Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Attempting to Out-Scrap the Cats

Episode Date: November 28, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with the news that the Blackhawks have waived Corey Perry, the lack of information from Chicago's FO and what's next for Perry. Then, over to tonight's game as the Leafs take on the Panthers, and how Toronto's lineup matches up with Florida physically with their heavyweights in the lineup. Former Panther and current Panthers analyst Ed Jovanovski (27:54) shares his thoughts on how the Cats head into the back-to-back after last night's scrappy affair against Ottawa, Sam Reinhart making the most of his contract year and how injury recovery has changed since his playing career. They wrap with Patrick Kane landing in Detroit and how it impacts the division dynamic for the Leafs.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.

welcome into the tim mccallough studio here at sportsnet for the real kipper and born show we are live on sports at 590 sports at 360 and sportsnet plus from four to six E.T. One of my favorite movies. Really? I liked it. Yeah. The Finger. Yeah. That's the best review of the movie I've ever heard. The Finger.

There's a finger involved at some point. All right, guys. Leaf Edition. We're glad you're aboard. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Frank the Tank. Baraska. Big shout out to his family.

We can talk certainly about the Leafs in Florida, and we will, of course. Judging by what I saw out of Florida last night, the Leafs might have their hands full a little bit tonight. Feisty hockey squadron. But. Catherine Meowan. In our Leaf edition of the Real Kipper and Bourne Show, how do you not touch on what the heck is going on in the Corey Perry Chicago Blackhawk saga?

I mean, do we have to make it a Leaf story because it's the Leafs hour? Could they sign him? No, I'm kidding. The latest has the Chicago Blackhawks putting Corey Perry on waivers for purpose of contract termination. The Chicago Blackhawks released a statement earlier today saying that he is on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

They did an internal investigation, according to Chicago, and it's been determined that Corey Perry has engaged in conduct that is unacceptable and in violation of both the terms of his standard players contract and the Blackhawks' internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments.

Such as Corey Perry has been placed on unconditional waivers. In the event that he clears waivers, we intend to terminate his contract effective immediately. We went through this a little bit yesterday, and we don't have to rehash it, but it continues to be this snowball like heading right towards chicago cory perry the whole organization and even the nhl what what has transpired in the last three to four days guys for me being around this game a long time, is as just unprofessional as I've seen.

Oh. Unprofessional from whom? Everybody involved. Absolutely everybody. Really? When I've watched what's happened and how this freight train has just gone through social media. Oh, God.

And the people that it's dragged with. Yeah. That if they were a little bit more forthcoming, and I'm not saying share things that are internal or that have legal ramifications. Right. I'm just saying if they were just, have gotten a little ahead of it,

so many people and some innocent people and families, and I'll say it connor bedard's family yeah they didn't have to go what they went through in the last 48 hours 72 hours yeah they're they're almost a victim of the lack of information information professionalism transparency from the blackhawks and to your point maybe the NHL I don't know but the the team itself certainly could have spared those people some of this misery who are not involved by the way if if you're if you're willing today if you're the Chicago Blackhawks and you're willing today to say internal investigation just say it four days ago. What's the difference?

You know, that's such a good point. It's like if you're investigating something, people just need to know you're investigating something. So you're going to give me the impression now that if you did an internal investigation, all you're doing by saying you're after, once you stipulate after an internal investigation what you're really telling me is that if there wasn't anything determining our findings right we could have snuck this under the rug we wouldn't have would we have mentioned that we had an internal investigation

but we found nothing and cory perry's back on the team. Would we really believe that they would have said that? No, they found something before. So you're saying they've known for some days that there's something. What I'm saying is when there's an internal investigation, it's okay to share that there's an internal investigation, and we'll get back to you. We have no other comments, but we will get back to you. There's an internal investigation. We have no other comments. But we will get back to you. There's an internal investigation.

We're looking into it. Whatever the case is. And if there wasn't any findings, then own it. Right? But to think in today's day and age, you can keep secrets. Or you can determine what you want to put out, what you can't. And it's all going to come out anyways. Yes, it is.

I assure you. It is, and they should know that better than any organization, for God's sake. Exactly, JB. Who would know this better than the Chicago Blackhawks? You just purged everyone who was involved in the last cover-up. I don't understand the lack of at least

trying to be as honest as you can be. Not giving it all away, but don't make people drag other innocent families in this. I was just disgusted by the things that are out there on social media while people sat and watched it continue minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, and nobody stood up and said, stop it. It's almost to the point now where it's like, you'll never be able to undo some of the damage because people just believe what they want to believe.

They catch a piece of it in passing i you know sammy you and i have talked about like getting messages about this from people you know they think because we work at sports net you know we're going to have some information getting messages from people i haven't spoken to in 20 years no joke 20 years in a couple cases i would say of all the news stories over the last little while involved with hockey nothing has come close to the amount of messages i've received about this story yeah and i think that it wouldn't you wouldn't have gotten close to it if alluding to your point just on the first day it's an internal investigation we're trying to figure out what happened instead of silence letting everybody come to their own right i said i this isn't like sam the butcher down the street asking me this is real

hockey people talking to real hockey people going is this true yeah no i know and but so i know i can't we don't know we don't know the exact details of whatever and and so don't want to speculate but it doesn't you you know, it's not the rumors, the worst case, most salacious rumors possible. And frankly, if it were Kip, I mean, that's not grounds to terminate a $4 million contract. Listen, there's no judging here.

What's acceptable, what's not acceptable. There's not what we're doing. It's not what we're doing here um but this is now up to cory perry like hey cory not sure if you listen to the show or not but you're gonna have to come out and say something or or not say something but regardless it's your move here and i well i would say, though, that also, you know, there is, I saw a tweet from, I think it was Eric Macramella, his lawyer, tweeted that, like, to terminate someone's $4 million contract, you have to clear a pretty high legal bar

to show that there were grounds for termination of contract, right? You know what? Listen, I've signed enough of these to understand that once you're in a moral clause, it's fairly wide open here for teams to come to you and say that your actions are detrimental to the club. And I think those detrimental is wide here. Okay, so that's different from where I was going with it.

Where I was going with it was that there may have to be some sort of something legal or something beyond the just like he said or did some things we didn't like for it to be contract termination level stuff well again where where i where i'm coming from in terms of cory perry it's your move it's like the chicago blackhawks do not want to pay you the rest of your four million dollars or i'm sure half of it was signing bonus two million signing off the top so he's already got that no believe it or not it all depends on the language of the contract is that right yes yeah they chicago can turn around and say listen we're gonna prorate this at this event or this where we think there was wrongdoing and we want a portion of that signing bonus back it all depends on the language i think of the contract so that necessarily isn't guaranteed either. But, hey, Corey, you're going to just fade off into the sunset?

You want to file a grievance with your players association? What are you doing here? By not filing for a grievance, do you admit wrongdoing here? So you're going to fight it? You're not going to fight it. Well, I mean, you're not gonna fight it well i mean you're right but you know if something happened and it happened and you're cory perry then you just kind of got to go yeah that does violate this morals clause and i guess i'm you're right then you would still want him to speak up and

sort of listen it's not speaking up and not grieving it says something to the hockey world, doesn't it? Yes, it does. And so today, Kyle Davidson, the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks, is going to speak 5 o'clock Eastern time. We're going to try. Is there a chance that we can get that? We are endeavoring. I am sending my silence as many emails I am sending at the moment, texts.

I'm actually producing right now. I know. It's very rare. You're happy Look at you. It's very rare. You're happy smoking over there. It's very rare that this guy that sits here and gives out mediocre hockey takes actually produces, but I'm trying. I'm trying. So we may carry some of that

and have to see what the Blackhawks have to say. We'll see how directly they address some of these rumors. It does, I mean, anything less than a statement today would have been ridiculous. So they have a public statement. They'll do some talking about it. And then, yeah, it seems like he'll clear waivers, terminate the contract,

and he will be eligible to sign somewhere else where he likely won't because what team will want to deal with him after? Well, that's it in a nutshell. And again, how much... If no one from... I do get messages kept. Leafs fans are like, huh?

Well, Sammy here. Sammy? Well, but before you knew... Yeah, well, I mean, Sammy had visions of him maybe being terminated and coming to Toronto. I did not. I can't. I am the leader of the Corey Perry hate club.

I do not want Corey Perry here. Corey Perry is... It's his old hate with Corey Perry. This is old hate with Corey Perry. This is old hate with Corey Perry. Are we in a world today where if there wasn't any more details or any more information, if it by chance ends here, do you think teams would be interested in adding cory perry this year i think it really depends on the details of this if it but if it doesn't come out or is there too many question

marks do you think fan bases today would go okay there's something there i don't know what it is but i don't want them on the team as long as i don't know what it was it's going to be rumor dependent right because if the rumor and understanding is that it's like oh it was infidelity and it was some you know whatever people are gonna be like who cares you know like it's that happens in the world and maybe other people feel but like in the nhl if you didn't have a player on your team for that reason there might be a couple teams with less players that's all i'm saying if it's something legal then i think you have a lot more people saying i don't want that you know around our team that could be different i think what the public narrative is about the perry situation here is going to determine his

ability to play again in the nhl here's what i'll say about interest i'm sure there's some general managers in the national hockey League trying to figure out what happened. Not just to see. Perry was on pace for like 50 points or something on top of the rest of the things as a hockey player people like. So they would like to have him presuming he's not done something. It's got to be pretty bad, though. It's got to be pretty bad. So I don't think we'll see him.

I personally don't think you'll see him in the league this year. But what do I know? I'm speculating. Let's talk radio. I don't know. I see him in the league this year. What do I know? I'm speculating. Talk radio. I don't know. I have no answers. Okay, listen. We're going to maybe see what happens between now and a little after 5 p.m.

where we expect general manager Kyle Davidson to speak. We'll work on maybe going live there. And we'll just leave it at that for now. Sure. We'll revisit in an hour. Okay. The Toronto Maple Leafs match up with the Panthers at home tonight.

Scotiabank Arena for the first time since last year's playoff series. First time at home. What did I say? That's what I mean. Because I typed it in there. I forgot that they played earlier in the year. So I just made a little edit.

So that would be correct. At home. Yeah. They lost in florida early very early in the season um the first time we thought they sucked the panthers yeah no the leafs oh yeah that was like the first time we were worrying about them they went down there and i think they lost them and then they went and didn't they beat tampa on the back now they beat tampa yeah they beat him on the back to back maybe did you catch a good portion of last night's Florida Panthers-Ottawa Senators game? Sure did.

Where there was over 160 penalty minutes. I wanted to get the clip. Led by the Kachuk brothers who did their best impression last night of their cart commercial. Yeah, that's so true. The only thing missing was mom. They knock it off. The highlight of the night was the, Sam, you were talking about the clip

where the ref goes to the box and goes, this guy's got this, this guy's got this, and everyone else on the ice has a 10-minute misconduct. 10-10-10s he gave out. That was awesome. That was unbelievable. I've never seen 10-10s doled out all at once. And Paul Maurice on the bench laughing.

Did he laugh? He was counting his guys. And he's trying his best not to laugh. But he's, you know, him and that wry smile that he's got. He's kind of smirking their laugh. What do I got? I got to tell you, those Panthers, they're a lot of team. They're a lot of team.

Great expression. That is a lot of hockey team. Listen, they couldn't hang. They looked a lot like last year, the Tampa Bay Lightning going after. Oh, and St. Louis Portuzzo. Portuzzo. And after Kachuk. When there was, yeah, when there was a Kachuk, Matthew, Brady mixing my brothers up,

going through the crease and giving goalie Bob a shot. Man, I love that reaction. All five of them. Nobody has to square up and throw bombs anymore. But I even like that Brady's digging. Well, he was a 30. He just kicked the goalie on the way by. Yeah, it was a brutal play.

But the thing. It wasn't dirty. I mean. But to your point about just looking like it, that's Kulikov that's the first man in on him. But Kulikov didn't really... He was there. That's what I mean.

Yeah. But Kipper has asked the Leafs to do this kind of thing a million times where it's like, don't look... You don't have to fight the guy. But it takes a lot of guts to even get into the vicinity of a simmering Brady Kachar. I'll give you a head shake on that because when it happened,

Kip didn't like it either because it wasn't the right guy. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that part. We had to fight about that that day. Listen, no, but I ended it with saying beggars can't be choosers. That's true. That's true. That is the ultimate conclusion.

But then everybody got in there and it was a real hoot. While we're on the subject, I'll tell you what I didn't like out of Ottawa is the fact that somehow, someway, Jake Sanderson felt the need to go and fight Matthew Kachuk. Yes. No, I'm sorry. You didn't like that? No.

I just like seeing that he'll do it. No. I don't want to see it again. Yeah, I know, but you don't need that. You don't need, you already know he's a gamer. You already know this guy's going to be something special. That guy breaks his hand. Oh, I know.

And your season is over. You need to protect Jake Sanderson. The mere fact that he wanted to do it, great, says a ton of character about him, but I don't need validation on his character. I already he's gonna be awesome and he's great i don't need him breaking his hand you know matthew chuck is really he is the most selective and not that's not an insult he is the most selective player about who he'll engage with jake sanderson he's like sure i'll take that guy off the ice he's's not going to fight Zach McEwen.

Conor Bedard in that game that they played when, I forget who it was that pasted Bedard. He went over to Bedard and was talking trash to him, trying to get him to go. Like, you're right. He picks out the other guy on the team. He makes their superstars uncomfortable. Yeah.

He's not going to bother with Rourke Chartier. One of these punch and murder in the face of the playoffs last year. You know, like, we know how that ended. I mean, that's Brad Marchand, right? Like, that's for years what Marchand has been, is, like, select the guys who don't want it. And so, yeah, Sanderson wanted it, but, I mean, I just think Chuck knows what he's doing.

So, Leafs are home last night. How many guys on the team do you think would have watched that game from beginning to end to prepare for tonight's contest? Way less than I would expect, I think. But not none. Boys are probably playing Fortnite. Seven. I don't know, some.

I don't know. I'm just wondering. They're all at home. They're all watching hockey. I can tell you that. Two. Two. Gio and Tavares.

Everybody over 33. Everybody else playing Fortnite. Yeah. Everybody else playing video games. I would think last night would be a great reminder to the Leafs what they encountered in the playoffs and the possibility that they can encounter tonight. Now, I don't know. Like, back-to-back games, a couple of bruises. I had the same thought.

Some cuts. Are they going to want to do that again? Listen, this isn't a judgment against Florida's character. If, in fact, they let their foot off the gas pedal on a back-to-back night and you didn't get that same piss and vinegar that we saw in Ottawa there's a chance that could happen but I wouldn't hold my breath if I'm the Leafs on that no and all we know is the Leafs did watch that game I'm sure right night before you're going to play mine tell you Sheldon Keefe would have been watching and today Ryan Reeves is in

tonight is it Simone Benoit is in you know like i think everyone who's got a little beef to their frame will probably play for the leafs tonight anticipating florida looking at the the leafs and saying this is how you beat this team ryan reeves is concerned if if you can't play him against that team you can't play him against he's in hey terminate that contract if he can't play tonight right contact detrimental to the team so he's not useful to us to play no he has to play tonight absolutely has to play tonight and i think i'm pretty hot a good decision to have him play let's listen yeah sure we'll talk to listen the key uh the coach talk about it just to build on the game that he had in Chicago,

I thought he did a really good job. There's a lot of things in that game that are exactly what we need from him. I talked to him when he was coming out, going into Pittsburgh. It was really just my decision in the 11-7 and all of that, but it was not a reflection of his game. In fact, we want him to sort of bottle up that game that he had in chicago and how that line operated together and and bring that uh forth here tonight so he didn't even mention the fact that i guess i guess that would be like him before that playoff series saying that there's going to be violence okay yeah probably shouldn't do that anymore right

um one of my experiences video coach with the the marlies were playing uh babs and crews at the world cup so we got to run the leafs for a couple games and we played the sabers one night the sabers had like five heavyweights and so it was like the leafs were looking to dress all of their heavyweights and there was a discussion about do you want to dress these guys and make it that kind of game when you can't the leafs are not going to win that kind of game with florida or are you better off dressing a bunch of speedy guys who skate around and you know let the other team chase you yeah they've tried that for six years yeah yeah you're not

wrong and you had a general manager to come in and say uh no we're going to spend 14 million dollars and we're going to do it with the likes of Reeves and Max Domi. We are going to engage these guys. But it does feel like a little bit like we are accepting of playing on your terms. This is the game you want to play. We're going to try to play it. Yeah. Rather than just doing what, you know,

the Leafs' fourth line has been best with McMahon. Here's the biggest issue I've got with the Leafs so far, and you touched on it a little bit with what you saw, Sammy, last night in Ottawa with Kulikov. When you have a handful of guys doing it, it can get a little contagious a little bit, and it can force you to go do stuff that you don't necessarily want to do because you know that within an arm's length

there's going to be another guy in the same jersey you're wearing and he's going to bail you out or he's not going to let anybody beat you up and he's not going to let anybody wail on you. You can see that with Florida, that they truly feel like they've got each other's backs. I will say the Panthers for the last few years, I've been a little critical because their D

has been questionable. I haven't loved their D core, but the way they've kind of remade it, this Gustav Forsling has become a top pair NHL defenseman. Nico Mikula is a second pair guy with Montour. Big. So you got Forsling and Ekblad, Mikula and Montour, and Ekman Larson

is playing with Kulikov in your third pair. Unbelievable. If you had Ekman LLarsen and Kulikov. And it looks good. I know. If you had that pair in the Leafs, are they your top pair? No. Well, Ekman-Larsen, Kulikov,

they're the second pair anyway. I watch, and there's a play last night in that game where Mikula, who you've kind of always liked Mikula. You've mentioned him before. He's always been a guy that you liked. And Brady Kachuk's trying to go to the front of the net, and he successfully boxes him out to the point where he knocks him down twice keeps him away from the front of the net and brady gets mad takes a swing at him or whatever he just like stone face skates away there's not one man on the toronto maple east that's boxing out brady

kachuk from the front of the net or any guy like that right like who's Like, who's the guy that's doing that? As far as the... Good question. The feeling like the Leafs have gotten grittier or tougher from last year, it's not there because it hasn't been contagious. It hasn't run through the roster. And while we see a glimpse of it through lately on Bertuzzi and outside of Ryan Reeves a couple of early fights there just hasn't it's been the same feel of this team that they you're right why do we want to dress one guy when

we don't have anybody really behind the one guy we're not a pack of wolves here sticking together here we're just one or two guys kip you go through this lineup and this is people are going to hear this and go oh so negative so critical the leafs are stacked with offensive talent like marner and matthews unbelievable obviously kneel under tavarez you guys know the drill but like nize the new guys like nize is not he doesn't want to do that right he's not a physical guy it's not his game yarn crocs i'd say he's leaned on some guys a little bit. I think he's physical and heavy.

He's not an antagonist. No, no, no, no. He's not making anybody look twice. He would like to score goals. He would like to get points. That's his preference, you know? And as Matthews, big guy, he wants to do that. Nylander wants to get points.

Bertuzzi, Tavares, Bertuzzi maybe. Robertson, Domi, Yarncroft, Gregor, you know, Kampf. Like, these guys are not wired in that way. And that doesn't mean you can't win. That's not my point. The point is that it's just not their nature. These Panthers players, it seems to be in their nature. It is natural to a lot of those guys like Lomberg and Kachuk.

Yeah. And, you know, they just like throw out the lineup. On every line you find those guys, whether it's Cousins or whoever else. Bennett. Bennett's like that, yeah. For guys, whether it's Cousins or whoever else. Bennett. Bennett's like that, yeah. His wires will cross with the best of them. What Ryan Reeves has to do tonight, more than anything, is just have that fear that something might happen.

Yeah. Because I'm here, it's on my watch, and I hope there's a lot of talking And I hope there's a lot of talking. I hope there is a lot of message sending that out of Ryan Reeves. Sometimes, most often than not, when I played, the fear is the fear itself. Yeah. Like if he comes out, fights in the first 30 seconds, but then shuts it down the rest of the game,

that's not as effective as him being a threat for 50 minutes. You know what I'm saying? You know what? The best thing that has happened, and people think we're silly going back to this, but Luke Shin standing there in the playoffs and just going, I'm just here. You know, I'm not looking to fight anyone,

but you're going to have to come through me if you want to fight someone else. And when someone did, he beat the here. You know, I'm not looking to fight anyone, but you're going to have to come through me if you want to fight someone else. And when someone did, he beat the brakes. That image was just as strong as anything. He just stood there between the benches and was just like. As strong as we've seen in any scenario the last five or six years, that image of Luke Shen. And that's got to be Reeves, not chasing anyone. I'm not going to start a fight

but just so you know if you're going to fight someone i'm going to be here and you're going to have to fight me too so uh thought on line juggling at all well let's hit a break we get the jovo oh yeah that's right joven oski former nchl defenseman going to join us after the break going to talk panthers we're also going to talk hip surgery. Yeah, he had one. Pat Kane's signing. All of this going on in Chicago. And we failed to mention Pat Kane, a member of the Detroit Red Wings, signing a one-year deal.

We got so much more to get into on the Real Kipper and Bourne show, and we're glad you're along for the ride. Your daily dose of everything NFL. It's the Fan Checkdown with Matt Marchese and Donovan Bennett. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Toronto Maple Leafs set to do battle against the Florida Panthers

for the first time at home since their playoff series last spring. To talk about tonight's game, let's welcome in former NHL defenseman, current Panthers TV analyst, Ed Jovanovsky. Ed, how are you, pal? Hey, guys. How you doing? We're doing great. Thanks for joining us. I was just mentioning to the guys, what a turnaround for the Florida Panthers,

their organization, Paul Maurice. It just seems like it's still fresh in our minds that late season, regular season game where Paul Maurice, I think, called a timeout, if I'm not mistaken, and just berated the bench. Came unglued. Just stripped them down to the wood. And since then, they've been one of the best,

most consistent teams in the league, Ed. It's amazing. Yeah, he almost finds a good way, a good spot to kind of choose his words and before the game against ottawa he called his team horse you know what and they responded uh very nicely last night in ottawa they played a full 60 minute game but yeah i mean the buy-ins there you know you look at this team they didn't, you know, on the back end with these two horses out of the lineup early on. Bennett missed some significant time.

They had to do it as a team collectively. They kind of held water there and, you know, find themselves in a pretty good spot right now and seem to be firing on all cylinders right now. So what, you know, how important is the element of toughness or physical play, that engagement from this team to their success? It feels like the Leafs are there in a talent level, but there seems to be this other gear of edge that the Panthers carry with them.

Well, I think it's the depth, Borny. You look at this group, the top six is solid. You look at their third line, just the way that these guys can contribute. And now their third line this the way that these guys can contribute and and now their fourth line i mean it's you know lomberg and and um you know gadjovich this guy wants to fight everyone you know is this so i i think bill zito's done a good job you know assembling this group finding the depth because we all know you got to have that balance you know throughout your lineup can't be so top heavy and now especially adding these guys on the back end,

it really kind of solidifies this group. And Bob seems to be picking up where he left off. He's been excellent. You can't think of one game where, you know, he was the real reason that this team lost the game. We saw last night a feisty effort and a very convincing win over the Ottawa Senators. 24 hours later, they walk into Toronto.

Is there a sense tonight, Ed, that they could maybe back off a little bit? The Leafs might find a team tired or it's just not in their makeup anymore. Take their foot off the gas pedal. Yeah, I think, you know, every point is crucial, as you guys know. So I think they're going to be ready to go in this one i'm sure toronto will be as well there's not much travel in between games yeah it was a physical game last night guys might be a little tired on the back to back but i i think um you know you're gonna find a team that's probably ready to go right from the

get-go just the fact you don't want to chase this game because how explosive the Leafs really are but uh yeah I talked to a couple guys um late morning today and and just really excited to to play this game tonight it's always fun going into Toronto and and playing a lot of family friends in the building too as well but more importantly getting points right now for this team is crucial hey what's clicked with sam reinhardt there here in toronto we're all willie kneelander you know willie kneelander's got 12 and 15 for 27 points this guy reiner's a contractor yeah you have 15 goals and 12 where did this come from well we always had him he's got a sneaky score you know he's he's he'll get hot and and

historically his time here in florida he's always been that slower starter then at the end of the year he'll have 25 30 goals so i think this year it's nice for him to really kind of get going right from the right from the start uh finding the net um i'm sure you guys heard around the league just a very smart hockey player seems to be in the right spot he's got a great stick knocking pucks around his kind of goal area is around that blue paint area on that on in that zone but not the quickest guy but like i said earlier in an interview he seems to get there you know and he's not the biggest most physical guy but he seems to be in the right spot to rub you out.

So just a complete player and finding success scoring goals right now. It's good to see. Really good kid. Ed, we just saw today Pat Kane coming off of his surgery, his hip surgery, and signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, something that obviously ended your career.

Nicholas Backstrom tried real hard to return to the ice after his hip surgery, and it appears that in all likelihood, he won't be back, certainly this season, but possibly end his career. What have you learned through your experience, and where do you rate the success of of pat kane's chances to come back off of something like this well let's clear something

up first a bio ended my career but i still wanted to play okay um yeah it's it's 38 at the time when i still came back was lucky enough to play 40 games or so, whatever it was, but it's a pretty extensive surgery. But it seemed to be like, you know, you're getting a handful of guys that are doing it now. I think it's the strongest way, you know, to get that hip ready to come back and play. My other side, I have a total hip,

just the regular conventional hip replacement that there's no chance that you would think about playing. But the hip resurfacing allows you to do that. I think you've got to get over that mental edge of, listen, I've got a metal ball and socket now, and that's the way it is. But, you know, Pat Kane is an elite player. He doesn't put himself in a position to get hit too often. And he's going to play with, you know, a lot of firepower in Detroit.

And I think he's going to have success. And, you know, I think you got to be excited to do that because the work that goes along with getting your body rehabbed and your glute firing to where it's alleviating that pressure off that hip capsule area is really important. And I'm sure he's done the work. We've seen the videos. But once you get in the game, it's a different story, right? I mean, I was getting great until you get into that game and a little tentative early on. But I think for him, just being comfortable and not going to put him in a position to maybe they give him rest here and there in those games, but I know for him, and I know the surgery,

that it's very doable for a guy like him. You know, it is crazy, though. You mentioned Nick Backstrom, but also Ryan Kessler, Carl Hagelin. Those guys didn't manage to come back from it. Actually, Jovo, I think you played the most games or up there of people who've had the hip resurfacing how much is it in your head you know like when you're trying to just play hockey again and you know like klingberg had a hip issue here didn't get the resurfacing but seems to be bothering him hit that that hip thing for a hockey player it's just such

a crucial instrument isn't it it is and and before the surgery just going to all lengths i mean i went to germany and had you know the hip guru there of injections of the prp when i was there for a week you know again not done but yeah it's definitely a mental you know i guess the recovery you can look at it from a total hip to the hip resurfaces where they actually slice your whole glute muscle open. So the recovery on your kind of glute muscle healing versus, you know, getting a conventional hip, you know, they're, they're cut, they're not cut through muscle. So I think getting over that and now getting through the strengthening part

and getting on the ice, you know, that's the easy part. I think the first little bit is first little bit is the area where, you know, sometimes, you know, it does get long and you're like, damn, what am I doing? And, you know, I've had a decent career and this and that. But when you're not ready to hang them up, I think you're just kind of going to all push it right to the max to see what you can get out of it.

But just to leave you with one thing on that, and I asked the question, you know, what's the risk. And the risk is basically you break your fem, your, your femoral neck. So it's the bone that's attached, goes down into the fever that touches into the femoral head and you snap that bone. And now you go into a total hip. So I guess, I guess weighing all that that you're just like okay

it's it's worth the risk and you're going to go out there and play so there are risks and you're well aware of them but um at the end of the day uh it seems to be working out for guys this has been orthopedic surgery hour with ed jovanovsky that was unbelievable i get so many calls on this hip surgery. Do other players call you? Other players do call me, yes. A lot of these players that have had this surgery, I've spoke to them before they've had this surgery done. Is this more than anything just wear and tear,

or was there a specific incident? Well, I think, you know, a lot has to do with the labrum and we know all the labrum you know once this is a tear um you know do you get it fixed right away or do you play through it a lot of times you get the pat on the back and say yeah you're good to go and this and that and before you know it your labrum's macerated and you got nothing there. And then the bone on bone starts. And then you just started getting impingement that you just can't deal with. We can't tie your skates. You can't get down.

You can't even get down to play with your kids. So it gets to be a long grueling. Your days are long. You just hate life. And it's just miserable at that point. And then it kind of leaves you the no option other than this procedure, you, or you get a total hip done.

So I think when you go to where at HSS, where I had this surgery, it's called the hip prevention center. So you go see Dr. Kelly who fixes your labrum, but he told me your playing days are done. Go see my buddy in the back. You'll do your total hip.

So, I mean, yeah, there's areas where I think time, guys, when you get your hip done and it prevents getting to this stage. Absolutely. John Klingberg has to pretty much make a decision here. I think he tried an injection and it didn't really settle it down.

What would your advice to be if you haven't already talked to him about it? Well, I think you seek all the answers. You just go to everywhere, and I think you get all the doctors. I think the good thing about our league, you're allowed to go get second and third and fourth opinions. And I think if they all come to the conclusion that a certain procedure is needed, then you head that direction. My biggest thing to guys where I talk to, it's more,

and I was different, guys. I mean, I was towards the end of my career. I was 36, and I came back. I was 37 when I played. I think just the quality of life. I think that's what's more, you know, for me, I know a couple guys are younger that still feel like they can play, but, you know, sometimes it just,

you're not able to do so because of the severity of the injury. But I tell you what, I'm a big advocate for this surgery. To this day, I don't have any issues with it. Obviously, the wear and tear is different than playing every day on the ice, but I think the advice overall I'd give to him, I think you try it and see where it goes and just maintain that positive outlook

that you can possibly play again. Well, we'll keep an eye on Patrick Kane, $2.75 million for one year, pretty low risk for the Red Wings the Red Wings are now 11-6-3 after three straight wins up to third in the Atlantic you know right behind the Florida Panthers where do you think the Panthers fit into this division you know Tampa Bay is tied with Detroit the Leafs are right behind them like a lot of good hockey teams here where do you see the true talent level of this Panthers team?

Well, I believe it's up there. Just because what we talked about earlier, just the depth of the group. You know, I think they're a well-balanced team and they got solid, you know, veteran leadership. You look at the game a guy like Barkov had yesterday, the way he controlled that puck, knocking guys off pucks, stealing pucks.

I think this team has suffered so much in the last couple years, you know, being that close to winning the cup last year, especially how they did it throughout the regular season, well-documented how they got in and just how they played in the playoffs. But they tasted, so they're hungry. They're going to be in every game. They're going to work hard and try to get there. But the vision is so tough,

and I don't think you can afford to be inconsistent because you just find yourself really chasing the standings throughout the year. So I think they know that. They kept that in mind. They don't want to repeat what happened last year, and they're off to a good start this year doing that. Dr. Jovo, we really appreciate your time. Is there any chance that we can book a three-month follow-up with you?

Absolutely, guys, anytime. All right. Sounds awesome. Awesome stuff. Thanks, Jovo. I guess if being a doctor didn't take 12 years, I'd probably maybe look at it. Yeah.

A little late now, eh? A little late. 12 years, that's not bad at all. Yeah. No, thanks. A little late now, eh? A little late. 12 years. That's not bad at all. Become a doctor these days. Jovo, thanks for doing this. Ed Jovanovsky. All right.

All right, guys. NHL defenseman. Almost 1,200 games in the National Hockey League. Doing a terrific job covering the Panthers for Valley Sports. Yeah. I mean, it's fascinating stuff, but it does highlight to me the challenge oh okay you're back now no you're not back okay uh it does highlight the challenge of coming back

for patrick kane you know like he said a lot of nice things about kane and what you know in terms of like he's a great player and he should be fine but he starts talking about it and yeah you're trying to get your glute firing again because they cut your muscle like it's a whole rigmarole to get back to normal and i'm sure it's on your mind the first few times you're playing competitive hockey i mean talking about you know what's at risk too don't tell me that hasn't gone through pat Kane's mind. Nick Backstrom obviously had to make a very tough decision. Think about now the contract that he

still has on board. The vision of playing with Oveskin, chasing Wayne Gretzky's record. Think about just how he feels waking up every day and weighing out playing not playing pain pain tolerance risk quality of life after you play that is just

heavy stuff and especially since he has reached the heights won three stanley cups he's an all-time american legend i think we're talking yeah that's what i mean he's gotley cups he's an all-time american legend we're talking yeah that's what i mean he's got like the he's got the this you know the stuff like he doesn't need to worry about it he's with backstrom he's won the cup i know i know the the travel the trying to be with ov or whatever but he's got that that with him i don't know i just to me the when you're as accomplished as backstrom and kane air are i think you kind of have to start looking out after and being able to walk around on it. I mean, I think so too.

That's got to be a huge priority. The Kane thing is interesting though, fellas. Detroit is not a team you would list in the top eight teams you think has a cup chance. Kane is presumably trying to come back and win a cup, but this is maybe an organization where he sees a fit for him in terms of getting minutes and opportunity on top of a pretty good team like i think if detroit loses their last three games instead of wins them he doesn't sign there i think it's as simple as that i think there's a couple of options here for pat and that's if there's some writing on the wall that detroit isn't going to be contending for

a playoff spot early enough to say can you ship me one more time but they paid 2.75 for a draft pick potentially god i i don't know but great angle by caprio say um yes you know there's, but that's might as well be a million miles away. What is in front of him is, can I play? And what kind of level can I get to? That is what everybody. Can I make myself valuable if someone wants me on a contending team? Correct. He's going to get opportunity there.

That top six can use a guy like him. The team has scored pretty well this year, but there's definitely an opening for a guy like him to get opportunity there. That top six can use a guy like him. The team has scored pretty well this year, but there's definitely an opening for a guy like him to help produce offense. Oh, go ahead. No, finish your thought. I was just going to say that this is a directly affects the Leafs situation. Oh, yeah. Signed with a team that is on the rise,

is right in front of them in the standings, and, I mean, I have to say makes them better right like that's a that's a move that's a move that true living looks at with this division goes oh crap like that's you have to respond to that i don't know okay a couple minutes left before we take a break and and go national on our next hour but i just wanted to get in back on the leafs a little bit and close this thing out going into tonight's game on the line juggling. We touched on a bit on it yesterday. The extent is flipping Marner and Nylander between Tavares and Austin Matthews. Let's go to Sheldon Keefe for the line juggling clip two,

and then I want to follow it up. One group's really rolling. You try not to disrupt that. As we talked about a lot yesterday, felt the timing was right. But it's a question. We'll watch and we'll see. I touched on this briefly yesterday,

but I just want to reiterate it. I would have Nylander, Marner, and Matthews all on separate lines. Yeah, okay. That's what i wanted to see oh i wish i wish you know that's allowed you know i i feel the same way that it's like in hockey you tend to be rewarded or demoted if you're playing well or not playing well it's not illegal for whether it be marner or nylander whoever to play to play a game with Gregor and Kampf or something, who are pretty good players, or to play a game with

Nyes and Domi? I know Gregor can't hit the side of a barn, but I would reward him every once in a while. I know. Give him a snip. I'd give him a couple of shifts with Austin. Let him wet the beak. 100%.

The guy skates hard. He'll go get you the puck. He goes to get to the puck. Move them up. Yeah. Even like sometimes you watch Matthew Nise. He's struggling. Back them off.

Yeah. Like this. Don't have to throw them back out there all the time. It's so funny that two years in a row now, Keith has looked at this team and been like, okay, Matthew's Marner. Tavares and Nylander. All right. We've hit a wall. It's not working. What like, okay, Matthews and Marner, Tavares and Nylander, alright, we've hit a wall, it's not working. What if we go

Tavares and Marner, Matthews and Nylander? And there's no third option or fourth option. Can we get something else? Which kind of leads me to the understanding of where their heads

were at with the whole buildup of Willie being a centerman at training camp and then derailing it because Fraser Minton came along. And listen, I get it. It's a tough one to look back at. You want a reward, but it would have helped if you would have stuck with that to make decisions today.

That's my point. The Minton thing doesn't look great right now. I just, I don't, I, was it to build up his stock and the potential to move him? Was it because he- Wouldn't Willie play one exhibition game at center? When you talked about it. Maybe one.

But that's, I'd like to see Matthews, Tavares, and Willie for the first three lines. Un, deux, trois. Show me that. Show me that tonight. Let's try something else. I think if there was ever potentially to be a new coach that would come here, that would be like the first thing they would do.

Everybody would be like, oh, you can do that. That's impossible. You're allowed to do that. But I guess they don't love the Willie Center thing. It was really weird in training camp looking back on that. But yeah. Love it or not, they literally said at the time they were going to give it some run.

And then they cut it real short. Give me a feel tonight. Leafs against Florida. Can they match them? Forget about physicality. Can they match some intensity with the Florida Panthers tonight? Yeah, they play off in these spots. Okay.

Anthony Stolarz goes tonight for the Kitties. No goalie, Bob. He gets the night off after pitching a shutout last night against Ottawa. Okay, we still have a ton to get into. We'll figure out what Kyle Davidson's saying about Corey Perry moving forward. Oh, yeah. We'll talk about the Calgary Flames and their big win last night against Vegas. Plus, who wants out of Columbus now?

Somebody else wants to get out of Columbus. Maybe the franchise wants out. Plenty more. Real Kipper and Bourne. Don't go away.