Real Kyper & Bourne - Head Coach Musical Chairs

Episode Date: May 30, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee open the show with news that the Washington Capitals have hired Spencer Carbery and the Nashville Predators have hired Andrew Brunette as their respective head coaches. They discuss their coaching-style fits with the teams, how this changes the available coaching landscape and where it leaves Toronto in their likely upcoming head coach search. Then, some more rumours on the ongoing Ottawa Senators sale. Next up, Jason Bukala from Sportsnet.ca joins the show to give his take on the value of winning a championship, how scouts are affected by the situation with the Leafs’ not having a GM and some sneak peeks into his mock draft. Later, the guys break down last night's game between the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars.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. It's Real Kipper and Born with Sammy McKee back in the house. Wow. After taking a full day off to golf without me and you. And you know what's worse? He went and got like professional tutelage so he can beat us the next time we play. I didn't golf. I didn't golf.

I practiced golf and I talked about golf, but I didn't golf. Okay. For the record, this was, you do have a golf show. You want to plug it in real quick? Me and Gunner host a golf show. There you go. So this was an invitation. Yeah.

I have a pretty good relationship with Golf Canada and they invited me to the Team Canada Media Day at Western Golf Club. And their intention was to take you inside the ropes like you are a Team Canada member, and you get some training, talk about driving, chipping, putting, the physical side of it, the mental side of it. We're there from about 8.30 until about 2.30, a little press conference, wonderful lunch.

It was a pretty interesting day. I found out that I suck at golf, and I was given some tips to maybe help that a bit. And you picked that over us? Yeah. We had Brian Burke on, pal. Yeah. No big deal.

I know. I booked him. I was the man who texted him. It was me. It was me. I forgot how this works. Yeah. But we did have Derek Brandeo, Jen Rolnick,

who we have again today. So our all-star team is intact here. You know, I listened to Berkey on my car ride home. I heard a good portion of it. And I thought it was an excellent interview by you guys. I thought both of you asked good pointed questions. Berkey was an open book, as he always is. And you guys pranked me pretty good in the group chat

with some stuff that you said he said that I didn't hear. So, all good. And for those of you that did not hear it, feel free to go to iTunes, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, and download it. It was great. Always enjoy Brian Burke. He's an open book.

As Sammy said. Yeah. And he was pretty passionate, right? How relevant is that? Pittsburgh Dubas is going there potentially, I guess, you know,

having worked here in the reporting structure, he was good on all that stuff. So check it out. Okay. A ton to get into, as we know, we're on our summer edition of real Kipper and born, which means two to 3.

P.M. Eastern cram, cram, cram. People don't love it i gotta know i we get it and that's a good thing it's a good thing that you want more of us because we're leaving homes where they want to get less of us correct glad we're desired somewhere jason bukla is going to join us in about 18 minutes uh former nhl scout writer for Sportsnet.ca, and a wealth of information,

including what he saw at the World Championship and what the Leafs might be looking at moving forward. Of course, is it official now that the coaching carousel has kicked in? Oh, yeah. We've got a report from Kevin Weeks saying Andrew Burnett has been hired as the Nashville Predville predators next coach and here closer to home spencer carberry an associate coach with the toronto maple leafs is now gone and he is a new member of the washington capitals so let's start with you jb in terms of

another i don't know kyle dubas piece gone from the toronto maple leaves is that safe to say about spencer going to washington i just gotta say it's crazy because spencer went to the uaa alaska anchorage where i went to and i was he was there when i flew up to consider going to the university i remember seeing the state of his dorm room and you know him being a meathead with all the boys it's funny to see him like a desire a sought after nhl coaching candidate but he's come a long way and look where you are and look where i am well look at this guy i mean he won coach of the year in the american league and since he was here in two seasons under carberry's guidance the leafs power play was second best in the nhl 26.6 percent i

mean and that's good that that is has gotten a lot of attention for sure. I think that's part of why people are after him. Now. You're in Washington where the power play is, oh, let Obi hit it? There's no question that that number speaks for itself. But at times. Does it? I have not loved the Toronto Maple Leafs power play.

I'd rather you speak for it a little bit. No, me either this is not something that snuck up on us we've been very clear over the last few years that it's failed when it was needed most yeah towards stretch runs of the regular season and then bled into the the playoffs yeah and i don't know i mean i've got a number of issues including predictability and not enough movement at times they had some of the best players in the world out there like expectations are high for that power play so like not even addressing it not even addressing it, not even having a practice on it or having pregame meetings with that kind of talent.

Shouldn't you be in the top five anyways? 20 is baseline. 20 is a baseline percentage, and I'll give him credit for six. Top 10? Yeah. Top 10 without looking at it twice? Probably.

Probably. Not to take away from the guy and the team did well, but you're right. There were times where it seemed disjointed or a lack of clarity on what it is you do here for some people it blows my mind that they're the sec they're the second best over that span because it just feels like there's so many times over the two years of we've been doing just complaining about it where we're just like god that power play hard to watch and it's just i guess they would just get so hot for so many stretches there

where they would put their numbers up, but I guess it maybe is just in the big moments a lot of times that let them down, and that's what you're kind of remembering, right? I guess so, but relevant moments. Was Spencer, I don't know how to phrase this other than, was he a Kyle Dubas guy? Was he right there with Kyle?

This is Kyle's guy. This is who hired him. That's who he answered to. You know, I guess you can say he was a Dubas guy because that's who hired him. But he had generated a lot of buzz. I think he had a lot of success in the East Coast Hockey League. You know, he kind of looks the military part,

you know, very diligent and had success in the coast, came to the American League, had success. And I think it's just people being like, I want the next John Cooper. I want the guy who wins at every single level. And so, yeah, Dubas hires him. They pride him away. He had interviews last year with Boston and San Jose.

And here he is, you know, they got to keep him. So he was just a hot name, frankly. We do know that there's other jobs out there that need filling, including the New York Rangers, including Anaheim, including Calgary. This is kind of what I want to ask you. And the longer that this GM search stretches out for the Toronto Maple Leafs, which it's been quite a while now, I guess we're a week bit into it here. Well, when was the cut when was the Brendan Shanahan press conference?

Oh, it's Friday last Friday. Yeah, that feels Hard to pick a million years ago. Not two Fridays. Yeah Wow, so You know once they hire whoever they're gonna hire Then what does that mean for Keefe? Well, then this you're? Are you too late in the process to get someone new? Are they more likely to come back with Keefe? That's, yeah.

That might be the best thing for Sheldon. We talked about this a little bit yesterday with Sammy while you were eating your free lunch. I heard what you called me, by the way. What was that? If it's free, it's for McKee. I heard that voice is anything ever been more accurate either either you're listening to us live or someone gave you a bat signal no you're getting ripped i got a few texts but listen i

love free stuff who does oh kipper over there acting like he doesn't munches all get to weigh in on that derrick's brings in his lunch and Kipper eats half of it every day. Yeah, that's true. Can we get back on topic, please? Okay, so let me ask you something. All right, please do. Is Sheldon sitting there going, excuse me, there's jobs being filled here,

and when the music stops, I want a chair, so, like, get on with it here. Well, or is it that the longer this goes, the closer, you know, the more people get hired and, you know, the less appealing candidates there are and the more you're like, hey, Sheldon Keefe, that guy's won a lot. You know, maybe they're more likely to keep him the longer this goes on for him. So I don't really know the answer there. But, you know, it's all sort of circular with a lot of these people,

a lot of these teams and the uncertainty is so hard. No, there's the other one. Like what's Ottawa going to do? We had Burke on yesterday. Berkey talked about how, when they got new ownership, they immediately knew that they were in trouble,

you know, because they, the people, they have every right to hire their own people. And then it's on to the staff and whatever. This Ottawa thing is another team that they're going to need a new. Are they? I want to stay on Sheldon first.

And we can talk about other teams. No question about that. We will here. But where I get what you're saying. Yeah. That the longer he waits and then the less of a choice that you have, maybe you're into starting the season with Sheldon. Yeah.

But if I'm not mistaken, and correct me if I'm wrong, guys, Sheldon's got one more year on his deal, correct? As in this upcoming year only? I believe that's the case. Okay. I could be wrong, but let's hypothetically say now he is going in his last year. Are we just kind of regurgitating that whole... In the Dubas cycle?

The Dubas, you know, dead man walking on your last year of your deal? Make the guy mad immediately to start the year? Yeah. Is that where you would go? Would you give him a year extension so you avoid the circus? Don't you think it's a little bit different situation with kyle and with sheldon though like in terms of clout within the organization no i don't i just i just think that sheldon is from here with young kids who are in all the

programs here his family's from roughly around here like i think he would rather the chance to earn a new contract in season than just get outright fired like i bet he would prefer that i get your point like but you've you're 115 points 110 your record speaks for itself you're one you've gone through one of the best stretches in maple leaf history as a head coach you couldn't sign a three or four year deal if they released you tomorrow you know i think that was the case when he signed his last deal that it was like this is guy is a dubious guy and only a dubious guy and then he came to toronto and he had a lot of success say what you will it wasn't as much as people had hoped but they had a lot of success and i saw his name surface in a rumor for the the rangers job you know and now that like

other people talk about you it's a lot easier to say i'm a guy and you got to give me more years i don't think he had that leverage before there was always a sense too, that Kyle was just joined to the hip with Sheldon. Oh, is this a Pittsburgh conversation? Well, it's, yeah. No, it's not a Pittsburgh conversation. It could be a Pittsburgh conversation. But, I mean, you've seen it. They are the best of friends.

Are they not? Oh, yeah. No way. And that they MF each other all the time, you know, to each other's faces. How about a trade, a coaching trade? No. Mike Sullivan for Sheldon Keefe? Throw in a second.

One for one. And I'm just throwing stuff out there. Would you ever see a scenario where Brendan would say, if I kept Sheldon and he talks to Kyle. Yeah. Would I really want my secrets or business going right to Kyle? Or Kyle. And not just secrets. He's such a Kyle guy.

We all have our buddies who are confident and we share stuff with them and we know it's not going any further kind of like our pre-show meetings boys right trust right and especially you jb the way you talk about your boss is here and i listen i do listen buddy you're a vault and i try to talk you off the ledge every once in a while. It's not that bad. It's just business. But do you think there'd be a part of Brendan, if he kept Sheldon around, that some of the stuff would go back? I don't. So I genuinely don't think that that would happen. But I think if you're Shanahan, it's like,

do you want to keep all your ex's furniture in your house after they're gone? Just see, you're starting over. you'd probably want a fresh start so there is an element of that where sheldon is still a guy who thinks like kyle believes in all the things kyle did you know if you're moving on from that guy it's really hard to keep the same guy now that i think about it gosh that's a tough to bring him back so then would you picture i mean because you know this kyle dubas news is looming here at some point it's eternal why is nothing happening anywhere it is a capital l looming i don't know when it's going to drop can drop any moment but do you think there's a possibility he would bring sheldon to pittsburgh well didn didn't Sullivan, doesn't he got a long deal? I don't know his contract status, but.

Listen, I would be absolutely floored and shocked. Yeah, you can't go in and fire Mike Sullivan. Mike Sullivan for Sheldon Keefe. And you're trading playoff records. It's just, and he just upped. And if you're not paying him three, it might be paying him four mil. You're going to pay him 4 million to stay at home and add Sheldon for 3

million. And who knows what Kyle could demand for them by signing. You want to be $10 million into $12 million, maybe $15 million into three guys that don't make one save, don't block one shot, and don't score one goal. And presumably they're paying Berkey and Hexie. I don't think those guys were. That's a lot of Fenway money.

That is a lot. I know the park brings in a lot of dogs. But if they are so hot to trot for Kyle Dubas and they want his vision and they want everything about him, they give him all the power, the autonomy. Yeah. Right? No, it's like Messiah here. It's like if you want the guy you think is the best, pay him.

They are a rich group. As we know, they could pay that out of their, you know, wallets. Yeah. But in the meantime, these guys have to wait. You mentioned Ottawa, DJ Smith. these guys have to wait uh you mentioned otto at dj smith he just gotta wait they have no choice yeah if what is speaking of waiting like freach have a report where he said that sale process is not going particularly smooth sammy yeah i mean that's a pretty big bomb dropped on 32 thoughts about the process here i can get the quote for if you'd like i'm just pulling it up here um what'd he say exactly he said every uh

everyone here who was supposed to be in control of the process has lost control of it and it's been this way for quite some time i don't know if there's ever been another sale process like this that i can remember and that's from freach on the podcast is that do you can i even ask you about that or is this in the nda that you've signed well i just want to get a sense for what's happening what are we waiting on here yeah i am privileged to some things but not all the things for sure. And I can't speak to Elliott's reporting. His record and his reputation stand for itself. And I can't comment on that.

But I can tell you from my view of being involved somewhat in this process without giving any secrets away, it's been as professional as anything that I would have expected. So we are talking about the NHL now setting an absolute new standard. We're talking about a process that I don't think the NHL has really gone through it before. Even with the Leafs prior to Bell and Rogers getting involved, the sale of

the teacher's pension, remember that? I don't remember parties or billionaires clamoring to that sale like we've seen with the Ottawa Senators. So this is relatively a new standard with some very powerful people involved.

Yeah. There is due diligence in this. And I know from afar, you know, it's got to be frustrating for the Ottawa fans. Well, and how about their staff and other people waiting on jobs? Totally. Maybe Dubas wants that job. Totally. Didn't Sarah Vallee valley say that the dubas is waiting to see if that job would open up i get all of that but when you're talking about the numbers that have been reported out

there how can you not like do your due diligence yeah as. As any deal out there, right, the devil is in the details. And it does take time. But everything that I've seen that I can share publicly with you, our viewers, and the Ottawa fans, is this thing is being done right. And I can't tell you from my view right now who ends up with this whether it's the group i represent or the other groups but i can i can confidently tell the ottawa senator fans that whether again it's my group or another one you're gonna get a great owner you're gonna get an owner who's committed to building you a championship team and that's all you want don't you do a sense commercial on our leaf show don't you do it

here's what my thought kept is you know you're talking about this these four different ownership groups of powerful, interested hockey people. And I can't help but think the NHL has to see, I mean, it's amazing to have that many people wanting to own an NHL franchise and this type of people, would they be saying, hey, the Sens thing may not work out for everyone, but we want to have you involved in Houston or in Kansas City or in Salt Lake City when potentially this Phoenix team. Could there be some conversations happening that are deeper than the Senators conversation? Don't look now, but you've got some business savvy in you right now. All right.

I'm proud of you. Thank you. Thank you. And the answer, you answer your own question yeah uh take a look at what's going on outside these doors go try to raise money go try to invest in something go get somebody to believe in what you're selling it's a very tough thing yeah for for the league right now to garner this type of interest for any team right now is it tells you like what people think of the investment yeah first and foremost yeah so i think it's a great sign uh you know like i said they're gonna auto fans are gonna end up with

great ownership and it's gonna be good for the game it's gonna be good for the battle of ontario it's gonna be great for love that sports net espn and everybody involved do you uh you know i do you think the ottawa job let's say i know pierre dorian is currently the gm there but like if dubas were hypothetically thinking he would love to have that job, do you think that would be better for his career than Pittsburgh? Tough to guess, I know.

It's tough to guess. Totally different jobs. Well, I just think the Sens one is a chance to look like the White Knight. Bad for so long, good young talent already in the organization, new building coming. The opposite of that. Right. Where you're the grim reaper. Right.

Again, there's so many factors in it. Your family, how much attention do you want, how you feel differently about winning a Stanley Cup in Canada compared to the East Coast, Midwest. Yeah. Florida Panthers right now. Yeah. I i don't know it's just a individual preference but the more the more chairs in in the game the better off anybody is right yeah so if if kyle might be maybe delaying a little bit because he wants to see what happens to ottawa that's just i think good business

practice yeah i mean it's fascinating time in the nhl where teams and ownership and gms and coaches and all these jobs are i don't know everything's in flux right now it is including us right now very much so uh jason buccala we got him what's so what's going on books yeah lots of travel in between so my my longest year was 175 nights on the road for perspective so wow that's a lot of that's a lot of room service books so anything at the world championships uh change your opinion on any players do you have any uh fresh sort of takeaways from watching guys in that setting? You know what? I always find that the world's going to be a bit of a trap.

And, you know, it's a buyer beware type scenario. And, you know, I'll bring up one of, I know the show's favorite names, Dennis Balgan from a year ago, you know, led the tournament and scoring. And, you know, it was nice to see some momentum coming out of Latvia. Like, you know, there's some cool stories, right? But in terms of individual things, I thought Mackenzie Wieger, just for some Canadian content, I thought Mackenzie Wieger having a bounce back compared to what he was better at the tail end in Calgary, but his game went to another level. Ward, more capable of there um for team Canada I thought

that was a nice story um you know selfishly I'm not meaning to just bring up Florida Panther guys here but like Sam Montembeau you know he was a waiver pickup by the Habs uh that's a nice story but um it's just a different feel when the russians aren't there nobody can discount that in my mind just putting your your your scouting hat on right now jason in terms of the value a world championship does for certain players and we know in the grand scheme of things it's buried in the stanley cup playoffs doesn't get the attention sometimes there's some bigger names things it's buried in the stanley cup playoffs doesn't get the attention sometimes there's some bigger names others it's not but over your years have you seen the value that a good world championship could do for you to kind of catapult you back into having a great season i

look at mckenzie wieger and we all think you know, based on the value that he was involved in the trade and the salary he's already making right now, pretty good player. But could a tournament like this where he's named the best defenseman now shoot him up to another level with confidence and feeling like, now I'm going to go from being a pretty good defenseman

to a guy challenging for the Norris? Yeah, I think that might be a leap but I will tell you this I think it's a it's a real nice reset for him I think that everybody would agree that Calgary at the end of the year a lot of those guys were leaving there you know kind of they were numb I guess is the best way for me to put it and um so it's a nice reset for weeks to to go in there and play the way that he played um i you know there's a couple of players though that do kind of stand out for me like i don't know about you guys like i think lawson kraus is a name we're going to hear a lot about

potentially in the next five weeks or so and i don't know what's going on in arizona that's a story for a whole other show but um i i think that Krauser is a guy that a lot of teams are going to be coming after here in the off season, leading in the free agency, even the draft and, and, you know, law had a, had a really good, really good tournament as well. Hey, Philly's got to be excited about the cutter. Go check kids scored seven goals in the tournament. And I mean, there's not, they need things to get excited about, but coming all the way back to wieger as i as i just start foaming at the

mouth here i think it's a nice reset for him he's not gonna be a norris trophy type of guy but uh it's a good news off season beginning for him lawson kraus is an interesting name i wonder if people are going to start picking over that arizona carcass a little bit uh you know in the wake of not sure you know the uncertainty of the franchise clayton keller uh a great hockey player a lot of teams would love to have him schmaltz another guy you know what are your thoughts and some arizona players there that could potentially be of interest other clubs i'm shopping over there for sure i i mean my pulse uh uh you know without you know barking out anybody's names here but my pulse, you know, without, you know, barking out anybody's names here,

but my pulse in the agency world, fellas, is that people's patience are wearing thin. And, you know, NHL players or NHL guys, they want to play in NHL rinks. They want to have NHL-type facilities. I mean, we can sit here and talk about Calgary until we're blue in the face about you know the facilities uh substandard well they can put 19 000 people in there and it can get pretty loud so that's the national hockey league 4500 at mullet arena for a year that's kind of a cool story for a month after that it's like you know come on so there's some names there like kraus kellerowler, Schmaltz, he named them. What about Logan Cooley deciding, just coming right out and saying,

without him knowing what the arena plan was, I'm going back to school for another year. So that one there would concern me a great deal because he's a high-end prospect. So what's the deal? He's not under contract, correct? And is there a period of time where he can actually not sign and be thrown back in the draft he is going to be arizona property for all four years of minnesota unless they trade him so you know like henry thron at the end of the

year got traded to san jose because, you know, he indicated. The kids just come right out and say, I'll give you an example. Years ago, Hyman, we had Hyman as our property in Florida, and we let him get to his senior year. He was just okay for three years. Then he went off in his senior year. He led us to water saying that, you know, he's going to sign in Florida, sign in Florida until he wasn't. And then we had to trade his rights before the draft just to get a pick out

of it because he's in full control so god forbid that cooley decides to do that but i'll put a different spin on it if he ever did which i don't anticipate i think this kid wants to go to school before four years but he'd only be 22 years old for any coming out of school even even if he waited so it's like imagine if he came out he'd be signing a monster ticket uh right away as a free agent that's fascinating yeah i wonder if you know they'd trade his rights and try to get some value for him soon he he seems like a guy who could play in the nhl soon um with the draft coming up books where are you at on things is your uh your your big board any different than the consensus in any way it's a little bit different i mean there's the wild

card is is mitch koff of course the russian player um you know i've got him four on my list that and that's with me even massaging the political element of it i just couldn't drop him any further guys he's the second best player in the draft skill-wise. So, I mean, it's not up to me to control world politics. I can't do that. Asset management, the call would have to be made on the floor long before we got to the floor. The kid's coming to the draft, which is interesting in itself.

I have been trying to get background information and trying to reach out to his agent, who only has two prospects in the entire National Hockey League, so I'll let that settle in for a second. So there's a lot of moving parts with Mitch. Yeah, so there's a lot of moving parts with Mitch Kopp. But the guy that I have at five, everybody's talked about Will Smith being in the, you know, potentially going as high as three, which I don't see that happening.

I think it's Carlson. It goes Bedard, Fantilli, Carlson, Mitchkoff for me. Then I went Ryan Leonard. And the reason I didn't go Smith over Leonard was because Leonard, especially when you look at playoffs at the NHL, Leonard is a much more tenacious three-zone player who's marginally a second level offensive producer compared to Smith, but he doesn't cut corners.

Like he's a 200 foot guy. He's working hard, pressing back. He's going up ice and he's scoring 15, 20 points less than the other guy, but he does all those other things that I believe have more value come playoff time. I don't need a guy to look pretty between October and April. I want him to get into the trenches in May and June. And even if he scores marginally less, but there's all the other things better to make our team better. I'm all over that.

So I've got Leonard at five and I know already that's an outlier and that's ruffling some feathers, but I don't really care to be honest with you. That's where it is. We're talking to Jason Buchel, a former NHL scout writer with Sportsnet.ca. Read him. Always a great read. Bucs, in terms of Mishkov,

what are your sources saying? Would you be shocked if he fell into the bottom 16 of the first round? Shocked, yeah. I would be absolutely shocked. I don't think he gets past Washington, Kipper. They've just got... So let's talk politics for a sec.

As long as Ovi's around there, you know, he's going to go back and he's going to say, you know, he's going to help. I'm going to tell you, there's going to be a lot of noise and a lot of momentum with historical relationships that are already in place in Russia and having Ovi there. So Washington, the only thing I would say about that is

you have to be very comfortable in your skin if you're the Washington Capitals' upper management because if he doesn't get here for three years, are you going to be the GM still? You know how that works. Sometimes the guys will make a pick because they're not so sure that they're going to be around but I do think Washington's got stability um that would be a heck of a pick if you ever saw them there and I don't see them going faster

well one more quickly before we let you go books and that's the situation in Toronto no general manager coach is waiting what does this do for for scouts who might think about you know some moves or some like how does this affect the rest of the organization uh through their managerial uh look pins and needles okay i'm not gonna they're absolutely on pins and needles they don't know what the new general manager sees in terms of his vision, his off-season plan with the big team and how that can affect what's going to happen with our draft board, for example, or our needs going forward,

even a free agency on the pro side of things. So it's not ideal. We already know that. We beat this to death. In my estimation, if it goes beyond this week, I'm really, wow, like that would be really perplexing to me. They have to go to the combine next week with a structure in place

from the general manager's chair down that they know what their plan is going to be because whoever the GM is waiting right now, he has a plan. He just needs to get the contract done and be the choice. Pins and needles. Sometimes I'm on those when I listen to Sammy McKee's takes on the show.

I can say that's legit. That's me listening to you, Kevin. Hey, Boots, thanks for doing this, man. Great stuff as always. All right, fellas. Take care. Talk to you soon. Thanks, Boots.

Yeah, it's like this nobody likes uncertainty no it's a very uncomfortable situation and we know sometimes you can be too comfortable yeah but this one is you draft a guy who might come over in three years and might not come over at all and there's you know complications with the whole thing is complicated the ovi factor is a massive one it is and that's why the washington was he uh speaking of uh certain relationships over there that could help i would imagine he's including do you think ovi has access to some important ears or no? I mean, the guy that is still, I think, on his Instagram profile picture, maybe. There is no chance Ovi can't DM Putin and get a text back within a minute. I'm sure he can.

Mishkov to Washington. There's no DM. There's no DM. He's got his iPhone. He texts him. He's like, we're going to get Mishkov over here? No problem. It's a fascinating one. that's such a wild card you think um they'd want spencer to make a

call to russia at all or i don't know i don't know if spencer's got any contacts i'm pretty confident he doesn't come here and dial this okay i will tell you you know you can see russia from alaska maybe you know he's made some contacts. Who knows? Maybe this is all, he's a secret agent. Who knows? Who knows? Any thoughts on Hines out, Andrew Burnett in? The honest answer is very few outside of Andrew Burnett deserved a shot after what he did with Florida last year.

Right? I mean, unbelievable success that they had and then kind of unceremoniously turfed so happy for him i think he uh yeah he deserves an nhl club so won't sound played somebody somebody mentioned to me uh chris drew is a john heinz fan oh yeah i wonder if i wonder if they would consider it that's interesting i i mean all these names right all these sort of former nhl head coaches are there's only so many so i i can see that that's interesting he hasn't had a ton of success heinz it it's uh it's a beast coaching in new york i was

gonna say that i think you gotta have a little bit of savvy to kind of handle that vibe. That's why Laviolette makes so much sense, right? Like, Laviolette can handle that. Didn't he go from, wasn't he with the Devils before Nashville, right? Hines? So, like, he has an idea, but not like coaching the Rangers. But he's also now, that's two pretty good teams that haven't really done much. You know, like, Dallas Aikens is not an awesome record,

but his teams have been outright bad. You know, tough to evaluate him. Hines has had decent rosters, at the very least. Yeah. Anyway. Just to kind of full circle, there is some, there's a lot of talk, maybe strong speculation or strong rumors. Kyle's waiting on making a decision.

Ed Olchuk's name has been linked to a presidency job there. The man who's been in this very room? Whoa. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Could you see Ed Olchuk slash Kyle Dubas? Is that out there anywhere?

That seems like a bit of a... Yes, I can. Because Eddie is remarkably thoughtful and likable. And a president role to me is a lot more about community relations than it is here where it seems to be picking players. Or maybe it isn't. I don't know. Or at least that's the perception we've been left with.

Right. That's right. That's entirely perception-based. He's a guy that is familiar with Pittsburgh, obviously. The only two names I hear, if Kyle doesn't want the job, the other name I heard was Jason Botterell in Pitt. Hmm. Yeah, I mean, he had a...

It didn't work in Buffalo, but he's been around and been with some... You know, been in the NHL for a while, gained some experience, so you never know. Speaking of didn't work in Buffalo and now having success, Jack Eichel. Yeah, we should mention the Stanley Cup final. Oh, yeah, that thing.

He's one for one. When he makes the playoffs, he goes to a Stanley Cup final. This guy can't miss. He can carry that for at least 12 months. Have you ever seen an NHL team perform like the Dallas Stars last night in a bigger spot? Who was worse, the Boston Celteltics or the it was tilted i mean you could tell like i was watching i was watching both games last night boston celtics and they couldn't sink a basket oh they're terrible but i was watching a lot of the hockey too and you didn't really need to

watch much after the first 10 minutes of that hockey game with vegas they were so much better oh my god i bet on jamie ben getting over one and a half shots he did not get that he put no he didn't he played 12 minutes last night that's it he was a non-factor after two game suspension thanks captain two game suspension come back for 12 minutes minus two at least clearly he cost you money he cost you money. He cost you money. I'm very upset. He was not.

I was so impressed with that Vegas team. I know I'm not just saying this because I'm employed by the company that broadcasts it, but I am legitimately excited for these two teams matching up. It's a sick final. It is. But again, it goes back to the laundry conversation. If this was Boston versus Chicago, it would be the most electrifying thing ever. I know.

But the one thing, regardless of what you think of markets, they are the two most deserving teams. No one's backdooring into this thing on just a hot goaltender. And Bobrovsky's been great. And he, yeah right you think they're backdooring it i just swept carolina that's not a back i don't think backdoor is not as strong okay that's my point but i i would say that going back to your switch the goalies thing like if they had you know samson over wall and net they probably wouldn't be where they are or close to it yeah but we that could be said every year on every team that's the thing the goalie is a part of the team gets to play he plays yeah so i the panthers are a great team i love watching them play they're very deserving and you know what one thing i do want to mention they four check like gangbusters um i have an article out um an aws article uh on the panthers four check opportunity analysis about

how their pressure the pressure they put on opposing defenses has made have made them turn pucks over led to four of their six overtime winners the puck has been behind the other team's goal line within five seconds of scoring so check that out on sportsnet.ca wow i'm looking forward to reading it but where is florida because that sounds like florida's game plan as well like would vegas just have way better numbers on that than say florida no no florida that's what i'm talking about i'm sorry then how about vegas though because that's i see two teams with those great strengths so how does one compare to the other you know very similar when i sorted the uh 16 playoff teams by like dumping percentage these teams are like one and two they dump the puck in the most oh they four check the most that's

what i'm looking forward to it out just dumping jay zaki and pound yeah oh they do that for sure the vegas fourth line was phenomenal last night. And just quickly to go back to something that's very relevant to this. Celtics last night. Bruins in the first round. Boston becomes the first city to lose a home game seven to an eight seat in both hockey and basketball in the same season. Boston finally taking some lumps after.

Looks good on them. Do people just stay home and think of this stuff that's from uh john hollinger who is a former nba uh there was executive wild stats out of last night but yeah boston's failings were at the heart of most of them that's a long summer for the city of boston yeah oh yeah yeah sammy doesn't okay we'll take a quick break and then Sam will come back with playoff picks and a little bit more. You are watching and listening to Real Kipper and Born. The best Blue Jays 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. Alright, Sammy boy, let her play off picks. Alright, time for playoff

picks presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds. Now, the last for playoff picks presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds. Now, the last time we talked about this, Bet365 had posted odds for the next general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And now they have posted some odds for the next coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh. Are you guys interested in such a thing? Oh, extremely.

You think? Um, the betting favorite at plus 175 is Sheldon Keefe. Huh. The next closest, it was Andrew Burnett. They have yet to take that down because obviously it's not official yet, but Andrew

Burnett, you can take him off the board. Gerard Gallant at plus 550. Quenville at plus 650. You can obviously take Carberry off the board gerard galant at plus 550 quenville at plus 650 you can obviously take carbury off the board at plus 650 bruce boudreaux at 10 to 1 laviolette 12 to 1 mike sullivan 16 to 1 and then it kind of gets a little bit more far-fetched claude julian you know daryl sutter i gotta tell you i love the idea of Gerard Gallant. I think that'd be entertaining. And there's another one around 550 that you mentioned there. Can you give that to me again?

Gerard Gallant and then Joel Quenville at 650. Quenville, 650. Quenville would be a firestorm, but he's Joel Quenville. It's just like it's hard to imagine. They wouldn't do it here. Well, it's just I don't even, you need a general manager first, right? Wouldn't you have a better idea with a general manager where odds would lean towards this?

Yeah. For sure. It's actually a great point. Doesn't Gallant seem like the guy who's like the player's coach enough but also would dig in if he had to type of guy for this core? And the last one posted is Rob Brindamore at 50 to 1. What does that even mean? I don't know.

I don't know. Leaves Carolina. But it's listed on there. But yeah, I thought it was pretty interesting. I just, you know, to look at those numbers. And the other one here is that they still have the general manager up. And the last time we talked, Brad Trilliving was minus 175. He's now at minus

250. So even more of an overwhelming favorite. And everyone kind of stayed the same except for Eric Tolsky went from plus 350 to plus 700. And Brandon Pridham went from plus 10 to 1 down to plus 900. Is there anything on Pitt?

No. This is just for the Toronto Maple Leafs. This is just for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It is just for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Do you think Kyle Dubas turns down Pitt? Hold on. I almost answered and then I thought. You know, I think there's a chance, and I made this case to you on an earlier show, that I think he is in it for the long career.

And I think it's going to be tough over the next five years to have the penguins be successful. That's what just kind of dawned on me here is that like, you know, the, and make no mistake about it. And I've said this, that they will look at him like he's Theo Epstein. Right.

But can he go in there in the next two or three years and get them to really contend, or is he just going to band-aid this thing up with Crosby, Letang, and Malkin? So... If he turns it down, it's because I can't live up to my reputation under these circumstances.

That's the only reason I think he could turn it down. So I wasn't not looking at you there out of disinterest. Go ahead, Sammy. So I'm just going to wrap up playoff picks. We can continue this conversation. Oh, sorry. I thought you were done. No, I got one more thing for you here.

Just looking way ahead. You're really killing a good conversation right now. Looking way ahead to the final. Florida is an underdog again at plus 115, which is pretty big to the final. You're really killing a good conversation right now. Looking way ahead to the final. Florida is an underdog again at plus 115, which is pretty big for a final. Panthers winning seven, plays 515. You think the Cats are going to sweep another series. They're plus 1400.

That was playoff picks presented by Bet365. Cats haven't played hockey in a month of Sundays. It'll be unbelievable. How terrible is that for them? Roll and roll in this overachieving team. I want your thoughts on Kyle Dubas potentially turning down Pittsburgh pittsburgh so while you were talking i was just like where would pittsburgh's prospect pool be because they need filling in and you know the athletic does one scott wheeler once in a while it was the one that came up first it has them 29th out of 32 teams in terms of like prospect pools good players coming and the top teams are like

the abs the lightning and the Bruins, you know, like the really successful teams. And so you got no one coming. Maybe you got a guy coming. I don't know, but it's not a highly ranked pool. So these guys are getting older and they're your whole team. You're capped out with some bad deals and you got no prospects coming. So if you're Dubas, it's the Penguins, it's Crosby.

It's a, you know, a gig with some sway, but it's going to be really hard. Ottawa, on the other hand, you know, cap space, young talent, up and coming, expectations much lower. You get the chance to be a hero. Yeah. Yeah. Or I got to think if he turns it down, he would be on the top of a lot of lists.

And maybe, you know, if he is, it might not be that long or could be long. I don't know. Probably doesn't hurt your chances in the dating pool when you turn down a supermodel. You know, people are like, what's this guy got? You know, I think it looks good on him being coveted whether he takes it or not now would pit be like uh l mcpherson is that what you're saying i think so i think that's

l mcpherson like 20 years ago or l now i'm not gonna weigh in on current l mcpherson christine brinkley listen i i haven't seen the aging of the 1990s. Cindy, doing the Pepsi commercial. Remember that one with the Ferrari? That's high end right there. No, no, you weren't born then. No, that commercial's legendary, though. It's everywhere.

Do we derail there? Sorry. Yeah, it's lost. We're supermodeling this. Show up right now. Yeah. Sammy. Sammy could have been a shoe model, I think.

It would be pretty bad. I got wonderful feet. It would be a really tough look for, I think, Kyle's reputation everywhere else. If he didn't take it. I think there would be a small, like. What do you think? I think there would be a small victory in saying,

you know what, I stood up a podium, and I said I'm not showing up next week if I stood up a podium and I said, I'm not showing up next week if I'm not here. And I lived up to that. And there's the two for two factor. I said, we can and we will. And we, you know, we did. We signed the guys I said we'd sign. Then I said I wouldn't pop up somewhere and I didn't. You know, it would be

it would probably go further for him in the long term to not take it. But then I don't know what he's left with out there for work. Certainly doesn't have a contract. And the three of us would be way shallower? Shallow? Way more shallow?

And take the money and run. Maybe he'd come on our show if he was unemployed. That'd be great. Oh, I don't know about that. I'm guessing no. I don't know. Alright. Our thanks to Jason Bukala. We are back tomorrow. Real Kipper and Bourne.

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