Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: 1 Point to Clinch the Division

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look ahead to the Leafs' penultimate matchup of the regular season against the Buffalo Sabres needing only a point to lock up the Atlantic Division. They check in on the statuses of Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, how the team stays healthy ahead of Game 1 of the playoffs, Max Domi getting more run on the second line, Craig Berube's comments on the team's identity and much more. Later, former NHLer Brad May (30:43) discusses the Leafs/Sabres rivalry and the underlying cause for the Sabres' miserable season. Finally, he shares the recipe for success for Toronto in the playoffs should they meet the Sens in Round 1.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.

Let's get her going. Crawling to the finish line this week on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Are we talking about the initial season or us? A little from column A, a little from column B. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Jake the Snake Schultz with you for the next two hours, including our very own Leaf Edition hour. As the Toronto Maple Leafs are in Buffalo tonight.

Game number 81, wherever you're watching, listening. Sportsnet 590, the fans, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus, welcome aboard. I shouldn't be crawling, I just got back from vacation. Like I should be refreshed. Sometimes you need a vacation from your vacation. Well, also sometimes vacation highlights how tough the everyday is when you drop back into it.

Although this is not tough. What we do, not tough to be clear. We're aware of that. I am not cracking rocks, but beach side in Hawaii is better than this. No question. Bold claim. Yeah.

I love you guys, but it is pretty good. But buddy, Leafs playoff. Yeah. It'll be fun when we get there. In about half an hour, we're going to welcome in Brad May, former NHL'er, former Buffalo Sabre, Toronto Maple Leaf, Stanley Cup champion. Help us tee up tonight. What can we expect in a game that Still has meaning for the Toronto Maple Leafs

not so much for the Buffalo Sabres and maybe a bigger picture of what we can expect out of the Sabre land because What year is this without making the playoffs? 14 like 14 Think about that for a second. It's tough to comprehend. It got to got Josh Allen. Teenagers have never seen a playoff game in their lives. And like if you're bad for that long you should bottom out and you should have something to show for it. You should say here's our Eichel and Reinhardt or here's our you know whatever it is you should have something to show for it. Ouchie.

I know. Yeah here's our yeah. Doesn't it take time to break? Oh doesn't sound like Jake McCabe will play tonight? Yeah. No that's a concern. I think both of the clips about the two Leafs missing defensemen I would say were are mildly concerning. Oh, yeah. Oh gosh. I've not heard them yet. I've not heard them yet, but

Before I listen to this I Came into the show thinking that it's not a concern Who would you like to start with all Oliver Reckman-Larsen? Clip 2 please Derek. What's your level of concern that O'Reilly won't be able to play game 1? That's a good question. Right now, I mean, I expect him to play but you never know. He's tough so he'll play through things. And yeah, if he's not in the lineup, somebody else is going to have to step up.

That's just the bottom line. That's part of playoffs. Ooh. I don't know. There's so coy. I think he's already in playoff mode. Yes, yes. You can't tell me how tough he is and then he doesn't show up. It's so coy and cryptic. I think he's already in playoff mode. Yes, yes.

Can't tell me how tough he is and then he doesn't show up. Yeah. Kinda contradicts everything. But I do wonder if that does or should prepare us a little bit that he's not gonna be at 100%, which is not great. Sneaky little OEL detail. Third in time on ice per game for the Leafs this year. Among D, anyway. I wouldn't say that's very sneaky at all. No, he plays a lot. OEL detail third in time on ice per game for the Leafs this year among the anyway That's very sneaky at all. No, he plays a lot

You know, he's a little bit of Greece a little bit of defending. He's leads their defense and even strength points He's he's important to them. I love that player. I love the guy. Well, I mean tan of McCabe Riley and Ekman Larsen are the four. Are they not? Carlo? Did you say Carlo? No, I'm just talking about for the majority of the season.

Carlo's just recently on board now, but for the bulk of this season, they have been your top four defensemen. Yes, and then the other guy that we're gonna be talking about, McCabe, leads the team in ice time and is second and plus minus to only Chris Tanev. Would you like to hear the update on him? Let's have it.

Clip three. Cheers up, Craig. Is there any concern about his availability for game one? Well, there's always a concern, right? I mean, like I said, it's a little ways away yet to be for me to make those kinds of, you know, decisions and things like that I gotta I gotta see them up close a little bit more here and talk to these guys and see where they're at. I'll stand by if the playoffs were to have started

Saturday against Montreal Jake McCabe would have played. You think so? Yeah, I do. Honestly, I think the Leafs are looking around the league right now and watching guys drop like flies. Watching Darcy Kemper last night in Edmonton pitch a shutout and they pulled them with like 12 minutes to go. Why? B squad was in there. Don't let Corey Perry fall on you.

Is that what happened? I was trying to make sense of some of this today. You say you don't have you saw Kerry Corey Perry's quote. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I got to it the national hour.

Okay. Yeah. Okay. So people are trying to stay. Did he lose go down and win with the Winnipeg Jets? Yeah, he's a ref. He had a linesman. Out, Weeks.

Yes. At home. Weeks. At home. Bjorkstand. Bjorkstand, yeah. In Tampa Bay, Weeks. Like, bubble them up.

That's a shame, et cetera, et cetera. Bubble wrap tonight. Yeah, I was actually thinking about that. Like tonight, the Leafs are at Buffalo Yeah, bubble wrap tonight. Yeah, I was actually thinking about that like tonight The Leafs are at Buffalo and their final game of the year is verse Detroit But like they don't they can't really rest guys because of the salary cap and all that that last game is just gonna be like You just trying not to get hurt. The whole purpose of the game is don't get hurt. How do you play like that? Just dumping it in and letting shots through and I think Pontus Holmberg plays 24-30 in that game.

Legitimately he should. And then he gets hurt. Yeah, but I mean... At least it ain't Marner. Marner's playing 10 in that game for me. He gets a shift and you get out of dodge. I wouldn't play him. You just go 10 and 8. I'm totally on board with that.

I would not play him. Totally on board. Hey, dress. If I I need to if I got cap issues to sit them on the bench the whole dress you full gear and flip-flops Soon I've been tempted to send them out No, you go here cards on the bench strapped helmet

And your flip-flops, so it is funny because some teams it's crazy. So the Colorado Avalanche their schedule done There's 82 games. They just are gonna rest for the week. See you next weekend when everyone's ready That's just the way their schedule shook out the Blues and the Wild had their last games of the season tonight and The Vegas Golden Knights you see they're playing Calgary tonight. They're sending out Stone, Hurdle, Petrangelo, Eichel. Like, they're five best players. It'd be nice if the Leafs had that luxury. They've had two games left. And God, guys, it's so crucial that they be healthy.

Last year was a huge reason that they didn't have success in the playoffs. Missing Matthews for multiple, missing Nylander for multiple. Somewhere out there, there's a kid going to that Vegas game for the very first time in Calgary they're going to see them oh they're going to see their team win they don't care it's in Calgary is it always yeah alright so there's a kid in Calgary that wants to see Vegas yeah and all their heroes he wants to see them the home team win. He doesn't care about Jack I get I'm just talking about in general now that you know somebody paid top dollar for those tickets to go see

very good hockey players and 25% of a may play in the the NBA model But it makes sense and hockey more than I get a discount off those tickets should you should like every percentage below the salary cap a team plays with you should get some money back all right yeah so yeah it'll be really it is so imperative tonight for the Toronto Maple Leafs to get a single point it is a you cannot screw around and go into Thursday Having lost this game in regulation. Oh three nothing have Mitch shoot went in in the first period and then fold tent and really Like are you worried are you worried about any like a just a bit yesterday find it strange that

there's a team on the brinks of winning the Atlantic Division and There's a feeling of must win. I know. It's weird. It is weird. It's a great point. It's a very weird situation. It's so strange. Tampa has their hands full.

Tampa's playing in Florida tonight and so Tampa needs to win. So they can get to 104 points with two wins and the Leafs with two losses. But Tampa Bay would also have to make at least one of those wins in regulation to even beat them. So like a lot has to go right for Tampa to pass them. Two straight wins, Toronto two straight losses, regulation involved. So it's kind of over, but it's just not over enough for Leafs fans. Yeah, I don't have a lot of concern over

Getting a point in two games twelve percent concern. Mm-hmm double digits. Hey Just because it's the Leafs exactly right or acally have a lot of Hey, they finished the job confidently and easily we have a PhD in the least and if we were to like write our manuscript about it's like be pretty stupid to just write this home for now. Yeah it sure isn't a hundred percent. So tonight Max Domi staying on the line with Tavares and Nylander. Seems like that's gonna be the line in playoffs. Seems to me as I said yesterday that that's about McMahon helping make the third line a valid third line, a threatening third line. I'm on board. I just can't believe we waited until game 80 to see that look with Domi there, but we got there.

I think at this point, you are on now a shift to shift, period to period, game to game basis on anything outside of Matthews and Marner. Even Knies with, there's a little bit of a logjam of lack of offense, you could maybe move him off. But outside of that, if it hits, you can keep them together and there's stretches where Max has done very well either with Matthews and Tavares in the past. So like, just hope that he, it hits early, that's all. Yeah, I mean, we're gonna see game number two

from Dakota Murmus tonight. Do you wanna play the clip on, do you wanna play the clip on Domi? Yes, let's do that. Well, Max, I moved him up speed. You know, they were going against that Owl Hole line a lot. I wanted a little more speed in that line. And, you know, they ended up getting a couple goals

that line for us, but just the speed and his playmaking ability made some nice plays made two good plays we scored two goals off it so yeah I was thinking I thought he did a good job you know Max like I said he's kind of a vert he's obviously a versatile player for us play center. You know, he provides, you know, speed and ability to make plays. See, the other thing too is, and you know, sometimes I'm, I can sit and watch Max and go, oh, that was a bad turnover. But, he's probably one of the more natural passers

on the team. He's an obsessive passer more natural passers on the team. He's an obsessive passer. All he does is pass. Correct. And sometimes it costs him these turnovers that I'm talking about because they're just low percentage attempts against the grain. But he can do it. But he can do it.

And he can he is a natural playmakermaker which at times I've been a little hard on Tavares and Matthews and Matthews for me has come a long ways I think he's a better passer today than he's ever been. Save for last game. Except for the last game. Except for Carolina. But that's that's what you also get in your top six with Max. Yeah you know I I am more confident in my stance

that it's not about Max after hearing Borubi because the first thing he says is, well, yeah, I'll just get a little bit more speed on that line. It's like, hold on, it was Bobby McMahon there. You know, Bob put Bobby McMahon on one goal line and Domi on the other. I got my money on 74 down the rink. Yeah, I think it's more about getting McMahon onto the third line. But Max can keep up. Yes. He can keep up.

Absolutely, and maybe the point is that instead of Holmberg or something, maybe I'm reading too much into that. But anyway. I wonder how quickly into game one of the playoffs that McMahon gets back up on the second line. I think anytime you're looking for offense. It just feels like that's a button

that Rubé is gonna push pretty quickly. Actually, funny you say that, because that's the button. It is the button. I don't know that there's another button. No. Man! That's all you got. So, anyways.

We got some comment from Barube on their identity. So, before we get into this, you guys, and I've not heard this, you've obviously have heard it, Sam, but what would you shape their identity right now? I? Would say they protect the front of their own net as a priority they dump the puck in and They are efficient with their chances So don't get a ton but try to make them count when they do way harder to play against than in years past

I think they you're way more punished for going to the front of the net than you've ever been for the least and I think They're a little little tougher in the corners than they've ever been So I think their identities were quite quite the 180 a over the last what? Seven eight years when when I asked both of you and you both go to in front of their net Yeah, you don't go Matthews. You don't go Marner. You don't go high octane. You don't go Matthews, you don't go Marner, you don't go high octane, you don't go speed, put possession rush, you go in front of their net. And I couldn't agree more with you guys. And how many playoff games over the last eight years

have come down to the front of the net battle and it just feels like there's been so many greasy ones where they haven't been able to get there and the team they're playing does get there. We'll be interested to see if it kind of flips this. I will say, this is why I feel like Jake McCabe is so essential because this Ottawa Senators team, the one offensive thing that they have to me

is they're a crease team. It's Perron and Gregg and Pinto and Kachuk and all their offense comes right on top of the crease Yeah, and so if you don't if you got little Lillagran there, you're good luck But if you have McCabe and Carlo and some guys I can clear that out. I like that was a bit more Benoit Yeah, you know, so they're gonna need all their physical D tenacious D to protect that area You know, it's funny. I just watched the Minecraft movie on Sunday. So I had a lot I recently did a tenacious D. Is that a band? You know, it's funny, I just watched the Minecraft movie on Sunday.

So I had a lot. I recently did a tenacious D search. All right, let's go to Craig Ruby. This might be the longest Clippers, Kippers Clipper of the year. Really? Yeah, almost a minute. On their identity. Correct.

Let's have a listen. Clip one. Clip one. You're always, you know, trying to, you know, you know, you're always trying to, you know, trying to work on your identity, you know, and that hasn't stopped throughout the season. It's always something we focused on and how we want to play the game with our identity. I think, you know, our guys have done a good job of it. Yeah, there's times where it gets off track for sure.

And you got to get them refocused and get them back in, dialed back in. So, you know, it was a good example the other night in Carolina, that team really pressures you in the first period more, you know, as much as any team in the league and the shot volume and just the, it's no room. But we weathered the storm, we come out of the period winning 1-0. I mean that's, you know, that's a big part of the identity is

the little things we did well, blocking the shots and yeah, goalie made saves but we didn't give them second and third opportunities and we did a good job of that. So yeah, I think we're in a good spot but we've got to keep, you know, making sure we're pounding away at it and keep working on it like you know and Be ready to go but we're just focused on tonight's game. I You know what stands out what phrase stands out to me there is whether the storm I hate that that's gonna be part Of their identity, but it's real. So if you look at the sport logic numbers in OZ possession time

They are 26th, but in terms of inner slot shots, they get their sixth. So they don't play down there, but they get good opportunities. And it's kind of flipped in their D zone where they're about 20th in terms of D zone possession time, but they're near the top 10. Again, there's really no mention of putting the puck in the net. It's just about defending. And so there's so much faith and pressure on Matthews and Marner and

Nylander and they're just like we're all gonna do defense go get us a few. Can you score three? Because we're gonna try to win with scoring three. Two. Two is tough They want a couple they want a couple last year when in play a score in two See you think it's the the I think about the pressure on Stolars or maybe Joseph wall of constantly Being in what he just talked about in your own zone Making the saves Making sure the guys in front of you

don't give up the second and third opportunities, and how much weight can they take every other night for the next, let's start with the first two weeks. To a month. You know what I'm curious about? Could you see a scenario? So the Leafs are 29th in the Sportlogic stuff in shot attempts against 29th. So they give up on average about 62 attempts against per night 68 over the last five games

and recently 90 in Tampa. Yes. So a ton of ton of ton of attempts against very tiring to play goal for them. Could you see a scenario where they switch goalies after a win? One of the guys wins a game, but either peppered and they go, we just. No.

That's tempting the hockey gods too much for me. Is it? No. That's. See, to do that, you'd have to look further than the next game. The next game, yeah. Well, if they win seven, six or something, maybe.

You can't, I don't think you can necessarily do that. Wolf played so good last game. Like, it's not to me saying, oh, we were putting in a worse guy the next game. Were you up three-nothing in the series, right? Yeah. It's just about the next game and it's about closing out a series.

I think they go with the hot hand, but this is set up where you're gonna bend a lot. But you just don't wanna see it break. You're gonna be like, bending's okay. We've seen bending already this year. They're going to bend great You're gonna be like every kid at a hockey store just leaning on that crap But I think they're just they're shaped up that way now that at least You admit where your game is right now and you've taken 82 games to

kind of play that style so it's it shouldn't be anything new there shouldn't be a panic if on occasion you're pressed in your own zone for like three minutes right and that's kind of it. You know there's we made the Masters comparisons I saw Chris Johnson wrote something about it today for the Leafs where it's like things are gonna go bad at times you're gonna get outplayed at times you know this is gonna be hang in there. Yeah. There's gonna be a little bit of that old poster of the cat hanging from a tree. Hang in there. And you wait for your game six or game seven or your?

18th fairway 18th fairway shot where you hit it and the opponent doesn't yeah, you just gotta keep Or you can those shots or you block a hundred and twenty five yard wedge into the bunker We've seen that shot the last six tries in the playoffs. But this may be dumbing it down too much, but they've done the other way for a long time. Where they've had the puck, they've held possession, they've deserved a win-o-meter. They've owned the deserve-to-win-o-meter.

I'm willing to go the other way. I'm willing to try the other way. 35% deserve to win, but one, sounds great. I don't care whatever the just just win, baby They deserve to win a meter had them the Tampa series flipped They should have won the first one lost the second one Yeah, honestly going back to that Tampa series the only reason they won was Vasilevsky That's what he was awful in that series nice one. Yeah, you know we always say the other team has a say in things, too But all you know they got to play well, too

in Buffalo the fans Gonna be crazy there. It's gonna probably be like 10,000 Lee fans I mean if you're a Buffalo Sabres fan, there is literally no reason to go to that game I wouldn't go within a mile of the ring So you're selling your tickets? People been going? No, it's been empty. Half empty? I don't know. I haven't been keeping a close eye on the Sabres, but the thing we can play the clip Play the clip from Borubey

Clip five. Yeah, I know it's gonna be good. I mean, I know we get a lot of fans here and it's It's noticeable for sure. I think the atmosphere is gonna be really good You know, like I said, we we got to be ready to go here at the start of the game All the little things will matter here early on in the game so, yep This is the thing I want to bring up to you is because I think I think Buffalo is the best Travelingly fan spot like I think it's better than Ottawa. Yeah, I think there's it's just it

Lee fans take over way more there, but talking about the Ottawa, the potential of the Ottawa series, is like having it be, how will Ottawa fans react to the Leaf fan thing where it's gonna be, are they gonna be selling their tickets the same way or Leaf fans gonna find a way to get as many as they usually do? How is that gonna go?

Because that's a factor. How do you protect against the opposition fans getting the tickets? Because I think they'll make a real effort to do that I have no idea. I just I'm genuinely interested That's it's actually kind of a shame for Ottawa that their first opponents the leaf sucks for them love for them to have 18,000 strong instead of 12,000 and 6,000 or 50 50 As far as management,

I don't know what they think as the players. Like, what do they care? Oh, you'd care for sure. You've already proven you can win against Toronto in Ottawa with a building full of Leaf fans. In the regular season, for sure. You've done it. But for the last two years.

It's not that you can't win, it's just not as cool to play in front of half a crowd. I don't disagree, but it's the least of their worries. Least of their worries. All you need to do is just believe that you can beat Toronto. And they've done that already without ever playing a game against this group in the playoffs.

I think this is a tough guy thing from Kepfer. No, no. Being trying to be a tough guy. I think it's some sort of a factor. I don't think it's a factor. But it hasn't been a factor the last, what, eight games? It's regular season, it's a different thing. It's a different thing.

It's what you believe, Sammy. It's what's between your ears. I guess. If they were's between your ears. I guess. If they were taking a beating against this team on top of their fans, giving them a beating, then you're playing with your head a little bit. But they've had success against this team. They believe that they can beat them,

whether it's empty, half full, or capacity with Leaf fans I think they they won't care okay honestly I don't believe that they will care I saw a stat recently that the Leafs haven't exactly taken care of home ice advantage during the playoffs I want to say they're four and nine in their last 13 which I think takes them over the last three or four sounds very accurate right which you know that's one of the things when we say what do they need to do top guys need to score Our power play needs to be better

You need a good goal attending take care home ice would be nice to mm-hmm something they you know have done this year pretty well Would like to see that get better in the postseason so If you're if you're an Ottawa season ticket holder, and you sell your ticket to a leaf and you got a passenger Yeah, you got a passenger fan. Yeah pick a new team or something Yeah, like you're no like it's if you sell it to a leaf fan. That's that's that's dark Can't imagine that too. Like the people how do you how do you vet that? It has to have been a Question teams have been asking for years years. This is not something that there must be an email going out to season ticket holders

Something being like hey, I don't think there's anything you could ever do to Keep that from happening. Didn't they do it in Florida? They tried I know what you're talking about Or something right you couldn't buy them Zip codes or something right you couldn't buy them Outside of a zip code that drove me like they've scheduled the leaves down there every March break for ten years to try to fill That stupid building the one time they play them. We don't want you here. We don't want you here Anyways, that's that was a bit of a quibble by me. Anyways, go. Okay. We'll take a quick break when we return Brad May gives us a Buffalo perspective gives us a Buffalo perspective, gives us a Toronto perspective, gives us all perspectives.

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, next on Real Kipper & Bourne. things Toronto Raptors. It's the Raptor show on Sportsnet 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the show in a few minutes we'll welcome in Brad May, former NHL'er, Stanley Cup champion and a guy that's tasted both sides of what we'll get tonight out of the Toronto Maple Leafs the Buffalo Sabres Where's the game at the Buffalo Auditorium remember that building call it you guys alive with that building Probably I don't think I've been to to the auditorium. No, no, no, it was torn down. Oh, it's before you were born. Yeah, okay I mean, no, what a barn. I've been to the odd and Utica and I can tell you not rage I've been to the odd in kitchener Strange well strange about it No, no, just the shape of it and the way the fans kind of sat over you. Yeah that in the Boston Garden

Arenas used to be like baseball diamonds. They had their own unique person. There are no corners in in Buffalo It was just a circle? They were much shorter and closer to the neutral zone than anything I've ever experienced in my life. It was a weird building. Yeah. I mean, anyone who played junior hockey, you know, from my age and behind that played in some strange, strange buildings. You know, I'm sure you that played in some strange strange buildings, you know I'm sure you had your share of yeah small ones This is instead of glass. There's a Peterborough had square corners. Yeah square corners true corners There was this great story actually square. Yeah, like it's it's like squared off. Yeah

Seriously, yeah Greg Mellon, of course a good buddy of ours rest in peace Greg used to tell this story about playing in the odd where When that puck would rim around the boards behind him and head towards the Zamboni driver entrance there was a Rink guy that would time it and kick the board Yeah, and punch the puck. Like a pinball handle. No way.

It would kick it right into the slot. And on one occasion, one did that and Greg got scored on and he beelined right for the guy in the corner. Yeah, in total milsy fashion. That's wonderful. Yeah, the personality. That's that building in a nutshell. Yeah, no, that's that doesn't happen so much in today's NHL. I will say one of the most jarring experiences of my life

was playing in all these buildings growing up in NBC. It's like anywhere else. There's all these small old barns and they're freezing cold. And that's where you play as a kid. And then I went to visit my dad who was coaching in Salt Lake City at the time. And the first time you step in a pro hockey rink, a building with 15,000 seats and whatever, and there's no sound.

You know, like in those small buildings, it echoes and the puck hits the glass. There's no sound, it's warm like a room. Like it's a totally different sensation playing in those big buildings. And take some time to get used to after a lifetime of playing in proper arenas to go to the pro hockey. Then you pull a Gene Hackman and Hoosiers and then you take the measuring stick and then you measure from the rim down and it's no different than your same dimensions.

Your auditorium, your gym auditorium back home. Yeah, but it is it takes some getting used to. We're working on Brad, he's just getting set up here. Nice. He's probably trying to find the perfect angle. All right, well who's on Buffalo? Who do they have right now? Tage Thompson, best scorer in the NHL

at even strength this year. He's gotta be up to 47 goals or something by now. He's going to participate in your guys' favorite hockey tournament. The Worlds. The Worlds. I think a lot of pressure on guys coming off the Four nations to to go

Don't get there. Yeah, we have bread man. Okay, let's welcome him in. We haven't had him on in a while Mayday mayday mayday. How are you pal? Well, I'm doing I'm doing great guys. How are you? How are you guys? We're excited for the playoffs. Yeah, we are but in the meantime Game number 81 for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Buffalo You have experienced the Toronto Maple Leafs in Buffalo, you have experienced the Toronto-Buffalo rivalry from both sides. And we recently talked about a Toronto-Ottawa scenario with fans making the travel and what those buildings are like.

So what do you remember out of a Toronto-Buffalo game, whether or not you were wearing one uniform or the other? Well, before I go into that, you're talking about Porky Palmer. Porky Palmer was a trainer in Buffalo at the Buffalo Auditorium. Literally, if I'm not mistaken, he would kick the bottom of the door where the door wasn't perfectly square to the dashboard, the lower part, and he'd kick it if he timed it right, the door would kind of like poke out into the surface of the ice, the puck would hit the corner of the door and kicks right out into the top of the ice, the puck would hit the corner of the door and kicks right out into the top of the slot. And Porky Palmer claims to have 17 nationalities. That is hilarious.

That is really cool. And Porky, he's still around and he lives in Vegas. His family's in Buffalo. I can read books somewhere. But what is it, the key center, what do you call the building now in Buffalo? Key Bank Arena. Key Bank Arena. So no helper since in the last 14 years there. No, he was he got a little out of shape. But the whole rivalry

between the two teams. It's obviously its proximity, right? It's location seven or eight thousand tickets when the But the whole rivalry between the two teams, it's obviously proximity, right? It's location, seven or eight thousand tickets when the Sabres are doing really well. Those season ticket holders are certainly fans. They come from the Golden Horseshoe, which is obviously outside of Toronto. It's a cheaper ticket to get. So you got a lot of real passionate fans that drive to Buffalo to watch these games. Being on both sides of it, being a Buffalo Sabre,

it was always like trying to slay the big guy, slay Goliath, and you felt that. You felt like you were a small market playing against the Maple Leafs. You're sick and tired of the media that you read and heard about coming out of Toronto. And I say that respectfully, I played on both sides and I live in Toronto, but you know,

there's a lot of obviously, a lot of noise that comes out of Toronto and for the Toronto Maple Leafs. So the Buffalo Sabres, if they're gonna get up for one game, it's always against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The time I got to play in Buffalo, seven or eight seasons, I don't think we lost to Toronto once. And it was just, it was through the nineties, seems that Buffalo has had Toronto's number

at different times. But being on the other side of it, it was always great that, you know, when you're playing against the Buffalo Sabres, it was easy. It was an easy trip. It was a bus trip from Toronto down to Buffalo. And that was probably the best part about it. The time I played for Toronto, though, Buffalo had a pretty good team.

They had Drew Stafford and Thomas Vanik and Tyler Myers. And Brian Miller was in that. They were a better team than us. So I don't think I ever won a game in that rivalry. I lost games in Toronto and I won them in Buffalo. That's crazy. So give us an update on like where are the Sabres now? Obviously there's frustration at missing the playoffs. They've had a good run of hockey. I know they run a lost a few recently to some pretty good teams but

is there a feeling that they're building towards something positive or going in the right direction? Listen I want to be respectful of the teams I played for and where I made my mark and certainly got my start in the NHL. I love Buffalo. I worked for the organization after my career in TV. It is miserable there and I could care less that they won games down the stretch. It means nothing.

They've left it too late every year. They seem to get, and I say over the course of the last 10 years or more, they get confidence by having these nice finishes where they beat the good teams and they score goals. But you know what? At the end of the day, they leave it way too late. They've underachieved. There's absolutely nobody here to save them or help them out.

They're going to have to find a way. I think the one difference, and it's not even about talent, it has nothing to do with it. It's about character and about putting on your jersey and being a blue collar person or player and grinding and doing what it takes. Whatever it means to be a Buffalonian or live in Western New York,

it's kind of a tougher life in some ways. It's a great place to live. I absolutely love it there and I love being there. But they have to build a team that has the personality of the city they're playing in. They've got smaller, real skilled, you know, quick players that obviously don't do well together. They get beat up at times. You saw the big hit about two months ago, the Tron and Maple Leafs, or sorry, not Tron and Maple Leafs, the Sabres. Tage Thompson

gets run over, nobody does anything. 15 years ago, it was Milan Lucic running over Ryan Miller. At the end of the day, these are things that are in the past, but somehow whoever's in charge has to address the character issue. And I'm not talking about the talent, they have talented players, but every team does. Every American hockey league team has players that should be in the National Hockey League. It has nothing to do with talent.

You gotta outwork, you gotta outwill, and you gotta show up every day. And if you don't do it, you're not gonna win in any market in the NHL. You're watching and listening to Brad May, Stanley Cup champion, former NHLer. So May Day, there's some markets that are no matter what, they're just going to find a way to fill the building. And we know one of them right now where we're standing in the city of Toronto.

But Buffalo is one of those cities that you just mentioned. Blue Collar. But Buffalo is one of those cities that you just mentioned a blue-collar You've we've seen the best of the relationship between their fans and the team when they've gone to a couple of Stanley Cup finals early in their Existence and the Dominic Hoshig years as well Where would right now at the at the 14th consecutive season of Miss the playoffs rank with some of the worst times? at the 14th consecutive season of Missing the Playoffs rank with some of the worst times in their history and are they flirting with something when it comes to the work over the years with the connection with with Buffalo fans? Is that in danger? I'm afraid it is Nick and and I say that fans at some point in time are gonna spend their money elsewhere

and spend their time with one another in a different environment if they don't smarten up. Now, I wanna be, and I'm a Buffalo Saber through and through and I love being there and I love advocating for the Sabers, but 14 years in a row, this has been a miserable experience. I've talked to a number of people that they're not gonna renew their tickets until they see improvement.

I would hope to think that the Sabres and the fan base there deserve so much better. They really does. And you can't just put a finger on it and say it's a general manager or a coach or a player. This has been going on for numerous regimes coming in and out of Buffalo for the last, seriously, since 2010 or 11, when they made the playoffs. They won the last game of the season against the Flyer.

I think they played the Flyers in the playoffs. That team was exciting. And the Sabres fans through and through everyone that I've ever met and still meet, they love their team, but they're disappointed and they're frustrated. And you know what, the idea, what I have heard and I might be wrong on the number, but season tickets for the Buffalo Sabres,

season ticket holders, just got a 16% increase in their tickets if they want to renew them. If I heard wrong, I hope it's not even 1.6% because that's unfair to the great fan base in Buffalo. If it is 16%, that's absolute larceny and I feel sick for those people. And guess what? You have to now make a decision. I hope that's not the case. I love the Buffalo Sabres. I know people up here in Toronto, they look down, not look down on Buffalo, but Buffalo's a smaller market.

Buffalo's a fantastic place to play hockey, fantastic place to raise a family and live, and we're two hours from one of the greatest cities in Toronto, so I grew up around this area. I feel like I'm a Buffaloalonian and the people there they deserve better. They really do and I don't and again, I'm not picking one player or one coach or one general manager for all the mistakes but at the end of the day, somebody's got to

figure it out and if they do, it's a wonderful place to play hockey and certainly go watch a game. Yeah, I think that's the hardest part is like the rewards will be great for whoever figures it out when it happens. The fans are wonderful. We're all waiting for it to happen. So up here in Toronto, they got Craig Borubey this year. His first year as the Leafs coach and they've adapted their style to be a more playoff like team. Now the core of the team remains the same. They're going to play the most minutes. They probably matter the most. Do you feel like what Ruby has done with their team has them in a better position or is it just the same?

Cause it's the same guys. Well, listen, I like the structure of this, uh, of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Um, and I like, I've liked their game better. It certainly hasn't been as exciting some nights, right? But they win those games, right? They're winning the tighter games and the structure that Craig Bruby and the coaching staff and the players have adopted, that structure protects you when you're not all firing on,

you know, all cylinders. Your best players still have to be the best. Your third and fourth lines have to outplay those other character players, hardworking players. And you've got to bring your teammates into the fight. And I know everybody keeps talking about, you know, different ways, well, it's playoffs and you're not going to take penalties. But I'll tell you what, you've got to draw penalties against the Ottawa Senators, if

that's who they are going to face. You got to bring them into the fight. They got Brady Kachuk. Brady Kachuk, what he did at the Four Nations tournament, basically he and his brother led that Saturday night wonderful game that we all got to watch. Who is it in Toronto that's gonna actually step up and not shy away from a guy like Brady Kachuk or whoever? I know a few guys. Max Domi would be one. Max, you don't need to stick handle through everybody in the first round of the playoffs.

Match the intensity, beat the tarot to somebody, go after. And by the way, you're not going to go out and maybe invite Brady Kachuk. I don't know. I would do it if I was Max, but on the other hand, if he doesn't do that, you've got to target Jake Sanderson. You've got to target the skilled players on the Ottawa Senators. David Perron, even Claude Giroux. Put them in tough spots and force Brady Kachuk and his teammates to respond to you. I like the way Max is playing and I think this guy's got a real role on this team. He can elevate it when he gets to the playoffs. There's other players in the Toronto lineup as well that can do this. Wouldn't it be great when the last one of the last Canadian teams that made it to the Stanley Cup final,

the Calgary Flames, Jerome McGinley, the best player on their team, sized up a player in every round. I want to say it was either Matthias Olin or Ed Jovanovski in Vancouver where I was playing. Then he went after, he went after Lecavier in the final. What about Austin Matthews? Legendary. Yeah. What about Austin Matthews saying Brady Kachuck, it's Toronto, you're not getting through this next two weeks, you're going through me. Why can't he be the one to do it?

If I'm a player on his team, I am out of my mind if I see something like that. Now listen, I don't want anybody to get injured and I don't want your best player getting hurt in extracurricular stuff. But you know what? This is now not about the game of hockey for 60 minutes or 120 minutes. This is about the war of attrition to wear down and take the will away from the other team. And you know what, one way you can do it is go after their big guy. And whether you win or lose, it's showing up and showing and sending a message to your teammates that there's no way we're not giving any quarter, we're going to win this round. And I think that's, that's the winning attitude and every team that wins has to have it.

But would they fight their mom? Well I don't know, but I'll tell you what, my mom would beat the crap out of both of them. But honestly, would they fight their mom? You know what Nick, I still love it because I mean it, I really would. It's that important for these players or certainly when you're in the playoffs. I remember Joe Thornton trying to find that. He fought Getslaff. Thornton wasn't that guy but you'd see him eventually after all the failures being like,

I guess I got to be this guy. 2009 playoffs. That's when I got with Joe Thornton and Ryan Getslaff. You get these moments in time. You saw it in the Four Nations Cup at the end of the day guys You get punched in the face. So what you fall down you you should but you actually showed up for your teammates You showed up with that energy to actually win. Not only a shift in a period win a game Who I don't want to see the Toronto Maple Leafs Back down from anybody and I think they if they are able to do it against Ottawa, then they take that into Tampa or Florida, whoever they play in the second round. And you don't back away from, first of all, Matthew Kachuk and Sam Bennett,

and those are the guys you're afraid of in hockey today. They're amazing players and they're incredible teammates for the team they play with. But are we really afraid of those players? If you are, there's issues and I'm not a fan of that. I think Toronto's got everything. They're sitting perfect. They've got a great coach. They certainly have the latitude to actually make these calls, I'm sure.

Bottom line is you don't want to be in the penalty box. You want to draw penalties and you want to win. Obviously in 60 minutes less is more, but I would have to think that there's going to be a few overtime games and it's going to be a hard, hard series. Every single one will be this year and I'm excited to see what happens because Ottawa's had Toronto's number all year. Manny, we only got a quick minute here, but a guy that played the style that you played, there must be a bit of a, you know, a look at Matthew Knives and the way he's evolved, especially in the back half of this season, to maybe be the closest thing the Leafs have to combat

maybe a Brady Kachuk without necessarily dropping the gloves but playing that heavy game in front of the net. He's come a long way. Oh, I think Matthew Nyes is awesome. He's a big, big kid and he's talented and I love the way he plays. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who you are. You could be the smallest player. I don't care if you're the fourth line player and you play three minutes or the seventh

or eighth defenseman who draws in. You have to make a difference and you have to make a significant contribution to your team in ways that maybe aren't expected. And when you put on different hats, those are the teams that win, that be able to adapt. Listen, adversity will strike. It'll strike early, it may strike late, and you have to weather that stuff. And it takes a whole team, a bench, and really probably going into the, if you're playing long enough, there'll be 27 or 28 players, if not more, that will draw

in and play in the playoffs. Then you need good goaltending. But the bottom line is you have to outwork the other team, draw them into penalty trouble because that's where your best players in Toronto, you've built your team around the core four. Those guys are incredible hockey players. They do their best work on the power players, certainly on you know, odd man situations. I want the puck on Matthew Stick on a power play. I don't want him grinding for seven straight games down low, although he may need to. This is where these guys break out. If I'm in a hockey pool, I'm betting. I picked a Leafs to win the Stanley Cup and I still believe it. I still believe it. If

I'm in a hockey pool, I'm picking the Toronto Maple Leafs best players to actually bolster my team. I think these guys are going to go off. Now the question is history. Well, you know what? It doesn't scrap it. It's in the rear of your mirror. And you know what? If you keep going back to the scar tissue, you're going to have those same results.

It's a new year, new coach, new identity. Get after it. Got me on the ice. Pull me on the ice. Let's go. The best time of the year is right now. You just got Sam to poop his pants.

Why? I love it Sammy. I love it. He's committed. Your dad's texting me about you being on Mayday. Kenny's texting me. I'm sorry. Did you say my dad is? Yeah? He's texting me to tell you We're golfing again this summer love it. Yeah, we are maybe we're gonna lean on you during the Stanley Cup playoffs my friend

Don't go too far on us You call me and I will I will respond. I promise. Listen, I think you guys have an unbelievable two months ahead of you. There's gonna be incredible hockey. And I just watched the story and maybe did I get this wrong that Max Domi did something really special outside of the game? I haven't heard but we'll follow up on that.

You guys know of anything? No. We'll follow up on that. Do you guys know of anything? We'll follow I don't know if it's I don't know if I got it's something on social media about a young child That was left abandoned. I There's a great story. Okay, so maybe you haven't heard it. No, I will find it He might be my favorite hockey player if what I read was true, maybe I might be out to lunch well, we'll follow that up the next time we talk. Sorry about cutting you off, but we are running out of time here before we go national. Wow, what a

what a great 15, 20 minutes with Brad May. That was awesome. That was awesome. Okay, don't go away. We go national next on the Real Kipper and Boran Show.