at the regular season as well, Edmonton, I think, won three out of four against Vegas. But all the games were as well. Edmonton, I think, won three out of four against Vegas, but all the games were high scoring. So, certainly favors Skinner if he lets in a bad goal or even two. There's plenty

of room to recover here, but is there anything out of the numbers that could suggest that they can also tighten it up here, or is this going to come down to the last shot wins? It might. There's no question that Vegas is the better defensive team.

Vegas is one of the better defensive teams in the league. Their D is big. They're mobile. They've got reach. And it's really hard to get inside against that team. Now, if anybody can do it, it's Edmonton, right? So that's the yin and the yang of it. But Edmonton's not quite as good defensively as Vegas is,

and they can both score. So, yeah, I think high scoring for sure. Like, Brassois's been good, no question. He benefits from playing on that solid defensive team with their structure. But neither one of these guys are proven elites, although I guess the counterargument to that is all the proven elites are pretty much done.

So it'll be, it'll be, I expect high scoring for sure. A game ones can always kind of be funny that way. Cause these teams try to figure themselves out, but it would, it would not surprise me if we're looking at six plus in a lot of these games.

Last one for me, Mike. We've got two Canadian teams left in it. They're both down 0-1. Which team has the better chance of making the conference finals? Say this for two reasons. Number one, we're talking Toronto radio right now. Know your audience. Know your opponent.

And I think Vegas is tough. I'm not going to say Edmonton can't do it but I like Toronto so still I think they can get it done against Florida I want to see them both go on obviously I think the whole country does if that's the Stanley Cup final this is going to be a lot of fun being in Canada

no kidding one last one here and we're going to end it on a positive for the Toronto Maple Leaf fans listening no kidding okay mike one last one here and we're going to end it on a positive uh for the toronto maple leaf fans listening okay you gotta you gotta tell us what the numbers uh support that bobrovsky can't keep up what we saw in game one uh bobrovsky can he keep up what we saw in game one? I think Toronto's going to get to him in game two. I think the Leafs win this game. Like I said, they created a lot of good looks.

That game, I think, in some ways, could have gone kind of one way or the other. But Brodsky's goal saved above expected. He's better than zero. Can he do it again? It's tough. Leafs get a W, and they score four. All right.

It's been two, three games in a row, so they're due. There you go. Sammy's applauding right four. All right. It's been two, three games in a row. So there you go. Sammy's applauding right now. Great stuff. Thanks for doing this for us. Anytime, guys. Have fun today. That's Mike Kelly, hockey analyst specializing in analytics for the NHL Network and Sport Logic. Yes.

When am I supposed to do this pizza thing? Is it now? Pizza Nova, sorry. Ooh, Pizza Nova. My bad. Pizza Nova, by the way the born family orders every week wonderful wonderful slice i don't have the reeds okay well we ate a bunch of pizza nova today it was absolutely i hope the leafs show up better than your reed just did i don't have a reed i know we're supposed to talk with pizza nova and we should because it's delicious pizza they brought pizza yeah that which was great for the group well yeah

but the the morning crew ate all of it. Like I came in and it was like dust bunnies around. Why are we mentioning it then? Well, I got a couple slices at least. Oh, okay. Bunk's eating a whole pie on his couch right now somewhere at home. He just walked out with a box. They usually have like chicken bites and all this stuff.

And if you buy a dip, they give it to charity or something. Yeah, 50 cents from every dip. I literally do not ever eat, but 50 cents from every dip goes to what, Derek? Variety Village. Variety Village. There you go. Beautiful. We appreciate that.

Genuinely. Sorry to make a half-bite of it. They're on line three saying, those three knuckleheads, I don't ever want reading or pretending to read about us ever again. We all dip for variety. I dip. You dip. We all dip for variety. I dip. You dip. We all dip for variety.

Okay, Sammy, what else can you butcher? We'll be doing that again. Go two for two. I'm not going to butcher this, baby. All right. It's time for Playoff Picks presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds. All right.

So like we've been talking about for the first 40 here, the Leafs some panthers get back underway tonight and you can bet on the series correct score after four games oh you're gonna make a ton then so game one right so what oh yeah but what do you think is the most likely outcome after four games florida 4-0 florida 3-1 tie 2 2-2, or Leafs 3-1, Kipper? Okay, hold on. After when? After the fourth game of the series.

What will the... The series. Where will the series be? Yeah. Yeah, 2-2. Feels like a pretty strong 2-2 lean here. Okay. So that is the favorite at plus 125.

If you think the leafs are gonna kind of turn it on here it's uh plus 425 for 3-1 and you know if you think the leafs are really gonna blow it plus 900 for a sweep so if you're a real leafs hater that might be a bet for you i don't uh i don't love betting on the leafs because i'm already emotionally invested like i never bet on tiger woods to win golf tournaments because I was rooting for him anyway. I got nothing out of it. But so tonight I have the Dallas Stars in regulation as well as a Mitch

Marner assist. That little parlay there I believe is 180, 188, something like that. Okay. And I got a couple other ones for you here. Feels like a big Austin Matthews night tonight. He, you know, he's had a big austin matthews night tonight he you know he's had a ton of looks in game one didn't cash any of them in he hasn't scored he went a goal a game without scoring a goal if you want if you like austin matthews to get two goals tonight two or more it's plus 450 feels like a spot where he kind of puts the team on his back the second i

see he's got mitch on his line i'll bet that. Okay. So there you go. And just to bring it back, one last thing. It's an excellent spot again tonight for the happiness hedge. To bet on Florida. For the straight up bet on the Florida Panthers, who they are a pretty sizable underdog tonight against the Leafs. Plus 170. Prior to this series starting, I did mention to you guys that in the first five,

seven minutes, just the start will go a long way for me to suggest if this thing has a chance to be short or not. It does. Can they just have a good first period? Is that...

Over seven. Over seven. Even, I'll take seven to ten minutes of a really good start where it's clear that they've brought their A game and they're ready to go. What is with this team and just looking so apprehensive to start? It's... I don't know.

I mean, Justin Cuthbert talked about this yesterday in the morning show, but it's a great point that it's the starts of seasons, the starts of playoffs, the starts of games. Like, it's starts of things. They've always had this weird. They're going to work their way in. It's really weird. They don't jump off the diving board.

They wade in inch by inch with their arms up like a monkey in the water. That's what I do. I go in, I'm like, oh, it's a little chilly. I get in slowly. Like, it really weird. They don't jump off the diving board. They wade in inch by inch with their arms up like a monkey in the water. That's what I do. I go in like, oh, it's a little chilly. I get in slowly. Like, it's weird. Right? You think about the start of this season. Jump in.

Think about the start of this season. Yeah. Think about the start of the playoffs. You want the players to look in the mirror on starts for sure. But ultimately, that does fall on Sheldon keith no question okay that's what coaches are are they're responsible to make sure that their teams as mike babcock has famously said start on time babs said the hell out of it he couldn't get his teams to do it he never they never did it for him either yeah um it's a lot of the same guy yeah no it's a great saying though it is amazing and it's bang on you

know one thing that i remember is mike fuda coming on the show and talking about how the king's dressing room had like 15 captains you know like guys that either could have been were went on to be whatever and how they didn't have to worry about, you know, the coach and they just trusted the guys to handle it. With the additions this offseason, they got older guys, right? Whether it's O'Reilly or Achari, they got veteran guys. They have an older core now. There's enough guys in the room.

Yes, it's Sheldon's job. I am not absolving him of that. It's on him at the end. But for the players, guys, it's the eighth crack at it here. Can we have one? Yes. So if you don't think any of that's going to happen, like I said, excellent spot for the Happiness Hedge tonight, plus 170.

The Florida Panthers coming into Scotiabank Arena for game two. And that was Playoff Picks presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds, fellas. Still weird to hear him say that. Yeah, if I make money, I feel good on the loss. I get it. I don't feel good. I don't feel good, but it's getting compensated for it.

I don't mind losing the money if they win. I'm getting compensated for my pain. That's exactly right. Here's what it is. Would you pay $50 for the Toronto Maple Leafs to win tonight? Sammy, would you pay? If I could say, give me 50 and they'll win, would you pay 50 for the toronto maple leaves to win tonight sammy would you pay if i could say give me 50 in the wind would you do it i may be um risking more than that that's what i'm saying so you're doing that and if they win you say i paid for it and if they don't well

fans that have paid season tickets on average what three four hundred bucks you're asking them to spend an additional $50 to ensure a win. I'm not asking them to. I'm saying I personally would pay $50 for the Leafs to win. Kipper, if you're terrified, if you're personally dumb to me. If you're going to the game tonight and you're scared of a...

You can pay for your ticket with a happiness hedge. You either get a win or you get your ticket free. Exactly. It's a no-brainer situation. We're going to ask edge you're gonna win or you're taking free exactly it's a no-brainer situation all right if he has a happiness no we're not not gonna embarrass herself former nhl and general manager of the blackhawks and the panthers this is the man who drafted barkov ekblad this is the man who spent 10 million bucks on brobosky. Let's not mention that. No, let's mention it.

After the break, real Kipper and Bourne. Dale Talon next. Get smarter when you listen to Hockey Talk, the Hockey PDO cast with Dmitry 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. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers getting set for battle here.

We have a 7 or 7.30 start. That extra half an hour just sucks. I love it. Why? Because I can put my kids to bed. You put them to bed that early? Yeah. They go to bed that early?

Well, they're 6 and 3. No, not successfully. But the process is underway, at least. Supposed to be in bed. Oh, I remember those days it's actually you know it's it is decent at least they're out of there for a few hours for bed all right sammy's gonna find us dale talon uh we'll get into the specifics of the florida panthers and i met him at a yankees game once ran into him in new york you did yeah my dad and i were at a yankees game i don't know

20 years ago i don't remember that if you remember that at some point. Usually when you run into Dale, it's on a golf course. He is a really good golfer. Yeah, scratch, I think, right? So when I retired out of hockey, I played in a local men's league here. It was one of the oldest men's league. You played men's league hockey after the National Hockey League? Yes, I did.

Did people try to fight you? For a team called the Swords. And if I stand correct, Dale Tallon was a sword. Is that right, Dale? Wilkinson Blades. That's right. It was a sponsorship off the Razors. Yeah, yeah.

Wilkinson Blades. Yeah, those aren't around anymore. Hey, Dale, how are you, pal? I'm great. I'm great. So where was your connection with this Swords team? I had to take a class or two at Meisterschaft College when I was playing for the Marlies and I got traded from Oshawa. And one of the students at the class there,

it was his father-in-law on Wilkinson Blades. And so we had a bunch of rubbies. We'd play, you know, a couple times at nighttime during the week. You know, I talked Doug Gilmore into coming to play in that league. He got suspended like two games later. Suspended? Suspended. Who would have the audacity to suspend Doug Gilmore?

I don't know. Probably maybe Coley Campbell maybe back then. I don't know. Dale, first of all, I hope you're doing well. You're down in Florida, right? Yes, yes. So you've got a good beat

on the Florida Panthers. Just, you know, just your overall thoughts watching this team from maybe Christmas on and how a lot of us, including me, had them written off, man. lot of us, including me, had them written off, man.

Yeah, well, you know, they found their way through. You know, they had to win, I think they went 6-1-1 in the last eight games. They were 6-1-1 and they lost the last game. And then they ended up having to play Boston. And I think everyone said, well, you know, they really had to put a lot into getting into the playoffs, and there wouldn't be that much left in the tank.

And I got someone at the front door here. I don't know what's going on. Delivery of Wilkinson Blades? Is it Pittsburgh by chance? Yeah. Hey, Dale. Is it the Penguins looking for you? No, I wish.

No one really knows. Delivered some flowers here for, I don't know. That's from us. All of our guests get flowers live on the air. If there's no card involved, it's from us all of our guests get flowers live on the air if there's no card involved it's from us yeah right you guys take credit right for sure for sure um point to blame and take all the credit how we roll yes exactly so who um who gets credit for bobrovsky all of a sudden coming on a little bit this is a guy that you signed i know there there was a lot of talk that years followed about the signing, but he's showing that there's still life in him, right?

Yeah, you know, I think he's a little bit, you know, he was sick and missed a lot of games, and the Lions came in and did a great job for them. So I think the fact that he's pretty well rested and didn't have to carry the brunt of the load towards the end. Yeah, he looks sharp and he looks healthy and he looks refreshed. That's good news.

The save he made on Marshawn in game five is probably the turning point of the whole series. That series is over if he scores there. Hey, Dale, where do you think Bobrovsky struggled early? Was it just maybe the expectations of,

of, of, of carrying such a big contract? Where, where did you see the struggles early since signing him? Yeah, I think that, you know,

that's one thing I said to him once he signed that contract, I said, you know, don't let this burden you. And I think it did. And the second thing in his style is he's kind of a deep in the net goalie. He was. And then trying to move to the top of the crease and play outside,

you know, he kind of was in the middle a lot. You know, he wasn't quite sure if he should be out or in or out or in. And so I think a lot of that had to do, you know, it was a combination of the contract and trying to change his positioning a little bit. So it took him a while. You know, he was inconsistent, obviously. He struggled.

But, you know, when you look back on his career, he's had some pretty good numbers. And he's very athletic. And he's very dedicated. And he's very driven. And you can see it now that he's, you know, he had a little bit of a test there with Lions playing all the games. I don't think he liked that too much. He doesn't want to be taken out of the game. So I think he's more motivated and he's more rested than he's been in the past.

Dale, you've had a lot of experience building teams, shaping teams, and, you know, assessing what teams need. What are your thoughts on this Toronto Maple Leafs team and the additions they made at the deadline in terms of being equipped to have success in the postseason well I think you know you need you need to be heavy in the playoffs you know they get away with a little more clutching and grabbing and it's a little more physical and it's more demanding picking up Acciari and O'Reilly you know two guys

that really give them and McCabe gives them them some strength and size and durability is what you need. Every other night you've got to play and you've got to win 16 games. It takes a toll on a team. And if you're a light team, a team that plays on the perimeter, you're not going to have much success in the playoffs. And I think they addressed the need there that they needed to be more physical and more durable and more competitive in the physical part of playoff hockey and um you know they went and did that at the deadline and i like i like

those pickups and like those moves that they made so much talk dale about matthew kachuk and the impact he's had uh especially from christmas on against boston and then great game to open up this series against the Leafs. What were your initial thoughts when Jonathan Huberto, who had a career year at 115 points and looked like he was really the face of the franchise, along with Barkov, all of a sudden is gone for Matthew Kachuk? What did you think about the trade at that time? We all know how it's turned out.

Well, you know, they paid a lot to get Kachuk, and I've always liked Kachuk. I liked Huberto and Uyghur as well, and I gave up some picks besides. But, you know, I think it was the fact that they needed to step up in the playoffs and be more physical and somebody that can compete in a playoff structure, and that's what they thought they needed to do.

And there's Matthew. Every scrum, every play, he's right in the middle of it. This kid's amazing. I watched him pretty closely the last three games and even before the playoffs. I mean, every time you see a scrum or every time there's a goal-scoring opportunity, wherever the puck is, that's where Matthew is.

He's fearless. He plays that way all the time. He's consistent, and he's passionate, and he's just driven. And I think it's a good thing now for this team. Now getting Bennett back, too, really helped. You know, that second-line center and the guy with the little grid up front as well. So, you know, Florida's pretty good up the middle with loose terrain or with Lundell. And, you know, Eric had a good season, and now he's playing a fourth-line role.

Like I said, I like teams that are strong up the middle, and both these teams are. They're very similar teams. They give up a lot of scoring chances, but they create a lot of scoring chances. So it'll be an entertaining, exciting series. Dale, I'm sure you have some experience with this throughout your own career,

but the Leafs brought in a guy in Matthew Nyes right out of college plugged him in and he's playing pretty high up the lineup and in a good amount of minutes I want to get your thoughts on some of the challenges for a player like that and if you think they'll he a guy like him would get better with the experience or kind of get worse after being worn down and never playing this kind of schedule before? Well, I don't, I like the kid. I think he's a really good player and he's good in traffic and he has a good understanding of the game. He's got good size and speed and he's a real, you know,

I don't think, you know, in college they don't destroy you with, you know, how many games they play, 50 games, 40 games, playoffs and all, you know, not like he's playing 80 games and coming to play in the playoffs. He should be well-rested. At that age, you want to play all night long and all day long. You never get tired when you're that age. So I don't see him getting tired. If he loves to play and he wants to play, he'll find a way.

Another guy, Dale dale that you brought in alexander barkov and he's got just the one goal so far in the playoffs but just just his upside i don't think anybody expects him to be as dynamic as austin matthews or connor mcdavid but you know is there a sense that uh at the time that he could have been more like a leon dry sidle and the goals aren't coming anywhere near what Leon does. But where is his upside offensively? And ultimately, is this a perfect guy to shut down an Austin Matthews? Well, that's what he does.

I mean, if he's not scoring, you know for sure he's defending. He's a complete player. And one thing with Barkley, if he'd shoot more, he's so willing to pass the puck. You know, he had a great opportunity the other night in game six here, and he elected to pass. He does that often. He's not selfish at all.

He's more team-oriented, but he does all those little things, you know, kills penalties and shuts down the other guy. He's really terrific in his end. I think if he was less conscious of the defensive aspect, he'd score more. But he's a complete player that plays with a lot of strength and determination. And he's really a knowledgeable player. And, you know, you're very confident when he has the puck that he's not going to make any mistakes. And that's what he brings to the table game in and game out.

You know, all this talk about the postseason and being, you know, a lot more puck battles and a little more physical, get away with a little bit more. If you're building a team today, is it that different than it would have been 20 years ago? Like, it feels like, you know, the game went away from some of that physicality but it's almost like the pendulum has swung back to people recognizing just the value of it

in terms of team building even in today's hockey well it's uh you know it's kind of a catch-22 you need a team to be successful during the regular season yeah and a bit of a different team in the playoffs and so you want to get the combination of the size and speed and skill and smarts and paper and all those good things. And, you know, I think the team that 2010 won would probably do very well in 2022 and 23. So, you know, it's a team you've got to be conscious of what, will they play better in the playoffs?

Will they be successful in the playoffs? And that's what you have to be really conscious of is the right formation of a team. You need some size. You can't have a bunch of little guys, but you can have a nice blend and you've got to make sure that you've got a lot of good young defensemen because the, you know, the stretch play and the chip and chase is, there's not a lot of protection for a defenseman. So you've got to have guys that

can really skate in the back end and get the puck out. And that's where I think the most important part of the team is right now. Hey, Dale, one more for me, and that's just hockey in general in South Florida and the constant challenges that the Florida Panthers have with so much competition in baseball and football down there. But, you know, does this sort of run have a chance to do what it did in Doug McClain's years when they went to the finals? What a cup could potentially mean?

Yeah, I think it's spilled over from last year, winning the President's Trophy. And this year they were consistent. Their crowds were up. Even when they were struggling, they were still getting good crowds. And these playoff crowds have been to the last three playoff games and just under 20,000 every game, and they're really alive and really into it. So I think to get a young crowd, it's a young family crowd dynamic,

and I think it'll bode well for the future. I think you can see from last year to this year the big improvement, and it's a good thing. It's a beautiful building. It's a beautiful building. It's just a little bit out of the way, but once you're in there, it's pretty exciting. I've really enjoyed the last three games with the whole atmosphere.

Well, we're going to enjoy this series starting with game two tonight. We're so glad the flowers got to you. Let us know about the box of chocolates. We were promised they'd be there before Friday at noon tomorrow. Yeah,

right. I love it. Hey, Dale. You want a dozen balls? You don't lose. Hey, how is the game, by the way? Pretty solid. Yeah, I'm hanging in there, you know, shooting my age with regularity, 82.

Stop it. You still scratch, golfer? I'm close. I'm close. That index is 1.7. Oh, my gosh. Jeez, that's good golf. Don't ever come back to work here in the NHL.

Don't. It'll ruin your game. Yeah, I don't care about golf that much. All right, Dale. We'll catch up again soon. Thanks for doing this. Appreciate the time. Appreciate the call. Yeah, that's Dale Tallon. Thanks, Dale. Former NHL player and general manager

with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers. Interesting stuff. 1.7. Yeah, he's good. That's good, good. He's smooth as a criminal. You see he's played. That's good, good. He's smooth as a criminal. You've played with him? Yeah. Okay, there's a couple things that he said there that I wanted to get your guys' take on.

The one that I found really interesting was him talking about how you asked about building a team and the playoff thing, but then him saying you've got to walk the line, right, where you have to get there, and then you have to play a totally different game once you get there. It's a real balance that these GMs have to strike.

I thought that was interesting. That's why I feel like players today, the more multi-tooled you can be, the more valuable you are, right? Can you do other things? Can you play when you're not scoring? Can you score when you're still playing defense? Crucial having guys that can do both. In many ways, the year we won the cup in New York

was similar to the Toronto Maple Leafs where you look and you're having success in the regular season, but you just have to know this is not the lineup that can play this time of year. Just think for one second where the Leafs would be if they had a quiet trade deadline. If they had Engvall and Sandin in instead of Achari and McCabe or something. And Chen.

And Riley. And Chen. And Chen, yeah. Right? Yeah. It's just, they're done. They don't win the first round. They do not get past Tampa Bay.

They sneak by three OT wins. You know, they needed every inch of scrap they had in them every inch yeah and they'll need every inch tonight to start this game and i got another question that i would like to drill down on a little bit with you before we got to him or you with him what you asked doug gilmore actually played in a beer league game with you oh yeah when he was like, at what point? My dad tried to play, and people would slash him in the back and try to fight him, and he said nothing. At what point of his career?

Was he retired? Just retired? Or was he still playing? Like, when was this? Yeah, this was just after he shut it down. Oh, my God. And there is no switch. No.

I got a switch, and it can move if you really push me but not gilmore i was gonna say switch his nickname was literally killer so i can still see the cross check and um the guy's teeth leaving his mouth you know some of those guys just can't and you know you're competitive i think in a way that I probably never was. But my dad also has that. He's playing one of these fireman charity games. Some kid was slashing my dad, you know, back of the ankles trying to, you know, like you get a chance to play against a recent NHL. And they did the handshake line after my dad hauled off and just decked him in the forehead.

No, the handshake line postgame charity game full brawl. So they didn't get respect in the handshake line. No respect in the handshake line. game charity game full brawl so they didn't get respect in the handshake line no respect in the handshake line like i don't have that gear what was you sent a video today out of the blue about uh a guy sitting on his golf cart watching a brouhaha on a hole number seven or sevenocking guys out left and right. Like, hey, slow play is an issue. Right? Just pick up your pace.

Not that much of an issue. That's what we need on the PGA. Yeah, can't lay. You should be able to fight the group ahead of you to play through. Yes. There's a fight. Can't lay. You have to fight if you're going to play that slow. Brooks Koepka gets to fight the group ahead of you to play through. Yes. There has to be a, there's a fight. Cantlay, you have to fight if you're going to play that slow. Brooks Koepka gets to fight you.

And all of a sudden I'm paying pay-per-view money to watch. But it's just, you know, I can't imagine how good Doug Gilmer was in beer league. Oh, yeah. It's just like, I remember I played against a guy in beer league who was like, I looked him up. He was like second division Sweden that he played. I was like, this guy's Sidney Crosby. How is there anyone better at hockey than this? It like it's hard to fathom it's hard for

guys to come out of like playing pro hockey and then go into a league like that because everything that the opposition should do they're not they do the opposite it's like a bad goalie who doesn't bite on your fake and you're like you're supposed to get out of the way on that yeah exactly it's like i can't i don't have my balance isn't good enough to get out of the way on that. Yeah, exactly. It's like, I can't. I don't have my balance isn't good enough to get out of the way. Quick twitch. I didn't know you faked. Exactly. Okay.

You want to go back to Paul Maurice? Let's hit a break and then we'll do it after we. Let's hit a break. All right. And then Kevin Zegers out of LA is going to join us. Hey, just want to give a shout out to the best beer league, former pro I've ever seen. Dale Howarchuk, D ducky himself the smoothest the beer league king have you i mean i'm sure

you skated or saw dale you probably played against the nhl like he's like he's him and gretzky and i'm telling you like that tier of just like smooth and read the play i mean i'd never you know i've played with very good players i hadn't seen anything like him and read the play. I mean, I'd never, you know, I've played with very good players. I hadn't seen anything like him. And I was watching him at 50. Yes. So I a few times got to play like the Scotiabank Pro-Am where you get to play with pros or whatever. And one year we had Brad boys as our pro.

We had a really solid NHL career. And my old, my great uncle, Don, don great uncle don who's old guy 85 my dad and him came to the game because they were in toronto and they came for the lunch after whatever and i told brad boys that my old uncle was coming brad boys put three on an absolute pillow for me that i scored a hat trick in the first period because i literally just had to put my puck on my stick on the ice yeah and the passes he makes i'm like like, Brad Boyce is like, you know, he's a good NHLer, but you just think it's a different thing. It's a different thing.

I get to skate Thursday mornings with Lindros and Caberle, and sometimes Tucker comes out. Caberle's still smooth. Voltec Volski. Yeah, oh, yeah. You should see this guy play. Yeah, that guy. He had unbelievable hands.

I just played with him this morning. Sick, man. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You should see this guy play. Yeah, that guy. He had unbelievable hands. I just played with him this morning. And it's like... But you should have gone back to New York and helped the Rangers out. They could have used you. Ridiculous hands. Yeah. Cabriolet, too. Cabriolet on the show, Kipper. Oh, my God. He's coming.

He's coming. He said he's coming. Good, good. All right. Okay, let's take a quick break. If you're enjoying the show, give us a rating and review. Give us a thumbs up. We love bringing it to you on a daily basis, Toronto and Florida teeing it up tonight. And we're back after the break.

The best blue J show out there. Period. Blair and Barker. Be sure to 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. Kipper, Justin Bourne, Derek Brandeo, David Sispumba, Sammy McKee.

I would like quickly, before we get into anything, to give a big proper shout-out to Pizza Nova for hooking us up with lunch today. Hold on. Hey, no, we've got to do it better. Proper. Yes, big shout-out. Stress proper. That's what I was doing until you so rudely interrupted me.

Sorry, go on. A big shout-out to Pizza Nova for hooking us up with lunch today. That's Amore. Pizza for our kids is back at Pizza Nova. 50 cents from every dip purchased in May goes to Kids at Variety Ontario. Don't forget to add a dip to your next order

and make a difference. I dip. You dip. We all dip for variety. Bam. That was a dip stick talking about a dip. We all dip for variety. Bam. That was a dipstick talking about a dip. I'll give you a seven out of ten. Toit like a tiger.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Oh, man. This is the wrong show to read that stuff. We haven't excelled at it in the past, but we need more experience. I think they're going to send us to, like, summer school. I did summer school once.

That'll surprise you. Is that true? Yeah. Can I guess the subject? Absolutely, yes. Everything. English. No.

No. No. Math. Math. Math. Math. Math. After that read, was it English? Math. It was math.

All right. Math. You want to talk a little, Leon? Four goals. We should have asked Mike Kelly odds or the statistics on when you score four goals yeah when you have one guy scoring four goals you should win the hockey game i think i saw a stat i'm pretty confident here that it hasn't happened in 30 years that a guy scored four goals and his team lost in the playoffs and then back to back nights wild game yeah Yeah. Hockey's bizarre. I think.

Love it. I think that, I mean, we do have more Marie stuff to get into. We will, yeah. But I do think that that goal, that dry settle score, the second one, is amongst the highest skill plays you'll ever see in the game of hockey. You know why it's so high skilled is because playoff hockey is like monster truck rally and ever just skating around like crazy and it's chaos. And to actually dial it back and make a cutesy little flip,

to even think of it and try it and execute the off-speed pitch, nasty goal. Yeah, it's another prime example of a player being in a position where there's a million things going on on the ice, and you have the ability to see that play. And it's because you have the ability to slow the game down, slow your breathing down, and to actually identify the angle that the goalie's in,

and to say, I'm going to try to, you see a space between the post and his back or shoulder, and you have the poise, the confidence to actually think that you are going to hit this pool shot. That's all it is. Yeah. When you're putting really well and people joke about the hole looking like the size of a bucket,

like it looks like you can make it from anywhere, what's the net look like to Dreisaitl right now that he's behind the net and he sees ways to put the puck in? Like a soccer net? And the way he hits that cross seamer from McDavid is... With a paddle. ...is otherworldly. With like an oar.

Yeah, you'd think there'd be so much wind resistance he couldn't swing it fast. But the first power play goal I get where McDavid does that huge button hook up top of the circle and then just... Tick, tick, one handle and... Fast, like it's a shot. It's a shot speed.

Most goals through seven playoff games in NHL history. One handle and fast. Like it's a shot. It's a shot speed. Most goals through seven playoff games in NHL history. First place, 11 goals. Leon Dreisaitl tied with Newsy Lalonde, who we joke about all the time as being an old school guy, but Newsy had 11 as well. 10 for Maurice Richard. Greter had nine.

Esposito had nine. What's the record? Wayne Gretzky. Thank you. At how many? What's the record for most goals in a playoff uh season i don't know i know reggie leach from the philadelphia flyers had it at one time and i think it was like 19 if i'm not mistaken it's a big number most goals playoff year uh It's loading. It's loading. 19.

Reggie Leach. Also, Yari Curry had 19 one year. Joe Sackick had 18. Newsy Lalonde had 17. He's one game into the second round. He's got 11. Such a good point. If they play three rounds, he might get 19 goals.

Yeah. But he could have them by game seven in this round.and bossy gretzky pain bossy bossy with 17 i think it's such a badass it's so badass when you have a hockey record because it's just they all are gretzky to have like the the most goals in a playoff year not be gretzky have it be reggie leach that's an unbelievable record to have i gotta tell you i adore this list of players craig simpson's on there 16 goals one playoff year but mario lemieux pavel beury mark messier yari curry wayne gretzky crosby ovechkin like it's the names craig simpson's uh stanley cup in edmonton yeah 89 90 and that's also uh a shout out to uh our condolences on Peter Klima.

Remember that big overtime goal? That's awful. We lost a member of our NHL alumni in Peter Klima, so condolences to the family. It is crazy how low the totals are to get on this list, though. I don't mean low, but you get it. How far can you go back? Top 50.

14. Is our buddy John Drews at 14 on that list? I'm sure he is. I think he's 14. I top 15 as my, as our buddy, John Drew's at 14 on that list. Uh, I'm sure he is. If it's just 14 addresses in there to a conference final 14, that's in 15 games, 14, sorry.

Wow. 15 games, like 14 goals getting swept in the conference final. Like that's a run. Ray Ferraro, 13. Yeah. The Gretzky's on i think ray was the last time ray ferraro who's been on the show a couple times and we thank him for that uh the last time a playoff player scored four goals i think he was it he was that's correct before um before pavelski did it yeah and then the next night yeah uh rice saddle by the way also credit none of those were like tips or off his foot

or like a random empty netter he shot four pucks that meant something in a close game in it was a showing reggie leach had 19 goals in 16 games by the way 16 games he was with uh bill barber and bob clark who's like one of the most dominant lines in nhl history 19 goals couldn't quite get to 25 points that year though no joke five assists cy young just shot it in the net for them did we see anything last night that suggests that vegas has a really good shot of beating the edmonton oilers did you see enough of that yeah i did i saw enough to be worried about their defense a guy i really like and vinnie deharnais had a couple of major oopsies there was just some defensive stuff with the oilers it made you think if if Vegas is going to be able to score like that,

Edmonton's in some trouble. We called that, though. We all said yesterday that it was going to be a draft meet. Hey, shorthanded goal leaders in the playoffs. Bob Bourne. I thought Jack Eichel was fighting it. And then he makes an unbelievable play. On the empty?

On the empty. That was an unbelievable little strip. But not just any strip on mcdavid on 97 yeah yeah he's going around the ice outside gave a little one hand whoops thank you and that's basically the the matchup in this series that's the signature matchup is that you've got number one and number two in the draft right but we really know it's not yeah we're just trying to build it up for TV. The gap is significant now.

I think McDavid doubled him in points this year. I just thought it was kind of interesting to note that Eichel just absolutely picked Connor McDavid's pocket on that empty net goal to solidify. That was a nice play. I'm just looking through all these. This is a great that records.com for the hl is what you're on right now yes i'm just looking at all these different um records and in potential clinching games the most goals in 53 potential clinching games mark

messier had 33 goals okay but he also played in 53 potential clinching games that's insane 53 the next closest is 41 gretzky played 53 serious potential and scored 33 goals in that there's records 33 35 and 18 there are some guys that just like live for those moments and just thrive and others just get a little nervous yeah just get a little uptight not comfortable right who can now you know if we're talking about saying who who can who can be comfortable in uncomfortable situations for sure and that's what was tampa bay's strength for so long right like they were okay just playing close games going over time they never made the big mistake toronto has that's something to learn they had a good lesson in that in the first round and you know after game one of

this series you'd be happy to be in another one of those situations where it's two two late or something how about this being for a relevant clip to the conversation we're having about pressure i would like to you guys to listen to this maur Maurice clip on the pressures of being in Toronto. He is waxing poetic here, so just get ready for it. Just to add a little context to this, once upon a time he coached for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He's known it. He's lived it. He knows.

The pressure is far more extreme here. There's danger in extreme here. Right? And there's danger in all extremes. Right? Larry Murphy couldn't play in the league, except for the three Stanley Cups he won after he left. Right? So there's that extreme.

And then the other extreme is a player that's a good player that you can't afford to pay him anymore because he's getting three times what he gets because he scored a certain... You know what I mean? It's a harder thing there. But there's also, I think, a totally equal trade-off in that the scrutiny forces players to be more focused here.

You're not getting away with a tough night in Toronto. If your game's not tight, eight of you in here are writing about it right you're not giving them three weeks so there is that so i think it's just a trade there you know it's interesting we have a whole we have other clips him on momentum and feeling pressure in general which is good too so we can kind of stick with the theme but that is just, like, he knows what he's doing. Like, is he saying that the Leafs players make too much? Ah. I did not get that sense that that's where he was going.

Okay. But I do think there's an element of, like, you do something good here and you're a big deal immediately, you know, where you can play the same way in Florida forever and never really get noticed for it you don't slide david camp the was a hero here for you know good defensive play and whatever else and he's okay he's a good player he's okay he's okay and good defensive player good good on faceoffs just to add to the pressure of what these guys might feel if they go down 0-2 tonight or do not find a way to close off,

is that if there's a money element to all of this, regardless of if Mitch goes from 11 points in the first round to 17 in the second round, or Austin goes from five goals to 10 goals in the second round, if they don't win, it all piles up on them on the opening conversation of what happened. It does. opening conversation of what happened it does and that's that is so abundantly popular here and i just listened to you say seconds ago about kemp right and it's like you need more of him it's really hard to win if kemp's not good yeah and it's really hard to win for Matthews and Marner and Tavares and Nylander if you do not get those secondary guys.

Like Mark Messi has all these great stats about being a clutch guy, but he doesn't get there without Stefan Matteau. Right. In 94 for us. And Kerfoot came up once big, but who's the next Kerfoot? That's a constant out of your third and fourth line guys.

Where is the camp conversation if they get knocked out in the second round? You know, it doesn't happen because he's never been asked to score. Very low on the totem pole. It's not even the scoring part. It's just the presence of camp is no longer there like it was when he was really going and i don't even think it's the numbers although the numbers obviously

are are key to getting you there but right now people are asking me how do do you stop Kachuk? And that's how you stop Kachuk is you have someone that can equal his presence. I'm not saying fight him. I'm not saying chirp him. I'm not saying just equal the presence that he had in game one. That helps nullify how he can make a difference in the game. And I'm not saying that Austin needs two goals tonight or Mitch needs three points, but I'm saying that you need to have an equal,

if not better presence tonight than Matthew Kachuk. Yeah. You look at it as the canceling out factor. If you don't believe you can bring the guy down to zero, then you better bring your numbers up. You know, it's hockey. You can win 11-'t believe you can bring the guy down to zero then you better bring your numbers up you know it's hockey you can win 11 10 or you can win one nothing you just if it if it has to be outscore kachuk when he's out there then yeah that'll fall on those guys for sure it's um you know that is their primary battle to fight is keeping that guy down or at least beating them at the other end of the ice and And, listen, you better learn to deal with it

if you want to play in Toronto. If you like it here, you like the fact that you can get commercials here that nobody else can get in the country. All right, you want to be seen every other commercial, a bank commercial if you're Austin Matthews. Make sure that

you take care of the dishes. Take care of the part that isn't a commercial. Osmos. Right? Take care of your presence during the game so you can have a good presence after the game. Yeah. We do have more on pressure from Maurice. Why don't we play

Maurice just on feeling pressure? So he got asked because Sam Reinhart this morning said something like, we're not feeling any pressure in Maurice. Why don't we play Maurice just on feeling pressure? So he got asked because Sam Reinhart this morning said something like, we're not feeling any pressure in this. And he got asked about that. This is what he had to say. We have to develop a style of game that's sustainable. And that's what we will hold ourselves

to. So some of the other pressures outside that, how far you go, this is one simple. We're trying to get to game seven in every series we can. We're trying. This isn't a marathon for us. We're not here for two months. We're here for tonight.

And I think that we haven't accepted the outside pressure of how far you've got to go in your season to do well, to say, okay, you know what, you had a nice year. We've got a certain game that we're trying to get to with each player. That's kind of it. Interesting way of looking at it. That's the super underdog mentality, just focus on tonight, try to get it to a game seven.

Chuck actually said before the series, the longer the series goes on, the better it is for us. I don't know. Wow. That was the blueprint against the Boston Bru bruins hang around hang around and went down three one yeah just win the game you're in and then there's one more for marie so why don't we do that and lock it up well there's marie's on momentum and on matthews and marner does either one appeal to you or sammy do you have a preference of the two yeah i think momentum's good all right yeah i'm not a big big believer of momentum oh really not it uh changes every time the puck

drops we make it to nothing you're probably feeling pretty good about our game and it's two one and they're rolling in the last game so it'll get re-established the minute the puck drops tonight and you've got to do it shift by shift. They're really doing the old AA program here, 24 hours at a time. Keep her simple. Yeah, well, I think game one was a prime example. They're down 2-1 after Matthew Nye's goal, and it was rolling for the Leafs. Yeah.

And then the second goal, you're like. And then the McCabe hit. The building's going to come unglued. The turning point, right? They didn't capitalize on 2-2 and the building right into it. So where was it in the Tampa Bay series that McCabe also threw? Was it when he threw the big hit and then talking to Paul? Yeah.

And then they scored. Cause there was this exact same scenario to me where like the momentum was in the least favor. The building was like every 10 seconds, there was a moment that made people go, ah, and then you kind of forget to play hockey. Yeah.

And so I think that's a key part for this. And that's a learning lesson for this Leafs team is to not get swept up in the emotion the adrenaline and to just be able to play the way you designed to play the game prior to puck drop even when it feels like that i just think that uh i think the focus for for mckay uh for jake for Jake McCabe and a few other guys is just do not force anything that isn't there. If you start searching for it, looking for it, and he's a good open ice hitter. He really is.

For sure. And if it's there, it's there. I don't want them to take that out of his game. I don't want him to take that out of his game. I don't want him to take that out of his game. I just think every once in a while he's chomping at the bit to go close the gap up the middle of the ice and in a perfect world get a hit. But, man, this time of year you pay the price on a bad pinch

or a forced play. Yeah. He's a guy that you almost have to have a shock color on and say tie game we're gonna have you hold back you know for down one maybe we can get you to jump up a little bit because he does jump into holes fairly well but a little too aggressive at the wrong time so far learning experience i think being on a really good team in games that matter before we get to kevin before he calls in here any thoughts on carolina and jersey i didn't watch a lot of it but uh it just seems that uh rod brindamore has them really structurally sound that even if you get you miss some bodies there's enough that can stay within the system yeah i think they make it really

hard on you like that i've equated the devils to the least of old in in ways which is why i didn't pick them in round one you know some young talented guys who it's come easy for and then you expect them to get in playoffs and it's going to get real hard they were pretty darn good in that first round we'll see now how they can battle back against the carolina team the way brenda moore sets his teams up they dump the chip they grind we're underestimating them the devils no the canes i just like massive losses yeah but i don't know they just they do have plug and play they they do have the the goaltending thing over their heads too much like brodsky freddie anderson now yeah but it's schmidt and the other net has got like nine nhl game i know it's it's almost as if the goalies seem like low on the uh priority list of what you need to

win now. Go through it. Go through the playoffs. You got Schmidt and Freddie Anderson, Samsonov and Bobrovsky. You know, what is it in the other series? You got Ottinger who's good and Grubauer. That's your best goalie, Matt. Ottinger, what did he let in?

Three goals in game one within a minute? You got the hook. What's the other series? What am I missing there? I don't know. Oh, yeah. Stu Skinner against Laurent Brassois. He's there.

All right. Let's welcome in Kevin Zegers, Canadian actor. Now, if I ask my daughter, she can rip off everything you've been in, Gossip Girl. I thought you said Hactor, which is inappropriate, too. Hey, Kevin. I'll take the latter, too. How are you? Thanks for joining us. I know you're out in LA.

There seems to be this small group of actors or celebrities out there that they love their hockey. Like I said, to my daughter, you're the guy in Gossip Girl, but to me, you're a guy that I bumped into an airport

and talked to Leafs with you for probably an hour. So what is your spring like in L.A. watching the Leafs right now? Well, it's a good time. And we just wrapped our show for the year. And so right as the playoffs started, I kind of got into, I mean, I watch every game. I'm a weirdo league fan. I've got the Sportsnet package, so I watch it here. And then I grew up with Jake Muzzin, so we, you know, I like, I'm a hockey nerd.

I'm like, you know, I know about way too much stuff. So, you know, I'm always texting you about what I think the problems are, and we go back and forth about the Leafs and how they torture us. So how do you feel about this iteration of your Toronto Maple Leafs? You've watched them struggle over the years. You've got this group that hasn't been able to get over the hump. Is this the group for you? Do you like the way they're built? I do. get over the hump is this is this the group for you do you like the way they're built i i do i

mean i i throughout parts of the season i was like oh wow they're really responsible defensively even when everyone was hurt i was like wow this is like a good this is a team that's built for now and i was to me that was exciting because i i don care. I don't think they can win if they try to outscore everybody. I think they're a little too vulnerable on the back for me. I mean, it was great. I think Samsonov stole game six, but I wouldn't count on that happening all the time. And so I was a little encouraged as the season went on

that they were playing well defensively. And I actually don't think they've played particularly well in the playoffs. I think maybe two games that I watched, I was like, oh, okay, game two in the first round. And then I think they played okay in game six, I thought. But I thought they could have easily lost all three games in Tampa. But I think having O'Reilly and I think having Achari and, you know, there's some gut and I just think there's players who make it easier to come back because I don't know if that was in the DNA of the team a couple of years ago. So they can win tight games now, but I preferred

if they just, like in this series, I think they should just steamroll them i think they're a better team and i think they should play that way i think they played on on uh whenever the last game was just sort of not to lose and i think that's not they're not going to beat them that way they have to play like the better team we're talking to kevin ziegers canadian actor and a lifetime maple leaf fan so what is it like in Hollywood? Like when you're not texting me about the Leafs, who's out there that are huge hockey fans that you can share your intense knowledge on

what's wrong with the Leafs? Well, I play in a men's league out here twice a week. So it's mostly Russian guys, but there's some Canadian guys, a few twice a week. So there's a, it's mostly Russian guys, um, but there's some Canadian guys, you guys from Toronto. So we, uh, we, we go at it a little bit. So there's like two, uh, guys from Toronto who play in my league. So we, we talk about the Leafs, um, but not really anyone. He, I mean, I play a lot out here, but, um, you know, most people are Kings fans out here, and I don't want to talk about that. I don't care. Because Will Ferrell is a big hockey fan out there.

Is it Matthew Perry? It's some sort of select group, your own niche club, right? When do we see you come to a Scotiabank arena with your face painted blue and white like Will Ferrell does for the Kings? I'm ready. I mean, I told Disney, I work for Disney, ABC, and they own the league now, the airing of the league. So I told them, send me up there.

I mean, it'll cost me a paycheck to buy a ticket, which is fine. But I'll happily spruce up the suits and the bottom ring. Good. I have noticed, I mean, maybe you guys have noticed that, too. It's a very the bottom ring. Good. I have noticed. I mean, maybe you guys have noticed that, too. It's a very quiet interruption. Yes. Yeah.

Is that a thing, or am I just imagining that? Yeah, no, you're right, and it's because Kip and his friends are there. It's Bay Street still cutting deals, you know? Yeah, eating sushi and sipping martinis. We do need you because we're tired of the Beeb and his life raft jackets. I'm more of a, maybe I'm more of a grownup, but no, he plays in my league occasionally. He subs in when he's in town and he's a, he, he really knows.

I will give him credit. He's a, he's a big hockey head, so he knows everything about everything. So he can tell you why Lafferty is not playing. He knows a lot about everything, so I will give him credit for that. So at least he knows. Here, you go to a Kings game, and half the people are like a one-on-three, and everyone's cheering. It's a little bit kind of,

and people are a little out of sorts about the game. And so I prefer to, but I'd love to go. I mean, I'll be there. I haven't been home in a while since COVID, actually, so I need to get back, and I would definitely come back maybe in the third round. Ooh, conference final or Stanley Cup final. So if you're out there with the Beeb and you slash him,

would seven security people come right in your face? No, because he's from Stratford, right? So we kind of know each other. I grew up in Woodstock, which is a couple of towns over from Stratford. So when he was younger growing up in Stratford, which is a couple of towns over from Stratford. So when he was, um, when he was younger, growing up in Stratford, I was a child actor. So he kind of knew of me. So there's a couple of us who can get some wax in on him. Cause he, you know, he, the thing with us, like, you know, famous young people is like, we need a whack every once in a while. And so, uh, especially

when you're playing hockey, cause he dangled, you know, he's a dangler and everyone's kind of stayed, everyone kind of stayed away from him, but you know, you can get longer except Pronger, Chris Pronger, Pronger and Sheldon Suray plays with us occasionally. So he'll get, he's happy to,

he's happy to give him a, all right, Kev. So what's the score tonight? And Leafs going down to Florida. Oh2, or is this thing 1-1? I think they're going to win 6-2 tonight. And I think they're going to win both games in Florida. Awesome.

Awesome. Yeah. All right, so. They're a better team. They just need to play with it. They need to come out and just sort of establish the fact that this is not Tampa. We've got to give you a plug here before we let you go here. It's Rookie Fed, right?

Seen on Tuesday nights on ABC? Yeah, Tuesday nights on, I think it's on CTV in Canada. Awesome. And ABC down here in the States. Enjoy the game, Andy. Thanks for coming on and spending some time with us. Of course. Appreciate your time.

And, Bourne, I read your book It's fantastic I'm a big fan Keep doing your good work I watch your show on YouTube every day I'll keep it up, keep doing the good work Do you mind just touching A little bit that you can kind of relate

To our boy here, Justin Bourne A little bit Two days ago I celebrated 12 years of sobriety. Wow. Congratulations, man. That's awesome. I think when I first met you, I was pre-that. So I think I was well lubricated when I was talking to you about hockey the last time.

You guys can share some stories, and I want to hear them all. You can. There's plenty. So, yeah, great book, though. I just finished it a couple weeks ago. Thanks, man. That's awesome. We appreciate the support.

Thanks for coming on. Kevin, enjoy the game tonight, man. Thank you. Take care. Kevin Zegers, Canadian actor, Woodstock, Ontario. Does a terrific job of representing hockey in Hollywood. I wonder if he's in like the Manhattan Beach area. I got a buddy that played in the skate out there.

It's a weird crowd, right? Sheldon Suray, Justin Bieber. That's cool. That's really cool, right? I would sell tickets for that if it were in Toronto. That is a top five sports photo of all time. Pronger squishing Biebs. Pronger absolutely annihilating Bieber into the board.

The smile on Pronger's face could light up ten rooms. Well, you know what it is? It's because Bieber kind of has the, this is just a terrible analogy in this day and age, but have you ever watched the Russian videos where they let Putin skate around? Yes. Like, you don't want to hit Bieber.

He has that vibe. You don't want to be the guy who, and Pronger's like, whatever. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. The Bieb is almost like one of those guys. He's not the Bieb, Kipper. It's the Biebs. It's Bieber. It's not the Bieb.

No one's ever called him the Bieb in his life. The Biebs. There you go. The Biebs. Seems to me like one of those guys who thinks under different circumstances in his life he could have played pro hockey yeah it's always offensive to me those guys yeah where you could have stuck a guitar in my hands when i was like like out of the womb and i was never gonna be a musician well listen, they stuck a stick in his hands

and he was never going to be a hockey player. So you don't have to feel too bad about that. Yeah, but he's got that, you know, I would definitely rather be a famous musician than a hockey player for sure. That's a fun question. If he didn't love the Leafs so much, he'd be in on Ottawa for sure.

Yeah. Beaver could probably outright buy it. I mean, i don't know what kind of money justin bieber has but like feels like a lot not kind of rich you can't be worth two billion and spend a billion of it on a team you gotta have deeper deeper pockets is that right yeah i mean i'm not you think well yeah you're making sense there it's a lot of money half of your wealth on an ottawa senator team it seems dicey and if you might want to build a new ring too i'd probably a bill yeah good thing is people are pretty good at hustling governments to help there i can't believe like i think was it you that said this before the show has the rock and have they been to ottawa i know the canada how

about snoop did anybody tell him that there's no smoking in the building? He'll find a way. He's the owner. If he's the owner. There will be. If there's an owner. Highly ventilated pockets of the arena. Snoop zone.

Snoop zone. They should market that. Call it the Snoop zone. The Snoop section. Ontario. It's all legal. Where did you find that? Did you record that from the cafeteria? I can't believe you asked me where I find that

I have a trove of things here That wasn't a drop That was Derek just sitting in the back It may have been Did you Did you mic the last board meeting here? It was just a lot of screaming and stuff Alright Sammy

4-2 you nailed the score I am putting you right back In the spotlight I don't want to say what I'm thinking, so I'll say what I don't think. No, no, no, no. That's not what our show's all about. No, we're authentic.

That's why our reads are so bad, because we're authentic. I'm going cats again tonight. Oh, this is totally reverse psychology now. Cats, four to three. Give me the cats. Meow. To be clear.

People have texted me saying, you're not allowed to meow ever again on the show. That's fair. Like, that's very fair. Well, now that it's a drop, it's unstoppable. Yeah, no, drops. Listen, that's Derek's call. He's the cruise director over there. So, if he

drops it, he drops it, but you personally cannot meow any longer. And I don't think it means that the series is over by any stretch of the imagination, but I do worry again about tonight. They go down 0-2.

I don't know where you get your confidence on on winning the series i gotta be honest with you i wouldn't say i'm confident down oh two on both on home ice but i'm not confidence out of him his it's either confidence or outright fear does the effort and commitment out of sammy as a fan here kind of mailing it in. I don't care, whatever. This whole bit, I don't like it. It doesn't make me feel good. Okay, to be honest, fellas, this is how far down in my own head I am. When I was optimistic, they lose. When I'm not optimistic, they win.

I don't know if I'm still doing a bit. I don't know if I am doing a bit. I am so twisted. You're twisted and confused. I'm twisted. I'm twisted, but I I'm open to my mouth And things are coming out I'll tell you what I think

Hold on Just to finish This tells us Exactly how hurt And damaged He is He needs therapy Do you think sports therapy

Could be a thing? I don't think it could help him It's too far gone It's too far gone Yeah the knot's tied You can can't... I'm listening. What were you going to ask me about? I wasn't going to ask you anything. I was going to tell you what I think. Yeah. I think the Leafs are going to pump him tonight.

So, Kevin Zegers said 6-2? He did. Are you in there, Ballpark? Yeah, let me just co-sign Kevin's great call. I will tell you guys after seven minutes. Cowardice. Seven minutes. Okay, seven. I said 5-2 in seven minutes. Cowardice. Seven minutes. Okay, seven.

I said 5-2 in game one for the Leafs. I'll say 5-2. Okay. We will text you after seven minutes. Get your take. Who's going to start the game for the Leafs tonight? You know Chuck's going back out there. I'll be surprised if I don't see Bunting, Matthews, and Marner.

McCabe and Brody. I'll be surprised. Should be Riley and Shen, though. Yeah. I'm good with that. Alright. Just like that, we are done.

And we are getting ready for Game 2. Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers. Here we go again. Our thanks to Mike Kelly. Our thanks to Dale Tallon and Kevin Zegers. Very enjoyable show. Really fun show. Let's hope everybody has a fun night watching

NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. We're back tomorrow on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show.