Real Kyper & Bourne - Getting to Know the Leafs' Chief

Episode Date: May 21, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee share reactions to the Oilers' win over the Canucks in last night's Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Final. Jason Gregor, Oilers analyst, breaks down Edmonton's series win, the Knoblauch effect for the Oilers and their biggest positives & concerns heading into their matchup with the Stars (1:30). Then, a post-mortem on the Canucks - the critical loss of Boeser, Pettersson's postseason to forget and their next steps. Finally, they are joined by newly minted Leafs head coach, Craig Berube (35:39), who discusses his first priorities on the job and his overall coaching philosophy.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

welcome into the national hour the real kipper and born show i'm nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee derrick brandeo david sis boom bah oh it's jake today who's jake hey snake i can't keep track up there hi Hi, Jake. Welcome aboard, buddy. Jake Schultz, I think is his last name. Jake Schultz. Jam-packed this hour as we're going to get right into the Edmonton Oiler win last night over the Vancouver Canucks with Jason Greger, host of the Jason Greger Show on Sportsnet 1440 in Edmonton.

In the meantime, a friendly reminder, this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. And also, in about 40 minutes, head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, newly announced, minted, Craig Berube, will also join us as well. But in the meantime, no real surprise last night for both of you

before we get it to Jason. Well, I mean, you go to game seven. I don't think there's any definite outcome. So it ended up the way I thought it would in the end, but Vancouver certainly gave a much better push than I thought they would. Feel for the Vancouver fans because

that team just losing Besser. It just wasn't the way they played the whole playoffs. Tough. All right, let's welcome him in. Jason Greger, 1440 in Edmonton, host of the Jason Greger Show. Nobody cares in Edmonton about Vancouver like Sammy's alluded to. Right, Jason? Well, maybe not anymore.

I think they cared about him for a short time. I will say, what our fans were very classy when the Brock Besser news came about. They kind of put aside the rivalry to say, hey, blood clots are pretty serious, so you wish him well. Well, however it happens, you just want to get through. So we'll ask you for your take on game seven. Maybe a little bit more exciting at the end than it should have been

considering what seemed like it might just be a sleepy way through for a win for the Oilers. Well, the Oilers had the game in control until Ryan McLeod decided to just not shoot the puck. I'm sorry, that changed the whole game. If you look at it, Vancouver had had in that third period, and you knew they were going to come. They're desperate, so they get a power play.

They had two shots, nothing serious. They didn't have a shot on goal five on five. Now, they'd missed some shots, and Edmonton had blocked them. And then on a simple dump in, Skinner comes out, plays it, puts it up to Desjarne, who puts it right on McLeod's tape. He has time. All he's got to do is flip it out and he just missed it and both you guys played like mistakes are going to happen in a game but when a coach benches you

for one mistake it's rarely one mistake i think is a kind of cumulative for mcleod i don't think they've liked his competitiveness in the series and you know that play is just it's inexcusable at that time of the game and it it gave Vancouver life and, you know, made the last eight and a half minutes of that game much more stressful than it probably should have been. Because up until that point, Vancouver had really generated nothing. And that, to me, is a huge story on a team where we, at times, during the regular season, Jason,

questioned whether or not they'd ever have the ability to hold any team at a handful of shots for a good chunk of a hockey game but that's exactly what happened and you know we'll get into evan bouchard's historic offense ability here and the numbers that he's putting up but even for a guy like that to show the ability to to to shut down teams. Did anybody really see that, especially last night coming into a game seven? Well, if you look at the orders, actually,

since Chris Knobloch's come in, Edmonton has been like a top five team in high danger chances against. You know, everybody looks at Edmonton and think of Drysaddle McDavid, and rightfully so, and Zach Hyman's a 50 goal score. And Evan Bouchard is an 80 point defenseman, but you know, Edmonton overall has actually pretty good.

If you look at sport logics, numbers, Edmonton is number one in high danger chances against in the NHL playoffs. And they're number one and expected goals against the problem is they still, and if you had a ranking for number one in gift goals, I'm pretty sure they'd be there too. And that, to me, has always been their issue. They'll play well for long stretches, and then boom.

It's like you have the game completely in control, and there's no reason to make that giveaway. You know, Stuart Skinner early in the series led in some goals that really had no business going in, and I call those gift goals. And if Edmonton, you know, if they can reduce those, they'll have a really good chance. But, you know, against Dallas, who's a really deep team, I don't know if you can get away with giving away games

like Edmonton did in this series to Vancouver. It never should have gone seven games. Edmonton was the better team by far outside of game five. Game five, the Canucks full marks for their win. But that to me is going to be the question mark moving forward, guys, is can emmonton eliminate their self-destructive mode that always seems to rear its ugly head yeah that's uh you know i am curious before moving on looking ahead for the oilers to talk a little bit about why that

series was closer than someone like me expected i thought that this was going to be i'm i forget if i said five or six games but i thought that they were heavily outclassed. Was it just not getting the goals from the depth, too much using McDavid and Dreisaitl? What to you was the main cause? Maybe the goaltending is sort of assumed, but were there other things to diagnose and say, okay, we can patch this for the next round? Well, you'd like some production from your third line, sure,

but realistically, Emerson scored enough goals to win the series. game three i felt like their five on five scoring early in the series wasn't good enough i don't think they generated enough traffic in front of a she loves and that changed in game six and then you know they scored a few more five on five goals in game seven you know and then yan other guys started to to chip in but really you know what blowing a lead like all three games they lost they had a lead right they were up four to one in but really you know what blowing a lead like all three games they lost they had a lead right they were up four to one in game one with 26 minutes left you shouldn't lose that game and then they lose game three by out shooting them 45 to 18 and you know skinner allowed four goals on 15 shots in 40 minutes and then got pulled so honestly i think it was that really like

it i you know depth scoring's nice but it's at times i think it was that, really. Like, you know, depth scoring's nice, but at times I think it's a little bit overrated. I've been looking up teams who win, and not surprisingly, guys, it's the teams, your best players are your best players. It's nice to get a key goal from a depth guy, and Cody Ceci's suddenly Mr. Game 7 for the Edmonton Orders. Two goals in consecutive Game 7s for him, both the opening goals of the game.

So, you know, those are nice, but ultimately, I think you're going to win and lose with your best players, and orders uh two goals in consecutive game sevens for him both the opening goals of the game so you know those are nice but ultimately i think you're going to win and lose with your best players and that's that's what the orders did here at the end their best guys were great when it mattered most and uh you know they'll need to be good against dallas like no no doubt in my mind dallas is a much tougher opponent than they faced in the first two rounds we're talking to jason gregor host of the jason gregor show on sports 1440 in edmonton so you just mentioned it uh the fact that this did go seven games uh what's left out of the edmonton oilers to push against a dallas star team that's sitting at home waiting and resting

yeah you know what it's interesting because if you actually look at this series and you look at dallas dallas has actually played one more game than Edmonton because they played seven and six, right? Orders had their break earlier with winning in five and had a week off. So, yeah, you know what? They only have two days between games. But look at Dallas's. I think it's kind of being underreported.

Dallas has basically played this whole playoffs with five defensemen, right? You look at Miroiral heishkanen has played 311 minutes right now bouchard who leads the orders he would be sixth on dallas in time on ice amongst defensemen sixth right so they've gone with five guys um you know they brought in petrovic for one game but you know him and nils lundquist barely play hawk and paw is obviously their number six guy, and I know he's skated, but I don't think, by the sounds of it, he's not ready for at least the first two games of this series.

So I don't know if fatigue is going to be much of a factor, to be honest. I'm really interested in the matchup here. We know that Lundell and Tanev, they like to use those two guys against the top line, Jack Eichel, Nathan McKinnon. But Edmonton has McDavid's line, but then on their second line, oh, they have the NHL's playoff leading scorer in Leon Dreisaitl. And no offense to Casey Middlestad or Vegas' second-line center, they don't hold a candle to Dreisaitl.

So how are they going to manipulate their defense pairings as Tanev, who only played 52% of McKinnon's minutes five on five, you know, how much of that matchup is going to be? Because I think that's what it's going to come down to. Can Dallas stop Edmonton's top gunners? And can Edmonton just get consistent goaltending? They don't need great goaltending. They just need consistent goaltending.

Yeah. You know, one thing that caught my eye is the Oilers and points for game from their defensemen are first in the postseason, not surprisingly, when you have Evan Bouchard getting 20 points. But tell us a little bit about the D pairs, because early in the series, it was a bit of a story that maybe Nurse and CeCe were having some struggles.

It seems like they kind of figured things out. Bouchard, Neckholm obviously do what they do. You know, I guess very impressed by Bouchard's numbers. You probably weren't surprised by that i'm guessing well i'm surprised it got 20 points bouchard's good offensively and and not only 20 points guys like five goals in a series for a defenseman and uh well i guess four because they changed that goal to hyman last night but uh four goals all five on five so you know not on the power play and and bouchard's defensive game has really

improved for me like he's really smart player not i'm not gonna compare him at all to the player but he defends similar to how guys like lidstrom and nita meyer they're not physical they're not chris pronger you know they're not stevens you know they're not shea weber they're not beating the hell out of you that's not how he defends he defends more with his brain and with sticks and and playing the angles. And, you know, really the only error he made in this whole series was in game five where he just, you know, mishandled the puck, which is a bread and butter. So it wasn't even like a bad read or losing a battle. And I think Bouchard's really played well.

But I give Paul Coffey credit. He switched the D pairs after game four. He put CeCe with Kulak, and then he put nurse with, with day Harney and Cody CC in game five, six and seven wasn't on the ice for a goal against five on five. He scored obviously the goal in game seven and, and, and he played the second most minutes five on five of any order defenseman after Bouchard.

So, you know, this, the pairing switch seemed to have worked for Edmonton. You know, they got a little bit different matchups. Now, granted,

it's not like Vancouver is a really dangerousmonton. They got a little bit different matchups. Now, granted, it's not like Vancouver is a really dangerous offensive team. They didn't really challenge guys. I'm sorry. You can't win in the playoffs playing that way. I know that Besser got, obviously, the blood clot, and that doesn't help. Elias Pedersen was on a melt carton

somewhere, missing in action. I just don't think you can win in the playoffs when you don't attack in today's NHL. And I think Edmonton will see now because Dallas, they come at you in waves. They got three lines that can score, not to the level of Edmonton, but they got three balanced scoring lines. So Jason, is that it?

Just maybe reshuffle the deck with the pairs for Bouchard or did he need a coaching change or like, where, where does, where does it truly matter that,

or where was it? The trigger point on, on going to another level for this guy? Well, last year it started, I think it had helped like he he's and you guys, I think sometimes a lot of people overlook having an experienced partner. It started with Duncan Keith in 2022, right?

And Bouchard raved about all the little tips that Keith would give him in games that most coaches just can't give you at that point, right? And some can never give you that point. Like, he's a Hall of Famer. You know, he understands the position. And then they brought in Matthias Ekholm, and, you know, he kind of calms down. And Bouchard just keeps developing. It's only his third full season, and he's a great offensive player.

He's actually a very smart player. And he's improved his just kind of urgency at times, right? Like that guy can sit back like he's in a rocking chair back there. He'll stick candle through three guys, and he never panics, which is a great thing to have. But sometimes you want him to be more urgent. But I really think when Paul Coffey came in, he changed the entire makeup of the blue line.

Like Bouchard, what's his skill set? Moving the puck. And he was always good at it. But he made Vincent Desharnais, Cody Cece, Darnell Nurse, and said every one of those guys, we're not just dumping the puck out anymore. We're looking to make plays. And he actually really ripped his team. I think it was in game five where his defense was flipping the puck up the ice. He's like, that's not how we play. We make plays. And he actually really ripped his team. I think it was in game five where his defense was flipping the puck up the

ice. He's like, that's not how we play. We make plays and it really plays into Bouchard's game. And, and obviously I think learning from a guy like coffee, who's a hall of famer who probably gets underrated for his acumen of understanding the position of defense.

Yes. He's one of the greatest offensive guys, but he does understand how to play the game in the defensive zone. And, and he's just challenged Bouchard. And Bouchard says, man, like, when Paul Coffey's sitting there and telling you you can do something and showing you videos of what you can do, you're like, oh, God, I guess I can do it.

And so I really think Paul Coffey gets a lot of credit. And Chris Knobloch, because some head coaches, guys, don't necessarily want to really empower their position coaches. And he did with Coffey. He did with Stewart on the PK. And he did with Glennffey. He did with Stewart on the PK. And he did with Glenn Gullitson, obviously not touching anything on the power play. So when you look at, you know, sort of tiers of talented players,

it's obviously crucial to have guys behind the best guys. RNH, 16 points in 12 games. I think Hyman's above a point per game too. You know, those guys coming through maybe makes the difference were you impressed with those guys ability to continue to produce even when maybe mcdavid or dry saddle pulled back a bit well zach hyman's been good all year he's got 11 goals to lead the playoffs right like he's excellent around the crease he had 55 goal 54 goals in the regular season you know nugent hopkins i really thought he came on in the last few games of this series.

Historically, he hasn't been a really productive player, five on five, in the regular season, and really not in the postseason outside of 2022, right, where he had five goals, five on five. But he came alive here late, and they really needed him. He scored two huge goals here in the last two games, both five on five, and I think that's massive for them. Now, Nugent Hopkins,

Hyman, and McDavid, they've been aligned for the majority of the year. They did get away from it for a bit, but I think they're better that way. And Dylan Holloway's emergence allowed them to go Kane and Drysaddle together with him, and now they got their set top six, and I wouldn't change it at all against Dallas. Now, they

give Drysaddle, McDavid, and Hyman that first shift after a dallas power play all the time which i'm fine with but i would leave nugent hopkins there they needed him to go to the net guys more and he did that specifically in game six to score from around the crease you know hyman lives there but yeah those depth guys are good cane scored two goals in game five and six you know dylan holloway scored maybe the best goal for the Oilers in the playoffs in game six. Their depth guys did I guess their second tier depth guys did step up here in the final

two games when they needed them to win the series. You know, Jason, Vancouver obviously disappointment the fans, but there's a sense that they won their fans over. There's plenty to look forward to. The build, the excitement. Where would the Edmonton fans be at this point

going through a series with Dallas where probably not favored, maybe? I'm not sure where it stands, but is this from here on in for Edmonton fans, cup or bust here? Or is there a sense that getting close is still okay? Yeah, I would guess most fans are like, no, no, no, like, let's go. Right now, Leon Drysaddle said cup or bust, and then he's kind of like, hey, maybe that was a little bit too much.

But I think they, like, if the owners get swept in the conference final, guys, they'll be like, well, what the hell is the point? You know, if you lose in overtime of game seven, you know, maybe it's a little bit, all right, we're competitive and we'll see what happens. But, no, I think they look at their team and they were the best regular season team since Chris Knobloch took over. They had the most points.

They were second in goals. They were top five in goals against. They were top five second in goals. They were top five in goals against. They were top five in penalty kill. They were top five in power play. There's really no reason for them, as good as Dallas is, you know, Edmonton should go in there and say, hey, we should be able to compete. That's why they went out and got these guys.

Now, you know, Adam Henrik, I think, could be a wild card in this series. I don't think he's going to be ready for game one, guy, but if he's ready for game two, three, or four, that adds some depth to them because their third line has really done nothing offensively in this series and with Dylan Holloway's emergence, you could move

him there and maybe that jump starts some things. Their fourth line's actually been more productive than their third line. So I think there is a lot of expectations inside the organization and amongst the fan base and i think it's fair right like they played that well for this long you and i know that doesn't guarantee you success in the postseason but they've had some some learning right they they went to the conference

final got beat by a very good colorado team then they lost to vegas last year so they've been a good team like there's no more well we have to. It doesn't mean you'll win, but I don't think the orders, like the McLeod goal, the Stuart Skinner goals, those glaring gift goals, they just can't happen in the conference final, I think. And so that's what I'm going to be watching for, because I think if Edmonton can play a mature game, guys, they're right there, and this should be a hell of a series, right? Rupe Hintz's injury is something that I think is a big storyline

for Dallas heading into this series. But, you know, we'll see how they can do it. And it's funny because, you know, Edmonton, if you look at all their numbers, they're actually way better defensively than people think. The problem is they make those glaring errors. So I guess maybe that's why they're not that good, because they still make them.

But overall, if you look at shot suppression, shots on goal, scoring chances, they don't give up a lot. Their goals, again, look at shot suppression, shots on goal, scoring chances, they don't give up a lot. Their goals, again, should be better if they just get decent goaltending. Well, we'll move from what could happen, what should happen. What do you think will happen? Do you feel comfortable making a prediction yet, or have you not run all your proper analysis?

You know what? I actually had both of these teams at the start of the playoffs in the Western Conference Finals. So I'll go with the team I teams at the start of the playoffs in the in the western conference finals so um i'll go with uh with the team i thought at the start of the playoffs um which was edmonton and so i said edmonton and seven and so i'll kind of stick with that uh i just mcdavid like when your best players are that good yeah it just gives you such an advantage and i'm i'm very excited to see merrill heiskanen, you know, Heiskanen and Bouchard, because I'm not saying he's a better player, but in the series,

Bouchard was infinitely better than Quinn Hughes. And now Bouchard and Heiskanen, both guys got five goals, right? Like, that's the storyline to watch. You know, young Wyatt Johnson, oh, my goodness, what a player that guy's become for the Dallas Stars. Their amateur scout manager getting a massive raise instead of Colvin and all those guys. Are you kidding me? Look at their drafting in Dallas. It's amazing here

the last six years. It's stunning how good it is. I think it's going to be a great series. It really comes down to, can Stuart Skinner just be consistent? I don't think he has to be great. He just has to be consistent. Great storylines going into this one. Jason, terrific stuff, man.

Thanks for joining us. Hey, boys, have a great day. You too. Thanks, Jason. Jason Greger. Sports. 1440 in Edmonton, and it's the Jason Greger Show. It's going to be a good series, boys.

That is. There's a lot of history between these two teams. There was like my youth, they used to play in the first round every year, and they would be like the closest sweeps ever. I remember like every game would go to OT and Dallas would win every time and they'd get swept all the time.

I know we're going to go to game time. Yeah. Very disappointing game watching it from a Vancouver Canuck perspective for at least, you know, 40 minutes.

Yeah. Like, they couldn't get anything going and the power play sunk them it was like that four minute power play was devastating they call Guy Boucher and say hey can you give us some pointers here like what was that that game seven boys I've watched that game seven a lot of times. It just felt so leafy. And I'm sorry to my Canuck fans. It's in the second round, so it's not leafy because it was in the second round.

But just the inability to even get in the zone or create, like, zone time or have chances, like, they could not get to the middle of the ice. It is devastating. Part of, you know, there is luck involved, and the Leafs obviously didn't have their guys. You know, to not have Besser and Demko in that in that game like she loves us not to blame that's not why they didn't didn't win the game i started out with like a ridiculous day five or six nothing he was great without him but you know a couple of shots from the point get through he seems to

struggle seeing through screens right now and maybe he'll find that but before we move on when one thing happened sat night, game six, I want to ask you guys about. And the guys on Hockey Night Canada pointed it out, and it was JT Miller just giving it to Dakota Joshua on the ice. Do you recall that? Yeah. Yeah.

And I know the guys liked it a lot, but I did not like it at all. And I just wanted to get your thoughts. What didn't you like about it? What did I not like about it? I didn't like a guy chewing out a teammate in front of 18,000 fans and millions watching. That's what I didn't like about it. Yeah.

So I'm with you. I typically think that it's okay to be upset and time and place and all that, but that didn't feel quite on to me. Yeah, and you know how I feel about JT Miller. You love Miller. And I didn't like him for a very long time because I heard stories like that. And that's not to say that JT Miller was wrong in maybe the message that he was trying to get across to Dakota, whether it's, hey, get a puck in deep.

We can't turn it over there. You know, that's a critical time. That's a critical time. That's a critical moment. Whatever the message he needed or wanted to send, I think there's a million ways you can say the same thing to him without embarrassing him in that instance. Well, I mean, a guy like him also deserves a lot of credit for the way that he pushes his teammates to get them where they got. So, yeah, I can see the good and the bad of it.

It's not that. It is a big deal, but it's, you know, he's made so many strides in being a great leader and a teammate. But, you know, there are players, you know, that I've played with that are in that similar situation to JT Miller. They would never do that. They would never belittle a guy like that in front of everybody. It would be done in the room. But at that moment, there's the same way to get the same message across,

but with building blocks, not with stripping a guy down. And it's clearly a cumulative. Cumulative has been a tough word. Jesus. Because it wasn't the play that they that happened wasn't like super egregious. Like the puck kind of came out and he kind of the guy made a good play with his glove.

But yeah, I think when you live by the sword, die by the sword with JT Miller, where he's just a complete hothead, you're going to have to deal with that kind of thing. You're absolutely right that it wasn't a critical, critical play. But what it projects is the level of frustration that you're having and the lack of success that you're having. And when I saw that and I listened to the guys

and, you know, they had their takes. Kevin Bieksa had his take as well as uh gas luke had his take that you know there's there's reasons why they liked it i said to myself that that that tells me that things are are kind of derailing a little bit bubbling and when if i'm an edmonton oiler guy and i'm watching that go on i go boys we got him yeah no i'm with you on that i my junior coach was so good with the whole never let him see a sweat thing we're not slamming doors we're not you know we can still hold each other accountable without that sort of stuff where the other team goes oh they're reeling yeah and they were reeling because they were really they were reeling they

were reeling like even they tied that game early in the in game six and it was Hoglander scored that goal and Patterson had a little bit of jump. But it just felt that like you guys both picked Edmonton. I picked Vancouver. I thought Vancouver had a little bit more gumption than Edmonton. They make it close, man. And I honestly give Talkit a ton of credit

because them coming back in the third period yesterday, like they were getting beat like a drum for 52 minutes of that game. And the fact that they even had that push at all when they're down three it's like give crap talk it must just a tourist he won jack adams right yeah he did oh he did yeah oh good for him pretty sure that was nance over the weekend congratulations i mean well earned the canucks were saying themselves everything has to go right for us to make playoffs and they're you know a goal away in game seven of the second round from seeing the well learned the Canucks were saying themselves everything has to go right for us to make playoffs and they're you know a goal away in game seven of the second round from seeing the conference final

so hell of a performance that puck doesn't hit the door off when the at the end of the game there it's like maybe they've got game seven overtime different story but anyways they couldn't they couldn't hold on any longer season for the Canucks absolutely game time game time all right it's game time presented by bet365 visit the app latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19+. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. So, Kipper, you were asking our good friend Jason Greger

who would be a favorite in that series. And the Edmonton Oilers are plus 110 in that series. So they're a bit of an underdog going up against the Dallas Stars. It's minus 130. And on the other side of it, the Florida Panthers are minus 150 favorites against the New York Rangers plus 125.

Yeah, I will say looking at these lines, this is an awesome final four. And if you were going to decide like if these are probably the four best teams in the league, like there's no real fluke of anybody getting in there. They won their division and the Oilers stumbled out of the game. Nobody's getting in the side door here.

They all broke down the front door. They were a good start to finish. These four, well, sorry. The Oilers being the exception again there. So, you know, 15 games. So two pretty tight series there and Edmonton's underdog, which would probably be good for them. And just checking in on my favorite time

to check in on, the Conn Smythe Trophy race here. Jake Ottinger is the favorite at plus 500. A favorite. So they think Dallas is going to win the cup. Dallas is the favorite, according to Bet365, to win the cup. And if they think that, you know, the goalie... If he shows up, if he shows up, it's going to be hard for the Oilers. But...

Greg, you brings up a great point about Dallas' D. I don't... I'm not pleased with his consistency. I think the biggest concern for dallas is can chris tan have play enough games like he is he took a licking in round two how about him getting hit in the mouth he's got no teeth he loses gums it's just gonna be a nose and a chin i was just praying that they were gonna get put out so that he's not half of a man when the leaf sign him in the off season but he's just like taking a salary you know three's half of eight um and so i'm just looking

down the list here at the consmith guys two that i kind of like are oilers evan bouchard 25 to one if he keeps ripping it to the net at this pace you know i know probably mcdavid if they are going to win but like narrative he's been good so i don't mind that and zach hyman 50 to 1 to win the consmith so if he keeps firing in the net i think he leads the goal is he lead the playoff and goals i think he does so he's had a really good i mean i'd be a lot because of mcdavid so be a tough one but it's a long shot of 50 to 1 and maybe the the writers like the narrative they want to stick it to the least i mean if there's anything that could make Leaf fans heartbroken, it's literally a Zach Hyman

consummate. So there's a couple long shots I like. A lot of goalies up there and the superstars, as you would expect. So that was Game Time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app to find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19+. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Alright.

We'll take a quick break. When we come back, maybe we'll throw in a Rick Tockett clip. Jack play responsibly. All right. We'll take a quick break. We come back. Maybe we'll throw in a Rick Tockett clip. Jack Adams award winner. And then we'll track down the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Craig Berube. That and more when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, Jays, Raptors, and the NFL.

The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we're back. I'm Kip Rills, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. So, all said and done for the Vancouver Canucks. Just, it's a weird day. Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. So, all said and done for the Vancouver Canucks. Just so weird, eh? Just these injuries that guys just, I don't remember it in my era where it's like,

one second it's like, oh, he's not playing. Yeah, you guys had bad medicine, so they didn't know and they just trotted you out there. A blood clot. Like, what are the odds? I know. It's brutal. Just brutal timing. It reminded me of the odds? I know. It's brutal. Just brutal timing.

It reminded me of the Joseph Wohl back where you're like, here we go. Big game seven. They're like, oh, actually, you don't have one of your best players. And you watch that four-minute power play. And it was just. Unlike it can't be true. And so Talk It loads up the D. I think they had four D over the two power play units, two in each unit.

And they still gave up a mile-long Connor Brown breakaway. By the way, Brown had a couple breaks. He's an offensive guy. He had 120 points in the O, I think. There's the worst attempt. Connor, man, I love you, but my God, was that an awful breakaway attempt. Quick test.

Jeez Louise. When it's all said and done, what do you make of Pettersson with one goal in 13 games and, what, seven points? I thought he tried his ass off the last game or two. I thought game seven he ran into people, he skated. Good for him. Is it still like in that Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares,

you're paid $12, $13 million. We don't care. You got to produce. Hughes, Nylander, Tavares, you're paid $12, $13 million. We don't care. You got to produce. I believe that is you have held them to that account, right? I do care, you know, if you're still playing and you're effective and I thought he had the back heel. I feel for these, like, great, you're rich. Yeah.

But this is the way it's going to be moving forward here for all of you. Yeah. All of you yeah all of you like you don't produce you are going to get crapped on beyond belief but kip it's never been a free pass for superstars to underperform in the playoffs no it's worse now i'm sure it's worse now yeah i don't want to say this too loud for the vancouver people to hear but petterson was worse than marner has been yeah i think don't you Don't you? It's just, listen, I'll go back to, it's really hard out there. Oh, yeah.

Five on five. And if your power play goes south or you got an average goalie, you're done. Yeah. You're done. And you will take the heat. But it's way harder for the stars for sure.

But, you know, you look at the guys who get through, and every year, McDavid and Dreisaitl, a zillion points in the playoffs, and every year McKinnon has a bunch of points, and it's a different type of player that has success in the playoffs, maybe. And so maybe Pedersen and Marner and, you know, more perimeter-type guys, maybe they shouldn't make as much money. Maybe they're not on the level of these guys who are bullies.

No one's saying no. I have no idea. I'm not blaming the player, but if I'm the teams, I'm having second thoughts about, yeah, that guy's... But you're not getting him if you have second thoughts. You're not getting him.

He's going somewhere else. Buddy, the Leafs could have had Marner for less than they gave him. Mikko Rantanen got 9.5 after Marner. But Marner ended up being paid right where he was supposed to get paid right but that doesn't mean he got paid but they should have paid him well matthew shouldn't have gotten past uh uh eichel in buffalo there's no reason why he should have been two two million more than i you talked about team jealousy in our first block and that's what this is he did he got that you know and that's i'm not saying it's right yeah i'm just saying it's that's that's the cycle and no matter what

hey good way to finish your check uh pd but no one cares did he have i literally just said i tried hard no one cares they're gonna they're gonna run you out of the building they're gonna run you out for not producing another way to another way to play Petey, right? Like he can run into people and he can do, you know, that physical edge. But I thought he tried the last time. At 12 million, 13 million, these guys, it's like produce or you got to just suck it up. Yeah. Did they, like, I mean, I watched all their games closely.

Like, I don't remember how many slot chances did Pettersson have? No, he wasn't in there. like i don't remember how many slot chances did petterson have no it felt like he was he never like even when he scored his goal it was off like the sideboards where he just kind of shot into an empty net every blocked shot was at the middle like they couldn't at vancouver couldn't get anything to the net do you know how many 40 minutes of their shots crazy megan chica had a shot or a stat that the canucks got 22% of their shots through in game seven. 22%. 22?

So they attempted whatever, 60, what's the math on that? 15 get through? Never got through to the net. No. So that's perimeter. That's good D, protecting the house by Edmonton and all that. But I think it's becoming clearer that you need players who can get through there. Zach Hyman has 11 goals natchushkin had all

the goals he had where are those guys getting the goals it's not a mystery hyman skating man he's gotten faster too like just powerfully drops that shoulder it's like that's how machine that's how you score in the playoffs you have big fast guys that go to the middle of the ice all right let's go to rick rocketocket on how he feels overall about his team. Yeah, I mean, there's no quit in this team, obviously. You know, the third period, there's parts of the second. I thought there was no quit. Really proud of the guys.

Unreal, you know. Nilsie, that shot gets through Z. That's in the net. I mean, that would have been unreal. But, yeah, made a huge push there. Really proud. So I listened to this whole press conference and would not

do any criticism. It was just fully basically him being like I'm proud, I'm proud, I'm proud. Wow, this is just because of where they came from. What did they miss the playoffs last year by? A dozen points? Yeah, a lot. Can you play the second clip year by? A dozen points? Yeah, a lot. It wasn't close.

Can you play the second clip for us quickly there, Derek? Second talkie clip. Okay. Okay. He's got the coach at least in the line, so he can't put the clip. Okay. Yeah.

So Berube's calling in here, I think. I don't know if he's ready yet, but he just called in. So that's why he's not ready yet. So we don't have a clip, and our guy's talking to him on the phone. So carry on, Kipper. We will momentarily be joined. There you go. Yeah, we're going to get Berube as soon as he's ready. But in the meantime, House Money.

They were playing all season long with House Money, Vancouver. And this time next year, you lose in the first round, either in game seven or in overtime. People are going to be disappointed. Hey, I'm curious to know what expectations are for the Canucks because I won't be going into it saying that's a 109-point team. All right. Okay, let's welcome him in.

32nd head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs in their history, Craig Berubier. Craig, thanks for joining us, man. How you doing? Guys, good. Thanks for having me on. I'm doing well. Listen, we caught your press conference today.

Your answers were too short for us. We run a two-hour show every day, and you're going to have to beef it up, man. Don't do that to us. Well, it's early. Give me some time. How's the overall vibe for you? Again, from Friday, we assume that you agreed to a contract on Friday,

and since then, it sounds like you've been rather busy. Yeah, no, it's been great yeah no you're obviously busy and you know people and phone calls and and things like that and um you know just your family and and then uh came out to Toronto here and uh it's been great first class you know as you guys know um the organization's all first class. People have been great. Just really kind of getting a lay of the land and meeting a lot of new faces. And so it's been really good. I mean, I'm loving every minute of it.

Well, that's awesome. And obviously there's a lot to do. As you mentioned, you're finding places and getting to know people. At some point, things will slow down for you, and you'll be able to get into the hockey side of things. So what will the process look like? How will you go about evaluating last year's Leafs and deciding what changes to make going into next season?

Yeah, well, those are conversations I'm going to have with Brad for sure here going forward about the team and just some of the changes that they made last year a little bit and even towards the end of the year going into the playoffs. And, you know, and then, you know, we'll get that all settled in and figure things out.

And same with the coaching staff. And, you know, we'll go from there and see where we're at. And then, you know, we'll, you know, again, I've already reached out to a lot of players i think that's important to get to really get these relationships going and get to know these guys you know there's a few here today at the rink that i met so you know it's just uh things like that that i think are really important here we're talking to craig barubi

head coach of the toronto maple east i know you mentioned that you've spoken to the majority of the players. That included Mitch Marner. What was the overall vibe when you talked to a guy of his stature with his future so much up in the air, Craig? It was great. Very positive. You know, he was really excited. I'm really excited.

Again, you know, all that stuff will be evaluated with Brad, and we'll go forward from there. But listen, the conversation was great with him. Listen, he's a great player. We all know that. Like I said, it was very positive on both sides. So the early season for the Leafs in the past has not been awesome. They typically kind of struggled out of the gate and as a result, end up kind of finishing second, third,

and never drawing a favorable first round matchup. How early is too early? Do you feel to be holding guys accountable and leaning on players kind of putting that pressure on that? The regular season really does matter. Well, I think that, you know, they know the regular season matters. We all know that. And you always, you always want to get off to a good start and that's that's important i think that

starts you know in the summertime with your training and and all the things you got to do and get prepared and having a real good camp's important and uh you know that's the plan now to have a real good hard camp and get ready for the start of the season. I think how we run camp and with our practices, the practices are the most important thing, not the exhibition games. We want to practice how we're going to play. We want to be really dialed in there, predictable with structure and how we're going to play. I think that's going to be a big part

of getting off to a good start. Not to jump right through training camp or maybe the first 70 games of the regular season here, Craig, but there was a huge story towards the latter part of this season with the chase of Austin Matthews and 70 goals and just the overall thought about load management and relying on two or three of the core players all season long. Where do you stand on that sort of thing?

How much do you lean towards your top players from beginning to end of a regular season? Yeah, that's a good question. I talked a little bit about it today with, you know, it's all about the team for me, and I think every player is important on your team, and he's got to have a role. And, you know, it's important for me as the coach

to use all these guys and manage minutes and ice time and things like that. I think, you know, you don't, you're going to have to use your top guys more at times, obviously, in games when you're down and certain things like that. I think, you know, you don't, you're going to have to use your top guys more at times, obviously when in games, when you're down and certain things like that, it's all stuff that it's, it's all a little bit hypothetical right now, you know, it's game to game. And, but again, I want to use everybody on the team. I really believe that, you know, if you want to ever get something done in the end, you need everybody.

Everybody's got to feel important. Everybody's got to have a role. Craig, over the years, I know that Dubas was a big analytics guy. I think you got about 43 R&D guys on staff and a bunch of different positions. You got a lot of staff there. How do you plan on approaching what I imagine

is access to more information or at least a fire hose of information that's going to be coming your way at some point yeah analytics have been around for quite some time now we all use them yeah uh they're all they're all useful tools um i think you know every coach is different of what he wants to use uh you get loads of information, but, you know, as a head coach and the coaching staff, you know, you go through that stuff and you figure out what you think is more important than the other stuff and you use it. And, you know, like I have my own stuff that I like to use. So, but again, it's all good information.

You know, I don't think you can ever like just throw information out and not look at it. I think it's important you look at it and use what you want to use. But in the end, you know, I'm a gut guy. I go off a lot of feel things and what I see as a coach. Craig, we're reminded during the playoffs what specialty teams mean this time of year. It's been ugly for

the leafs over the last few years in the latter part of uh of a regular season or in their first or second round um where are you on your power play and how heavily involved are you on on on a power play how much will you rely on whoever's there for you um on your staff to be in charge of a power play? Well, the way I work with my coach and staff is we're all involved in all these situations. That's what I believe is the most important thing. I don't think – I'm sure one guy's area is a power play and penalty kill and things like that.

And, you know, they're heavily involved in that area. But I'm involved. The other coaches are involved. I think opinions are good. And that's kind of how I work through these things because, you know, the penalty kill guy might have some good opinions on the power play. He's running a penalty kill. He knows what penalty killers are doing.

So we all work together on all these things and come up with the best plan. Makes a lot of sense. Wanted to get your thought, just a general sort of thing, and not maybe specific to the Leafs, but obviously we can sort of translate that a little bit. What does leadership mean to you on an NHL team? Well, first of all, all good leaders are good teammates. Leadership is not just leading by example on the ice,

but leadership is taking care of your teammates and helping them in tough situations, holding them accountable at times. For me, that's leadership. You take care of your teammates, you look after your teammates. That's really

important. That's what I think leadership is. Craig, we assume it may be a busy off season do you plan on being involved with decision making on player personnel or as a coach do you just work with what's given to you well no i just talking with uh brad you know you know we're both gonna talk and be involved in these situations but in the, he's the general manager and I'm the coach. And, you know, his management team will make decisions. But, you know, so far talking with Brad, you know, he's asked me about things.

And I would guess I would continue to work that way. How quickly do you think you're going to get sick of the media environment here, Craig? Are you there now? Yeah, no, no, no. It's part of the game. It's part of the game. Yeah, it's more here in Toronto, and greatly so. It's the Toronto Maple Leafs.

So it's part of the job. And, you know, I understood that coming in here and I'm, you know, signing, signing here with Toronto. So, you know, you know, that's part of my job. So if Brendan Shanahan comes into your coach's office with all these thoughts and ideas on what you should do or say, do you just show him the video of you kicking his ass? I don't know if I kicked his ass,

but I mean... You did. It's okay. Well, listen, it's... You got a lot more goals than I ever scored, Kipper. Yeah, me and you both, my friend. Me and you both.

Well, listen, officially welcome to Toronto. Keep them coming, those Kippers Clippers for us, and we're looking forward to next season. Thanks for doing this, Craig. You gotippers for us, and we're looking forward to next season. Thanks for doing this, Craig. You got it. Thanks, guys. Appreciate your time. Thanks.

30-second head coach in Maple Leaf history, Craig Bruby. Hey, a lot longer answers with us than we saw this morning. I didn't think I had the perfect length answer. I've been doing a lot of radio. We can work with that. I've been working in radio for a long time now,

and there's a very like perfect length of answer. And he kind of gave him there. It's kind of the perfect length. I think what's really going to help him too is like he's experienced it as a player here, right? He is an alumni. He's got a little blue and white in his blood. I also don't think that there's anything that the media can do or say that's going to change his opinion of himself or his hockey team

which is a really strong place of like confidence to come at it from whereas i don't know that that was the case with a first-time head coach or with people who may be a little more sensitive than craig who does not seem like an overly sensitive guy let me ask you to you this way yeah do you think if uh there was a documentary on the to you this way. Do you think if there was a documentary on the Toronto Maple Leafs, do you think Craig Berube would bust into the general manager's office and say, we're getting killed in the narrative? Do you think he would say that?

I think he might have said, I think he would have gone on the ice and said, Freddie, can you play? Are you playing? Yeah. Hey. Play? I don't know. I gotta tell you, boys, I love that. I can't wait for that new documentary with him. Is there not one happening? I don't know, but... I thought't know. I got to tell you, boys, I love that. I can't wait for that new documentary with him. Is there not one happening? I don't know.

I thought there was. There's a drop on this show that we play a lot. Like, I might be back. I might be back. What do you mean? Which one? I might be back in The Love and the Leafs again. Yes.

Yes. I might be back. We're like 10 days from the end of the season. I'm back. Yeah, there it is. I might be back. I don't know. I loved that interview.

You're not going to find anyone that's followed this storyline that would not think today that he is not the perfect guy right now for here and now. I am curious to know what happens to the staff, like the volume of staff for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

You know, the whatever's 10 guys. What would you say? I have an analytics. You know, he literally said the words. I'm volume of staff for the Toronto Maple Leafs, you know, the whatever's 10 guys. What would you say? The 10 guys that have an analytics. You know, he literally said the words. I'm more of a gut guy, which is fine. He has things he uses. You can hire 100 guys. They're going to use what they want to use.

Yeah. He doesn't have to pay them out of his salary, so he doesn't care if they're around. Just give me the report. Just give me whatever you want and walk know you're right it's like there's so many coaches that get pages of that in between periods and they wouldn't line the birdcage with it you're not wrong once in a while kipper you have a thing that gets me that's pretty good yeah yeah you know and i know i know that no coach is gonna say i don't need numbers anymore.

And he was pretty good about, I think, walking that line. They're going to be fun to follow. There's nothing right now between him and Brad Treleving that looks like they're going to let the numbers dictate decisions. A little scary for me. I will say, before we go, heartbreaking time of year. No hockey tonight, boys. Is it the first night yeah one other night yeah no hockey tonight second round one game a night i just i missed the first round already starts up tonight it's zigzags big game for the

zigzags tonight so jay's back are you back on the jays no they stink they stink still i went and saw manoa dealing on sunday i mean i will let bla and Barker, who's coming in after us, do all the talking. But Chicago stinks too, right? They reek. They're the worst team in the league by far, yeah. It was the Rays I saw them beat. Hey, that was good. Manoa looked good.

Football ball hit one. He did. All right. All right. Encouraging signs. Our final two-hour show of the season just finished, and we've solved nothing. Until Marner gets trade for Sorrows, and we'll be back on for now. Whoa!

See you then. All right. Our thanks to Craig Berube, Jason Greger as well. We're back tomorrow from 3 to 4. One Canadian team, go Oilers. Eastern. Thanks for watching.

Thanks for listening. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to get your feedback on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Have a great night, everybody.