Real Kyper & Bourne - Holiday Special Pt. 2

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

On the final episode of 2023, Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee continue the holiday special by sharing their favourite Christmas presents from their childhood. They are joined by Doug MacLean (3:16), who thinks back on the hockey holiday seasons and his thoughts on the holiday break in the NHL. Then, David Amber (17:00) gives his take on the time off and evaluates which Canadian team is the best so far. Later, former scout Jason Bukala (30:40) tees up the World Juniors tournament, how team Canada stacks up and how the holiday season plays out for NHL scouts. Afterwards, reflecting on the biggest stories in hockey over the year. Finally, Ailish Forfar (43:54) joins the guys in-studio to look ahead to the PWHL's inaugural season. 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.

All right, our national edition of the Real Kipper and Bourne show, Christmas edition, continues. We are live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver and Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365, Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandale, and Jen Rolnick, I hope. Yeah.

There we go. Happy holidays, one and all. And Derek, terrific, brought us in Portuguese tarts. Portuguese tarts. Yeah, and I got to be honest with you. My tummy hurts. Oh, they're so good. They're so good.

One bite of those, I feel like I put on four pounds. I had one bite too many, I think. Is it called Bense Bakery? I don't know what it is. My God. Yeah, they're like, this time of year is just so dangerous. It's a wonderful time of year. As you chuck little miniature chocolates too.

And like rush them in between segments to make sure I keep my blood sugar level high. You are a chocolate addict. I am. Listen, I got issues, pal. I got to replace it with something. You would have to write a book about that. A book? In my 50s.

I needed to go to chocolate rehab. don't rule it out it's early i'm i'm really developing some habits all right so so far in our first hour just a tremendous job with our guests sammy and i don't have any uh i don't have any list i don't have any knowledge of who's coming up we have no plans we're just wearing goofy hats and merry christmas to those we had in our first hour we had gordon stelic pj stock jason york and mike feuda telling us their christmas stories entertaining guys yeah what's what's the best christmas gift you can remember as a kid grown up wow that's a large yes it is there's a air hockey table we woke up and the whole table was

built and in the room and wow yeah that was see i'm i'm in the the same boat in terms of uh i got a table hockey game yeah like the dome game no no no that was later when I had money. Oh, gotcha. But this one, when I was a kid, was the Phil and Tony Esposito game that was enclosed. Yeah. And you moved the men. So Tony's players were the Chicago Blackhawks. Like in tracks, though?

No, not in tracks. You had magnets. They were encased. Under the board. Under the board were magnets to move tony's players and above the board the magnets would move phil's players on the boston bruins but for whatever reason the tony players always like ended up like on their sides so there was no magnet on the top or on the bottom. They were just on the side. And the big joke in our

family was, you know, Tony's teams went harder the night before. The party team. Our next guess is here. Alright, our next guess. Oh no. Wow. Wow. It's not even off the rails Friday.

Your place in Florida doesn't resemble Christmas one iota right now. Not even, like, there's not even a green or red ribbon to be found in your condo right now well i get kicked out of the uh the office den area because we have uh children and children's boyfriends and uh you know so i got i got the boot so i'm in you know i'm in jill's office okay that explains it yeah and how is uh we just talked to feuts about california christmases when he was with the Kings. How are you? Who's Feuts? Who's Feuts?

I'm not a nickname guy. Who's Feuts? All right, Mac. It's Mike Feuta. Oh, Mike Feuty. Feuta. Feuta. Feuta.

Feuta. Put the Y in there, even though there's not really one. I'm going to nickname him the finalist soon. He's going to get a job. Don't you worry about that one day. Hey, how's Florida Christmas these days? You know what? It's been a tough one because we've had some wind and the beach has sort of been washed away a little bit.

It's nothing like winter ruin of Christmas. Yeah, it just takes away. But you know what? I got to tell you, I was listening to you talk about Christmas stories and you got your great little hats on there and you really look like jolly old Saint Nick.

Kippy's putting on a little weight and we need a white beard unborn but anyway look the best part of of christmas for our family without a doubt was going to the world junior championships to scout that was the whether whether it was in chaleftia to watch the sedins uh in their draft year or it was in vancouver uh we stayed up at whistler and commuted back and forth so it was christmas on the road with the kids and the and jill and watching the world junior championship typically in europe um and in vancouver was really special

so that was a highlight hockey christmas to be quite honest so let me let me get this straight okay you you ride them on your your your budget as a president and general manager and you get all the the wife and kids on a free trip that's that's did you have them take charts during the game i'll tell you what i used, they used to get sour at me, especially, Jill, when I would send the cookies from business class back to them in Coke. That was like me in my sports that days. I had first class, Mac was in coach,

and I'd roll him a cookie. Roll it outside down the aisle. Certainly, there was no wine coming back. Yeah. Mac, I'm fascinated by the idea of Christmas presents for NHL players. So you were part of the decision-making I would imagine in Columbus, maybe Detroit.

No, no. The coaches got gifts too. Did they in Washington, you got gifts. Oh, yeah. I'll tell you what was the best, guys. It was unbelievable. In Detroit, about a month before Christmas, the Illeges would present us with catalogs.

Every player, every coach, every person in the management team. And you had a catalog to go through. It might be a 15-page catalog. And you'd go through it, and would you pick out a snowblower? Would you pick out? It was unbelievable what was there. But I'll never forget, I thought, you know what? I don't think I want to get Jill a snowblower for Christmas.

But the Illigis were the best. They were the best with the gifts. It was unbelievable. Jill actually really enjoyed it. She really did. You didn't want it to be easy on Jill when she pushed the snow, right? And then it was a leaf blower I got her another Christmas. Oh, my gosh.

Jill's so lucky this time of year. She sounds like a saint. Boy, oh, boy. When you're in Columbus, though, you're making decisions to what to get your team, right? Like, I imagine that's part of the thing. Like, what do you want to do for the players? You know what? It was, we didn't do a whole lot for Christmas there.

But I'll tell you what our owner did, which was pretty bizarre. He called me in at the end of the year and he said i may have told you this story but he said we made 22 million dollars this year and i said oh i like the sound of that so what he did is i went up and met him at his golf course and this was you know we went through every person on our staff, every person on our staff. And he gave out two million dollars to the people. So he said we made a lot of money. So assistant GM got X amount, you know, director of amateur. I mean, guys were getting 50 and 60 thousand dollars.

You know, my secretary, I remember her getting 15 i think 12 15 000 like it was huge so that was mr mcconnell he said if we're making a lot of money it's going back to our staff and i'll never forget standing in the dressing room handing out those envelopes so everybody comes all the staff come down to the dressing room we're all in around there the hockey ops you know the business side and went through the envelopes to every one of them it was it was pretty amazing that he did that it really was you know you think that lord you think that stuff still happens today with a salary cap and hrr that can't happen anymore can it not a chance not a chance i mean he well i mean he you you can do

whatever you want with the profit. And that's what he said to me, because his Worthington Industries company had a profit sharing plan with their employees and he wanted to carry it over with the hockey. Now, my life, we went from 22 million profit my first year in Columbus. The last year we made one hundred thousand. So the gifts weren't quite as good. Everybody got three dollars changes things a bit what would your owner have done if it was like a 22 million dollar loss like that's happening now matt teams are losing 20 or 30 million dollars a year in this league right now see what how how we made so much money in columbus the first year was our payroll was 17 million 17 million was our payroll in columbus year one 2000 we were playing detroit

eight times that year with a 77 million dollar payroll and the leafs and i mean these teams were out of hand that was in 2000 when you think back and look at those payrolls even then, and then the cap came in and my first year with the cap, the cap was $39 million. So we went from $17 million and all of a sudden we're up into the 30s, you know, and went through a stretch. They're losing twenty five million a year. A bad stretch in the in the house. And not that it was Scott Housen's fault, but in the house of the era, I remember hearing they were losing twenty five million bucks a year. It was scary. all these things like i'll never forget phoning bill daly and saying bill i'm doing the performer for my owner what should i put in for the nbc deal we just lost espn which was a million four a year our espn tv deal can you believe that and you know what bill said to me uh don't put anything in doug because we'll be lucky to get a penny from them zero Zero we got. That was the introduction of NBC to the NHL. And we ended up getting zero from them. So the Performa, I put $500,000 in just hoping we might get lucky. But that was the start of NBC and hockey.

Hard to believe. After losing ESPN and $1.4 million. And we're getting $1.4 million from Hockey Night in Canada. And we're getting $3 million from Foxockey Night in Canada and we're getting three million from Fox Ohio that was our total TV deal today what would they be getting 50 75 million a team I don't know what it is today but it's it's a lot obviously a lot healthier it is tough it is but there there's, we have some organizations that most likely will hit some significant losses without making the playoffs. The Leafs are in Buffalo tonight. Buffalo, Ottawa were two teams that were really hoping that they could keep themselves really close, if not in a playoff spot come March.

And it doesn't appear like that's going to happen. How lucky am i i mean i would i interviewed for a couple of weeks for that senior advisor job in buffalo you you remember you and i going through it at the time and obviously you were giving me tips it really helped yeah really helped i told you the story about kevin. I did an interview with Kevin Adams. I remember the last, they said, how do you get along with Kevin Adams, the guy with the Pagoulas? And I said, well, the last time I talked to Kevin

was the day I traded him for Ray Whitney. So we haven't really had a lot of communication. Kevin made a decision to go a different direction, but I was watching the other night, and in that game, in the Columbus game in the 9-4 thrashing, I thought, you know what? I'm kind of happy I'm going to the beach tomorrow.

Playing golf before I go to the fireway. 82 the other day, Nick. 82. You know what? It's a perfect temperature, Mac. Perfect. I love 82. It was a double 82 how do you feel about how the nhl ignore or takes care of the players around the holidays there's no there's a trade freeze there's days off the nfl plays three games on christmas day do you feel

like it's a bit much that the nhl is so cautious around the holidays? You know what? I kind of like that the NFL does that because we've got something to watch and do over the holiday. You know what? I don't mind it. I know as a GM and a coach, I really enjoyed it. As Rimmer said to me yesterday, he's flying down. He's only getting a day and a half for Christmas because some teams have to be back to catch a flight. I said, Rims, if you spent $300, you could fly yourself, you know,

and you could get an extra day with your family. But, you know, Rimmer, he has spent an extra $300. Rimmer takes a weekly beating. I kind of like the break, to be quite honest. And I know Berkey, that was Berkey's claim to fame. I don't know if I got that in the book or not, that he started that Christmas roster. I probably should have, because I did have his trade.

Who was the draft choice he made for Miami of Ohio? The Bigs. I did have that in the book. But anyway, by the way, 12th straight week on the bestseller just announced yesterday guys uh i hate to bring it up again no anyway i like i like the i like the break i really do good good listen we're gonna let you go we gotta cut you off here but you know uh you clearly you gotta still shop for jill so i don't know what's, hey, are you going to decide between like a wheelbarrow and maybe like, you know,

hedge clippers or something like that? Ratchet set. Right? I'd like to get her some pickleball stuff so that I don't have to go down there.

She can just use the equipment, you know? Whatever it is, it's going to be awesome. Hey, listen. Hey, guys. You don't know how much I appreciate the opportunity

to get on this show. And I just want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. And the big guy that comes on, I see him on the set there once in a while. What's his name? Ryan, is it? Or Matt? Or Max? I have no idea what he's talking about.

Sam. Oh, Sam. Oh, Sam. Sam. Sam. I, Sam. Oh, Sam. Sam. Sam. I really want to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Thank you. You too, man.

And really, once again, thanks a lot for having me on. Jill was really excited when I was rushing up from the pickleball to get up here so I could get cleaned up for this. Tell Jill Merry Christmas. She's the one we really appreciate. Thanks, bud. Doug McLean, everybody. Former executive head coach, National Hockey League. I need to get up here so I can get cleaned up for this. Tell Jill Merry Christmas. She's the one we really appreciate. All right. Doug McClain, everybody. Former executive head coach, National Hockey League. That Columbus guy is crazy.

He wouldn't have sold one book without us. Oh, sorry, Florida. Yeah, Florida? Yeah, they're my bad. We have sold a lot of those books. We've sold a ton of books for him. But hey, it doesn't sound like he needs our help. Man, they're flying off the shelves.

No, no, no. We're the ones that started the whole thing. What percentage are we getting? Well, you guys both have books. Just tell people to buy your books. Buy my book, will you? Down and back. In stores.

I don't even remember my name. Undrafted. Undrafted. But down and back really is available. Yeah. You really ruined your book. It would be very helpful. I'm ruined.

You think he enjoys the spot on our show? Who? Yes and no. It's like he gets shot out of a cannon. I love listening to you when I'm on. Every time he comes on. I feel like we should buy him a sandwich or something someday. Our next guest is ready.

Let's go. Sammy. Hey, look at this man. Look at this guy, DA. David Amber. Nicky, I have a little Christmas treat for you. I know you get hungry during the shows. Will this tide you over?

Will this be enough? This was just a casual conversation, DA, that we had yesterday. That when we race off our show to go do our regional Leaf game, there were no snacks. That's all I said. Could I get an energy bar somewhere? And now I'm hearing

you've got snacks for me. It's a Christmas miracle. There's chips. There's all the unhealthy stuff. It's all there. But I think there's a couple energy bars, so you're good to go. Well, I really appreciate it. Is it you I have to thank for that? Absolutely not. That's way above my pay grade. You know, I can't have

things like that done here. But tonight, we got the little snacks. We're ready to go. We got a game. You guys are double dipping. You've covered all the ground already. We're ready. Good. And where are you leading us? Where's the storyline tonight? Toronto and Buffalo. Oh my gosh. There's so many stories. I mean, we're ready. Good. And where are you leading us? Where's the storyline tonight, Toronto and Buffalo? Oh, my gosh.

There's so many stories. I mean, we're going to obviously talk about Austin Matthews, right? Could he actually become the ninth player ever to score 70 goals? I mean, he's on pace to do just that. I don't know. That's certainly a conversation. What about the Buffalo Sabres? They're a mess.

You were talking to Jason York about that. I mean, what kind of response are we going to get from the Sabres? I want to know from you guys. They have a 21-year-old goalie in Devin Levi. What are they doing to his confidence, right? Like, I'm wondering, is this the best spot for him to be in? And I know they really want it to work, but if it's not going to work, then should he not be in the AHL, you know, figuring things out there?

So there's a lot to dig into, no shortage of storylines. And are you guys going to be dressed festively? Are we going to see the hats on the show tonight? We're rushing in there. We're both going to have hat hair. So it's going to be... Hillary's got her work cut out when we get there. So, you know, put her on notice. DA, we wanted to...

We've been having a lot of Christmas discussions with our earlier guests. You know, your career in media has taken you to a variety of different places around the holidays. Have you always managed to get time off? It is a big deal in the Amber House. Well, one thing I'll say is I'm really happy,

and I'm sure most people in our industry are who cover hockey, that the NHL doesn't use the NBA or the NFL even this year blueprint. Like the whole 24, 24 25 26 off every year that's that's a nice thing to just decompress spend some time with the family um I think that's important in fact tonight's a really my niece has flown in from New York this morning and I'm picking up my daughter from the airport as soon as our show ends so I'm really she was home from university so I'm super excited uh I think it's kind of nice to have that little decompress don't have to sit, watch games.

Don't think about hockey for 72 hours and then get right back at it. See, this surprises me, DA, because I know working with you over the years, your big thing is how do we sell this game? How do we promote it? How do we get the stars out on the biggest stage? And, you know, for us here at Sportsnet, we push hard to see the success of the Canadian teams because when they're successful, we're successful.

So, like, what do you think of that? Do you see it eventually getting to the point where there's just maybe too much money to be made or too much platform to lose this time of year for the players? Well, one thing I'll say is i think the nhl's conceded christmas day to the nba and that's sort of become their triple quadruple header i think they even had a quintuple header last year if i'm not mistaken however uh they've done a great job back when john collins was back as the what coo or whatever the the winter classic they've sort of taken back uh new Day, which is a big day.

That's usually a traditional college football day. And the fact that the Winter Classic has such great traction, you know, it may be less traction here in Canada, but in the U.S., it's like a big event. It's a thing. And you guys have been to those Winter Classics. I've been to a few, and they are a big event. So I think they have a little piece of the holiday season.

You know, there's other days that are carved out specifically for the NHL. I think it's okay to concede Christmas Day. I think it's important. The NHLPA, I mean, you're a former player, Nick. The players are all of a sudden going to say, okay, well, the eight biggest teams are going to see New York. We're going to see Detroit. We're going to see Los Angeles. We're going to see the Leafs every Christmas Day.

I don't think the players would be too thrilled about that, quite frankly. So I think it goes bigger. I think sometimes you do the right thing. You might lose a little bit of money here and there, but you're doing the right thing. You're keeping people happy and there's value in that. Yeah, no doubt about that. I agree. I think the NHL does the right thing, by and large.

I know, D.A., a lot of time spent with you that we do talk a lot about the Canadian teams, and this has got to be our annual check-in. I think going into the year, you may have had five teams in the playoffs but it's not even there we had seven I had seven in may have overshot by a little I'm in denial where are we on our Canadian teams uh is there any of them that you see as real contenders well I guess we're going to do like a pulse check. Yeah, I mean, Stanley Cup contenders, I mean, listen, Winnipeg,

you think Winnipeg's going to be an easy out? I don't. Do you believe in the Vancouver Canucks? I do. You know, the way they're playing. There was a really good point made by Elliot today on Jeff Merrick's show earlier. We don't listen to that show.

That Rick Tauatazzo, even when they're not all firing on all cylinders, he's got them playing sort of a system that is structured in a way that even when, let's say, Pettersson's not feeling it to score that night, they're structured. They have something, sort of a security blanket to lean on. And I think that's a really good point. I look at Vancouver, and when you have Demko in your net, you're in games, right?

So, honestly, I think Vancouver's legit. Obviously, I think Winnipeg's legit. I think the Leafs are legit. I don't think the version we're seeing of the Maple Leafs here on December 21st, first day of winter, by the way, is the same version we're going to see in April, right? We're going to see two new defensemen. We're going to see some big power forward of some sort.

It's going to be a different team. Will they be a Stanley Cup contender? Absolutely. And now you have four plus million dollars in cap space with the Klimberg situation, and I'm not sure about Ryan Reeves' situation. So, you know, you have some flexibility there. And then the wild card's really Edmonton. You know, forget about Montreal

and Ottawa right now, and Montreal's a great story, but the wild card to me are the Edmonton Oilers. They could miss the playoffs, and they could win the Stanley Cup. And I'm not sure either of those things at this point would be dramatically surprising, which sounds like a crazy thing to say, but you don't know. It's Jekyll and Hyde with that team. You just don't know what team you're going to get,

and they obviously haven't left a lot of wiggle room. But imagine them slipping in as a number eight seed. It would be reminiscent to the L.A. Kings slipping in as an eight seed. St. Louis Blues in 2019 barely making the playoffs. It would be reminiscent of those teams. No one would want to face the Edmonton Oilers coming up at the right time with that kind of momentum heading towards the playoffs. Is it true when you were seven your best gift ever at Christmas

was a set of dumbbells? What a scdiver. Kipper's on me. Torn tendon. Kipper, torn tendon in the wrist. I can't even do anything anymore. No. He's just doing squats, he says.

It's legs day every day. Just heavy squats. Oh, you're getting old. Max rep heavy squats. Well, listen, keep the snacks warm for me. Do I want warm snacks? Sit on his pack of fruit snacks until he gets there, will you?

No, don't do that. Keep him cold. Bad news, Kipper. You snooze, you lose. These are mine now. All right. There's some more snacks here for you. I'm going to see you guys in shows in an hour So get ready

Happy holidays Our host with the most David Amber Tonight Justin and I will be joining him For Leafs Buffalo Regional tonight The show literally starts in an hour and six minutes You guys will actually be talking about hockey On that show

And like today we just talked about Christmas So far so good And your bad hair Oh my hair is terrible This hat You guys will actually be talking about hockey on that show. And then like today, we just talked about Christmas. So, so far, so good. And your bad hair. Oh, my hair's terrible. This hat. You are given no chance. No, no chance. It's all right.

You stand the deck against you. I can't look like a total hunk every day, boys. No. Hunk of what? Oh, my God. I love you guys. You guys want to do game time here? I got some game time.

All right. Let her rip. It's always fun. Okay. All right. It's game time. It time here? I got some game time. All right. Let her rip. It's always fun. Okay. All right. It's game time. It's game time. It's game time.

Presented by Bet365. Visit the app, TheLitestOdds, and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, this one, we talked about this on, was it Monday that I talked about this or Tuesday? I can't remember what day it was. The losing streak.

Yes. The Pistons. Tonight, the Detroit Pistons have another chance to break their losing streak. They have now lost 24 in a row. They're two away from the single season record. The

Utah Jazz are in the second half of a back-to-back, and they're missing four of their good players. The Detroit Pistons are a minus 130 favorite in a basketball game, having lost 24 straight basketball games. How is that possible? I just can't do it. So I am not picking the Detroit Pistons.

I am fading the Pistons tonight. I'm picking the Utah Jazz as a plus 110. You know the Jazz addressing me, Kip, you, Ailish, and Cuthbert. I don't care. I'm going with the Utah Jazz tonight, baby. Plus 110. Did we have this conversation already that that is the worst ever? Not ever.

Not ever. 25 or 6 games is the record. Yeah, 26 is the single season. Compared to hockey. Hockey's 18. Hockey's 18. And we know the NFL only plays like plays like yeah and how do you even like what would count in the nhl without a win i guess yeah winless yeah and the nfl the detroit lions

would win less one year so they lost 16 straight and baseball i actually don't know what the record is in baseball i can look that up it's got to be big 162 games some real duster teams i'm just looking that up quickly but what's your prediction uh prediction i bet you a team has lost 34 games in a row in baseball uh longest i don't think you're right that seems like a really long pistons ended tonight well i mean utah's dressing nobody there's no four best 1961 philadelphia phillies lost 23 games in a row wow basketball, basketball's longer. Yeah. God, this piston team. You just think about, like, in sports in general, the NBA, you know... The disparity's huge.

You can get hot. One game, or like, you know, if you're playing against a lot of good players, it's really tough. I think it's really hard to lose 20-plus in any straight sport just with a lot of professionals, but I think basketball's the hardest because... The best guys touch the ball every position. The whole time. So time so yeah so you think it's ending tonight kipper i do yeah

okay well we disagree on that one is there like a wimba nyama type guy to get drafted no no it's like apparently it's like historically not a great if they have the highest paid coach in the league the destroyer pistons is it nurse no it's not nurse where did nurse go he went to the sixers sixers really good. Yeah. Might have been a mistake. And the last one I'll give to you quickly. I don't usually do a Leafs pick,

but tonight I am extremely confident in the Toronto Maple Leafs. So give me the Leafs minus a goal and a half plus 150. I think they're going to smoke the Buffalo Sabres. I don't want to desk this. That was. I just do. I never thought. What are the better say on who wins that game?

Oh, the Leafs are huge faves. They are huge. Yeah. Yeah, they're, well, not huge, but minus 150. On the road, that's a pretty big favorite. That's a big favorite, yeah. You're not convinced either. I'm not, I just, the Leafs.

I'm not convinced. Picking the Leafs is jinxing. I'm not convinced. Not that I don't think they're going to win. I do think they're going to win. And the Buffalo has some good players. They're not. A lot of good players. I don't know what they're doing. Yeah, I don't know.'re going to win and i do think they're going to win and the buffalo has some good players they're not a lot of good players i don't know what they're doing yeah they can't defend they give up the most high danger chances in the league their goalies 21 doesn't add up

and do you think the oilers get off the schneid tonight going in in uh in new jersey no i don't yeah i think i don't think they win tonight. That's why it's hard. That's why you can't lose five of your... Lose 18. All right, we'll pick that up. I'm going to take a quick break here. Oh, yeah, let me just close it off here. That was game time. Visit my Bet365.

Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. All right, we'll talk a little bit more Oilers after the break and also Ottawa going into Colorado. Yeah, that's tough, dude.

After a very tough loss to Arizona. That and more as we continue on our Christmas edition of The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. when you listen to Hockey Talk, the Hockey PDO cast with Dmitry Filipovich. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Sam, he's got me ready for the closing of the... Yeah, see, you moved me too early. No, now I'm going. No, she just moved it for you. She just moved it for you moved me too early. No, now I'm going. No, she just moved it for you.

She just moved it for you. You're perfect. Kipper, what are you doing, buddy? You're good. Now you're nice. I'm just messing with you. I couldn't watch anyway. So, Sammy, no lineup, no nothing.

I'm coming in here cold turkey here, and you're telling me our guest is going to come in studio. Our last guest. Our last guest. But you've moved everything and we still have another guest coming in on Zoom. Yes. Well, I'm not going to get up and do it while we're on air. I have to do it while... Why? Our next guest is ready.

You're still a producer, Sammy. I know. That's what I do. Alright, let's go to our next guest on Zoom. Put him in the lower tier hat there. Oh, yeah. Oh, there we go. Wow, Jason Bukala. It's like in the Kipper and Bordy hats. What a guy. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. This is... A round of applause for the effort. Right? On Zoom, Jason Bukala, very festive for us. From the vest... What's up, brother? ...to stockings in the background.

I am so impressed. Only the best for you guys, let me tell you. It's been great being on so far. Great new slot here, and I took some extra time. Wow, and no real break for you. World Juniors, right? That's the focus? World Juniors it is? That's the focus? World Juniors it is.

That's right. Just tomorrow on the.ca, I'm going to drop an article on the prospects over there that have been drafted by Canadian clubs and how they've been trending. Ryan Dixon dropped one today, you know, with all the different players that are going to be in the tournament. But I kind of did a deep dive for you guys,

a little bit more of what to look for from all the Canadian franch that are going to be in the tournament, but I kind of did a deep dive for you guys, a little bit more what to look for from all the Canadian franchises and there's some great players, fellas, great players. Okay, we know this tournament has turned into a huge Christmas bonanza for Canadians from coast to coast,

but it's always on the backs of the kids doing really well in Canada, right? They're either winning the thing or at least they're, they're, they're in a final here. So is this the year maybe that they don't do as well because of the push with the U S right now? Yeah. I'm going to temper expectations a little bit for our viewing audience and our

listeners. They're in tough this year. The U.S. has been really building towards this tournament. A couple of years ago, they had that juggernaut U18 team that had a whole slew of guys drafted in the first round. They backed it up with some really high-end guys again last year. So they are loaded. Honestly, they can roll 13 forwards out, and most of those guys will be able to play on first lines on any roster in the tournament. That's how deep they are.

Even on defense, Lane Hudson, he's a whirling dervish. The Montreal Canadiens draft, he's got a little bit of Quinn Hughes in him. He's undersized. He's at Boston University, but equal parts distributor shooter. The Canadian team, we're're gonna have to get excellent ball tending that goes without saying at this event year in and year out but uh relentless compete like we're gonna have to look like the new jersey devils circa 1994 books i got way more important thing to ask you about i i heard you went out for beers with sammy

and his boys i gotta know i gotta know what are his boys like tell me what happened beers in london with sam mckee and crew idiots well first of all i had to talk him down because the poor old sound attack got it handed to him he was very he was you know he was despondent but yes uh i don't mind giving a little shout out sammy to our friends at beer Lab, right? Oh, yeah. London. We had a blast. And there are some other producers, you know, at the network. I can't mention names right now, but they have frequented the Beer Lab as well.

So it was great to see Sammy. We had a really good time. It's remarkable what he put up with for like an hour and a half. Like your boys just giving it to him like a personal interview like this guy used to be in the league for however long, and they're just like, ah, you're an idiot. What are you talking about? It's like I was a pin cushion. They were coming at me.

They were relentless. It was unbelievable. I had to bail. Does Homer Simpson into the bush out back? Is it true our boy Sammy was playing big shot? What are you talking about? You you know you're a celebrity now he he's recognizable i'll tell you that and that that that big grin that he walks around with all the time everybody knows for sure well we're gonna set him back with the hat that he's been wearing for about an hour and a half kip found a hat in

the gutter on the way here and threw it on sammy i just took him off the like the hallways of one of the decorations in there yeah off the railings really oh my god anyways i'm gonna get in trouble again aren't i yeah you're fine um all right so holiday season for a scout what's it been like over your time you know you guys obviously prepare for this tournament that's right after Christmas. Have you ever been with your family at Christmas time? No, no. Well, I mean, I've always left.

The earliest I've left is Boxing Day. You know, I don't go over on Christmas or anything like that. But, you know, even this trip, guys, it's a 12-day extravaganza. You know, I leave here on the 27th and I'm not back until the 7th, just with how it is over there, coming back and connections and blah, blah, blah. But they're used to it. I'm lucky. My entire family, obviously the kids are born into it,

but patient wife at home. Happy wife, happy life. And all she's known is hockey her whole life. So I don't know. She doesn't seem to miss me too much when I'm gone, like 12 or 14 days of the holidays. So I don't know. She doesn't seem to miss me too much when I'm gone, like, falling for the holidays. So whatever. What are you going to do?

Get her a snowblower like Doug McClain. Yeah. Does Dougie just sit out in the RV and watch her snowblow? Yeah, 100% he does. Hey, speaking of which, we were talking coaches and players at Christmas. What about scouts? Do they get it forgotten a little bit this time of year gifts well uh i have to say that i've been very lucky dave apoyal back in the day it was over the top we used to get fantastic gifts and and then of

course dale talon who's uh a golfer as everybody in the industry knows uh he went over the top with some titleist stuff over the years and some ogio golf stuff so really uh really nice that they recognize the guys uh you know we come back for meetings after usually meetings start happening in january right so it's a belated gift but the guys are always happy to get something and uh it's it's it's nice it's nice to be it's nice to be thought of once in a while because a lot of miles, a lot of nights away from home. Well, listen, you have a fantastic tournament. We'll check in with you periodically.

Love to have you back. Give us an update. But we really appreciate your time, Boogs. Yeah, I'd love to be back with you over there, boy, and say, listen, continued success. All the best to you guys with all it is. You too, man. Really appreciate you.

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Now, when he says continued success, does that mean that we have success? Because I don't see it. It's like Doug McLean. If we tell people it's going great,

no one ever really looks into it. Okay. Good. Yeah, we're humming along. I think it's okay. They put us on TV. They let me wear this stupid hat. They take us off TV next week. So we have a few minutes before our next guest comes in.

You said you wanted to talk about something. I do. Because this is not only our last show before the Christmas break, but it's our last show in 2023. So if we were to pick a couple of stories here that stand out for you guys

in 2023 in the NHL, what jumps out at you? We had a brief talk prior and I'll let Sammy say the one that I think has moved the needle most. I mean, Toronto is the center of the hockey universe, as everybody who's listening across the country loves to hear.

Kyle Dubas, to me, is the number one story. It's a big story. He was here for eight years. The way it played out at the end was one of the most, you know, electrifying weeks of radio I've been a part of. We did that Dubas Presser live. Yes. Yes.

And you were away on the Friday for the Shani one, where Gord Stalek watched him put on a clinic of radio prowess but it was a wild week we didn't know what was going to happen he gets let go, it was insane I wrote about it today for the Toronto Star

my weekly column, you can find it on at Real Kipper on Twitter or X, whatever you want to call it. But yeah, it was incredible radio and TV for us. I mean, you just watching it play out like that. It was one of the most bizarre exits in a managerial position that we've ever seen. Also the most subjective,

right? Like there's anyone you talk to as a different view, a different angle, depends how you felt about him before and you know, how you feel about the state of the team. So it really lent itself to so much conversation. And even now you wrote a whole article about it today. There were parts I disagreed with in your article.

There's parts I agreed with, like it's still not really clear. And that's why he should have been like, hey, guys, Noah got a little messy at the end. Yeah, but I love my time. I love my time here. Where is the disagree part? Oh, yeah.

Let's go. Do you want to know where it was? Yeah, please. It's Christmas. There's like a hard conclusion. It's Christmas. Come on. Parents, stop fighting.

I don't necessarily agree with the idea that he trotted his family out as sort of a negotiating pawn. I do believe that there is genuine indecision that was happening which, you know, maybe I'm naive, maybe you're cynical.

I don't know. Could be a little bit of both. All I know is this time tomorrow I'm off. I'm not going to get into this with you. We're not doing this today. No, it's fine. That's why you write. Yes.

And that's why you have a comment section. Hey, you agree, you disagree, let me know. But this is what I mean. It's still like, I don't know. We don't have answers. That's why it's a big story. What's your biggest story? My biggest story?

I think that would probably be it too. Where would like Corey Perry, Chicago's a big story? Yeah, I think just them in general with them getting Bedard followed by the start for Bedard and then the Corey Perry thing and the subsequent stuff that came out around that. Like that was horrible, but it was a huge story for a a week and it just feels like it's gone away now you're writing about it a little bit i'm sure people are checking in on him but yeah that was a big one i'm trying to think of other ones but yeah those two stand out to me in my news and notes today i talked about teams having internal discussions on if if and when he gets cleared i can't how many teams would be willing to take him

for 750 uh pro-rated i would say most would probably be checking in wouldn't they yeah i guess like would details have to be made public of what happened and i don't know i had one nhl executive tell me if edmonton can make evander kane work how many teams could make cory perry work again oh actually somebody just texted me babcock that's a big story too great call that's a really great and barry because it's like i'm feeling like an idiot for not thinking of that one but that was a massive story yeah that's that's right up there with uh the surprise that cory perry is not a member of chicago no no doubt the the babs Corey Perry is not a member of Chicago. No, no doubt. The Babs one is just also because it's a lot of conjecture and hearsay

and what really happened and huge celebrity. There's pain coming. There was pain that arrived. If there's enough time between Corey Perry's last game and this stint with the NHL Players Association program and feeling like he may have cleared a few things up. Second chance? I don't know.

I'm off tomorrow. I don't want to get in trouble. There's five minutes left in our show. Yes, it's very possible. We're not privileged to any details. We don't want to get in trouble. There's five minutes left in our show. Yes, it's very possible. We're not privileged to any details. We don't know anything. So, like, how do you get to decide? That's what I'm talking about.

It's hard because it's like I don't know exactly what he did. I don't know. But let's assume we never will know. Okay. Well, then how can I say he can't play? Thank you. You know, and your point about Kane, like, it's people make mistakes and they get another chance.

I don't think you should be allowed one strike. So, I don't know. I don't know what he did. Do you think the Arizona City vote failing was a big story? Someone texted me in that thought. No. No, because I don't care. What about Kane on a different team?

Yeah, Leafs trade deadline. You guys had a great and active show. That was a wild day. We did have a massive deadline show. Well, it was not even, great and active show that was a wild day we did have a massive deadline show well it was not even i don't think it was the actual day no it was a day before a couple days before something was o'reilly happened sandin happened like they had a whole new team by the show or it's done shen another story for me that i don't know if it would make a top 10 list, but the traditional NHL

draft getting blown up. That's a story. Non-story. Non-story. Non-story. No, I think it's a story. I mean, I love that it's the sphere. That's a story to me. Oilers horrible start, someone said. The tank fest.

Them losing eight in a row hold on though to the draft thing i i think it's a big deal the teams and and executives and media in terms of how they're gonna what they're gonna do but last guest is oh alish we get an alish guest in here what's happening hey alish come on in come on in. Come on in. Hello, fellas. Hi, everyone. There we go. Hey. How are you? Thanks for joining us.

Happy holidays, everyone. Thank you. Ho, ho, ho. I'm here. Have I not the worst hat in the world? Yeah. Is that not the scuzziest thing you've ever seen? That's pretty bad.

I said that thing was found on the ground somewhere in Kipper. We don't want it nowhere. Pulled it out of his dog's mouth on the way here. I don't know what you guys are up to. I wasn't listening to the show. I was prepping for mine. We were talking about the biggest stories in hockey were this year. And my vote was Kyle Dubas and the way that played out.

We've also mentioned Corey Perry. We didn't mention, but probably on the list, the sale of the Ottawa Senators. Oh, yeah. Babcock. Mike Babcock coming and going very quickly in columbus a lot of large stories we've also been in check-in with all of our guests and their christmas experience is it a big deal in the four of our house yeah i say so i feel like it was like the only time where i have

an older brother we'd all come back from like university or wherever we were playing hockey and we'd have a couple days together to to play um we'd go out and play on the palm but we just like have a nice family moment so i do think it's a big one but it's always short like it's short and sweet get back to it you know whether you're working or playing so it's a good one yeah so how has your year gone professionally here with the show because we're we've all made me no we've all made your end know, an adjustment here. They took us from upstairs. They brought us down here. You and Justin doing a terrific job.

And I do miss you on the morning. Thanks, guys. I do because, you know, we had a good morning. We had real good chemistry. The morning was great. Yeah, we miss having you on. I think it's been really great. Honestly, the amount of sleep we're getting is already so much better.

It's over in the morning, guys. You know what's up. But no, I think it's been really fun. It's been a challenge to come in and do like a quick, concise one-hour show where, you know, you got to be on the ball right away, less time for fluff. But it makes me a better broadcaster, I think. Kipper's dream, a one-hour show. Yeah.

Well, actually, because of you guys being off, we have a three-hour show tomorrow. Okay? So, thank you. That's your Christmas gift to me, is a three-hour show. Tomorrow we're doing a three-hour extravaganza. We may have to call on you, but you'll be somewhere else. Kipper, you never did a morning show. Like, you never had to get up at that time.

No. Oh, my God. No. You know, 7 o'clock hits. 705, 7... You get to put on your pajamas and go back to bed. He would call us sometimes on o'clock hits seven, seven Oh five, seven. You get to put on your pajamas and go back to bed. Sometimes in the morning show and he'd be like, either we'd know it was like Kimber was already up or he was waking up. Yeah. You were my alarm clock.

Yeah. It was fun though. Yeah. It does happen to those hours. So, um, former pro hockey player yourself, we want to ask about the professional women's hockey league is starting up

here just in about a week now. Honestly, so game one will be January 1st. So I'll be there, bright-eyed and bushy-eyed or is that it? Bushy-tailed. Bushy-tailed, yeah.

I'll be all those things. Bushy-eyed is not good. I don't like being bushy-eyed. No, it's very tired. But yeah, Toronto will be starting the season with New York. It'll be amazing. It's at Mattamy

and I played there for a little bit and it's a beautiful... I am jealous a little bit. It's an amazing rink. It's still Maple Leaf Garden. It is, yeah. It's Maple Leaf Garden. I played there for a little bit. It's a beautiful rink. I'm jealous a little bit. It's still Maple Leaf Garden. It's Maple Leaf Garden. It's going to be great for them to play. I bought season tickets. Even though I'm a media member, I want to support.

Sold out season tickets. Sold out every seat of the game so far. It's going to be awesome. I'm really excited. You weren't greasing them for a media pass? I don't even know. I might have a media pass. I wanted the support. This is the greasing them for a media pass? You're like, come on. I didn't even get, I don't even know. I might have a media pass, whatever. I bought, I wanted the support.

Because this is like, this is the start of something really new and special. And all of my former teammates and some of my best friends are still playing. So I'm excited. But I'm taking like. So can you not do both? Can you go back and play then? You got to come back in, yeah? No, I don't think so.

I play on a nice like women's beer league team twice a week. And sometimes I'm like, thank God I stopped playing. I play on a nice like women's beer league team twice a week and sometimes I'm like, thank God I stopped playing because I'm gassed. I played with Ailish at a, I don't know what it was. Yeah,

we were in a tournament together. She embarrassed you, I heard. Oh my God. Well, the second I put on skates, I embarrassed myself. So I don't really need

to worry about that. Yeah, I tried hard because Ailish was there. I was like, I'm back. Sammy did a lot of the big loops.

Big loops. Lots of loops. No, I'm looking like Evan Bouchard in the defensive zone. A lot of loops. No stops. You wish. Circling.

Circling, circling, circling. We should end by saying our thank yous to everyone today. We had the full list. Sam, thanks for putting that together. Oh, yeah, no problem. Yeah, listen, back in the days of Hockey Central at noon, we did this a couple times. Darren Millard and Doug McClain and I

would call up 10 people over the show. One of my favorite shows of the year, and that's why I did it. And that's why you did it, and you nailed it. Thank you. You nailed it. Jordan, PJ, and Yorkie, and Feutz, and Dougie Mack, we got Alish, Amber. And Amber was on... Bukala. Of got Ailish, Amber. Amber was on...

Bukala. Of course, Bukala. Amber looked like he was on the TNT set. He was from our other... He looked unbelievable on our set. It was amazing. We saw you guys do that and now we want to do it. Unfortunately, you opened up that world. That's actually true. We can do that.

It's almost better than having him in the studio. Anyways, loved it. Again, thanks to our guest, Ailish, for dropping by. Have a great show coming up. Don't go away. She's not leaving. Ailish and Justin are coming up next. For all of you in

2023, safe holidays. Rondeo, Jen, listeners. We sure appreciate your support for The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. We'd want to hear you talk about ways Sammy and Justin can improve. All of it.

No shortage. Thanks again. Stay safe, everybody. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. Happy New Year.