Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Buds Blanked + Keefe's Revenge Stage

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look back on the Leafs' 2024-25 season opener, a 1-0 loss against the Montreal Canadiens. They discuss the end of the Leafs' 252-game shutout streak, Stolarz's stellar debut, power play concerns and the scoreless effort from the team's forward group. Later, they look ahead to the Leafs' test tonight against Sheldon Keefe's New Jersey Devils, break down the ex-Leafs bench boss's pregame availability and react to Toronto’s lineup changes for game 2, including a change in the crease with Dennis Hildeby getting the nod in the back-to-back.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 affiliate.

we're live on sportsnet 590 the fans sportsnet 360 and sportsnet plus the real kipper and born show nick kip Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee with you for the next two hours. Also on board, Derek Brandale, Jake the Snake Schultz. Five games on tap. We got a terrific show for you today. We'll get into the in-depth analysis, of course. The Leaf Hour kicking us off off here we'll get into that

and in the second hour mike keenan in studio of course he's got a new book coming out iron mike uh as a guy that uh got a behind theains glimpse of Mike Keenan in 1994. I'm looking forward to this. Yeah. He can't hurt you anymore. You can't trade me. You can't send me down. You can't bench me.

You should cut him today. Cut his mic off or something today. I will say, there's been a little different energy about you today. Kip's ready. there's been a little different energy about you today. Kip's ready. It's been a quiet, I wouldn't say nervousness, but definitely more excited than usual. It could tell from the second you walked through the door, you're acting a little differently.

For like 20 minutes or so in our next hour, I get to talk to like a Lexx luther you know like a criminal mind i get to talk to like someone like what made you tick all those years this is going to be like uh tony soprano like therapy here we're just gonna total we're gonna get to the root of his feelings the time you said why what were you thinking oh man so we're looking forward to that at the top of the hour but as we mentioned five games on tap including the toronto maple leafs Including the Toronto Maple Leafs. Who gets shut out for the first time in 250 consecutive games. That's a hell of a run to not get shut out. Yeah.

It is just very funny. It's not the reason, but it's very funny to be like 252 straight games with a goal. Berube coaches one game and they get shut out. Has nothing to do with Berube, but it is funny. The first game. 227 regular season games and 252 games total,

including playoffs, without getting shut out. Third most in NHL history. And, yeah, first game. First game with Berube. No goals. That is remarkable. Tough luck.

The one thing that I... I mentioned on a few occasions was an adjustment period for the Leafs going from Sheldon Keefe to Craig Bruby. And I'm just wondering if you saw any signs of that last night because, again, we're used to a certain style and a phrase that we often use over the last few years because, again, we're used to a certain style, and a phrase that we often use over the last few years is a team that's trying to outscore their mistakes.

It's abundantly clear since Craig Bruby took over that you don't want to hear that anymore. And it was a game that, you know, with a couple of bounces, they got almost 50 shots on goal that it could have easily looked to me like a 2-1 win for the Toronto Maple Leafs which doesn't doesn't say that that's the way they won in the past so I mean I'm okay with last night losing 1-0 I'm not overly concerned about losing two points to a team that shouldn't make the playoffs because, for me, there is an adjustment period.

Did you see any of that, JB? I did, for sure, particularly on the special teams. But I'll start with just my overview thought from the game, which was, it's fine. I thought they played well. They created, I think it was actually 48 shots. They adjusted it. Post crossbars, top

line looked great. They created lots of chances. I thought lots there where you play that game over 100 times, they win 95 of them. Not a huge deal to me. Stolarz was awesome. There were some real adjustments. I thought the penalty kill was horrid. Matthews has not been a penalty killer but I yeah there were some real adjustments I thought the penalty kill was

horrid like Matthews has not been a penalty killer I thought there was several times where he didn't sag to the middle where a guy got a clean shot I thought they were just it just looked like a team figuring out some new systems power play pretty ineffective so special teams for me looked at like the biggest change that they certainly didn't have a grasp on yet. Would you like to hear the coaches' thoughts on the overview of the game? Sure. All right. Let's get Kippers Clipper number one there.

Yeah, I mean, a lot of good things, a lot of shots, but I thought the execution was off. You know, whether it was a shot, you know, the passing a little bit just wasn't clean enough, you know, in times. Power play included. But a lot of good stuff. I mean, you know, when you almost get 50 shots on net and you don't get a goal, their goalie played well. But I was happy with our effort.

Guys battled, worked. Stollers was really good in that. A lot of good things, but we gotta we gotta find a way to finish better yeah hasn't been a problem over the years finishing maybe in the playoffs but not in the regular season yeah

you know that's a good point in the playoffs that it has come home to roost I guess I would say that there was a lack of action at the net you know like they had some kind of one-off chances, but it didn't feel like they were all over Montembeau with screens and traffic and those kind of plays. It did, you know, not to do this on game one, but it did feel like a lot of playoff games I've watched these play in

where it's like they don't get to the middle of the ice a ton. Like I don't know what their actual slot shots were. They had a ton of quantity. But, you know, that's one of the things we've always talked about with this team when it comes to shots that the quantity versus quality it's often you know the the ratio of that's often off you know you look at what Stoller said last night I'm sure we'll get into that but I thought he had the more difficult saves of the two goalies and he had half the shots that that Montembeau faced but you know I did think there were some good things 16-9 outs were 69 Toronto.

Really? 16? Okay, I guess. And how many did they end up with? 47? So, yeah, I guess that does kind of fit my theory a bit. Yep. Yeah.

Not that lopsided. No. Yeah. Both goaltenders, excellent. Yeah. Montembeau led the NHL in goalie steals last year, according to SportLogic. This is a thing he does.

Like, he's pretty good at being the goalie who sees 40 pucks. So, I thought he played well and that's not shocking that he did based on what we saw to stole ours uh coming into camp he's picked up where he's left off and uh like really really solid to move forward and of course this is coming off of joseph wall the announcement the other day that he would not start for the Toronto Maple Leafs and now on IR seven days, Sammy? Yep, seven days. So, you know, just your overall thoughts on him and how he carried himself and what we could expect

as early as tonight going into Saturday against Pittsburgh. Yeah, I mean, I guess right now it's like if Wolves are going to be hurt or hurt on and off, can Stolarz be a guy that you can play a lot? Because we just haven't seen that you're able to do it because, boy, you sure trust him. Early returns are great. He made a couple of saves where I think early in the third period,

the Leafs ran the first five minutes of the third. The Leafs just poured it on. And Stolarz just could have taken a nap. And then it was a two-on-one down on him low blocker he got a little piece of it and it's like those are awkward saves and for him to show that he could stay in it even when he wasn't getting a ton of action great sign nothing but positive things to say after game one I can't think of a more different looking goalie than Ilya Samsonov than the way that Stolarz looks in net where it's just you know i've watched him play very little for the least couple preseason games in this one

but like i already have like a scary amount of trust in him in terms of just being in the right spots like i think you get him going side to side that's probably this weak spot like there's a couple times last night where he slipped out a little bit the goal that beats him not many goalies are saving that right it's cross crease that's maybe where his weak spots will be but i i like him boys i don't know what to tell you like i was really impressed with last night yeah okay just for the record coming off of yesterday's show for me personally uh i've heard the word trust twice yeah i said it a lot yesterday i haven't said it once today you said it already and you've said i got too much trust i got too much trust immediately i'm a trusting person i'm very loyal i just i i trust him let's uh let's go

to craig bruby and find out how much he trusts him uh with his comments on uh stolar's performance last night played so well tonight would you even consider going back to well it's something we got to discuss here you know and we'll that, and we'll make a decision. Yeah, that's just on him playing tomorrow. Do we think that, have we heard yet whether they're going to do the Hilda Beast tonight or not? So, Brubase speaking around 445 pregame. I'm sure we'll get the lowdown then.

Okay, now you play head coach or general manager based on last night facing the new jersey devils tonight in a game that you are the underdog in what do you do jb you go first i think you got to play hildeby you know not not because it's not about stollars at all well i should say not at all but if hildeby is going to be your third guy you have to show that you can play him it's a back-to-back you know he had a great performance last night there last night you don't want to see him kind of you know spend himself too early and so i think you're saying to hill to be we trust that you can go in the net sheldon keith didn't trust him last year we trust that you can it makes me

nervous but i think you got to see at least right they're not going with matt murray so they must trust this guy a little bit trust trust trust hill'll be obviously there's no other option to me like you're gonna potentially put this strain on him in game two against a really good team travel second half of back to back just look great on the first there's just you can't you know it's i know the the keef things and added that dynamic where you want to beat keef and the whole that part of it but you kind of have to look past that and just i think protect Stolarz a little bit here and obviously go Hildeby you feel like you're going the other way no no no no I'm with you guys okay I think that the game plan all along had been for no goalie to see a back-to-back to start the season right and that shouldn't change because Joseph Wall is out for a week so I'm with you that I don't want

I don't want Stolarz to go in there play really really well and be forced now to start him Saturday if in fact he plays really really well but they lose 3-2 yeah or they lose 2-1 again or they lose one nothing like they did or they lose 1-0 like they did last night, and he faces 30, 40 shots, and he's great, but now I got to go back to him in my home opener, and make no mistake about it, that they need teams protect the home opener. That is your first glimpse to your season ticket holders, to your fan base, to the sponsors. It needs to be a good showing.

Yeah, the Habs cracked out the cellos last night, so we had to sit there for an hour and a half to watch a concert before the game started. I'll just say this on the Montreal Canadiens presentation. If I watch that with any other organization, I'm like, they can get away with it. Somehow. You know what? The Montreal Canadiens can get away with. Am I going to the sympathy or am I going to the opening of an NHL game? They should have had them come out and huff their own farts after that ceremony, too,

so we could really just get the whole experience. There's just got to be a 500 hockey team the year before. I sent her a snarky tweet about it. And the replies to my tweet, I was just looking on my couch laughing. I had tears in my eyes. They can get away with it. Somebody tweeted me and said they treat the start of a 30-win season like a royal wedding.

Bowl might be ready to go by the time the ceremony's over. There's a lot of stuff going on. It was great. So are we good on the goalies, on Stolarz here, and what we thought there? Yeah, just, again, the expectations from everything I'm hearing is that there's not a huge concern over Joseph Wall. Okay.

So I think what we're dealing with with Joseph Wall. Okay. So I think what we're dealing with with Joseph Wall is something of, you know, it happens through a hard training camp, and Craig was hard on them. And a lot of people think an ankle, knee, just tweak something that you usually do after a hard training camp and it's not an overly big concern. My guess, groin. Yeah.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You just give him the weak cure and then hopefully he's 100% fine and you don't have to cure anything with a pound of whatever it is. He should be fine. He'll be fine. It's going to be fine. It's fine. I mean, there's no reason. There's no's gonna be fine it's fine i mean there's no no reason

there's no reason to worry you trust you trust that he'll be back right everything's great you'll trust you trust yes that's where the the word trust kind of dries up yeah let's just get him back in and yeah hopefully he hits a long stretch of games. So initial takeaways from that game, I mentioned I didn't love the special teams, right? That's early. Okay, but we got to touch on that. You want to touch on that first? Because I also think that...

The power play? Sure. You want to start there? Yeah, I do. Make sure I get to my next thing. Get it. Didn't look much different than Guy Boucher's. You know, lots of face time for mark

savard but i had no no sense of mark savard's fingerprints being all over a power play that kind of looked like it has the last few years where it's good it's a good power play. It's been good. Very good. But it's been really bad when you needed it the most. Super bad. Extremely awful. One for 21. That's all. So I don't care what the stats say.

I don't care top whatever during the regular season. When you need this power play the most, it has let you down. And it did last night. Yeah. That's what I saw out of the power play the most it has let you down and it did last night yeah that's what i saw out of the power play so what do you want to see different you want to see different structure formation personnel can i ask you to something this is something i noticed and i was if you're going to do the loaded up unit and the clear b unit you don't do an even split with the ice. It had to be. I think PP2 got more ice time than PP1 last night. Like, if you're going to do the split in time,

do you not split up the stars? This is really tough because I understand what he wants to do. He wants to establish a second power play. And he wants to push and challenge the other guys. You don't want him to get fat and lazy to think they're going to get their 150. All of two minutes on the power play. You've got to create all these cookie monsters. So you've got to create an internal competition.

But it's not one, right? It's like Nick Robertson's not in competition with Ryan Nylander. And I suppose that if they get a little more frustrated and they start squeezing a little bit more, they'll stay out there longer. Yeah, probably. But I get it. I get it.

Like Nick Robertson's come off a very good training camp where he saw power play time when the big boys weren't there, but now the big boys are there, and you don't want to disrespect his training camp by all of a sudden giving him 10 seconds on a power play. I thought last night was the training camp respecter game. Berube was the training camp respecter. With the lineup, like, you know, Robertson and Pacioretty are in,

McMahon's out. They didn't love McMahon's camp. Robertson, you couldn't deny his camp. So he gets to be in. Pacioretty committed to be there, you know, before in the summer. I'm sure they committed to him. He gets to be in. As you mentioned, they get power play time because they had good camps.

A lot of good camp stuff last night. I don't know that in reality, it's the best idea. Like Bobby McMahon's going to play tonight. And I haven't seen anyone say that, but I am just so sure that that's going to be the case. I'm sure power play one's going to get more time. There's a lot of training camp respect last night with the way they use that

lineup. I thought it felt to me like the way they're, it's not like last year, so we're going to pull the stars off with a minute left in the power play. It's different this time. It's different, but if you're just going to keep all those guys together,

then just leave them out there for a minute 40. Yeah. If you're just going to go the way of not splitting it up, it just seemed counterintuitive to pull them off the ice and put on five worse players. The problem with that, Sammy, is that you start leaning towards Team A and Team B. That's the start.

It still is. I know it is. But is the sport not like that now? Are most teams not like that? Eventually, it will get to that. But you just, you're trying to be respectful to the whole lineup. That's all. That is the effort this year. You're trying to be respectful to the whole lineup. That's all. That is the effort this year.

You're trying to bring everybody together over 20 minutes. And, you know, Nick, do you have the time, on ice time of the power play? No. Okay. But I can get it. I would assume that the second unit wasn't that far off from Matthews and Marner.

I would not be shocked if they played marginally more by a few seconds or something. So there's a big difference between doing that in game one and then doing that a week or two from now when you're on a three-game losing streak and the big boys have it. They need it. They're goalless.

Yeah. So we don't have actual power play time on ice. I'll find that. It doesn't really matter. But we do know that it was. It's close. It's close. It's close.

It usually is. That's for sure. It was fairly balanced, at least from the eye test. Yep. Absolutely. And the ice time deployment in general is pretty similar to how it always is. Marner, 22, 39. Matthews, 22.

Or 20 or whatever. Just, again, for me, it just seems like they don't start a good rotation off the top. And not to make this on Morgan Riley, but Morgan Riley's out there, and he just doesn't seem to be able to find different looks to try to get a putt to the net or drawing people in and then starting a rotation. It just seems like it's a little too flat-footed for me there's not a passive there's not movement if you don't move the puck around

you don't make the the pk change shape and if you don't make them change shape you don't create seams and then you just end up passing it around the outside can i shoot it can i shoot it you try again can you shoot it i mean it's got to be a some quicker puck movement for sure and i will say oliver eckman larson watching him last night during five on five play in particular i don't remember at least d-man being as involved in the offense as he was every shift paul maurice loved the way he oliver eckman larson is able to get pucks you know through to the net through to the net he's up ice. He had a ton of touches. He thinks he's one of the best at it.

Was it him that filtered that one that Montembeau didn't see and hit the post? It was a centimeter from going in. He did find it a few times like that. That was probably the closest to an actual goal and I don't know that it registered much during the game. Where are you on the bumper position?

My first thought with Matthews, Marner, Nylander or Tavares, that it's Morgan, two flanks on the opposite side, you know, and, and one guy down low as an outlet.

I mean, are you a bumper guy? So right now, I think if it is, probably up top, Marner on one side,thews on the other and then willie and jt jt's net front willie mostly bumper but i never see willie marner gets into that bumper position and i think he's just he gets lost they never get a shot there you know

it doesn't seem like that they don't move it enough to open up that center of the ice so i don't know it hasn't been an effective i i bet if you went back and looked at all their power play goals from last season you'd see very few that were a quick one touch to the bumper goal type of thing yeah so yeah i i'm not sure it's gonna be interesting to see mark savard takes it over is anything going to change or it's going to be what it's been another thing that i asked you guys but wasn't there like a lot of hard line talk and hard training camp and all this stuff with like getting the pucks in and a little bit more dump and chase and then i watched the first power play and they're all just spinning drop and spinning drop and it's like i thought maybe that they would try it one different breakout just one time i know every team does it but like when you hear

them talk about it throughout the training camp of it being a more dump and chase sort of harder-nosed team, the dropbacks and the power play in the game one not working, it's like, oh my God, tough pill to swallow immediately. Yeah. No, I don't know if that means special teams when they're talking about dumping the puck in. But yeah, it didn't look like anything was any different anywhere. As far as the big boys were concerned,

we saw a crossbar uh backhand by by matthews but marner neil ender tavaris still the core four up front your your thoughts your thoughts on on on their overall night well i guess a little disappointing that the lineup is just the way it's always been nothing looked any different i I thought Willie had the puck a ton. You know, Matthews robbed with a glove save and hits a crossbar. I don't know how many shots or shot attempts he had last night, but he was all over the puck, six shots. You know, one thing, the most interesting conversation I had

via text during the game, Bunkus texted me. He said, who are the three fastest players in the Leafs? And I said, Nylander. And then you really start to grind. Yeah, you think? Maybe. The point being, it's kind of tough to do the list. It's not that they don't have some good skaters, but they're not a

fast team. And you don't have to be fast, but watching that last night, it felt I don't know. Like, Bobby McMahon should be in. He's probably their next fastest guy and he's a big body. The guy that jumped out to me last night, if I was going to say one of the stars or whatever concerned me, the conversation we usually have at the start of the year,

and we've done this for three years now, is Tavares. In the first few games, we're always like, oh my God, Tavares is shot out of a can to start the season. He's really skating well. He's been working with Barb. Is he moving fast? Didn't see that last night. Thought he was fumbling the puck a lot didn't look i just didn't think he had a very good game thought that he looked pretty noticeably slow playing last night yeah don't know if you guys thought the same but i didn't notice him i thought

holmberg was pretty unimpressive at three it It's just now age 34 and so much talk about the last few years of bringing in Willie Nylander at center and pushing him back. You had to go back to him to start the season for, again, whatever reason that you weren't comfortable with going any further with Willie Nylander in the middle of the ice. But the trajectory is that he does now struggle five on five like he's he's still smart enough to get points on the power play and we saw him a couple of chances in deep where you know he couldn't find the open side but he's gonna get some goals they're doing that he's gonna

get his cookies yeah he's gonna get his points on the not driving the offense into the zone. But as far as five on five as a second centerman, it's a concern. Yeah. You know, I don't like that line at all. No, great. Is it Domi, Tavares, Neyland? I don't like that at all. No.

You know, one thing that stands out to me a little bit is like if you're going to put Nyes with Marner and Matthews, those three together, they better get two goals a night you know marner made a great play behind the net yeah and nize i'm not sure it was handcuffed or not ready but he had a glorious opportunity and i think he fanned on the puck he also dropped one to marner that was just a you know marner wasn't there. I liked Nyes last night, like in terms of like he out-muscled people and he won pucks, but I just think

he's better suited on that second line is where I'm going. Haven't we had this conversation about him deferring when he plays on the top? He's been better without those guys. Can I say that you saying that to me after game one tells me they got some issues on the left side. Yeah, we've been, we're three that to me after game one tells me they

got some issues on the left side. Yeah, we're three years into this conversation and that doesn't make it any less valid. Matthew Nye was a lock. He's a lock. He's their best left winger. He is their best left

winger. You're telling me now that he's their best left winger and you want to move him down in left you're telling me now that he's their best left winger and you want to move him down in the lineup well kip that's you don't have to have your best players together you know so who's going up there domi yeah sure yeah don't you know let domi set up matthews for a couple more shots domi can play with skill guys right he can make those soft passes he can see the play like an elite player. Don't he drive me nuts in the four-year contract? Not sure, but he can play with elite players.

Let's just see it. Otherwise, there's not a ton at left wing. Listen, I'm not disagreeing with you because the options, there are not many options out there. No. So, I get that. Nick Robertson's not going to work. He's a solo mission guy.

The left side is missing a locked in horse right now. And Nyes will be that guy we think eventually, but he's still young. He's still learning. He's still trying to figure it out. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And I think even if he was on the second line

with willie and you had domi play center there or you had you know something else in the middle with those guys you need to find a second line that can control play um you know be on the right side of possession last year willie and jt together lost their minutes in terms of of um you know shot attempts. Which is insane. I don't think it's a question of Nyes' ability or his size. Like you said, what he was doing last night.

It's just the way he thinks of himself with those two guys, it feels like he thinks he has to defer that he's not the man on that line, that he has to play this certain role, that he's better than the role that he's playing on that line he needs to make better decisions with a puck that's what matthew but i think it's related to what he's saying where it's like it's matthew's and he's overthinking it i get to play with them rather than you know sometimes shoot it

sometimes make your own reads yeah not just trying to facilitate for those guys necessarily. Fourth line. Great. Yeah. Really good shift. Steven Lorenz looked like Rick Nash last night. He was flying. I know it's early, but Lorenz to me is a guy that stick him up there with.

No. No, I'm telling you. He can go up and down the lineup. He can go and play with Matthews or Marner for a shift or two. But that's the Hyman or the, and Matthews has had those guys. He played with the guy, the go get the puck and stay in front of the net. All I'm saying is that he's good enough that he can move, for me, up and down the lineup. He's got more pace than I thought when they signed him.

Yeah, he can get around. Yeah, he can move around. Yeah, I'm a fan. You like him? i do but i i thought the one difference in craig bruby coaching from sheldon keith that was most evident to me was a trust in a fourth line where i think they started the third period or maybe didn't start the third period but they're out there early it came out of a it came out of a tv timeout with eight minutes left down a goal. They went with that line, and that line was awesome. Almost scored a goal. He showed real trust in those guys.

And what did Lawrence, who was 18, he played nine minutes last night, but he had four shots, three hits, and a blocked shot in nine minutes. Those are good minutes. He was so excited for that game. Yeah, he was. If we stay on the left side, Pacioretty drew a couple penalties, I think. I actually liked him. I thought he had good night.

You? Yes. Yeah. No, I got no issues with him. But, you know, long term, is this the Pacioretty you're going to see? A guy going out there finishing checks and driving hard to the net. Late in the third period. He hammered somebody.

Hammered somebody up high. He made the pass to Matthews with 10 seconds left. He had some good looks. No problem with him last night. Is that the patch ready we're going to see all season long? Or just a guy that goes into Montreal and fired up? Fired up. This is the Tavares thing where it's like, you know,

in the past you've had a good few games. you know it's just the ability to sustain that but certainly when I'm talking about the lineup tonight I'm not looking at Pacioretty and going is that a guy we want in there like I thought he was great he played 13 and a half minutes but he had four hits two shots those are useful minutes for me this is a guy that, if you want the pessimistic prediction, is that he could have a really great October here, where, like you said, he shot out of a cannon, new opportunity, and then he kind of moves his way up the lineup. And then because of him being a veteran, he sticks up too long,

and he starts to fade a little bit, and then people start to turn on him a bit, is how I could see that going. But for the last night and going forward here, I think he looks pretty good. Yep, good start. Okay, we'll take a quick break yeah dude i forget who the least are playing tonight they're playing somebody the devils the devils whose coach is that who coaches we get kippers clippers with sheldon keith do we have uh kippers clipper with sheldon keith back four kippers clippers and, are they long. Wow. They're going to take us to the next hour.

Right to Mike Keenan. Yeah. All right. As I said, next hour, Mike Keenan will join us in studio to talk about his book with Scott Morrison, Iron Mike. That and more when we return to Real Kipper Unborn. Hey, it's Matt Marchese. And I'm Mike Futa.

We're discussing the top stories of the day across the NHL and the hockey world. Weekdays at noon. It's the Fan Hockey Show on Sportsnet 590, The Fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. The first of a handful of, I think, back-to-back games for the Toronto Maple Leafs starting tonight in New Jersey. They got five by the end of November, I think. And they will see a very fast hockey club

in New Jersey. I mean, just saying there's a chance. There's a chance they could get killed tonight. There's a chance. They got Hildeby could get killed tonight. There's a chance. They got Hildeby in net quite likely. They're off a back-to-back. The Devils are 2-0, flying. Keefe is hungry.

Home opener. Fired up to get there, you know, get a win against the Leafs. There's a chance. Sammy, I didn't get a chance to go through the kippers-clippers of Sheldon Keefe, but I would imagine he is just absolutely, like, dripping with compliments for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh, you know. Like, dripping. You know it's nothing but.

Okay, would you like to start with Keefe clip number one? Keefe clip number one, please, Derek. I don't know what to what to make of it you know i've never been in this situation before we'll see when we get out there and the game gets going but uh what does it mean to me not a lot quite honestly i mean it's i got nothing but love from the people that are on the other side um a tremendous respect for everybody in the organization that treated me so well and the players that gave me so much. So to that end, it's going to be strange being on the other side.

But, you know, for us, it's our home opener. It's my first time in front of the Devils fans. In that sense, I'm more focused on that. It's a little bizarre that the Leafs are coming in here, obviously. But other than the fact that we've got a lot to prepare for because it's a very good team to play against and I'm on the other side now and getting a sense of what other teams have had

to contend with and dealing with what's been a top five or top ten team in the regular season over the last number of years. That's what my focus is. God, does he like to talk. It's amazing. We're so back. What's been exposed is how little we worked the last two years.

We just turned on Keith Lips. What was he even talking? We didn't even get a coffee. My eyes were crossing. He should have got a paycheck from this show. He didn't do anything. He didn't do a video by the Hudson River today. Did he do anything and put it on Instagram?

I don't think so. He had another clip on guys that reached out to him from the Leafs. Would you like to hear that? Keep clip three, please, Derek. Yeah, I had good opportunities to chat with them. They were nice enough to reach out. And, you know, I mean, most of the guys, you know, whether it's phone calls or text messages.

So that was great. And, you know, like I said, I got nothing but love and respect to the people on the other side. I leave Toronto disappointed that I wasn't able to help them push through in the playoffs. But I do think that the team is in a really good place. Love the moves that Tree made in the offseason. I think that the team is as good as it's ever been. And I wish them nothing but the best. And as I say, nothing but love and respect for them.

Was that four or five love and respects? A lot of love and respect. But if they help me line my jeans with the money he's making right now, I'd love them too. Yes. I mean, that's exactly what he should say. Right? Pure respect for the people who came before.

You want him to come out and be like, you're all his bitterness? No, it's fine. It's fine. I'm okay with it. But you know there's lingering resentments for certain things, and he's being the bigger man and not saying...

Where do you think the resentment is the most? Getting fired, probably. Wow. Yeah, probably but kicked in the butt out of the door this is the best team that they've had better than anything they gave me is that what he said in there too he did too but that also i think is self-protection right if they go in the cup or something he gets right you get to protect yourself if they do have success i don't know if it's the first thought in his head no what do you think it is that just oh that it's like uh i could have used more help i think uh maybe maybe it's part of it i don't think he cares i think he looks at his lineup right now and goes yeah baby uh this team didn't have a goalie last year they went out and

got a goalie and markstrom and uh who's behind him is they two two new goalies i think uh what's that markstrom and jake allen jake allen that's right he had some comments keith did about how some of the not flaws or issues or whatever but some of the challenges with the Leafs when he first came around are similar to the ones he has with the Devils now. They're not a particularly big, strong, mean team. They're not a particularly defensive-focused team. They are small, fast.

I had that clip isolated, and it was a minute and 53 seconds, so I decided not to. Two-minute clips on that. The point is, he, I i think looks at his current lineup and says and then you know been down this road and seeing how it ends how do i fix it if i'm he sure and hughes and brat and i watched the way the leafs put points up and score goals and kind of had that free wheeling kind of like I'd be excited to

pad my stats. Yeah. He never played big. The emphasis wasn't finishing your checks. No. It was not. No. But it is one of the

biggest misconceptions of the keith era leafs is that they were as you said earlier in the show a outscore your problems you know they were a great defensive team to not last year they had they had a real good stretch yeah last year in the playoffs are unbelievable defensively yeah like they in the two years prior they were top five or whatever in the nhl and like expected goals against it and and real goals against top 10 but he just couldn't get them to play that way consistently or have it part of their uh uh their identity i agree yeah their identity was always the core four and they score a lot and then they don't score in the playoffs and then that becomes an identity where people laugh at them.

I mean, you watched the Amazon thing that just went out. Like, they had Keefe up there saying the same things we were on the air, being like, hey, middle of the ice, get there. Yeah. Put pressure on their goal. Like, he was, like, saying these things to them. I bet you if one of us sat down to have a cold, frothy beverage with Sheldon Keefe, he wouldn't, you know, do it to one of us because then we would talk about it but to a friend you know he'd probably have a lot of

resentment towards some of the stars i think so you know it's like my reputation is this first this guy that can't get out of the first round because every big game i coached in none of my stars could get me a big goal like i'm sure he does have some resentment resentment towards the least stars how could you not for sure it's like being a coach who didn't win the Super Bowl because someone missed wide right. You know, like had they won, maybe you win the Super Bowl. A laundry list of things he would have liked to have seen differently. They all have them.

And, you know, in a few minutes, we'll hopefully get Mike Keenan in here in the next hour and maybe talk about that because he went toe-to-toe with the general manager at the time in new york neil smith and keenan probably had much more uh luck or influence in getting the players he wanted to try to win right away and and you know obviously there was a tug of war between him and neil smith but ne but Neil eventually got the players that he wanted. Not every coach has that.

Sheldon didn't have that last year. A lot of coaches just don't have that type of power. But I'm sure there's a lot of changes Sheldon would have liked to have made and probably just didn't have the backup from Brendan Shanahan or at the time, maybe even Kyle. I don't know. I'm sure that once Kyle left and Sheldon was still here, all of whatever cachet he would have had to make such requests

was pretty much nil, right? Like that becomes a tree team, a shanty team. And I do think that some of the decisions that were made in the last year here were out of his hands and maybe came from higher than him where he just said you got to play this guy or this is what we're doing and he just tried to be the facilitator and so again probably some resentment did you guys look at what his all-time record was with the least did you look at that on the lineup kipper or no can i give it to you yeah give it to me 212 97

and 40 for not even 100 losses here for a 622 winning percentage well not 97 regulate no 100 regulation loss i get it but like 622 i know but he was also gifted i know two of two of the highest scoring leaf players in history right yeah points per game and like for sure he had tools to have success walked right into it yeah so did kyle yeah but just couldn't find the secret sauce to put it all together right Right. So heading into tonight, he would have some insight into the way these guys play. And I texted him this last night, but I am curious to see what the Devils come out and play like, because if he thought that this team was soft, you know, that they back down or whatever,

you'd think he would tell his guys to go attack them. Would you not? Okay. Like dress McDermid. Go at them. Lay the body. Your core guys got to buy into that. Yeah.

So what does that mean? Is Nico Heashier going to? Shaq Hughes, go attack them. What does that mean? I'm going to skate them. No, it doesn't have to be your core guys like that. No, it does. It does.

They're the ones that have to set the tone guys like that i mean no it does it does it they're they're the ones that have to set the tone and then others follow they're they're the leaders attacking means it's got to start with your your your top guys but it wouldn't be connor mcdavid who does it it'd be evander kane who does it for the oilers right like see connor finishing his checks last year and come on he's he hits he's hitting guys you don't think you can't ask guys to do it if you're not willing to do it yourself so for you if sheldon thinks that this team is soft yeah is there anything he would tell his guys to take advantage of that or do you think he would just skip it because uh bratton hughes i don't know it could be getting marner's face

getting matthew's face they don't they don't't like confrontation outside of maybe a one-on-one battle with the puck. But they don't like scrums. They don't like this. Talk to him after the whistle. And so I'm curious if he instructs his guys. Does New Jersey have that lineup, though, JB? No. So to my point, who's, you know?

He's here, Palat, Holla, Nason, C nason cotter lazar bastion this is a fast line bastional just fast lineup they're in many ways kind of jeldon's gonna go out and out there and just try to out skate them out scale them brendan dylan's a large animal but yeah no they don't have a ton like a challenge yeah but you know i i am curious to see if they try to take advantage of that somehow to i'd like to see how he wants to expose the leafs like matthews in particular we do have a clip okay so yeah how do you slow down austin matthews good part keep the puck away from him make him defend you know um minimize your mistakes and get some love from the crossbars if we can, like last night. Yeah.

Hope he hits the post. That's our plan to defend. Yeah. Oh, sorry, go ahead. Make him defend. Make him defend, I think, is the point there. So in and out tonight, if you're the Leafs, going into game two here.

Right. Who is out that's available outside of Bobby McMahon? Is there anyone that's... Because everyone's on the IR. Dewar's on the IR. In terms of forwards. I guess it's more of a defensive play. Yeah.

Because, you know, Connor Timmons last night, I thought, had a couple moments of somewhat good moments. But there's a lot of stuff that you watch him. You're like, God. Yeah. It's not the most... At least he's doing something out there. I wonder if, since we've been on the air, there's a lot of stuff that you watch him. You're like, God. Yeah. It's not the most. At least he's doing something out there. I wonder if since we've been on the air,

there's been some announcements or whatever. Daily Faceoff has McMahon on the fourth line with Lorenzen Camp instead of Ryan Reeves. And since there's no McDermott, that would make a lot of sense to me. I'm surprised he doesn't like McMahon more. You're going to play fourth line? Patrick Eddie Holmberg-Robertson was fine, so maybe he just didn't want to mess up that line or didn't want to shake up any other lines uh there's always

when you fall in love with other players some someone's gonna pay the price for it and it i i think it's mcmahon kemp to me took a hit last night. I thought he stunk. Well, he just didn't have a presence. And it just seemed like every time there was maybe a key face-off, Holmberg's the guy, not Kemp. But even Holmberg wasn't great. Like, their bottom two-line centers, I thought, were pretty unimpressive last night. I do think McMahon's going to go rise in his player ranking.

So I did ask a question to the, well, there is an answer. Reeves is coming out tonight and Bobby McGinnis is playing. Reeves out, McMahon in. And that is the only change. Why don't we listen to the final Keefe clip we have on what he expects from the home opener tonight. Very excited. You know, the one preseason game we played here,

I know we played two, but the first preseason game that I was here for, I can't remember what night of the week that was, but that one in particular, just in the early going, even just announcing the players in the starting lineup, and for a preseason game, it was loud and intense and all of that. So I'm excited here for tonight to get a taste of it on this side and hope we get through it without them throwing anything at us like I was here a few years ago.

Did they get things thrown at them? Yes. You don't remember that game? Matt Murray and Nett. It was like he kicked a goal off and there was like three different disallowed goals and then they started throwing. I don't know what it was.

It was like a giveaway night. I don't know. And here come the pretzels. But they started whipping stuff on the ice and it was a wild scene yeah yeah so there you go we'll see dougie hamilton had a major uh injury last year he's back i mean he's he's for me he's the last couple of years prior to his injury, he's been one of these guys where he's quietly become a very, very good defenseman. Yeah. He's only 31 years old. He's six foot six, two 30.

I'm looking forward to watching his presence for the New Jersey devils tonight. Yeah. He's had 50 point seasons, 22 goals, one year, 17 goals, 18 goals.

Like he's type of guy that's on team Canada radar. Yeah. Like he's a, like he's that echelon of guy for sure so it'll be interesting though that'll be a big deal to get him back for uh for the devil so yeah we'll we'll get some we didn't get uh any update on the goaltender yet though we're still waiting for that information so um those are those are the key stories to watch tonight a the special teams will be interested to see if anything changes um and then yeah, the

defense lineup. Lilligren's not even coming in for game two. Not sure if you saw this. Elliot in 32 Thoughts said that Lilligren, sounds like Toronto's working to find a landing spot for Timothy Lilligren. He's down the depth chart. Not a situation anyone is happy with.

And I just gotta say, I have not been a big booster of lilligren but you can't get rid of them just to get rid of them right you need a better player like they don't it's either timmons or hawk and paw in that spot right now and like i know i don't love lilligren but let's just make sure we like the return it's the three million dollars can you find an anaheim to take him for a fourth-round pick or a third-round pick? And then what are you going to do with the $3 million?

Are you going to go get me a better D? Yeah, you're right. You're right. And isn't this about depth? Isn't this about having a guy that, you know, if there's a couple of key injuries down the road, you're just going to have to replace him down the road. And he's not happy being

the depth guy okay sorry we'll call you when we need you like that's it's not yeah and from pro hockey i i think lilligren's the type of guy that you you got a package there are needs to i think there needs to be something bigger than just lilligren. Lilligren and a second for here's a real player. No, I mean, I don't mean real player. That's too disrespectful. I'm just curious to see where this Nick Robertson thing goes because I know the power play time was a better balance for him. He saw more power play time during a regular season game

than he has in a long time. But when it was all said and done, it still, for me, looked like Nick Robertson of last year. 10 to 12 minutes, and... Didn't create it. That's it.

Sold. I'm sold. I like this idea. Quickly, before we go to break, intrepid reporter Luke Fox has tweeted out that Dennis Hildeby is, in fact, starting tonight. The Hildebeest! So there's something to watch for.

Bring in the beast. He's another big guy. I'm just really hoping it's not, what was that kid's name that got lit up for seven against the Cascasuo or Casimir Cascasuo. He's a YouTuber now. Really? Yeah. Good for him.

He's also actively, he was at the Bruins camp as their sixth goalie, but he's got like an active YouTube page. Huh. So shout out to him. He was a good Marley when I was there. There you go. So hill to beast tonight, boys. All right.

What do you think? Give me a prediction. You know, they tend to bounce back well. I think he goes to overtime tonight. I'll say the Leafs win. The hell with them. Wow. I said they might get killed.

They might. But I'll say they win 3-2 in all the time. The results tonight will likely be extreme, regardless of what happens. Win or lose by four. No, I'm saying over. We had a lot of goals last night for a night where Matthews got shut out. McDavid got shut out.

Dreisaitl got shut out. Dreisaitl got shut out. All right. Mike Ke Keenan when we return Iron Mike My life behind the bench Don't go away