Real Kyper & Bourne - Inside Olympic Hockey with Chris Pronger

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

Hockey Hall of Fame defenceman Chris Pronger (3:24) joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne to help review Canada's 5-0 win over Czechia in their Olympic opener. He shares his thoughts on the complete performance from the Canadians, Jordan Binnington's puck play, the challenges of playing Olympic underdogs, and the importance of NHL stars buying in on smaller roles. Later, Nick and Justin regroup with Sam McKee to discuss what a successful Olympics can do for Auston Matthews and the Oshawa Generals' request for fan hygiene. They close out with a game of 'True or False!'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 take a national on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. We are live on Sportsnet 360, 650 in Vancouver, 960 in Calgary, and streaming always on Sportsnet Plus. Also available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube. Keep the chats going. Give us a thumbs up. Much appreciated. And if you're not already subscribing to SportsNet, please do so.

Nick Kippreel is Justin Boren. Sammy McKee, this hour of Real Kippering, Born. brought to you by Bet365 in a few minutes. We'll welcome in, Stanley Cup champion, gold medalist. Done it all. Chris Pronger. I got to say weird coming in today to do this show after Canada played, you know, we do so many at Leafs games,

and the main takeaways are like, boy, everything went right. This must be what it's like cheering for the Dodgers. It's like, yeah, the good players were awesome all the time. Yeah. Everything was good. Great. How he saves. Yeah.

Boy, they shot him in the net more than the other team did. Had the buck the whole night. And it's not like... Wouldn't change the thing. It's not like... They were playing like... Dogs. Dogs?

No. Pasturenak and Natchez and there were some guys over there. Pretty dangerous players. Yeah. I saw it. Nages have one rush and passed a dangle to the middle one time. From the net on out, everybody contributed. Everybody got noticed.

From the stars to the depth. Like, yeah, maybe too good too soon. Well, I was like, okay, so you want to get Jarvis in, you know, maybe you take out Bennett. He played the least. I like Bennett. I thought he forechecked, had a couple good hits, had a shot, another attempt. It was a plus. Stay within yourself, you know?

Yeah. Just quick housekeeping note tomorrow, because we're moving around all this because of game times for Canada. Tomorrow we will be an hour from 2 p.m. Eastern to 3 p.m. Eastern to clear a little setup. and boy, who better to call than to set up Team Canada versus Switzerland. We're on the end. What time? Sorry?

2 p.m. 2 p.m. 2 p.m. Doug McLean. I'm telling you right now. That was leading. If you just didn't mention that, I'm showing up for 4 to 6. You just found out?

Yeah. Well, we, we, like, you think we're distracted now with the USA Latvia game. He's like we're going to be able to do a show during a Canada game. We'd all just be sitting there staring at the game. Another good shot attempt there, hey, boys? Hey, what a goal there. For those of you that didn't,

catch our first hour. Just a bit of a recap, J.B., in terms of, from the net on out, if there were any question marks, it was totally in net. What you saw out of Binnington, we had a pretty good healthy conversation on Binnington or Thompson yesterday. What did you see in terms of Bittington's performance today? Yeah, I mean, perfect. I think that was how I described it in the first hour, just 26 shots on net. I thought he controlled the rebounds well. I thought he played the puck well. He was everything that Cooper thought he was going to be when they put him in that spot. So certainly tough to complain. I think with him is that, you know, as I like to say, he can get a little

bit horned up. And if he can just kind of stay within himself, make saves that you're supposed to, don't come flying under the net. Don't play pucks who you're not supposed to. Just quiet, Biddington. If he can be quiet, Biddington, they'll be fine. Yep. No better guest to have to open up these Olympics than our next guest, Chris pronger he's lived it he's gone through it uh and we're going to dive into that moving for prongs thanks for joining us man thank you appreciate it so um we described a lot of what we saw out of canada as being pretty darn perfect right now and i'm just i'm wondering in terms of your past experience of of starting a tournament like this of with so many emotions pent up

stuff over months, if not years for some of these guys and the potential for an opening game to go wrong. I mean, was it out there today for them at all? Any pitfalls starting a tournament? Not the way they started the game, that's for sure. I think we got exactly what was advertised as, you know, right out of the gate, McDavid, McKinnon, Crosby, Celebrini. You saw the depth that Canada has up front. You know, I think you guys were just talking about it. The alleged or perceived the Killies heel was goaltending and maybe the depth on defense. You know, we'll see, you know, how injuries play out on the back end.

I think, if anything, that would be the biggest concern. But when you have a goaltender like Jordan Bittington, who plays the puck as well as he does, it takes a lot of pressure off your defense. in the tight confines of the NHL rank and a little minus three feet. You know, having a goaltender that can play the puck like that certainly gives you an advantage. Chris, having played in big games in the past,

how does that prepare you for this? Like, I'm watching this game, and McKinnon who has a cup and McDavid, who's been to the cup finals twice and won the Four Nations, they just seem not overwhelmed by the moment. And, you know, you don't see, that all the time from guys. I'm sure you went through that in your career. What changes for guys after they've experienced that? Yeah, I think the buildup to this tournament, too, they've been

looking forward to this since 2014. Right. And they've negotiated the opportunity to be there. They've paid to be there. More importantly, they have paid mightily to be there, obviously, with the current schedule and how compressed it is. They've earned the right now to take advantage of it and play in these Olympic games. So they're going to take full. advantage of it. They're going to leave it all out there. And we certainly saw that here in the first game against Chequia. Not a lot of mistakes were made, not a lot of holes to dissect, but Chequia outside of that first line, not very deep, a very potent first line,

but they kept them in check for the most part. And, you know, that'll be the interesting thing as the tournament goes on, you know, how they are they getting better and better? Can you get better than that first game? and what can you improve on and how much is going to remain in the tank, if you will, moving forward

once you get into the battle rounds where it's a winner, go home. For sure there's a familiarity when it comes to Bennington just from the Four Nations alone, but just talk to us a little bit because you had a goalie that could handle the puck in Marty Broder

and how quickly you could adjust to that, especially in a new rink where the dimensions are much different than they had in the NHL and it didn't seem to phase them at all. But can you speak of the first time that you worked with a guy like Marty Broder who has gone down in history is maybe one of the best? Yeah.

Yeah, it's a little bit of a difference when you haven't played with a goaltender like that that can manage and handle the puck and be deceptive and buy time for you as a defenseman to then transition and get north-south with the puck. It really helps. And we haven't played with a player like that. You go to the wrong spots. You go to try to get the puck from him

as opposed to getting open for him and creating a passing lane and things of that nature. So there's a little bit of an adjustment, but it is very quick. It can be done in a couple practices. You kind of readjust your targeting system, if you will, and an alignment on the ice. And then from that,

you're able to utilize your weapons, which are up front. and we're on full display today. Just one more prongs on Bennington because I thought, you know, at times it could have been a two-two score or maybe even put them up. He was that good today.

Justin and I had a conversation in the first hour about Bennington and how it's almost like he's a different goalie. You're in the St. Louis area. You probably watch the blues a little closer than maybe some other teams. We couldn't come up with an explanation of why his numbers were so bad. and how many people question him

and how he can look like a world-class all-star goaltender today. Do you have any thoughts on that at all on how he can go from Jekyll to hide? And did it last year. Yeah. Not to that degree. You know, people want to look at analytics

and look at the data and say that St. Louis has defended better than maybe Jordan Bennington's analytics or data says. I would argue the opposite. The games that I've broadcast and also been to, their defenses struggled. They've struggled in the defensive zone. They give up a lot of great A chances.

The one thing that I saw today and the one thing that I've seen this year and a little bit last year, he's having a hard time with traffic in front in seeing around guys. and a lot of times he looks like he's guessing where to be in the pile and where to look around. And there was a couple times late in that third period where I saw him kind of just set and just hope it hit him. So I think that's something to be cognizant of. And that's a conversation with the defenseman and trying to clear the front or where you want him to position so that he knows where he wants to look around him in order to see the puck or, you know, see a cross, ice, scene pass, things of that nature.

So outside of that, I thought he played really, really well. And playing in front of defense like that, and frankly, the way they played team defense, the forwards played extremely hard coming back, a lot of backside pressure, allowed the defense to stand up and force a little bit more at the blue line, which they're going to need as the advance in the tournament. So a lot of positivity, a lot of positives coming out of the game today with, you know, a few minor things that they can clean up. And you hope as they progress in the tournament, they can do that.

Chris, one of the things that's fascinating about this event is seeing Italy, you know, kind of make it tough on Sweden. Seeing Latvia hang in there with the U.S. It's over now. It's 5-1. But, you know, like these underdogs hang in there. And that's always the concern when you're Canada. Now, Canada and Latvia had a 2-1 game.

Was it in 2014? What are your thought? Like, what is it like playing? I don't want to say bad teams. Playing the lesser teams. teams with no expectations. What are the challenges there? Well, there's a couple challenges.

One, they are using Canada as a measuring stick. So they're leaving it all out there. They're blocking shots. They're doing everything they can to try to keep the game close. Secondly, and this is where the three feet comes into play in the neutral zone, they're going to sit back and they're going to force you to come through five players. They're not really going to forecheck. They're going to try to keep it close.

when they get an opportunity to get it in and get some offense and get some attack, they're going to, and then they're going to sit back and force you to make mistakes, try to frustrate you, try to make you plays out of character. And so once they're able to do that, now they've kind of got the template, and they keep the game close and they hang around, hang around. And one bad balance, the next thing you know, the game's tied or they have a lead. So I think you saw that a little bit yesterday in that Italy game with Sweden. The goal, you know, goaltender gets high.

You never know what can happen. And we saw that with that Lapia game you're speaking of. So it's just a matter of sticking your guns and just being diligent to the process, to the way that you play, to the details and structure of the game that the coaching staff has put into place and how you're supposed to play. And just being relentless, which is what we saw today from Canada, getting in that grind game. They looked like they were ready to dump it in, get on the attack, force, force check you. into being back on their heels and then you saw them utilize the whole

offensive zone. Low to high, side to side, down low back into the slot for a great A scoring chance, taking and funneling pucks to the front of the net, creating traffic and problems in front of the net. And if they're able to do that against some of the, you know, the higher ranked teams, if you will, the Swedens and the U.S. and teams of that ilk,

I like their chances. You're watching and listening to Chris Pronger, Hockey Hall of Fame, or two-time Olympic gold medalists. Of course, Stanley Cup champion as well. We are talking Olympics, Team Canada. Prongs, the one thing that's been consistent for a very long time is watching frontline players come into this situation

and take a lesser role. You watched it, you witnessed it with your gold medals. Today I'm watching Bo Horvatt, Nick Suzuki, frontline players on their own right, on their respective teams, but know that there's a different feel and a different role. What did you see out of the lesser likes of a McDavid and Nate McKinnon today? Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, you look at those top end guys. They played phenomenal.

But to your point, it's those other guys that are accepting the lesser role, if you will, the guys that are going to be blocking shots and the penalty kill, the guys are going to be taking face-offs and doing the dirty work in the defensive zone. Those guys played extremely well, too. And that's what it's going to take for them to be successful. ultimately come home with a gold medal. It's those, we can call them a bottom six. They're not really, but they're going to be on this team.

And that's the trick is the depth that they're going to have down the middle, the depth on the wings, the ability to roll four lines and not have much of a drop-off, and then have those guys to get the extra minutes, they've got to do the dirty work and be accepting of that role. And then to execute and take action and go play to the highest level in those roles, is what it's going to take. Just off the top of your head, what are the names that come to mind right away during your runs?

Well, I'll tell you, like 2010, Rick Nash was a penalty killer, 50 goals score, and he was one of our main penalty killers. You know, and I think he learned from 2006, where he was put in a scoring role. And then on this team, we had Getsla, Perry, you know, Crosby, Ginnla, you know, Richards was, Brendan Morrow, the time. We had Thornton Marlowe Heatley, you know, just looking at those names and who was going to play where. You know, he was very accepting of that role. Brendan Morrill, who did a similar

role in Dallas at the time, you know, kind of led the charge in that regard. You know, on that particular team, we had Patrice Burdron as our 13th forward. And he was playing very, very limited minutes. You know, he might have got two minutes. He was taking base off in the defensive zone and things of that nature. But, you know, I think when guys buy in and they just, not to say that they're just happy to be there, but they're happy to be, they made the team.

They just want to provide some role on the team and be a part of this and go out and, you know, make history and be a part of history for Canada, I think is really cool to see. And when players of that caliber take on those roles and then they take it to the next level and buy in and you see them sacrificing for the greater good of the team, that galvanizes everybody and brings everybody together and really creates that chemistry and that bond you need in the locker room.

Prongs, your relationship with your coaches was probably different because you were a Hall of Famer and you probably had a little bit of a voice of them. But not everyone in a dress room has that sort of connection with their coach throughout a year. But so throughout a year, it's almost like you and your coach, there's like a relationship, almost a marriage. It's every day. It's a lot of communication back and forth.

The Olympics has to be a bit of a honeymoon where you have this. new coach it's a short-term thing it doesn't like how i'm curious how the relationships work like if you don't like the coach's message in the olympics are guys quicker to be like ah shut up i don't listen to you you're not going to be around very long just open the door it just open the door you know i'm curious about the dynamics and how it changes in the olympics yeah and that's when it doesn't work right you know i think you're watching today you saw rick to talk it down talking to sidney crosbie and he was utilizing his experience and being on the ice. He looked like he was describing a play and describing, you know, a situation that happened

on the ice to kind of bring it to the attention of the coaching staff. And then I saw Rick Taka walk down and he went and talked to Peter DeBore and was kind of mapping it out and talking. So things like that where, you know, you're coming together as a group and you're really kind of in sync, which I saw today. You don't necessarily always see that. And, you know, I've been a part of a couple where you were a little disjointed and, and, maybe not on the same page.

And it shows in the product on the ice. Is there a tendency for coaches in your experience when things are going well just to kind of just don't overanalyze, don't overthink? They must kiss everyone's butt. You want all these superstars to like you so they say good things when there's open jobs. Right. Well, and I think that's one of the big proponents of why they took so many guys from the Four Nations comfortable with them.

They were accepting other roles. they fit the specific role that they were looking for while also being some of the best players in the National Hockey League. And it's a nice luxury to have when you're able to pick, as you talked about, Nick Suzuki and Bo Hervat to play in those alleged lesser roles or maybe not offensive-minded roles. And as a coach, you look at John Cooper,

he's got an incredible personality. You see the way his players react to him in Tampa. You know, I think these players, you can take advantage of a situation in the Olympic games like this where everything's kind of coming together. You're building off the four nations. You know, it was a great ending to a tough tournament. And now you see the Olympic Games are finally here. And now you see what the players are doing on the ice. And, you know, I think they've put everything into place and they've been building to this moment.

and now it's like okay it's up to you guys go finish it and i think we saw a little bit of that today so prongs as you continue to do more media uh you figured out real quick that uh we make stories up right even when you don't have them so let me ask you this before you leave are you an olympic village type of guy or are you a five star room service guy? Well, I wish I would have had the option. It wouldn't be nice to have an option. Where would you like to go? All four Olympics I was a part of.

We were in the Olympic Village. Not that that was a bad thing. Had we had the option in a couple of them, but I may have chosen. But I will say the Vancouver Olympics was by far from an accommodation standpoint was the best. You know, Nagano was rough. Everything was small, as you might imagine. The walls were very, very thin.

Oh, God, that's so funny. Pragues really appreciate your time on our show. today because I can't think of anybody better to have on today. Thanks for doing this, pal. You bet. Thanks, guys. Take care. Thanks, brooks. Appreciate it. That is the one, the only, Chris Pronger.

Yeah, like, I can imagine there's been a few. Listen, I'm not the size of prong. I'm tall. There's almost the size of pronger. There's a few beds that I've laid in in my life where the toes, your legs are sticking out off the end. You're like, I'm competing in the Olympics. Yeah.

Can I get a good sleep? I was just in Mexico City. My wife was making fun. fun of me because she's like, why are your legs spicking off off the end of the bed? It's like, because the bed's too short. Yeah, it's not me. Yeah, it's a thing. So he would have stayed at the Ritz.

Yeah, definitely. He would have stayed at the Ritz. That was great. Been through some battles. I do think the coach player dynamic would be fascinating because obviously is the coaches you want all these guys to leave going, that's a great coach. That would be very good for your career. But at the same time,

sometimes guys need to hear some things. I don't know if that's, the case. I think some of them actually might enjoy someone not thinking he was great, but he found a way to get the most out of you and at the end we won.

Oh, whatever great is winning. Winning, just winning. Yeah. What did you do to I don't know if it's across the line? I don't think you'll ever get you know, the split usually in my opinion is 777, love, hate and indifferent. And

I don't know, probably Cooper's the same way. There's an old Casey Stangle line baseball manager, which is the, the hardest part of coaching is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who haven't yet decided. That's pretty much the whole job of coaching. Minimize the amount of guys in the room. You're working on a book with Darrell Sutter, which would be interesting. Well, that quote may or may not be in that book. But I'm sure you're diving into that dynamic. Well, yes. But the reality, you know, I think is, if you are someone who your job is to get the most out of people, to squeeze the last 2% out of guys to get you across the line

and you coach for 30 years, you're going to run into guys who don't, it doesn't work with, and they don't like you. And what you do then is absolutely nothing. And you just try to get the most out of every single person. It's not going to work for everyone. So I think, you know, you'd be pretty. I don't think you'd get picked for Team Canada.

If you're going to go in there and be like, I'm playing how many minutes? Like, I think there's like probably some stories over the years of guys doing it. But at the same time, like God's been left off because they think they will. Potentially. But Bo Horvath today, like you said, he's like, I'll fill water bottles to be here. Like it just, it feels like. By the way, that makes me emotional. I mean, I love this game today.

It was a gorgeous goal that he's gorgeous. It is really not. Who's going to complain that they get to team Canada and they're like, oh, I didn't get enough ice time? If you were complaining, you probably wouldn't be on the team. It's, uh, it's really. it's not hard to figure out that over time, nobody really truly remembers the amount of games that you played or the minutes that you played.

You're just either a champion or you're not. And I've lived it through a 94 Stanley Cup, right? Nobody remembers how many games I played. It's just like you're either champion or you're not. Part of a successful team. You're only going to be remembered as a guy that won or lost at that event. Funny that you mentioned that from this book that I'm working on, that is the greater idea where you have so many guys who I want more goals,

more money, more opportunity, more, more, more, but when your team wins, everyone wants you. That gets you more. He's a winner. Come play for us. We'll sign him to do that for us. That's how you get more. I'll depress Samuel a little bit and talk about the Blue Jays.

And Barreros. Oh, Berrios. Brios. Yeah. Left. I can't believe they brought up. Okay. Left.

Quit. Can you imagine? Like, so, so there's an athlete, there's an athlete. But he's back. That did not. I don't know how that works. Me neither. But he did not want to fill water bottles to say he was a World Series champion for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Didn't want to be like Bo Horvad or any of them that would say, I'll do whatever it takes. And there are athletes like him. And it's so sad. at the end of the day for me. Well, they probably won't play for Team Canada if that's your mentality, though. Right? No, no, I do. No, no, no, for sure.

But, like, there's also some that can fool you a little bit, too. Totally. Yeah, I mean, they both of that may be like, I would feel water bottle at the same time. That's not happening on Team Canada. But to think that it still exists for some athletes. Yeah, I can't believe. On a team sport, right?

They got to get rid of them. Yeah, I mean, apparently he apologized to the team, but, like, don't care. I mean, so not to get two into J's, but what happens when, because they got a bunch of starters, he's going to start in the rotation, but what happens if they have to take,

get to get the deadline? What happens if they got to take him out of the rotation again? They're going to be like, is he going to cry again? Right. Seward's ball and go home? Anyways. I can't believe the problem back. Quickly before we go,

do game time. He mentioned Rick Nash as a penalty killer. Part of my favorite hockey line of all time of the 2010 Olympics. Rick Nash, Jonathan Taves, and Mike Richards was like their third shutdown line. Yeah. And they scored a goal against Russia.

It was already 2-0. And they had this where Mike Richard or Jonathan Tafe strips Malcolm, and they go out on a two-on-one, Rick Nash shoots it upstairs over and getting a bachoff. That had set me into a delirium that I don't think I've ever felt in any sporting event ever. One of the best goals ever. So I love that. They brought up Rick Nash because he was amazing at that turn.

It was awesome. Yeah. Game time. Game time. It's game time. Presented by Bet-365. Visit the Athletest Odds and C-Y. It's Ever Ordinary at Bet-Exx. Five must be 19 plus Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. So there's four Olympic games on Olympic hockey games on tap tomorrow. Sucks that this one's at 6.10 a.m. But Finland and Sweden are playing tomorrow morning at 6.10 a.m. Ooh, that's almost wake up worthy. Almost. Well, but not to be good. Not to go to inside baseball here.

But like you've sent some group chat messages like 5.57 a.m. Like, you're up. You're up. You're up by choice. Yeah. You're an up guy. Anyways, it's always a fantastic matchup. Just going to pull up the line for it.

Finland is a, not huge, but a sizable underdog in that game. Plus 160. Sweden's minus 193. I think that's a great number for Finland. When those two teams play, it's always close. So plus 160 is a good number. I have heard now in multiple places this Finland coach thing. What's going on?

The Finns are not digging the coach, the coaching, the whatever. You know, and this is. He just talked about that. Right. Who's pissed off? And there was talk pre this whole event that they had chosen the wrong guy. And, you know, and then to Pronger's point, you see it on the ice. And now you lose the first game to Slovakia.

And you got internal mutiny going on. The Finns aren't getting anywhere in this tournament. It'd be hard. I think it'd be hard to call Timu off the beach in California to go in there and coach. Make him coach the next. I don't think he wants to just stay in the California beach. Yeah, you're right. Golf.

Why would he do it? For sure. Tebow's got a figure, he's always been cool. I love Tebow. But the other game tomorrow, Italy, Slovakia at 6.10 a.m. as well. I know you'll be waking up for that one.

Warning, you'll be watching that one. Slovakia is minus 1250 favorites in that game. Don't my little sprinkle on the plus 750 money line for Italy in that game. But just take a couple of like a plus two or something. France, Chequia is at 1040. Obviously, Czechia huge favorites in that game. And the late game is Canada playing Switzerland. really similar number for what it was with Czechia.

minus 6-67 for Canada plus 475. So Bet 365 think that it's a pretty similar level of opponent between Switzerland and Czechie, which I find interesting. What are you going to say something? Yeah, I find it interesting that Teddy Blugers name is Teodor's Blugers, and he's been passed off as Teddy Blugers in the NHL. Theodore's Blugers is 10 times cooler.

So much cooler. Just do your Latvianianianus Bunkus name. Bluger is cooler. Anyways, that was game time. That was terrible. Okay, let me start a little. That's a terrible joke. That was game time presented by Bet365.

Visit the athlete of Stott. And see why it's ever ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay. Let's take a quick break here when we, no. Want to do some NHL talk?

I got a few, I got some true or false questions. You want to do it now? No, we're up to the break. But is everybody okay with us doing NHL stuff? Well, yeah. There's only, someone's going to call? and say no. Okay.

You're asking us? Yeah, I'm just making sure. You're not allowed to talk. Good if you missed it. Real good. Yeah, they're good. Can't talk NHL. No, let's talk NHL.

I got a few different fall ways. We'll talk NHL. We'll update the USA, including a goal by Austin Matthews. Oh, good for him. Is there anyone with more, more to gain in the Olympics than Austin Matthews wrote an article about that?

We could, we could talk about that. We could talk Junior A, Sammy, because there's a story about the Oshua generals that's left a little bit of an odor with people. Ah, right. And more when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning.

We got you covered on all things, Leifes, 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. As a reminder, this hour of Real Kippur and Born, brought to by Bet365. Nickypree, Justin Bourne,

Sammy McKee, USA now handling Latvia, like we thought. Yeah, they're doing their thing. There's just, I don't really know what happened, but Austin Matthews is mad and cross-checked someone, and what was going on there, boys? First time he's never even mad. Yeah, at a Latvian. Scored the fifth goal?

You did. Good for him. Sammy, just a little standoffish on Austin right now. Can't stay at him, see it up in the Jersey. It offends me. What do you mean? And what? Like, I just, it offends me.

It offends you. Him in a USA jersey? He hurts my feelings. He's American, Sammy. But this is one of the great things about they're not being best on best is this isn't something, a reality that I never had to deal with. And now seeing him in the USA jersey,

seeing him in the Four Nations wearing it, I'm not going to go as far as to say it makes me sick, but I don't like it. Just reminded that your team's captain is a good all-American apple pie-eaten boy. Listen, the lottery balls fell the way they should have when Gary should have rigged it for the Leafs, the Connor McDavid should be wearing the sea for Toronto.

Not that guy. So I wrote an article today. Sorry. I get a little crazy around this time. That guy. You're going to get a taste of it. I did my Thursday article for the Toronto Star, and it's around Austin Matthews,

and I wrote that I really believe that a good showing here would be nothing but good news for your Toronto Maple Leaf, Sammy. Great. They can get all the way up to four points back of a playoffs. No, it's just moving forward. Okay. What is your thesis there? What is your theory?

That he has shown over the first eight years. He's a special player. Karen the captaincy for USA is like huge. Big deal. It's a big deal. And the last year and a half of not being kind to him, right? Right? For production wise, for whatever reason.

But a good showing would put everybody, especially Lee fans, back into the, he's a special player. You think that's, yeah, okay. That's lost right now. It's lost. And a good showing.

And maybe it is captaining, the winning gold medal team. I know Sammy doesn't want to hear that, but it could benefit, I think, the Leafs and him moving forward to get him back on pace to be up with the McKinnons. and the McDavid's.

That can start next year. Okay. You're excluded from this conversation. I think, I don't know if I am. I think there's a lot of Leaf fans. Like, I would happily see the least miss the playoffs to have Canada win the goal at this and like not have Matthews dominate. Or no problem.

To your point, will he just drop into that next level of just being a really good goal score amongst many in the NHL? You know, the one thing with Matthews in the past when he was at his best is he wasn't just a good goal score. You know, like he was a great play driver, an elite defensive player, a great takeaway guy. He did a lot. He did. You're right. He was even killing penalties.

He leads the league in block shots. Like he is. Dominant. So, yeah, to your point, you would hope as a least fan that you want to see him play well in big games. You want to see him get the confidence that, hey, in these biggest moments, I can. I could be awesome. So, yeah, I can see how success here could help him. Totally.

I mean, not saying I'm wishing that on them. You just do not want to go there. You're just all Canada right now, and there's just no gray for you. They happen to employ one of the biggest hosers of all time and put them on TV. I don't know what to tell you. I watched the tragically hit montage today and all watching all. You see that one? I put it on my story.

Maybe he saw it for me. Yeah, it was I think the missing curfew guys had it up. And it was like, you know, we have had historic, monumental, cool Canadian hockey teams going back a long time now. There's clips of the Espositos. There's clips of, you know, and, you know, you feel real affinity for the program and the success they've had and all that. So I'm fine with watching Matthews eat it for another few months. Like, what Canadian Lee fan wouldn't trade missing the playoffs this year for a Canadian? Well, and also it's probably the best thing for the team.

Totally. caught me. Okay, what do you have for us? I got some true or false questions. Did you want to do this Oshua thing now, or did you want to do it after? Oshua first. Okay.

So this came across my desk last night in one of my hockey group chats. My boy Tram sent it to the group chat and got the boys going on a little bit. He sent it in. This was the title of the story from Durham Radio News.com. Oshoa General's season ticket holders asked to shower before game time.

The Osher General's players aren't the only ones being told to hit the showers. What an opening line. What is written so? Durham Radio News. An email went out to all season ticket holders Tuesday afternoon asking them to be mindful of personal cleanliness while sharing a space with our fellow fans.

The message sent. We're thrilled to have you to have you with us each and every game and appreciate the energy you bring to the to help ensure a clean, comfortable, and enjoyable experience for everyone, we kindly ask you to cooperate with a few simple hygiene practices. Please make sure the use of hand sanitizing stations located around the arena. That's not why you're writing. Cover coughs and sneezes and be mindful of personal cleanliness while sharing our space with fellow fans.

If you're feeling unwell, we encourage you to take care of yourself and cheer us home when possible. And if you went to the gym or did something that produced body order, please shower. before attending the game. Okay. These are tough conversations to have with people, but you need to have them. These small actions make a big difference in keeping a community healthy and events running smoothly. It's not helping the team.

But apparently the backlash was so great that they issued a follow-up statement, right? Can you read that one? I can't. You sent it to our... Okay, let me see. Speaking of group chat, guys. Kipper sent it. Official statement.

Hey, Jen's Nation, we took a penalty on that last one. It's not our place to overstep like we did. We are sorry and hopefully we can wash this one off. Still cute and fun. Okay, did they overstep? No, absolutely not. That is a... See, I agree with you.

It is a shared space. We're all rooting together. You're in tight with other people. It's hurting other people's experience. There are like, you know, no-scent place you can't wear perfume in some places. I don't think it's too much. So clearly... We got a text from Jeff in the Schwa.

It's not real. Wife and I would like to weigh in on this. We go to many Jens games and have to agree with the amount of people who stink like stale darts. Not B.O. But stale darts are okay. You can smell like darts. That's fine.

Don't dart, shame. I got to tell you, I have a lot of friends from Oshua in my life. I'm David Gann getting it. So clearly, for them to go to this level, it's not one person complaining. Must be brutal. It must be enough where there is.

I'm canceling my season. There's an issue here. I've been to a lot of games at the tribute center. I've got to tell you, I never really stunk. Never really was like, holy crap, the B.O. in here is insufferable. Like, did somebody just, like, crap their pants and then just go to the game? Like, what is it? I don't even know what we're talking about.

It's an incredible story. But I agree. If you stink like crap, don't go to a game. I grew up in the restaurant business. It's a not fun conversation to have with someone serving food. Yeah. Yeah. You know, they want.

Line cook who's been in the way. They want a good experience, but it has, the conversation has to be had. Yeah. You can't walk into the office. office here a mess. No, you could have a rinse. I'm aware of an NHL player or two who've had to be told, hey, you know, this isn't good. Rent Burns?

Buddy. No, but it's a funny guess. I had an official, God bless him, Big Bear, Assultane, go. Ron Asseltane was the official. In the middle of a. fight ask me what the hell I ate last night because I reeked of garlic. So it happens. At least it wasn't booze. It happens, right?

Used to get that at hockey practice a lot. You know, you guys smell like a brewery, you know, the whole team's. I backed up the fetichini, you know, before a night before a game. I mean, we are wasting clock here. I've played, I mean, I've played enough beer league games after a swarma and you bet, on the bench or it was like, oh my God. They shouldn't have, they shouldn't have, uh, I got to tell you, they shouldn't

have backpedaled, Osha. Agree. No. Agree. I totally agree. The genies did not overstaffed. Even the back pedal is like making fun of it. It's like, you know, we can wash this one off. It's, they're, they're God, I'm so happy we talked about that. No, we can all wash it off. It should have been the statement.

Yeah. Uh, all right. True or false? True or false? True or false? True or false? All true. A Canadian team will be. A Canadian team will picking first overall in the NHL entry drafts. True. True. At the bottom of the standings, Vancouver, Calgary, and Winnipeg are in a

dog fight to be bad. And now that we're past this Olympic break heading to the deadline and they're going to sell, Winnipeg is not, they're too good. They're too good. Yeah, it's Vancouver and Calgary. Gavin McKenna, he's coming to Canada,

folks. Calgary would be awesome. That's a heavyweight. He can throw him He can throw him his credentials This didn't hurt him in Canada Everyone goes all Protecting his mom took a swing Oh he's good kid day

And protect his mom Oh Oh yeah I'm telling you it helped his draft stock Totally I mean All of us were like yeah I mean we don't really know what's

It's all legend I don't know what happened But like There is a concern about Not being a good 200 foot player. That's a much bigger concern. That's the concern. And that's why he dropped. And it committed every day sort of. Yeah.

And you know, there's a little friction at the world juniors with him too. All right. Yeah. You know, it's funny looking back at the draft. In terms of what? Just, he wasn't happy. And he voiced his concerns about... Wasn't playing enough? Felt like he played the whole tourney. I don't like that. Yep. But, you know, what was I going to say? Let's get

Craig Brue True or false Craig Barovi will behind the bench The lease at the start of next season Yeah that's a good question The same bet is true I'll take true Okay

The question should be The general manager Because if they change Brad Tree Living I'm not sure if the new guy wants to inherit Okay I'll say true You're not going to come in and fire the coach immediately

I think if they want to fire Brad and keep Barubi, it's not ideal. But that's a Keith Pelley board decision, ownership decision. I know he's well liked. He's well respected. We all know that. But if you're telling me Barubi's going to start September, then are you telling me Brad is going to start September 2? And can the Leaps miss the playoffs?

and keep both of them. No. I don't think... Yeah, I don't think it's possible either. Yeah. If they missed the playoffs? Yeah. Something's got to give.

So is it the GM or the coach or both? Probably both, wouldn't it be? It depends on who you get coming in and who's available. Their superstars are the exact same age as the Edmonton ones, and I understand that they're not nearly as good, but they're in the sort of atmosphere of them. Yeah. You shouldn't be missing the playoffs

and this year of Awesome Matthews and William and it's the year's not been awesome. Here's one for you. True or false. The Evanton Oilers replaced someone other than the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs this year. Boy, I haven't taken a look at the standings in a while. I'm going with tradition.

Get the Kings again. The Kings are making a push, right? Like they just got Panarin. They are probably in a wild card spot right now, but that means they're going to knock out Seattle. They need a centerman so badly. So they are three points back. They're three points back of the Seattle Cracken,

and they've played the exact same amount of games. And so Edmonton, are they behind Vegas, I assume? They are, so it's, Vegas has 68 points, and they're in first of the Pacific. Edmonton, there you go, there you go. I think Edmonton will win the division. I do. You do.

There's been a lot of rumblings about changing something about the coaching staff going back. In Edmonton? In Edmonton, yeah. Because there's a lot of talk. I think Frank Sarvelli was the first one to maybe mention Paul Coffey going back. I don't know where that is. I have not heard anything of that nature. I don't think it's imminent or in the works right now.

I could be wrong, but I don't get the sense. If that's what they're talking about and debating, I can believe that that is true. And they might just still be one phone call away from asking. Paul to come back. I don't think it's happened yet. But there's a lot of talk. Sorry?

Why'd they get rid of them in the first place? I probably would think that there was some... Pyro-dynamic? Different philosophies on coaching. You know, I don't think everybody was on the same page. I don't know. That's my guess. So then is the implication that it could be different than that as a change?

Something different? I'm not suggesting that they'll... change the head coaching, but they could move people around. So. And, you know, it's still out there that Paul coffee could end up back there. Yeah. That's interesting. The coffee thing to me, he can't go back there.

And I don't know anything that happened. But if you have told a coach or a coach has told you, I don't agree with this guy. We don't work together. It's just not whatever. I'm out of here unless, what I agree with you. There's no scenario where you're like, you come back in the room, be like, sorry about that. Yeah, yeah. You're right.

No, it wouldn't work that way. So I'm 100% with you. It would be way too awkward. Right. The Boston Ruins will make the playoffs is the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. Two or false? False.

I don't really like their team, but I'll tell you one thing about them. They play tough. They're hard-nosed. Yep. And if they miss, they'll just miss. Yeah.

Columbus is hot. maybe this break came at the worst possible time for them because they brought in bones and they got smoking hot. How many did they win? They were like eight, seven to eight or whatever going to the break? No more than that. More than that?

Wow, yeah. So, and they're just bad. Just the energy of it. The Bruins, you know, they got a four point lead on Columbus who's right behind them. Okay, there we got the standings. Thank you guys very much. You know, there's a lot of chasers.

So basically if Buffalo or if Boston catches a toe at all, like someone is going to play well. One of the Blue Jackets Capital Senators' Leifes is going to have a good final 25 game push. It's wild. Maybe two of those teams have a good final 25 games and don't bet against the senators. So Boston's in tough. They got to play well. Look at the Panthers down there.

I like them in that, though. And I like their blue line. McAvoy and the Astonacti. They have. Yeah. They got some guys. Last one. Mitch Cough will be on the Flyers next season.

Two or false. No, can I tweak that? Mitchcove and Talk, it will be on the Flyers next year. True. True. True, true, true. True. Yeah, listen. Breer went on record already. He ain't going anywhere. Mechkhov, yeah. Yeah. Not going anywhere. They're going to give them a summer to run on the treadmill.

You can't. You can't bail on them this early. Yeah, you'd be foolish to. But I think if they know the gutter or. gutter, right? They have a cautionary tale in their organization. That was they moved too quickly off of that. Yeah.

They did. And they won't, they can't make the same mistake again. True or false as them casually on the flames past the NHL trade deadline on March 6th. False. They have to move them. They have to move him. Oh, you think so? Yeah. Just he's ready to go. Doesn't work

in their timeline. You don't want to add another year to him. and have his stock drop any more than it already is. And it's just he's not, it's just not serving you to keep him another year. It's funny how that's got to be one of the Leaf's What Ifs over the years if you had just kept him. What?

I just read it of me. hilarious. London Knights fan here. Not even paying attention. Yes, I am. Last season's OHL final, there was four Oshua fans. and say behind me. That smelled like a garbage dump.

Oh, my God. I love Oscewa. Sammy, I'm buying you deodorant. You seriously have a problem here. Cologne. What do I need for you to get off of this story? Maybe I'm not, like, entrenched enough in, like, junior hockey in Ontario to know the depth of this or something. This is a story.

If this is an own silent story, I'd never recover. I'd never come back from this. If Owen Sound, if my boy Dale the Gray sent out an email, being like, you guys stink, shower. I'd never come back from it. Owen's smell. That's what they would have called you. Well, they used to call it.

Not the sound, the smell. Stewie used to tell me that with the... So what do you recommend, Sammy? Every round, go to the sound. Are you a shower a day guy? Of course. Of course I did. Yeah.

Yeah. Mornings, nights. Every morning. Every morning. I have a shower. Duh. A.M, buddy. Am?

Yeah. I'm just checking. Because you're like an expert now on all of this. Chuck my kid in there once every six weeks or so and off you go. Oh my God. Our thanks to Luke Fox in our opening hour and Chris Bronger. What do we got tomorrow? Canada and Switzerland.

Switzerland. Two o'clock Eastern B here. Doug McLean. Shower up. Shower up, everybody. Time to hit the show. Stay mean, stay clean.