Real Kyper & Bourne - Hurricanes Surging Back

Episode Date: May 14, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne welcome in Oilers studio analyst Luke Gazdic (1:27) to tee up tonight's Game 4 between Edmonton and Vancouver - the decision to start Pickard over Skinner, the Oilers' depth deficiency and the Soucy suspension. Then, he weighs in on the Canucks' deadline additions making an impact and whether Silovs' play is sustainable. Later, Hurricanes analyst Tripp Tracy (33:02) discusses the Canes' chances at levelling the series after being down 3-0 to the Rangers, their faith in Freddy Anderson and how big of a distraction the Brind'Amour situation is. They close with Sam McKee for news and notes.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, let's get her going on our National Hour of the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. I'm Nick Kiprios. He's Justin Bourne. He is Sammy McKee. Canada wins! Derek Brandale. In the World Championship. David Siss-Boombaugh. And now you say that.

Canada wins! There you go. After Siss-Boombaugh. They almost blew the biggest lead in world championship history. To Sweden, to Russia, to USA. Austria. Oh! Throw another shrimp on the barbie.

The Austrians. We are live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, and Sportsnet 960 in Calgary this hour. Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. So, I'm trying to see the goals. Yeah, what was your response to the question? Hey, Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. So they're trying to see the goals. Yeah. What was your response to the question? Hey, Kipper, were they good goals?

What did you say? Yeah, no. That's generous. No. They're up 6-1. Game went to OT at 6-6. Looks like a lot of the goals that helped your team miss the playoffs this year.

Yeah. Or get knocked out in the first round. Yeah. Weird how you end up in those playoffs. Who was the pizza pizza the last one? Gooley just bounces right off a stick. Marco Rossi picks it up and just somehow puts it through Bennington's pad to tie the game at 6-6.

All right. So there you go. John Tavares, the OT winner, 15 seconds in. All right. In a few minutes, we're going to get Luke Gassick to join us. We'll talk Oilers-Vancouver. Critical game tonight. Yes.

All right. Derek Brandario says he's good to go. Let's welcome him in. Luke, what's going on? How are you, pal? What's up, guys? How are we doing today? You and your next Oiler, Kevin Bieksa is the next Vancouver.

I mean, you guys are covered there right when you work together yeah i mean kev's gone for the week to be honest so i'm yeah so i'm i'm solo uh but it was fun leading up to that he'll be back um it was fun kind of jousting off camera and um obviously he has a lot of pride for for his alumni team and and and me as well but he's taking a little break so i gotta steer the ship on the desk for the week so tons of storylines here no bigger than calvin pickard starting tonight for the edmonton oilers let's get your thoughts on a controversial call not a controversial call is this a game-changing moment here in the series? I don't think it's a controversial call.

I'll say that I'm a little surprised by it. I think my stance leading into this was, he's your guy. I think you live and die and ride with your guy and your starter. I didn't think they would go to pick, but to be honest, it shows an extreme lack of confidence in stew and i don't think it's just this playoffs i think they've taken you know into consideration uh the past as well and the playoff run last year um but i think it's rubbing off on the whole group i think the way stew is played has kind of brought the intensity level

and confidence level down for the entire group. So this might be the spark that they need. And hoping to see the real Oilers team, to be honest, because I don't think we've seen them in the first three games yet. Well, that's, you know, going into the series, I was saying that I thought, I didn't think Vancouver had a chance. I really didn't. Just having watched the Oilers since Chris Knobloch took over

and this has not looked like them. So to, you know, take a look at Vancouver's side and say, what are they doing that is making it such a challenge? I don't think the Oilers had a five-on-five goal last game. What has surprisingly been good from the Canucks so far? So I know this is easy for me to say because they're up 2-1, but Vancouver's a team that I've covered the entire year. There's lots of late nights in studio where we're doing regional Vancouver games.

I've seen them play all 82 games in the regular season. And so this, to me, is not surprising. This is a Canucks team that has been counted out time and time again. And every time that we think they're going to fold or they start to walk backwards in their play, they don't. It's coaching, it's goaltending, and it's a general attitude around their team where it's kind of like us against the world. I really do think that starts with JT Miller. Him and Quinn Hughes bring a different type of dynamic in terms of their leadership. Quinn, a little more quiet, soft-spoken, leads by example. JT leads with his play.

I think he's been a huge factor in it. If you watch the way they've played against the Oilers top players they've made it a lot harder than the Oilers have on the Canucks top players they haven't necessarily shadowed Connor but they are aware every time he opts over the boards there is a line or a or an individual that knows where he is at all times you always hear that saying as a player, don't let him off the hook. Coaches always say, don't let him off the hook. And that is exactly what they've done to 97.

I just think they've played a better two-way game. I thought the Oilers deserved better in game three. Seeloff's played outstanding, but they've had the better goaltending also, which has helped them. In terms of Dreisaitl and McDavid together, not together, mere fact that Knobloch has needed them the other night to play 30 minutes. My first thought is even if they get past Vancouver somehow

and this thing most likely goes seven games, what's going to be left of these two guys if they're going 30 minutes a night to go again against in all probability dallas yeah i mean he's running them pretty good right now and to be honest i think he's handcuffed by the fact that he's getting nothing out of their bottom six and when i say nothing there's one assist through seven players holloway fogel brown yan mark ryan have there's one assist through seven players, Holloway, Fogle, Brown, Yan, Mark, Ryan, have combined for one assist in the series.

I mean, it's just not good enough, right? I think it's Chris thinking that he has to almost entirely depend his offense around the top six. I think that's what's probably hurt them the most is there's really only a couple guys giving them production. It's my general philosophy with this team that i i think they should play separate i think they should be able to drive their own lines uh leon in particular he he's more than willing and capable to do that

uh the line of hyman mcdavid and eugen hopkins had some real success especially during the 16 game heater they were on. So I really liked that line together and I'm glad Dylan Holloway is getting a shot in the top six. I know I just said he has zero points, but I, I really do think he can excel beside Leon. He's a guy that could drive the play.

Wasn't the depth supposed to be looked after at the trade deadline here? Like, wasn't that about getting more be looked after at the trade deadline here like wasn't that about getting more depth for you behind those guys like what is going on yeah and i honestly i think the henrique injuries really hurt them i think he was much bigger a much bigger part to their forward core than people really realized until he got hurt. He played 11 minutes, just under 11 minutes in game two. He's obviously hurting. That's a huge part of it.

They traded for Sammy Carrick. And I would be fairly upset if I was Sammy Carrick or even Sam Gagne, who I think has deserved a shot in this bottom six. If you're watching the six or seven guys that are getting dressed every night, I think one of those two guys has deserved a shot um but they definitely have to be better it's a it's a huge

part of why they haven't had success luke uh players don't like to do it but fans are all over the refereeing in this series uh has anything do you feel like it's been lopsided one way or another if you could also give us your take on the final incident of the game there mcdavid eats a cross check uh get your thoughts on that but generally the officiating the series has it had some influence to you i just think it's been inconsistent and on both sides there was one penalty that i referenced in between the first and the second uh last game and it was Nurse's cross-check where it reminded me of the Brady Shea one on Trochek in overtime with Carolina New York.

The push, right? And Nurse, he does that in a battle. It didn't really have too much effect on the play. He calls him for two, and then there's the cross-check in front of the net. I think it was Zdorov in front, which was really soft play to call. Different than the one at the end of the game. This one, just a couple minutes left in the game. Just inconsistent.

I just think we're in round two now. There's a ton of calls that I'm watching that I'm like, really? Like, can we not, can we let these go? Can we let the boys play? The stuff at the end of the game, i didn't like the whole sequence uh susie i don't think intends to cross check him in the in the face the door of that's a a little bit of a cheap one on the back uh the mcdavid slash i mean that's nothing that's a love tap you want to see a slash go back to the vegas edmonton series last year petrangelo and dry sidleaitl. That's a slash. Connors was a little tap.

I didn't think it warranted a cross check to the face. My biggest thing on that whole thing is the response from the Oilers or, you know, should I say lack of response from the Oilers? I continually think watching this Florida Boston series, can you imagine if that was Barkov and that was the Florida Panthers? I mean, there would be a full-on brawl. And I do expect probably a little retribution here in game four and whether that's not getting out hit 50 to 30 or at least sticking

up for your number one center I didn't like the way the whole situation played out for either side Vancouver doing a terrific job on on the four check here. Give us your thoughts on that blue line in Edmonton and the thought of maybe 11-7, bringing in Broberg on the blue line. Will that make a difference? Will that help or just confuse things? I am philosophically against 11-7, and I think it's because I played,

and I hated it when i played it's just like the defenseman hate it too the seventh defenseman who plays will end up playing no minutes you have no chemistry with your line mates me as a fourth liner you're constantly playing with a different third guy every shift you're out there it's kind of miserable uh i think this kind of leads back to the depth and getting no production out of them he's almost handcuffed or forced to do this listen vancouver's been outstanding on the forecheck that line of dakota joshua and conor garland and elias lindholm has been a nightmare for the oilers d i have grown to dare i say love dakota joshua as a hockey player this guy is a gamer uh hits will scrap has a really

nice skill set wins battles makes plays he has uh he he's been a terror to the Oilers D uh and it's just another situation where I think there's a number of guys on that blue line that have to be better I will probably say that Mattia Sackholm is probably the only guy I can say that I've liked his game. I think the other five guys, I think, have a lot of room to go up. You know, you look at the deadline, how it affected these teams. You mentioned Carrick is not drawing in the lineup. Henrik Hurt and not having an impact. On the other side, Elias Lindholm has scored six goals in the regular

season five in playoffs so far and then uh zadorov has been maybe the biggest the most impactful defender for the canucks you know tell me about those two vancouver canucks and what you've seen out of them i think the minutes that lindholm has played so far have been better than he gave them in the regular season yeah and i know you said we're tuned into Vancouver Radio right now. I was on Vancouver Radio when they were pitching trading Lindholm a month after trading for him. This was a real scenario where they were like, hey, is it a real thing where we could turn around

and flip this guy to somebody else? They wanted nothing to do with him. And, I mean, rightfully so. He wasn't playing a great brand of hockey but he's come on really strong he's i didn't know he had that physical side to his game that's one thing that's really surprised me and kev up there was every hit he lays it's like wow like where did this come from kind of thing and man sidora is one of those guys you kind of love to hate he's played the heel in series, and he's a big boy who doesn't mind carrying the pill up the ice.

And he's been a treat to watch as well, physical, stands up for his teammates, and he's really been a thorn in the side of the Oilers. Chilov's now is starting to kind of turn the corner towards one of those historic runs that you seldom see in NHL history here. I know there's a long way to go here still, but just the mere fact of what he's been able to do. And, you know, do you see a midnight striking Cinderella scenario here anytime soon? Or can this guy do what perhaps Patrick Waugh did once upon a time

or Cam Ward did once upon a time for Carolina? Run this thing. Yeah, I think a lot of people, myself included, have kind of been waiting for this ball to drop and been waiting for the Oilers to finally solve him. I really haven't seen them be too flustered with a goaltender particular like this in a while, but the kid's been outstanding. I'm not sure if, you know, tonight is the night,

but a lot of credit has had to been given to him. You can tell like Quinn Hughes is in the postgame media availability talking about him and just how much he's rubbing off on the group, like how much confidence he's giving their team as a whole as opposed to the Oilers on the other side. I think they're going to be able to solve him eventually, and I don't know if that's the right case of words there, but to me it's only a matter of time before the top guys of the Oilers

are going to get a couple past him here. Guys, i'm going to give you quickly on dry saddle stats uh since playoffs career since 2022 uh games with zero points six games with one point nine games at two point nine games at three points 12 or three plus points 12 so this guy all he does is pour pucks in the net in the playoffs unbelievable point like his production is wild we're here in toronto you've been watching the leafs too and you know matthews and the stars here haven't been able to to replicate their regular seasons what is it about dry sidle that it's not just easy for him to replicate his regular season but improve on it with leon the bigger the moment the bigger the opportunity the bigger the stage the bigger he plays and the more juice he brings to it uh it's fun thing to watch i like we get so frustrated during the

regular season like how many times during this year with the body language and the mannerisms where you're like what's this guy doing you're just getting so frustrated with him but it's it's i it's like tough for him to play on a tuesday night in columbus like it's it's tough for him to get engaged and when he does like it's see you later i i think he's just been waiting for this moment the entire year uh and that's not to say he gave up on regular season hockey i just think the bigger the stage he he shows up and man is he fun to watch when he gets into beast mode when he has the one arm going and he has the puck on the backhand and he's protecting it and winning battles and gearing down on on face-offs and uh shooting that one

timer like he wants to put it through the net he's easily one of the most uh fun players to watch in the league and i'm hoping for one of those efforts tonight because he generally tends to bring it on home ice. He is hurting, though. I mean, there's that, are you hurt or are you injured? I know this guy was unbelievable in years past with an ankle injury, but there's something going on there. He is not anywhere near, I know nobody's's 100 this time of year but i don't know if this guy's at 60 or 70 but there's something going on with him do you sense that too i think

you're right but i think it's right around that time now walking in a game four and round two where everyone's got something something's bothering every single person, probably on both rosters. I do see it a bit with Leon, but he's as tough as they come, honestly. You know, playing on a broken foot or whatever it was in the Battle of Alberta. He'll bring it. But I think it's about that time in the playoffs where everyone's starting to feel it. And the Advil and the ice bags are all coming out about this time guys i did a little uh you know looking into the ice tilt for aws and been looking into some like some of the numbers

in the store in the series and it just looks like edmonton has carried the play like third period the entire game was in vancouver's end they couldn't put enough pucks over the line i guess to me it's just like the start is so key is it not like once vancouver gets up and they can kind of pack it in it feels like that first shift last game the oilers were not prepared for what the canucks brought does that put more pressure on their start tonight that's been a flaw of theirs all year it actually it just became a tendency of their game with slow starts and they would get better and better i mean i i acknowledge just one point i might have even been on your show at one point they had the best third period goal differential in hockey they go consistently up

but it drove me nuts to watch and i'm sure it drove oiler fans as well and and hockey fans alike where they just tiptoe into games a little bit you know they they're it's not like they're not ready for the puck drop but they kind of let the game come to them as opposed to pushing the pace early and you're right that first shift with joshua and garland and lynn home like it's like that that it sets the tone of the game right and you don't want to play from behind it but it's it became something of their game in the regular season, and it's a little disappointing to see it carry into the offseason, or into the playoffs, sorry, especially at home,

especially with your home crowd behind you. The quicker you can get those fans on your side and cheering and loud in a hockey game, the better, and I think that is probably the number one thing on their list tonight, especially if Pick's playing, which he looks like he is, is let's have a good start. And for me, that was always an individual thing. It wasn't even a coach motivating you.

It was getting yourself ready for your first shift. I was generally so nervous before the start of games, so I always just told myself, get the first shift out of the way and then go to work. And I think that's what everything everybody has to do down that lineup is worry about your first shift and winning your first shift and then go from there you know earlier in our hit you mentioned the lack of confidence that they have in skinner but it also speaks well of the confidence that they have in pickard and good quality starts this season for him i I think 23 games in total, but a save percentage of 909.

They really do believe that they can beat the Vancouver Canucks tonight with Pickard. This isn't just a hoper here. They really believe that based on his performance this season that he's capable of doing this tonight? They do, and I think that's half the battle is belief. Here's a guy who stepped in multiple times during the season, and much like the way I talked about the Canucks earlier

where not much was expected, he blew away expectations, I'd say. Like, as a backup goaltender, it was a guy that the players kind of just jumped on board with very early. And I think half the battle is believing in your guy. And that's not something you can say about every goaltender or every backup that you put in, where maybe the mindset of the team is, you know, a little iffy

and this might be a tough one tonight, boys. These guys actually believe they can win and for my money, that's half the battle. It looks like this team really loves this guy and hopefully they give him a good effort in front of him

because you know he's going to bring it in that. You gave us a good effort here on this segment as you always do. Thanks for doing luke yeah anytime guys okay enjoy the game tonight luke gazdek sports net hockey night in canada so doesn't that create a problem when you start pickard i'm always uh i'm of one mind of this if he goes in there and plays well for you tonight so then you're going to start pickard again? He's now your starting goalie? Yes. You're just done with Skinner.

Win and you're in. That's where you're at in this series. And if he's bad and gives up a couple softies in the first period. Then you beg Skinner to find his game to keep the series alive. I would have gone back to Skinner. I think when you pull a guy at 4-2 and you're still in the game, you feel worse than you do if you're pulled at 5-1. Yeah.

He wasn't that bad. He wasn't that bad. I know everyone's going, he's got to give you one more save. He does. I think I watched him. That's not a guy that knows where his net is. No. He lost his net.

I would have started Pickard tonight too. I think it's the right call. You need to get three before they get two wins. Here's what I think is going to happen. I think he's going to be wonderful tonight. I truly think Pickard is going to be very good for them. It's a big opportunity. He's actually got a very comparable situation

going into this game tonight as Aiden Hill did for Vegas when Aiden Hill had kind of a hot playoff run. You know, first playoff start came later in their careers. They both had about 100 career games in over around 45 wins. They're in very similar spots. How old is he? 29? 32. Oh, he's that old.

32 playing the biggest game of your life. Yep. Unfortunately, you can't claim the, you know, too young to realize how big the moment is. No, he knows. He knows. And I hope he's comfortable with it. Yeah, you can't play young and dumb with that one.

She loves. She loves, by the way, could not love this kid's look more. He's just greasy stash and the, you know, floral shirts. And he's just having a great time. You guys want to hear. No, game time. You got game time? We got clips, though.

We got clips. Let's do a couple clips. We can get the game time. All right. I'm good. I'm good with that. I want to call him Chuck Knobloch so bad. I know.

Every time I see it, I'm going to call him Chuck Knobloch. Chris Knobloch talked about this. Chuck, a pitcher? What was he? I think going to call him Chuck Knobloch. Chris Knobloch talked about the decision. Was Chuck a pitcher? I think he was a third baseman for the New York Yankees. Second baseman? No, Minnesota Twins. Minnesota Twins, yeah. Sorry?

Yeah, you're right. Yeah, I remember. But Yankees too. Yeah, he ended up in Yankees too. I remember he got the yips really bad. Couldn't throw. Right. So let's play the first clip from Knobloch on the decision to start Pickard.

Looks like Calvin Pickard will get the start tonight. Just give us a thought on what goes into that decision and what you expect from him. Well, I'm expecting what I've seen from Calvin all season. Goaltender has competed very hard, played very well for us, and piled up a lot of victories. And, yeah, there's been times you know it's not a ideal situation he hasn't been playing for a long time but he's gone long

stretches without playing and um you know i think the team has a lot of confidence in kelvin when he has played and he's gonna be our guy he's gonna be our guy, if Chris Knobloch were the coach of the Leafs, our show would have died after one season. We could not have had a Clipper coaches clip segment. It would not have lived. That sounds like an insurance seminar. Oh, my God. The reason I cut it is because he says he's our guy.

He's our guy. To me, that's a statement. He's our guy. Yeah. He's a guy. He's a career backup guy. He has to be our guy. We. He's a guy. He's a career backup guy. He has to be our guy. Yeah.

We have no choice. All right. Let's get to the good stuff. Okay. Zdorov. Zdorov today was asked about the Susie suspension, and he gave it an excellent quote. So let's play the Zdorov clip.

We can go from there. Yeah, he's a big part of our team. Obviously, it's a big loss for us. My thought on that, I mean, I've been thinking for a couple days. I mean, the partial death award will limit it. Sometimes, you know, social media and the public views can create some hard decisions for specific people, you know, and they might make questionable decisions at the end of the day.

That's how I look at it. You know, at the end of the day, they have to protect their investment. So that's my understanding in this situation for sure. Did Orof get to have a show? He said that social media got Susie suspended because Conor's

the highest investment the league has. He's right. He did say that. He's right. That's why he was suspended because it was McDavid. He's right. So if that's a major cane or that... Yeah, I don't think it's a suspension. I really don't. That's right. So if that's a finger cane or that... Yeah, I don't think it's a suspension. I really don't. That's how I truly believe. And Carson

Soucy's been playing against David. He's a super important guy for them. The damage is way worse if you don't suspend him on that play against David. Because everyone hunts Soucy and it becomes a sideshow? Well, just... You're to side with

Connor McDavid. That's all. That's my whole point. Is that people would be up in arms right now if McDavid if this didn't lead to a suspension off of McDavid. It would have been

much more of yes. As a league, what are we doing if we're allowing Connor McDavid to wear that one? This one's so much easier on the league. Just give him a game. And give a game to Zach Hyman. And my boy... It doesn't work that way, my Canucks fans, friends. Shout out to my

buddy, Neil Corbett, talking about how they're just a different team without Susie. This is a significantly bigger loss than people think it is. Him and Myers have been playing against McDavid the whole series. And he's long and physical and he just puts everyone in the right spot. He's fifth on the D-Core.

Yeah, but he's fifth in ice time out of the six. Right? Well, it doesn't mean he's unimportant yet. I'm not saying that is. I'm saying that he's still fifth on the depth chart of ice time. So that gives you some idea of how good that D is. Yeah. Oh, I see. Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That he's a fifth guy says a lot about the D core. Right? Yeah. That tells you that how far that D's come along in a short period of time that they revamped it with Susie and... Oh, Cole. Although Cole keeps shooting his own header.

Cole's going to quit hockey. I know, he's having a tough go here. Every goal, like that one goes in off of him, and he's not even in the way. I know. It's just off his jersey. The O.T. winner. But hey, I interrupted something where you were saying

that's not how it works, about Hyman getting suspended on Zdorov. I'm just, yeah. Basically, yeah. That's not the way it works. got two choices suspension and no suspension the one that takes the less heat off of us is to suspend them one game that's all but you don't even give hyman a fine nothing it was it was a scrum it was like lots of close bodies in I'm not sure how much contact there was. It's against who? Zdorov?

Yeah. Yeah. Big deal. But we know that doesn't matter who it is. It does matter who it is. I'm aware that it does, but it shouldn't. It does. It does.

I'm aware, but it shouldn't. Hey, I'm sorry. This is not everybody's equal here. It's not. It's about the noise. To me, the Hyman cross check, I need another angle. Because Zdorov is 20 foot 12. Maybe TNT can come out with an angle six days later.

Maybe. Where the league didn't have it somehow. I would like them to. But, you know, he comes in. And if it looks like it looks in the one overhead, it's a pretty good shot to the mouth. Let's move on. That's what the league's doing.

This is why Canucks fans are mad. This is the way it works. I'm just telling you the way it works. I'm not telling you it's right or wrong. I'm telling you the way it works. I'm not even a Canucks fan. You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. There's always going to be two sides. One screaming,

one not, or one screaming the other way. it's like you're not going to please everybody. So pick the one that can kind of, you feel like you're safest. The noise would have been ten times louder. So the league did not try to do justice. They tried to keep it quiet. Control the chaos or the noise. And that's what this decision was. Can't wait for this game.

What a series. What a hockey game we got tonight, boys. Are we doing predictions yet? Let's go to break. Go to break and then we'll do game time out of it. Still plenty more to hear from Rick Talkett as well. And Bednar Nikushkin. How that one shocked everybody during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Plus Trip Tracy and the Carolina Hurricanes. Trip Tracy as well will give us a Carolina update and the belief that they can come back all the way and beat the New York Rangers. Plenty more still on Real Kipper and more. And don't you dare go away. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things Leafs, Raptors, and don't you dare go away. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Gunning.

We got you covered on all things Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the Fan Morning Show. Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. Vancouver. We'll go tonight without Carson Soucy. Let's go to Rick Talkett on how he plans to handle that. Clip one.

Rick, you use the Soucy-Myers pairing a lot against Nationals top line and McDavid. With Soucy out, will you plan on putting Zador off with him or do you kind of go more by committee? A little bit of committee. I mean, we've done that this year where we've mixed some pairs for a reason for times like this

where guys can play with different guys. You might have to, you know, we've put Huggy Hughes with some other guys sometimes, so I think it's a committee thing. Julson and Cole have been good together. We've had some good pairs together so they're used to it huggy's an elite nickname it is it is elite i'm a huge fan huggy bear for him yeah he uh we remember you don't remember that huggy bear yeah no it's isn't it

from like starsky and hutch oh no i didn't know that no that's what i'm saying um puppy most assists per game in playoffs all time among nhl defensemen number one bobby or 0.89 number two quinn hughes 0.85 just ahead of kale mccarr evan bouchard and adam fox point being guys pretty effective player here for the Vancouver Canucks. Very. Yeah, he's been really good. So the Rangers can't put away the Carolina

Hurricanes. 3-2 now after the Canes put together an unbelievable third period. How about the Jordan Stahl stick handle? How long has he been in the league? I don't know, 18 years? I made that up, but it feels Rangey. How long has he been in the league? I don't know, 18 years? I made that up, but it feels like forever.

A long time. Best goal I've ever seen him score. And the length of the single deke from where he took it to where he put that in had to be 25 feet. His first year was 06, 07. He's almost been in the league. He nailed that. 20 years. And he scored almost 30 in his first career. He scored some big been in the league. Nailed that. 20 years. And he scored. Just off.

He scored almost 30 in his first career. He scored some big goals in the past. Yeah. But I don't remember an individual effort when the team needed it the most like that last night. No. And then Evgeny Kuznetsov comes in, scores, and does the bird, which Sammy loves. I don't love it. I love the fact that he has a signature, and it's a great which Sammy loves. I don't love it. I love the fact that

he has a signature, and it's a great Sally for him. Not the biggest Kuznetsov fan, but yeah, I like that he has a signature. Is there anyone? What's your signature? You got one? Penarin? Celebration? Yeah. I don't get to do one.

No signature. Alright, we got Tripp. Alright, let's welcome him in. We called him earlier on the show. tracy carolina still alive he's still alive that's all good here we're all good trip how are you pal hey kipper how are you how are you justin great to be with you guys yeah yeah so what is the feeling now coming back home in a on in a series that uh everybody had uh carolina written off and questions on on their head coach brindamore staying going signing a contract all of a sudden uh a lot of nervous ranger fans out there you know kipper i um i thought going into game four because other than special teams i really liked the way that carolina was playing shisterkin has been great the entire series that

once they won game four you know i i really will see how it plays out but i really felt like if they could win game five last night that they have an outstanding chance to win the series because you being a former ranger and a stanley cup winner that um you know if you could just flip the pressure especially in the new york market i think it's perfect that you know this is the one time in the series that there are two full days between games you know i don't think the momentum plays a part i think every game in the stanley cup playoffs is a standalone but to win that game and to have to do in the third period last night you know i think that you know there's pressure now and the hurricanes certainly have a great feeling and the way that they're playing that

you hope extends into game six we'll see how shakes out, but I really felt like game five would determine this series. Ultimately, let's see if that proves to be true or not. So the Canes tend to control the play against pretty much everyone they play. They're in the offensive zone for most of the hockey game, and they just kind of need their goalies to be good, not great. Tell us about the crease right now for carolina and the trust they have right now and freddie anderson it's a great question because you know i you know i had the privilege of being here for 25 years justin and you know going back as a reference point to

when carolina won the stanley cup in 2006 when they went to cam ward down two nothing going to montreal in the first round i had total conviction in going from gerber to ward gerber had been great in the regular season and then when they went to martin gerber sort of underrated in that stanley cup run down 2-1 in the conference final in game four in buffalo i had total conviction i remember walking back from practice in the on the off day with Greg Stephanie, let me know that Peter Laviolette was going to go to Gerber. You know, coming out of game four on Saturday night, it was more of an internal struggle for me.

Do you go to Anderson, you know, after the win? Do you go to Coach Etkoff, who I have a ton of confidence in? And for Freddie going into last night where he had to be because Carolina played so well in every department other than, you know, their power play, they gave up a shorthanded goal. The three areas that I was looking, and I'm still looking for growth from Freddie here going into game six is his lateral movement because I think the Rangers have really tried to target getting him

moving from side to side with their skill. His rebound control, you guys know from his time in Toronto when he's really feeling good about himself, he has the ability to absorb pucks and have swagger to his game. And then finally, the puck handling dimension, because that's one area that Kochatkov definitely, I would say, has an edge. And I thought Freddie, in the the first period there's still steps to be taken but i thought he checked some some boxes of progression with those three things so i saw that in a game where the goaltender had to be nothing more than solid as progressive steps that you hope will get even more progressive moving into game six we're talking to Trip Tracy, who does a terrific job

covering the Carolina Hurricanes, also has a podcast, Digging In with Trip. So as I'm watching the Rangers in the third period, you got Shusterkin in that. It's a 1-0 lead. You're just waiting for maybe something, a moment. And I'm watching Jordan Stordan stall who's been around for a very long time give carolina a moment on an individual effort and i i just telling the

guys earlier trip that you know we've seen jordan score some goals but like this one was uh just a great individual effort against a pretty good defenseman in Braden Schneider, and then going in there and finishing on Shusterkin. I can't imagine the lift that it would have given that bench, and then lo and behold, three minutes later, they're up 2-1 with the Birdman. I mean, where do you see that goal by Jordan Stahl on what it could mean moving forward. You know, Kipper, that's the tail end of your question and a great statement, I think, is TBD in terms of what it could mean.

But to give it some context, you know, I sojourned, because it's not an easy place to get to, to all four stall weddings in Thunder Bay. All the family and fortunately, they're four wonderful guys of great faith that I know there isn't going to be a divorce and there's not going to be another one I got to get up there to. And, you know, as well as I know, Eric and, you know, the order of their age, Eric, Mark, Jordan, and Jared, they all have some subtle differences to their personality. And Jordan is hard on himself. It's more difficult for him to trick his mind into creating offense with all the other things that he's done in this series because he's been a beast. And so when I think about that moment that you mentioned, Kipper, here's a guy that has had probably more five-on-five chances than any Hurricanes player going into the third period with a season on the line a game five and he makes that move on schneider but knowing jordan the way that i do i thought he just funneled that puck towards the net and there would have been nothing there in eager shisterkin who was in the zone and he makes that move using all of his condor reach to go forehand backhand i couldn't help but wonder on

the radio broadcast if he went to school on genzel who had a similar breakaway at the end of the first period and recognized that forehand backhand was there but you know what boys that's digging in mentally for me not to just make what would have been a can of corn shot off can of corn shot offering and instead making that move that changed absolutely everything. What does it do from this point forward? Because I've seen Jordan go on some mini offensive runs when he starts to have confidence in his offensive traits. Let's see what it does for him.

Yeah. So, you know, one of the identifying characteristics of the Carolina Hurricanes rests behind the bench in Rod Brindamore. He is the Carolina Hurricanes to many of us. What are your thoughts on, you know, during playoffs, having sort of a contract, a public contract, I don't want to say dispute, but negotiations. You know, here in this market,

everyone's talking about what could we pay to get Rod Brindamore. You know, what are your thoughts on Rod and his contract situation with Carolina? What I would say, you know, because I remember years ago, you know, when I first got going as a broadcaster and Glenn Wesley, who I loved as a hurricane to the ends of the earth, he used to come in before practice and I'd have a coffee in my hand and John Forrest and I would be there, and he'd say,

you got any scoops, guys? Scoops? And I finally said to Glenn, Wes, I'd call him off the air, love him to the ends of the earth, I'd say, Wes, my job is as the color analyst. If I was a scoop guy, I'd work at Baskin-Robbins and choosing from 31 flavors. And so I'm not trying to take the easy way out here, but my singular focus since the puck was dropped in Madison Square Garden, what, nine days ago in game one, has been totally consuming. As the color analyst of the team, how do the Hurricanes win this series?

That's been my 24-7 mental focus. And what I see in a coach who I happen to have a very close personal relationship with is a coach whose faith in his team has stayed, it's not even surprising, but as always profoundly strong. There was some noteworthy external commentary when they went down 3-0, ideologically about the way that he's approaching the game, shot volume, etc., etc., the necessary growth needed in special teams. But I see a coach in this series that his faith in his group and as a microcosm his daily weekly monthly yearly faith in the importance of Jordan Stahl whether he's scoring or not just has not deviated in the

slightest amount so within the series I'm just trying to figure out how Carolina wins this series um if you know if down the road if you were to ask me that question, I probably would give you a more opinionated thought. I do think that at the end of the day, Rod's DNA and his bloodstream is of the Carolina Reds. You know, so much, just one more, one more. Can you quickly tell Justin Bourne how good Jalen Chatfield is? Oh, you know, there's something to be said for guys that,

because there's limited opportunity when you're not projected as a can't-miss prospect when it oftentimes takes a second organization where you've got to earn it. And he comes from the Vancouver organization, and you get lesser opportunities than a guy that you've made significant investment in. You've got to be mentally, physically prepared, invested with all the controllables to take advantage of oftentimes your one opportunity. And Jalen Chatfield has done that from the get-go. He's a great skater he hasn't needed to so much in in this playoff run but he can play either side most defensemen

say they can do it but not many can and Slavin was hurt last year and he had to play his offside with Brent Burns for I think an entire month of January. His play didn't fall off. He could handle the excess minutes. And I think that I would say, gentlemen, because I think this is the strongest compliment that you can get. You guys are in Toronto. You know, when Brent Burns first got here, he goes to the rink so early. We were taking an Uber early to the game in Calgary. And Brent Burns, I wish you guys were in that Uber.

As Brent was talking in supreme complimentary fashion about Jalen Chatfield's upside and the fact that he was such a willing sponge to try to learn from Brent Burns how he can get better. And he's become an extremely important piece of their lineup. And since Brett Pesci went down, which we all know is a massive loss, Chatfield, Orloff, I thought D'Angelo after a bit of a rough game in Game 4 was solid last night. But Chatfield and Orloff deserve just a gigantic amount of credit with the way that they've elevated when you have such a significant loss

in the blue line. Tripp, great stuff, man. Enjoy game six. It's going to be electric in Carolina. Thank you, Justin Kipper. By the way, I just talked to you being a former Whaler. I just talked to Chuck Caton, the Hall of Famer, before I came on, and he said, say hello to that great former Whaler,

and he misses going to your restaurant in Markham. Yeah, well, Chuck's a great guy. Called a few of my goals in Hartford. Cool. Send him my best. Thanks for doing this, Tripp. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Tripp.

Great stuff from Tripp Tracy. Yeah, Tripp signed a free agent contract with the Hartford Whalers in 96. I don't know if you knew that. He had some Whalers ties as well as a goalie. I did not know that. Oh, I'm here to help. I'm way before me.

All right. Way after me, sorry. It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app, latest odds, to find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. Now, we're getting into the time of year where the odds for the favorite to win the Stanley Cup are a little bit shorter here. And the two favorites are the Dallas Stars and the Florida Panthers. The Dallas Stars are plus 225 to win the Cup. Kipper, I believe, was that your Stanley Cup final

that you may have predicted? So the books are liking what you have. The Edmonton Oilers are next. This is the crazy part to me. The Edmonton Oilers are down 2-1 in a series to the Vancouver Canucks where they've looked largely bad. The Vancouver Canucks are 12-1, and the Edmonton Oilers are plus 450. And they're down 2-1 in a series.

I thought that's wild. So they still have trust that, you know, Shelov's is going to fall apart here, that the Oilers are going to get going. What? No way. you know she loves is gonna fall apart here that the oilers are gonna get going but if i'm what no if i'm gonna talk it i'm just like you guys gotta go to bet 365 you gotta look at the odds he's gonna win the cup and look at that because that's crazy to me like i place your bet is that what you're saying oh no i don't think you should do that but i'm saying look just look at it and say hey look keep them away from that stuff they look like they have no belief in you right everyone has no belief in you.

So I just think that's interesting anyway. So obviously two games on the ice tonight. Florida, massive favorites, minus 220. They think that series ends there. And the Edmonton Oilers as well, minus 205. The Vancouver Canucks plus 170 in Edmonton tonight. So bet 365, disrespecting the Vancouver Canucks, my Vancouver Canucks, you know, pandering.

It's all Connor-driven. But they think that they really do think that the Oilers are going to have a big statement tonight. But, I mean... Connor, after getting no points, just gets a million points. Twice in the series. So, you can... He needs three or four tonight.

He probably will. You can do a lot worse than the Vancouver Canucks, who are red-hot, plus 170, against a guy making his first career playoff start. You can do a lot worse than that. So, thatucks who are red hot plus 170 against the guy making his first career playoff start you can do a lot worse than that so that was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly in 12 games after recording zero points a season mcdavid has 26 points okay guys listen we got to get to one of the biggest stories in the NHL,

and that's Nikushkin now no longer a member of the Colorado Avalanche. He's now stage three from the NHLPA. And, you know, Bednar was asked about it, basically said, you know, yes, it's disappointing, but then there's the human element of getting his life in order. Justin, something that's near and dear to your heart is the challenges that he's had. You've gone through it personally here. What are your thoughts when you first heard about Nikushkin now not being a part of the team and going into a stage three situation? I just, you know, I have a lot of sympathy, you know,

for the guy and what he's going through. You know, I've seen some people say some things like the team is mad at him or whatever, and that's fine. The players and the team are allowed to be disappointed that he's not available, but he's obviously in the grips of something that he's having a tough fight against obviously in the grips of something that he's

having a tough fight against i feel for him um i wish him the best it's obviously the hockey is secondary at this point um don't necessarily agree with some of the ways it's handled through the league but i understand that um yeah i'll just leave it at i am rooting for the guy you know this story's not going to go away I want to get in tomorrow a little deeper on how things are handled and what you were just speaking of because I think it's really important

that we take a deeper dive here on how the NHL or the NHLPA handle situations like this. Appreciate that. Let's do it tomorrow. Thanks to all our guests. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow once again on Real Kipper and Born.

Have a great night, everybody.