Real Kyper & Bourne - Kessel Making a Comeback?

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour looking back on Connor McDavid's 6-assist night and if the NHL should change how they count secondary assists. They are joined by SN650's Mike Halford (5:43), who discusses the Canucks' composed win over the Blackhawks last night, their reported interest in Phil Kessel, how acquiring Lindholm changes the dynamics of Pettersson's extension and what other moves might be coming. Then, news and notes - Ridly Greig speaks on Rielly's cross-check for the first time, Brady Tkachuk's hat trick and the Islanders looking bleak. Finally, the guys share their plans for Valentine's Day!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.

we are back for the national edition of the real kipper and born show nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee we are live on sports at sports at 650 in vancouver sports at 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and Born brought to you by Bet365. All right. In a couple minutes, we'll be joined by Mike Halford, co-host of Halford and Brough in Vancouver. Heard Monday through Friday from 6 to 9 a.m. 6 to 9 a.m., by the way.

Did you imagine? On Sportsnet 650. Were you a morning guy ever? Did they put you through the ropes here at Sportsnet in the mornings at all? I did some, like, weeks. I did some with greg brady just to like try it out or whatever but no it's it's did you produce anything in the morning produced at times morning show i hosted the morning show for i think four weeks last summer yeah how about you do it no hell this is every once in a while i got a morning hit with the guys at like 7 a.m.

That's painful. The worst part is just like... What's painful? Your appearance? Well, yeah, all of it. All of it. And then you're like, you're still in a fog and you're... Right.

But like if you want to... You got to fake it till you make it, right? There's a lot of faking it. Because if you want to have seen the game the night before and it ends at 10, whatever, like, you're up in the forest, it's no sleep. Yeah, it's really hard. You know, if you ever want to watch a West Coast game, you're just committing to no sleep.

And whatever, like, you'll always hear morning show people say it. It just doesn't get easier. No. And it's like, yeah, you can nap after, and then your day's all out of sleep. It's hard. It's a hard job it's a really hard job plenty to get into in the next uh hour including the vancouver canucks

connor mcdavid only just six assists just six just six what a loser last night yeah he's 13 behind kucherov now uh for the league lead um can i read just some quick stats before we... Sure. Love that. He became the fourth fastest player to reach 600 assists in 616 games played behind Gretzky, Mary Lou Lemieux, and Bobby Orr. NHL single game record of seven one-off by Wayne Gretzky and Billy Taylor Sr. And most career four-point games among active players, Sidney Crosby has 38 in 1239 games conor mcdavid has 37 in 616 games and ovechkin has 32 in 1396 games mcdavid just about to double up sid we'll talk about this more after mike but like we were talking 2 000 points yeah very possible for mcdavid to be the second guy jesus for sure yeah and i mean it's so the craziest part to me is the the fact

that one year he was like just to show you guys i can do the goal thing i'm gonna do the goal thing and now i'm gonna go back to being this guy so impressive season uh the one off the charts was the 360 to evander kane last night is that even the defenders are just like why okay why'd you do that all right have it then unstoppable to do and what is the nhl record before he i forget who he did it to before but he's done that move before yeah and the record seven seven seven in game. Gretzky's done it three times and like a name I didn't know. Billy Taylor Sr. Billy Talent. No Mario?

Nope. Seven assists in a game. Yeah. Billy Taylor. It's hard. Yeah. Assists are hard. Yeah.

Three good games in your Matthews total. Yeah, it's hard. Okay. Connor had six assists last night. God baited him yes austin matthews here we go has had six assists in a month and a half yeah sounds about right uh billy taylor senior played uh born may 3rd 1919 in winnipeg, Manitoba. Seven assist game against. Played. You know. Bramford Wanderers.

323 career games. A lot with the Maple Leafs. Listen, I'm not suggesting we change anything historically here. Okay. Okay. But. But if I was to make one change to the scoring system in the National Hockey League, I would take away the secondary assist.

Take it away. Yeah. Going full KHL. Isn't that what they do in the KHL? I think it's only one. I think it's one assist in the KHL. I think it's ridiculous that a secondary assist has the same value as a primary assist.

You're not going to get much argument from me there. They are different things. I think rather than take it away, there would be value. Because I think there's a lot of D-men who start rushes and get the puck going. There's value in noting. It would be interesting, though, to have it separated. Like, you know, second assist, first assist, goals,

tally them up. Half an assist, a quarter of an assist on a secondary? Sure, yeah, if you're giving a half assist for secondary and bring in a third assist and get a quarter point. You're just saying this because wasn't Marner like the primary assist king for a little while? I don't know. Imagine how many assists Matthews would have

if Marner could shoot. Should it be more? It should be noted. I want to know how many are direct pass from you. Not to be condescending here, but there are that's available. We have that. I don't want to look for them. I want them delivered on my.

I want them delivered. All right. You know what? I'm going to provide that for you. Thank you. All right. All right. Let know what? I'm going to provide that for you. Thank you. All right. All right. Let's welcome him in.

Mike Halford from the Halford and Brough show in Vancouver. Mike, how are you, pal? Good. How are you guys doing? You want to weigh in on this riveting conversation on primary and secondary assists based on Connor McDavid. I was like, seriously Googling. Did KHL eliminate secondary assists?

Does not appear that they have, by the way, as I do the research for the show. They have. I'm an idiot. No, they haven't. They haven't. They just made it up. Cool.

Thanks. It's fine. Well, because we used to have this debate all the time. Not debate, but the conversation used to happen all the time because the Sedins were the masters of the primary and secondary assists because they had so many of them split between them right it would be one to the other goal one to the other goal but um you know it's funny like there is a bit of literature for lack of a better phrase i don't really know if you consider it literature but on this because it's really the only league that does it right like

the nba has like anecdotal references to they call them hockey assists right but you only get the primary assist and the same thing with like international football and in north america with like the mls soccer too it's just primary you may be on to something here kipper oh gosh i hope not analyst revolution and then there's always the phantom secondary when i was in junior hockey that was a big one you know there's always the phantom secondary assist. When I was in junior hockey, that was a big one. You know, there was always guys hollering at the ref. 12 on there. 12 had one.

12. 14 and 12. 14 and 12. How are things out west, Mike? Everyone's living the dream out here. This is great. A four-point cushion atop the standings in the NHL. Phil Kessel coming out to have a skate with the minor league team.

It's terrific. It was a fun show this morning. I mean, that was a very sort of business-like win over Chicago last night. We were joking that we thought the Canucks might have some adversity on that trip that just wrapped up. And then we said they sort of dabbled in adversity. They tried it on for size in Boston and then a little bit in Detroit. And then they're like, ah, we're not really big fans of this.

They went back and won a couple games. It's been good living at West. Where is the fan base on Phil Castle coming in and being a part of this? Is this more legitimate because the Canucks

are one of the top teams in the league? If they would have found themselves on the outside looking in, would this have been a move that would roll the eyes back in many of the fans' heads? Okay, so three things on this. One, because the management group has done such a good job identifying players and bringing them into the system, they've built a sort of inherent trust.

They've got the benefit of the doubt. So if they're going to try something like this, then I think the majority of the fans are like, you know what, in Patrick Alvin and Jim Rutherford, we trust, go ahead and make the move. Two, specifically, the connection between Pittsburgh and Vancouver has been a fruitful one. Almost everybody that's come along from the Pittsburgh days, the Pittsburgh relationship, has been a fruitful one. Like almost everybody that's come along from the Pittsburgh days and the

Pittsburgh relationship has been good. And that extends to the players like Lafferty and Cole and Bluger. And you know, I dismiss is the backup goalie go on and on and on. So, you know, people are pretty optimistic about if you find someone from that Pittsburgh pipeline,

like it's been chances that it's probably going to work out because, and the big one is talk it right talking had a good relationship with all these guys that got brought in but perhaps none more celebrated as the one he had with kessel like i mean every the the stories of talk it being the kessel kessel whisperer when he was the assistant coach at pittsburgh and how they were able to figure out that great fit with the HBK, the Hagelin Benino Kessel line that was so vital to the two Stanley cups. So there's enough optimism in the sort of theory, the idea,

the concept of it. The question now is going to be, do you go from that to the actual execution of the plan? And that's where it starts to get a little murkier. Well, yeah, I guess, where do you stand on it?

Like, do you see a fit? Can Kessel work with them? Like, it's a fascinating thought in theory, but to me, it's, you know, are you better off with a bigger, faster guy who works hard and dumps it in for checks than another guy who can, you know, rip one in the net with a certain touch,

but maybe doesn't create that touch as much anymore. Well, I guess what's funny is I've been talking about this for months on the show because Phil Kessel is one of my favorite players in the last 20 years like i love everything about the guy i love his personality i love i love the you know he's got this sort of like every man's physique and maybe he doesn't necessarily have to do the vo2 max to the nth degree and doesn't care about things like sports science he's just an unreal athlete that he's and he's been able to play and he loves playing hockey i mean you really have to love something to be coming back at this stage of the game and going up to abbotsford to play

hockey like you have to really really want to do it so i love the guy the fit is a challenge because right now um i'd i'd be hard-pressed to see him be a bona fide top six guy just because of the workload and the minutes involved. You're not doing anything to the third line because the third line has turned into probably the best third line in the NHL. And he's the fourth-line guy. I mean, the thing with Vegas last year is when, you know, rubber hit the road and it was playoff time,

they felt that when Will Carrier got healthy, he was a better fit because his game was more suited to fourth-line minutes and Phil was on the outside looking in. There's also the fitness factor. I mean, you've got to remember, his last game, I think, was April 12th of 2023. So you're talking nearly 12 months of not having a single NHL game. I know Parise just linked on with Colorado,

and it looks like it's been okay, but this is a long layoff. He's going to need to get his legs. And even if he does, I don't know where the fit is. But I think at the end of the day, the sentiment would be like, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It's low risk with potentially high reward, and you may as well try it. If it doesn't work out, no skin off anybody's back. So it's kind of a freebie in that regard so i imagine then for sure they're looking at him

clearly as a 13th forward he's not getting in unless somebody gets hurt yeah and you know we talked to manny vivaros he's the head coach of the western hockey league vancouver giants now last year he was with vegas he was the head coach of the Western Hockey League Vancouver Giants now last year he was with Vegas he was the head coach of the AHL team at Henderson so he was around the NHL club a lot he was around Phil a lot the one thing that he told us this morning was like every guy every guy on that team loved Kessel there was like the sort of unintentional sense of humor that cracked guys up he was great in room. And then when he became a black ace in the playoffs, worked his tail off, loved being there, and was a guy that guys could ask questions of or lean on and was never sour about being in the lineup

and then being out of it. So there is value in that. Kipper, I'm sure you probably have a couple anecdotes from your playing days about guys that didn't have as huge of a role on the ice as they did off it. And the Canucks really don't have that. If you look on paper, they don't have, they're not a very vocal team to begin with.

You know, Talkett noted that when he came in, that was kind of a quiet group. And they don't have a ton of experience in the postseason. So that's another reason why it's like, hey, if you give him a run out and he's the 13th forward and he plays a handful of minutes in a handful of games, maybe that's more than enough for everybody.

And maybe it is an asset to this team and something cool for Phil Kessel as well, right? Yes, it's honestly so fascinating in sports. We love stories. This is a great story to follow. The Canucks have been at the center of so many great stories this year. They've, you know, been the recipient of so many great stories this year uh they've you know been the recipient of the best player in a big trade i would say how has the elias lindholm experience worked out thus far yeah like early days right he hasn't even played a home game yet

he's gonna get his first one on thursday against detroit so and talk it admitted after the i think it was the washington game on sunday before Super Bowl, that he's really bounced them around. Like, he's played with five or six different forwards already, and he's been deployed on the power play. But, I mean, now they've got him playing, and granted, one game, but it looks good against Chicago with Pettersson and Nils Hoeglander, who got bumped up from the fourth line. So it's sort of this Swedish trio, Trey Kroener line.

It's got a good innate ability to play. And a couple things with Lindholm. One, I didn't realize he was as good of a puck tipper as he is. I know in his first game, he scored two on the power play off Quinn Hughes' point shots. And Hughes said, I think the line was, if I put 50 pucks on that, he's tipping 49 of them. And I didn't realize that he's as big and as physical as he is. He had a play last night where he really just sort of muscled Jacob Magna off a puck and that got loose to Hoaglander and Hoaglander scored,

but it was eventually the game winning goal. So I like it a lot. I can see why he kind of floundered in Calgary this year playing with, I think it was Sharon Govich and maybe Manji Apani. So playing with better players is going to be a better thing for him. And you can see it. He's really cerebral, like a bright guy. And it's just going to take time for him to find the right fit. Because as I mentioned,

talk, it's how I'm playing with all the top six guys so far. And it's kind of been a bit of a jumble out way. Are people wondering if, if Lynn home's going to end up being a rental or not? We know that the talks are awfully quiet with Pettersson, but where does it stand with Lindholm? I can't believe for one second they made this move without thinking that

we're going to take a legit shot at signing long-term Lindholm as well. The most interesting sort of 4D chess idea that I heard on this was from our play-by-play guy on Sportsnet 650, Brendan Batchelor. And he said, look, what you could end up having with Lindholm is if things go pear-shaped with Pettersson in negotiations or you just feel like it's not going to happen and you don't want to run the risk of going in to the abyss, you then pivot and you've got Lind to run the risk of going in to the abyss you then pivot and

you've got Lindholm as maybe not an ideal replacement candidate but one that's in-house one that you could conceivably link to long term and you don't have to go in some sort of bizarre nuclear option where you're trying to trade one guy and then find another one so I you know I've got time for that I don't think the Canucks necessarily picked up Lindholm with that in mind, but it is a pivot point that you could feasibly pull off because again, they're going to have the opportunity to have them in here for a few months,

get them a little more acclimated to the group. And then if it works out, so be it. Now, all being did say, he did say when they first acquired him that he thought there was a way that they could keep Pedersen and Lindholm. And then when I first acquired him that he thought there was a way that they could keep petterson and lynn home and then when i think pressed further he was like that's all i have to

say about that and i was like yeah it seems a little far-fetched but i like the hustle good job so we'll see i think as it goes along people are probably going to want him around for more than a rental period but right now the majority of people myself included are looking at as let's get it through the regular season through the playoffs and then figure the rest out later not necessarily call it a rental but just kind of look at it in the short term you didn't realize when he said that that he meant he was going to have kessel and league minimum that's how he was going to make it all work this is uh yeah right we have to let every other player go on the roster but my god

we're gonna have pd and lindell man fair enough well and the pd thing is is just worth revisiting for for us here haven't got a take on it in a while has there been any movement updates has your opinion changed is it still just one of those things where you throw up your arms and go we'll find out in the postseason we'll find out in the postseason actually you know what there is some thought out there that it's gotten so quiet and everything is clammed up so much. Everyone anticipated that the all-star break in Toronto was going to be some sort of moment of magnitude

because they could have talked with the agents. I believe it's Newport, if I'm not mistaken. So they're based out of Toronto. And I think it was a thing where everyone just assumed that's a natural time to do anything. And we heard nothing. It's been absolute crickets. So now people are trying to turn that into something, saying it's so quiet,

so quiet that something must be going on. There's so much nothing. Maybe it's something. I love it, bro. Yeah, it's so nothing. It could be something. It's up, down, it's left, right. I mean, the bottom line is that the debate happens on a daily basis, right?

People are convinced, and other people aren't. People want them to be here forever. People are saying that it's risky to sink the 12 or 13 million that you're going to have to sink into them. So it rages on on a daily basis. So from our perspective, there's noise. From Pedersen's camp and the Canucks camp, there's none. And I have no idea when this thing is going to get done.

I know that's why you brought me on, for scintillating analysis like that. We're talking to Mike Halford, co-host of the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver. Mike, we don't think Jimmy Rutherford and Alvin are done by any stretch here. There's some sexy names out there. Vancouver Canuck fans are bantering here. Is there a thought that they want to mess with the chemistry that much more?

It's a great question, right? Because Lindholm was a pretty big ad and he takes a lot of minutes and a lot of roles, like right first unit power play right away, top six minutes right away. It hasn't necessarily messed with the chemistry because they did need another piece of that top six. The question now is what kind of shopping do you want to do like i could see them adding something on defense just because it's not necessarily them but any team that goes into

the playoffs is going to need depth on defense i think it was lawrence gilman at one point said that you know he thought that a west coast team with the additional travel and if you're going to make a deep run you need to go nine deep on defense. So they're just going to need bodies back there. There's been some talk that they could add another winger. And a guy like Vetrano out of Anaheim has kind of gotten some buzz. But this is more among like the fantasy hockey trade guys that call into the show. And I'm not sure how much there is there.

They've got assets to move. They don't want to move Lekker Amaki or Tom Willander, their top two prospects. They parted with a guy who was probably the number four or five prospect in the organization, Hunter Brzeziewicz, and that was in the trade with Calgary. So they've got things to move, but I just wonder if they've done their big game shopping

and the next deal might be far less salacious or sexy or attractive but it might be one of those more traditional we're going to get this guy in for a third round pick on march 7th and he's going to add to our group i kind of see that's how it's going to play out yeah that would make sense so you know where they're at in the schedule you know here in toronto right now where we just went through a hill morgan riley fiasco with Ridley Grigg. And people have been asking, is the Jake Wallman thing sort of a comparable, you know, hitting the gritty on the Canucks after a win? I mean, they're just having fun, right?

But, you know, they are playing Vancouver in Vancouver tomorrow night. Is there any sense that Canucks players cared about that or about being shown up and there's going to be some sort of, I don't know, backlash? Okay, so I kept bringing it up, but as a joke, I thought I was being funny on the radio. Like, ah, I'm making a joke about a guy doing a kid dance generally for children. Right. And then, um, I guess steam. Yeah.

We kind of kept running with it. And then people were like, how are you bringing this up? No one's talking about this except for you two. But I'll say that I remember when he did it, I just remember thinking, remember thinking oh well that's a thing because of the way the way that happened like i thought the penalty shot call in overtime was kind of soft i thought it was a tad undeserving don't get me wrong i know it was a huge goal for detroit i know they were at home i know they're chasing a playoff spot for the first time in forever and the guy felt that gritting was the appropriate response but the only reason i kept bringing it up in a joking manner was because of the morgan riley really greg thing like i was i was like oh well we've

got our own retribution on the horizon and it kind of took on a life of its own they have not mentioned thing one about it nobody has just so we're clear the coaching staff hasn't mentioned it the players haven't mentioned it we get to find out on thursday because that's the other thing that i brought to the table on the because that's the other thing that I brought to the table on the conversation was I was like, unlike the battle of Ontario, there is another meeting between these two teams. They meet in like five days time.

So if there is any hard feelings, they'll get to sort it out. But for the record, nobody from the connect said anything about it. I just thought it was something that caught my eye when Walman did it. And I just wondered about given, I I'm pretty familiar with guys rubbing it in and hot-dogging it after having a goal scored, that they might have stuck in some of the guys' craws.

That's it, though. That's it. Kip, in going through the guys in my head, I was like, who in their team would kill him most, be most mad? And the answer is Taukett. It's Taukett. Okay, that was the first guy I thought of. Okay, good.

They're on the same page. That's what I thought of. And footer. Yeah um one last one here uh mike just before we let you go like if if if jimmy rutherford and alvin are looking back right now at their lineup what team are they looking in the west saying that's the team that we that that's the one team that we got to match up with or you know is is it vegas is it colorado who's who's their team that they look at their roster and say yeah we got the one to beat them now uh i mean the one that i'm put it this way we are now actively cheering for vegas and edmonton to finish two three in the division so that they can play

each other in the first round and just beat the living snot out of each other because I think those are the two that are going to be the toughest chance. Colorado as well, 100%. But Edmonton is on such a tear. It's been such a turnaround. And, you know, the Cucks have beat them multiple times this year. I think it's the three out of three,

including that 8-1 demolishing at beat them multiple times this year, right? I think it's the three out of three, including that 8-1 demolishing at the very beginning of the year that there's going to be a lingering bad taste and everything. So Edmonton scares me a little bit. Vegas does too, although they're not as healthy. Colorado, I keep wondering if Colorado's going to make a big move before the deadline to put themselves

over the top or to solve a couple of things so they could be scared. But those would be the three. And I mean, don't get me wrong. The Canucks, they could be skidded. But those would be the three. And, I mean, don't get me wrong. The Canucks, they're the first-place team in the NHL by four points. They match up well with pretty much everybody. But there's some really good teams there that have the playoff experience as well. They're all going to be tough outs for no matter how well the Canucks match up against them.

Mike, great stuff, man. Really appreciate your time. Thanks for doing this. Don't worry, worry boys have a good day talk soon you too mike thanks that is the co-host of the halford and brough show out in vancouver they do a great job they really do it's a great show great guys and listen i mean yeah i don't buy this whole kind of like we're far beyond cellies as being something that gets under our skin like it's not even a comparison with the

morgan riley uh no i i made the case that one of them is about sticking you know greg is sticking it to toronto where one guy's trying to celebrate with his team to me that's a to be fair dividing factor beautiful gritty he really he really nailed it oh did he ever but don't you feel don't you kind of think, like I don't say, I'm not saying they're going to go do something, but if there's a chance to say hey F you to the guy, you probably don't, you don't love it. I think if you're going to do something,

this is what often happens in the NFL, where a guy will have like a signature celebration. So for example. They'll do it. Yeah, like when Johnny Manziel was coming in, he was like the money Manziel. Cam, oh my god. Newton did the Superman thing.

So often when guys sacked him, they'd do the Superman thing. So it was like, maybe if you score a game winning goal, maybe Elias Pedersen could hit the gritty or something. Yeah, yeah, you're right. It's not like he's going to wear a cross check to the chin, but... Just my personal experience when I played way back when. Yeah.

When I wanted to kill a guy. Right, right, right. It was usually an accumulation of things. Okay. Right? So it wouldn't just be like one instance, like a dance or a celly. It would be like, okay, again and again, enough with this guy. Someone's going to have to take a strip off of him.

So it goes on the ledger in the cons side of reasons, you know, is this a good thing or a bad thing with Wallman? It's like, it's a thing that I don't like. And if he does more things I don't like, they're starting to build up. To go back to our previous conversation before we had Mike on, I looked up the secondary assist leaders in the NHL. According to IC data, is that a good thing, Borny? Does that

work? Never heard of it, pal. Sorry. This is according to IC data, which seems to be very official. Who do you think leads the league in secondary assists? Quinn Hughes. Nope. Defenseman. Is that wrong do you have something different a defenseman nope uh wow it'd still be one of the big boys kucherov or mckinnon or mcdavid just guys who are on the ice a lot on the power play on the car second

philip feronic is third uh kita kucherov conor mcdDavid, Barkov I saw for first assist Marner has 24 and Matthews has 14 So did you know who leads in primary assists? I got McKinnon It is not McKinnon It is Connor McDavid That's 34 primary assists

And I said by a ton, a ton is one Kucherov has 33 So McDavid at 34 and then who's second? Kucherov has 33. Okay, so McDavid at 34, and then who's second? Kucherov's 33. Kucherov. Then JT Miller with 32. Then Matthew Kuchuk and Matthew Barzell would round out the top five. And you know who's really high on this list that's super impressive

is Noah Dobson with 27. 27 primary assists for him this year. That's impressive. I actually agree with you that that's like a pretty relevant thing. Like this guy directly is creating the goals. To me, seeing that it's like different guys makes it more relevant to me.

Yeah, than just the usual guys. Yeah, and William Nylander's up there too with 24, same with Marner, 24. So interesting list. Glad you made me look that up, Kippy. Yeah you want to do some game time game time let it rip it's game time presented by bet 365 visit the app for latest odds to find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly now i was looking at the futures because we looked at the calder yesterday. And now with these, because there's some pretty heavy favorites on here

in terms of the major trophies, you can bet against the field. So, Conor Bedard to win the Calder is minus 200. The field is plus 160. So, if you think somebody else is going to get there, you can bet on the field of plus 160. But for that one, it's pretty clear that it's going to be anyone other than him. It's Faber, and he's 3-1, so there's that.

Faber. The Hart Memorial Trophy is one that's interesting to me, because Nathan McKinnon is minus 115 favorite to win the Hart, but if you want the field, it's minus 105. So you're getting almost even money, and you get a lot of really good players

who could have great second halves like mckay like mcdavid is on fire yeah and he could easily get himself into the top uh by the by close to the end of after last night the athletic actually has him as the favorite uh dom decision put out his rankings today really when he was third matthew's fourth kucherov fifth in there and that but mcdavid is one yep over mckinnon see i don't agree with that six this last night's a lot of points yeah that's helps the scales a little bit and you can also bet on the same for quinn hughes with the with the with the norris he's a minus 180 favorite to win the norris you can bet on the field at plus 145 but if you look

at who's actually favored on this list here it's quinn hughes at minus 180 kill mccarr plus 160 the next closest is noah dobson at plus 2500 wow so they're pretty sure that it's going to be one of those two guys and they're not giving you any juice anyone else and the rocket richard clearly is matthews is minus 300 and then you can bet on the field at plus 225. You think somebody's going to get really hot. So I just thought that was interesting that it kind of changed it up there because there's some pretty clear favorites in all the categories.

And as far as games tonight, not a ton on the go. Panthers in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. Sorry. Sharks, huge underdogs against the Jets. And the Wild and Arizona Coyotes, almost even. Look at the over-under in the Florida-Pittsburgh game, if you have that. I do have it. The total is six.

Six, pretty, yeah. And even money on both sides of that? Plus 100 on over, minus 120 on under. So there you go. That was Game Time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest on it and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Just one note on that. I called your trophy. They don't want it slipping out of the hands of Conor Bedard. ESPN is just leaning on the scale. And Brock Faber should get it. You're right.

But they're like Minnesota, a defenseman. We can't sell this, guys. We can't sell that. We can't sell that. What you're saying is when Conor Bedard returns next week and he starts shooting them in the net, that number is going to go from minus 200 to minus 500 again. Really good point. That actually might

be the bet. You're never going to get a better number than minus 200 right now. But it is the writers who vote on that, so I can't see how ESPN unless they talk to their voters. I don't know. It's just the writers can get caught up in that sizzle too.

I vow to remain strong. You know, one thing that kind of is. Good for you, Barney. One thing that's kind of sliding under the radar a little bit on this Brock Faber is the price that Rob Blake paid to get Fiala. Oh, was he part of that trade? Go back and look at that trade, guys. Oh, no.

Yeah, go back and look at that trade. It was Kevin Fiala. Came to, went to LA. And he's a good player. With the first round pick as well. It was Brock Faber and a first round pick. A 19th overall, not like a 30th.

No, a top 20 pick plus Faber. And we're talking about a guy right now that could be in the league as a bona fide one or two defensemen in the National Hockey League. Like you don't give up wingers for for the type of player that that faber's gonna end up being and they also gave away derzy and was it a second yeah derzy away for and he's lighting it up for arizona fiela's also making eight schmill a year until 2028 or something and uh they also got liam ogren that trade. That was the first round pick. Because that's a Swedish guy playing in the Swedish Elite League right now.

So that's crazy. That's a tough one. All right. We're going to take a quick break. And when we return, we're going to get some sound from Ridley Gregg, too. I think we have that, don't we? We have it. All right.

We're going to talk a little bit more. I'd do it again if I had the chance. He's heading into my kitchen. Is that what he said? He's heading into my kitchen, boys, getting ready to slam the cupboards. We'll find out exactly what he said when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Breaking down the biggest trends in hockey, the Hockey PDO Cast with Dmitry Filipovich.

Be sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back. Will Kipper and Bourne. So Ridley Gregg spoke after the 6-3 victory last night over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Red Hot Sands.ets. Red hot Sens. Couple. Always red hot. Excellent teams going head-to-head there.

Sens are good. Yeah, great. We win all the time. Up until after the game, we did not hear a word from Ridley on his now famous empty net slap shot goal. 75.3 miles per hour of hate. He did score last night as well. Tipped one in.

Apparently got a huge ovation the second he touched the puck. Oh man, if you're a Sens fan, you loved how that went down. Oh, you couldn't love it more. You truly couldn't love it more. Win the game, you draw a suspension. We do have him talking for sure. Do you want to play it there, Derek? Did he catch you off guard? Yeah, a little bit. I don't think you're ever expecting a guy to come cross check you in the face uh but i also i'm

not sure if he meant to do that um but a little bit this is our first chance obviously to talk to you since but can you just even walk us through that sequence and just deciding to wind up there and what kind of going through your mind the emotions that were maybe going through you yeah uh just a lot of adrenaline uh just the heat of the moment heat of the game uh it was an emotional game uh just got a breakaway and thought i'd bury it sam sam how you doing my first thought i love first thought is asking Ridley, what's it like not expecting a cross-check to the head? Like I played my whole life expecting a cross-check to my head. When you look at a man and he's coming towards your face with a stick,

you probably should expect it. That's the thing that kills me. Everyone's like, oh, he wasn't looking. He was turned looking at him after he took a clapper into an get your hands up and this never happens there's no suspension there's no nothing it's like it's a lot like what nick cousins does after he throws a big he just stands there and looks stupid and the guys bury him it's like expect it it's hockey yeah it's funny i think you have to play that up though right you can't be like I knew what I was doing can't say that

from a Toronto Maple Leaf angle we get that side but from an Ottawa side too like I think it's in a season where it's just been nothing but a disappointment I think

I think I would like Ridley Gregg on my team. Yeah. You know? I mean. Energy. He's a talented player. He's got some gumption here. I think every once in a while, you got to be known for something.

And this is really the start of his career right now. That he's known as a guy that could do this or maybe learn something from it but i i'd hate to see him now kind of disappear and not be a guy not not be a now be a guy that goes back and gets lost in the crowd. He's kind of stepped up a little bit. I hope he runs a little bit with this. Yeah. You don't want to be a guy who did a silly thing and it got some attention or whatever.

You know, this can be something, when you look at the cumulative list of what Brad Marchand has done, it's because he kept doing it that everyone's like, this guy, say what you will, his nose is in everything, pun semi-intentional. He literally licks somebody's face. He's constantly in the mix. But you can't lick a guy's visor then never do anything else.

You know, this has to be a part of the fabric of who he is. He's a... I saw the highlights in the game last night. Didn't see the game, but I saw the highlights. I saw Future Leaf Boone Jenner take him down. Boone Jenner did put a pretty good lick on him. But that's part of... You put a target on yourself.

You want to be a guy that people want to take runs at. It means that you're pissing them off. I never did. I know. I didn't know. It means you're doing something right. That means you should anticipate the odd crosscheck to the chin. I played with ridley's

dad yeah in hartford oh really yeah mark greg like the best guy okay really good guy and there's no question ridley's a great kid too yeah automatic uh guilty of being a great kid by association here and i know his dad well enough to say yeah ridley probably not the best idea maybe you want to take something off the slap shot a little bit and there's there'd be a learning kind of experience there for sure but i hope the kid doesn't lose anything off of it because i think he's got a chance for a really good career here yeah for sure great i think he's a good player and also just super young right like i don't know if you remember the decisions you made at 21 maybe you

were in the nhl or whatever and you weren't making dumb decisions not even close i was in college making really poor decisions consistently and you know there is some time where you look back when you're 31 41 and go oh this i'm just like i don't even i don't even have this as a really poor decision you know no i'm with you i'm with you i just have it as just a goofy thing to do yeah yeah agree i'm not that we do not agree um i'm not that bothered by it i'm looking at uh mark craig's hockey db yeah hell of a hockey DB. How many empty netters? I can't tell that on here. But like some wild teams.

AHL, IHL, DEL. It's very cool. Could shoot the puck too. Played one year for the Hamburg Freezers. I mean, that just can't be real. What's the Quebec Raphael? Like what are the Raphaels? Shreveport mud bugs.

We might have to get him on the show. Houston Aero. Yeah, I mean, I'm not texting him. This is our producer. Listen, I don't know. Hockey people are simple people. Like, if, you know, there's some people that said that they love the entertainment of what that brought. Yes, the league should love the way that played out.

Toronto, Ottawa again. Put some fire in everyone's belly. Would have been nice to see them one more game here. Do you think Morgan and Ridley will have a fight? Have a good old fashion? I don't even know if it's that. It's like, I hope there's something that happens in the next game that warrants a fight more than that. Like I said, it's got to be an accumulation of stuff.

If Ridley goes back out there and hammers somebody or, you know, does something against something stupid, then it just adds to the element. I don't think Ridley's not going to get hit the next time they play the Leafs. Like, I don't think they're going to outright forget it. I mean, it's October. It's October next year. It's over, nose and fight,

but I think there's some... I hate this guy to this now. Yeah. Do you know? Speaking of Ottawa, Brady Kachuk had a hat trick last night. Yeah. Columbus.

Top 10 favorite player in the league for me. They've got 30 games to go and there's no despite how bad their season has gone there's i don't think there's a better team still out there to sell hope than the ottawa senators they're the best bad team by miles that's all they got i know but it but it's a good got, Sammy. But they're legitimately, they have talent. They have talent on the roster. Kipper, they've been selling this exact same hope

for the last three second halves of the season. Yeah, I'm not debating you on that, but they're still a team that a lot of people would be envious of having to start. They are still last in the Atlantic Division. God, they really buried themselves, eh? Yeah, but they're only a minus seven goal differential team. You know, the Canadians are minus 37.

I think by the time they see Capitals, minus 37. Blue Jackets, minus 41. Like, they're going to be an okay team they're a few pieces away maybe uh craig berube has been mentioned they only have to jump six teams to get back in the playoffs picture i'm not saying they're making the playoffs this year but this is this is like vancouver last year it's like you can see pieces there i said i was back. I'm back. You're back, baby. I do find now the last couple of years, and I don't know if it's the system or just teams are tired or what,

but it's looking like a snail's pace for teams to try to grab a wild card spot. And again, last night night a pretty good example and you know you guys have used the toronto maple leafs every once in a while they'll lose a game or two and you're like their wild card and they could miss the playoffs and it's like it's a great impression of me buddy it's not bad who's missed who's catching them sammy but the devils are two points two points out of the wild card spot no goalie get a goal. Get a goalie, and then we'll talk. Devils might win the Stanley Cup still. Clip that. Your Islanders.

Islanders are. What is going on with your Islanders? They get this coach who's got all this moxie and coming in and going to change the world, and they can't get past the Kraken. Islanders fans, don't listen to this just turn off the tv for a second what is going on there they're not that good they're just not but their defense got healthy yeah they're but their their defense got healthy so they should be better but i mean they are porous defensively as a team that seattle team that beat them last

night was coming off a you know a game the night before they've been losing like crazy and by every metric they outplayed the islanders like they're just a little a little old a little slow all right take it easy you know i still think they're going to tease that that final wild card spot they'll be around there but they're they're not that now one team i could be a little wrong on is the pittsburgh penguins because i i had them a week ago 10 days ago going come on guys you got sid he's got sid that's all i need to say is you have sid and he's really really good please tell me you can get in the playoffs still with sid they can don't talk about playoffs three points they're sorry they're seven points out of a playoff spot but they have three games in hand on every team above them so they need to string together some wins here maybe their

general manager will come out and say they can and they will make the playoffs is their general manager talked much this year i have heard a a lot. No. Definitely not when he came here, that's for sure. Three games. Not a word, right? Everything's great. Three games on top tonight, including Florida Panthers in Pitt. Yes. And that one's going to be a tough one.

The last time those two teams played, I have never watched an NHl team play a game more offended than the florida panthers they played in pittsburgh and it was just every little thing it was a total disaster there was a fight they were they are chasing latang around they are so old school they are florida panthers they're mean they got swagger they'll challenge you and like every game i haven't seen them take too many nights off that's what i mean it's just they have the ability to be offended by every little thing and that's why the leafs goal should not be to pass the tampa bay lightning much like halford was saying with the vegas golden knights and the Edmonton Oilers,

you want those two teams to play each other in the first round. Like you want the Battle of Florida and you go into the Metro and play the Rangers or have to deal with the Bruins. I know neither of those are easy, but they are way better matchups for the Leafs than the Cats are. Like that's a horrifying matchup. Yeah, the Rangers are, I know they've won a bunch in a row here.

They're a good team. Yeah, but they're flawed. They're offensively kind of one way. But they're not Panthers. And they're not going to be pushing you around the whole game. Meow. God, I hate that drop. I'm going to go punch Derek when I see him next time.

I hate that drop so much. Good drop. Did you just sneeze on the air? Yeah. Is that against rules and regulations? I've been in broadcasting for like 25 years now. Yeah. I've never sneezed on air.

Is your nose broken sometimes? I don't know. It's just like passageways. I'll go home and I'll sneeze like nine times in a row, but I've never done it on air. I'm going to keep an eye out for this. I actually can't pin it down. Don't think you ever have.

By the way, healthy as a horse too. I haven't missed a shift this year. Good for you. You just jinxed me, didn't you? my day after the all-star game was a fight but other than that we've been good dragged him in here the wheel horses um just uh valentine's day today boys i don't know what you guys have planned or nothing planned i just talked to the guy who invented valentine's day valentine's he's i don't know i think it was hallmark it was hallmark but here's and nothing planned. You need to talk to the guy who invented Valentine's Day. Valentine's. I don't know.

I think it was Hallmark. It was Hallmark. But here's what I'll say, because I think we have a lot of males that listen to the show. People get their back up at this one. They're like, ah, it's stupid. It's an invented holiday. You can just, you know, show a little love.

Show a little love is all that matters. Like, listen, I'm not Mr. Relationship Advice here, but just get some roses. You know, get a card, chocolate, go for dinner. Do whatever you want to do. Just, I'm not Mr. Casanova, but it's not that hard, okay? It's a stupid holiday. It 100% is.

But just embrace it. It's one day. I think that's really nice advice. Thank you. The only thing I'll add on that is, you know, you don't feel like you have to go buy something really expensive, right? Do you have a little... Every day is Valentine's Day for my wife.

I want her on that. I want her opinion on that. Every day. Okay. If anyone deserves a card and a box of chocolates. It's your wife. One thing I don't need is chocolate in the house. Okay, all right. Fair enough.

Okay? You had this drawer for the last two months. It was Valentine's Day for us. What is going on with you and sugar? Because I don't touch the stuff unless I see it. Yeah. And when I do see it, you get me in big trouble. It's like your wife.

I need to keep my blood sugar up so I don't get grumpy so I can deal with you. So I keep a fresh supply of chocolate on hand. I keep you on your toes. You do. Enjoy the dinners tonight. Get some roses, some chocolate for your significant other, and enjoy some time spent together. I'm going for dinner with my wife tonight.

It's nice. Enjoy it. That's really sweet. Hey. Yeah. Like, what happened last night? Are you in the dog house? Yeah.

There's something happening now. You don't suck up like that for no apparent reason. Are you crazy? Are you crazy? Maybe you're just trying to clear your conscience or something. I don't know. Listen, I'm a lover, boys. That's why i don't know listen i'm a lover boy so you don't know about me you're not a fighter that's for sure we know you're not a

fighter all right great job today guys got through two hours nobody from hr is knocking on our door right now it's a good sign mike halford from Halford and Brough. Thank you very much for your time at the top of the hour. Three games on tap tonight, including ours on Wednesday Night Hockey at Sportsnet. San Jose versus Winnipeg. See if these Jets can get rolling again. All right. And if you get a chance, give us a rating and review. If you can't catch us live, you can always download us

on any of your favorite pods. Have a great night, everybody, and we're back tomorrow.