Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Buds Ink Benoit

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne start with the Leafs' 5-1 win over the Capitals last night and Bertuzzi's two-goal effort as he is heating up at the right time. Then, they break down Simon Benoit's 3-year, $1.35 million AAV extension and project which 6 defencemen will be in for Game 1 of the playoffs. Does Brodie need to win his job back? They are joined by former Leafs' GM Gord Stellick (32:49), who shares his thoughts on the rest vs. rust debate, whether Giordano will be used in the postseason, if Matthews' chase for 70 is a distraction and Tampa starting to threaten in the standings.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.

a good friday to you all nick kiprios justin born derrick brandeo generalick and in for Sammy McKee, Tristan, Mark and Johnny. Nailed it. Good job. Not bad, eh? Yeah, he did. Our Sammy McKee is a healthy scratch for today's show. You know, sometimes with young guys, it just gets a little hard through the slog of the season.

You got to give them a break to step away, get refreshed, you know, watch a show, come back rejuvenated. So we're just going to give them a break to step away get refreshed you know watch a show come back rejuvenated so we're just going to give a little break today we're hoping as we close into the stanley cup playoffs we decided to make them a healthy scratch before contemplating putting them on waivers yeah or sending them down to the J.D. Bunkus show. Yeah, that's right. That's right. He could use some seasoning, to be honest with you, but I'm okay.

I'm okay if it just means observe, watch today, see if he can pick up anything, a couple pointers, and then give him another crack on Monday. It's like what they should do with Matthew Nyes with the Leafs, right? Sometimes someone who's, like, talented and plays with Matthews and Marner right away, it's a lot to ask someone for a full season well we'll get into that and a ton more last night uh both you and i worked along with elliot friedman and david amber on what was a fairly convincing 501 victory for the Toronto Maple Leafs on a Washington capital team that has played well well enough to be in a playoff position well enough to make people believe with 10 games to go that

they could be one of 16 teams at the dance but for whatever reason they just don't want to show that side when they play against the toronto maple leafs being outscored or out toronto outscoring them what 12 to i don't know five four yeah last two games yeah it it's just it's baffling like i i've watched some capitals games outside the leafs but not many and so every time we see them play the leafs i'm like how is this team winning hockey games who is doing the good playingness i just don't see it man that is not a good team they're slow yeah i guess lindgren is very good is my conclusion except when he plays his toronto maple leafs yeah fair enough yeah good against matthews a few times but otherwise a couple of

holes maybe it could have been uglier last night. I mean, the shots were 48 to 25 or something. I mean, not a fair fight last night. So that's good. Good for the Leafs to just win a game going away where they were missing so many guys. Marner still not back. Lilligren ends up being out. Riley's still out.

Yarncroft's out. And, you know, not really any issue. Still off the rail Friday, which means we'll welcome in Doug McClain at the top of the hour. In the meantime, in about, what, 30 minutes, we got Gord Stelic. Gordo. Gordo.

Yeah. Coming in. Yeah. Fox and Leafs. Great show for the next two hours. Glad you're along with us for the ride here. And wherever you're watching, listening, Sportsnet 590, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus, perhaps you've waited a little bit

and now you've downloaded it at us. Welcome aboard. YouTube as well. You can find us. Give us a thumbs up. Remember we used to beg for thumbs up when we were on YouTube last year? Yeah. I missed that. I missed the YouTube chat. It was lively. Well, they're still out there. a thumbs up remember we used to beg for thumbs up when we were on youtube last year yeah i missed that i missed the youtube chat it was lively well they're still out there and we're glad uh you're

also along for the ride so todd bertuzzi scores two goals last night tyler yes what'd i say todd getting all the bertuzzi's mixed up still i'm still older than you right who's the one he had a much bigger impact in my broadcasting career than than tyler has yeah well and they're still but that could change this spring you're pretty good at not calling him ty domey though you're good on max you nailed the max i i a ton of people uh go ty and then max yeah i've not no i'm i'm good on the max yeah but yeah bertuzzi gets a couple. His fifth goal in his last five games.

He has 11 over his last 15 games. Now has 18 goals. You know, this is a guy who has, I think, five through 55 games or something like that. So pretty incredible. No, he is what we expected right from September, October. He is at that sweet spot right now where you're like okay i get it you can see it which is great news for the lee fans yeah and you know i

was building their lineup i've got an article up on sportsnet.ca about you know what line the lineup is going to look like come playoffs and the battles at the fringes, you know, Bertuzzi, it's funny talking about where he's going to end up. I now feel like he's a contributor. Like if you put her on the third line or something, like he can actually help make a line a positive for a while there. It just felt like, what does he do here?

But it, it is much closer to seeing what a $5.5 million players expected to be. I don't have them anywhere except a top six spot. Either he's running shotgun with Matthews and Marner, or he's with Willie. I don't know if it's Tavares or max or i had holmberg in the middle of my lineup today between bertuzzi and nylander are you on holmberg can i sell you on that i do but again i'm a big kind of don't over ask guy and to ask holmberg to come in and play behind Matthews

and see another team's top six is a really big ask. I'm okay with these certain guys coming in, coming out, maybe a period. If it gets hot, you roll with it. I'm okay with Holmberg.

I'm okay with McMahon. I'm okay with anybody in that lineup to step up camp can step up Connor Dewar if he's feeling it a little bit give him give him a couple of shots at high energy shifts with somebody if you need it yeah but to start Holmberg in that second spot for me is now we're in that remember remember that cliche in Bull Durham, don't think meat is bad for the ball club. Don't give these guys too much to think about, like Holmberg and McMahon, to build up a, we expect you to be this when we start game one.

Right. I guess the concern, or the thing that I want to see happen, that they have never had, Kip, is not having all the guys in the top six, having a third line with one of Tavares or Nylander on it. Maybe to your point, you could do Nylander or sorry, Tavares on the second line with Bertuzzi and then, you know, have Willie play third line. I just I really want to see them have a third line. And that's not something we've seen from them. So I it holmberg it's a big ass but i'm looking to looking to spread the talent out a little bit all right let's get to our kippers clipper we do not have clippers i have been told in my ear what they are working on remedying the situation

really well listen you know sometimes you give a guy a night off, someone else steps in, and they're not used to the, we're getting our new guy working up to speed here. I already filled out the game sheet. And is it too late to bring Sammy back? It is too late. It is too late. You can't scratch.

Derek, let me know when we do track those down. So give us a couple minutes before we go to the Clippers. Tristan will fix this. We have a sprint happening behind the scenes, and it will be fixed. I love it. I do, too. I like a little panic. Of live radio, TV.

There you go. Okay, so Tuesday night, David Amber said that it's not calling your team soft. Right. To which I replied last night on the show, calling them immature isn't soft, but it's close. Yeah. Would you agree?

There are different types. We do have the clips now. Didn't take long. it's close. Yeah. Would you agree? There are different types. We do have the clips now. Didn't take long. Okay, finish your thought. It didn't take, or sorry, it's different in that one of them is a, almost like a moral accusation. You know, like to be soft in hockey

is like you're, it says something about your character. To me. I think it's the worst compliment. Soft. Yeah, it's the worst comment you can yeah it's the word it's the worst uh comment you can get out of immature is like i know that that's not that they know better you know that they don't normally behave like that you had like uh it's like i tell my young

daughter it's like you're not a bad girl you just were behaving like one you had a bad well i get the same thing from my wife and i'm'm 57. You're not an a-hole. Just in that moment, you were being an a-hole. Much different. Okay, let's go to Sheldon Keefe for our first Kippers Clipper on his thoughts of the team bouncing back. And a great job by Tristan. Our producer saves the show.

It's a good game. It's a good response or bounce back, whatever you want to call it, for our team. And a tidy night for Joe, too, not to not give them the next one, not give them that life. And so Joseph Wall goes out there. He makes 40, or sorry, 24 of 25,

saves on 24 of 25 shots. Pretty uneventful night. I would say anything other than an outcome, he might have been disappointed, but he saved the ones he was supposed to save. I saw a tighter team when it comes to their defensive responsibilities. A mature team.

A patient team. I saw a lot of good signs last night. And again, out of Washington, maybe an older team that didn't have their legs. The young kids didn't push anybody on the Washington team. But it leaves a lot of credit here. And I highlighted Simone Benoit last night as being a guy that was, frankly, led the charge in terms of good body position

without sacrificing aggressiveness or forcefulness and pushing the play and lo and behold he's rewarded with a three year contract yeah today it's actually very funny

because sitting beside you on the desk with the cameras off last night I said would you give uh benoit the mcmahon contract and you were like oh all day long absolutely all day in a second yeah and they gave it to him plus a year so on the way down here i'm just going to tell everyone behind the scenes of all our conversations on the way down here you said these guys don't seem to believe in themselves well i think i think benoit is in a different place than mcmahon because mcmahon was a ufa and benoit was restricted true true true right so benoit's locked in yeah but mcmahon had a lot more upside yeah to go somewhere else with the ufa status so for them to equal contracts to me makes no sense yeah mcmahon's part for benoit i get it but for mcmahon i would have said bet on

yourself a little bit more and and push it there's only upside for for mcmahon as far as i'm concerned i scored his 14th goal in 48 games last night that's like a 25 goal pace or whatever it is you know the benoit one though the third year to me could be a steal for the leafs this guy's only 25 years old like defenseman particularly a big d man like him is going to get better as he gets 26 27 28 he works he cares he skates hard like he you highlighted him last night he's exactly what the leafs need yeah that third year he plays straight lines for me and that is such typical stanley cup playoff hockey stops and starts straight lines good stick and very seldom don't end up on the wrong side of the play meaning stay between your goaltender and the opposition and he he's done it better than anybody on that blue line

all season long yeah which is incredible because he did he started the season off injured and did not see his first hockey game i think till, until late October, maybe early November. I forgot about that, yeah. So he's behind the eight ball. I watched him, I think, in one of the last preseason games, and I'm like, I don't think this guy can skate. Yeah. And he can.

And he can. Yeah. And I think he played with the Marlies at the beginning of the season too, maybe a game or two with the Marlies. I don't know. But all I know is he was a late bloomer, played with the Marlies at the beginning of the season too. Maybe a game or two with the Marlies. I don't know. But all I know is he was a late bloomer. And to watch him last night almost at 20 minutes and not look out of place to me is it's a good place, I think,

where the Leafs are heading with this guy. Sure. And, I mean, at 6'3", we've seen him fight Nick DeLaurier and someone else fairly sizable not that he beat him up but he's he's got a willingness where a lot of guys on this team haven't in the past well and that's that's another that's another thing uh that i'm starting to like about the toronto maple leafs is that if if in fact they do see the florida panthers and i think we're all in agreement they would be an underdog in this playoff series.

Oh, yeah. Although Florida is scuffling, but yes. They're going to be underdogs. Yes. See, Benoit is the type of guy that will make Florida pay. Yeah. Right? It's not Florida that's going to leave.

If he's in. It's not he's going to be in. There's just no other choice you cannot leave that physicality in the press box i know but look at it it's riley labushkin benoit brody or sorry not benoit brody uh who do they have mccabe brody uh edmondson lilligran yeah again we talked about this i don't think we highlighted it in the show last night, but I'm watching Nick Jensen off of Brody, and Brody, I think, came out. He tried to guess what side that Nick Jensen was going to go on.

Ends up falling, right? Yeah. Spinning out of control, and Jensen walks right into the net. Well, and he had five seconds on top of the net digging for the puck before Brody got to him. And Brody was the guy who got walked by Dylan Strom when Dewar made the great poke on the goal.

Or no, that was Timmons. I don't see Benoit getting beat like that. No, so what are you saying? You would have Brody out for Benoit? I think Brody's got to play his way into game one. Wow. Here.

Wow. Yes, wow. Wow. He's making five mil. I don't care. $7.5 real dollars. No, but everybody makes the same amount of money in the playoffs. Zero?

Zero. There you go. Yeah, fair enough. Well, let's listen to Sheldon Keefe tell us a little bit about Benoit. Zero? Zero. There you go. Yeah, fair enough. Well, let's listen to Sheldon Keefe tell us a little bit about Benoit. Let's start with clip four, which is the organization having some trust on these two guys, Benoit and McMahon. First thing is that the organization believes in them. I think that's really important, and it's a reward for the work that they've done. But it's the belief that you have in them that not only are they playing important parts of the team now, but we believe

that they're going to get better and they're going to be important parts of the team going forward. I think that's important. I don't know how many players I've coached in the time that I've been here, but I've coached a lot of players here. There's been a lot of guys that have come and gone. Some continuity and having guys that you that you you're bringing along that are growing with the team i think that's really important i think certainly you know in mcmahon and ben was cases are guys that we think can really continue to grow with the group let me ask you a question yeah how do you think keith and dubas like i wonder how their relationship

is now did you hear in that at all i've had a lot of guys come and go like any sort of like do you take that as a criticism of the way it's been prior to tree living that now there's young guys who are being signed to term who are going to be with the club like keith seemed to really value that i wonder if that had been frustrating in the past yeah i think so but that that would be out of his control and that would be something that i think internally you'd have to just deal with it bringing it out to light maybe you picked up on something that maybe most it sounds like a great we've had a lot of you know i've been here for a while i've had a lot of guys come and go and nice to have some guys what happens when you sink 54 of your salary and four guys yes it is on the salary cap yes so you are gonna have

and i don't know what this team's gonna look like for him if he survived if he survives right and that means success in the playoffs i think his job's in jeopardy if they don't get out of the first round give me a cut offoff. He has to win what? Two games in the second round? One game in the third round? All depends on where you think they are in the program. Yeah. Right? Yeah.

Like, are they coming along? Do they look better? I appreciate the ask. Yeah. But it is such a loaded question. I know. On bigger picture here. on moving forward here but i will say that i think you're on to something with the level of frustration on guys in and out

yeah and you wish that there would be more guys that uh were in this lineup and I know that you've talked about this including last night about how Ovechkin had to go through six or seven years before he got to that point where you're just not a 50 goal scorer but you're a guy that knows how to win in the playoffs. To that point, I think

maybe there's a little frustration that we know that you're talking about Matthews, you're talking about Marner, Nylander, Morgan, all of them together. But there's half a team now that hasn't been together. Right. And they haven't grown thick skin together and they haven't gone through the learning process. And every team, no matter whose example in the past that you've used that on, Stevie Iserman, Ovechkin, Mario, good core of the nucleus came up together. The only problem here is it didn't include McMahon.

It didn't include Holmberg. It didn't include Benoitoit there was no homegrown town the bottom of the lineup was imports from other teams that had success joel thornton or spezza or simmons or you know they got a lot of guys right now with really little or virtually no playoff experience to go in now and say boys we need you big now we need some some depth and some help and i hope you're ready for it because we're gonna it's a big ask matthew nyes again we've had this conversation on and off the air on what do you expect out of him you know somebody asked me today break man yeah see

you you go he needs a break and some others are telling me he's not good enough. Oh. Right? Yeah. And I'm like, hold on, time out for a second, though. Like, what are we talking about here? We're talking about a college kid that's in his rookie year. If there was more depth on this team,

if there was more experience in the first two spots on the left side, and we're talking about a rookie in a third or fourth line position all season long. And then you'd say he's having a hell of a year. Yeah. It doesn't help that Bertuzzi came out and stunk. He didn't grab that left wing spot with Matthews and Marner, right? Like immediately.

And it was kind of like, who do we put there? They truly flailed trying to find someone. And Nyes just kind of defaulted there. Maybe it was a little bit too much right it's just 21 years old 21 years old long season you know for a guy who hasn't been through it like this he leads the team and hits yeah that's a big deal yeah to me that's a big deal for a rookie coming out of college and he can make guys miss he can make plays he can do things that you know you can visibly see the the talent difference but i do think but to make high-end plays with a matthews and a marner is where he struggles it's not it hasn't worked and i don't think it should happen

again this year they have no chemistry it's not a natural fit but i love the idea of him playing on your third line and a line that you say okay be defensive responsible, but all of a sudden he can make a play for you and get you one at some point. You know, that potential is there for him still. We do have a couple more quotes on the depth guys and the value of them. These were kind of Benoit-focused. Let's do clip six and talk about depth guys.

Clip six. A player that you want to show belief in because he's going to put in the work. We think he's just going to continue to get better. He's fitting really well around here. He brings lots of energy and enthusiasm and personality to the group too, which I think is an important thing.

He's a guy that gives our group a different element, and you like having him in there for those reasons. But we've also seen here with additions of Edmondson and Labushkin and all that, you can never have enough depth. And Ben was a good example of why a tree went out and signed him at a time when we didn't really know exactly where he fit in, but you know you needed another guy, and here we are. Yeah.

Like them all. Edmondson apparently took a shot probably looking at next week. You hope that he'll get ready again here. The bone brew sort of thing? Yeah, something's going on there. Probably he'll keep him out until next week, at least at the earliest. And Lilligren disappears again yeah so i i can appreciate all of this but at the end of the day you're you're still asking guys that you usually would see in a four five six seven position and will

include mark giordano who had a emotional, kind of passionate game last night, which is great, but how big of an ask are you going to demand from these guys in the big moments here? And this is where, again, it comes back to maybe a Brody and a Morgan Riley to carry a little bit of the mail. So should we go to Sheldon Keefe's clip on Brody and the way he's played since he's been a healthy scratch?

And then maybe we'll do some updates after that. Let's do Brody first. I think he's just come in and done his job. You know, that's really it. I mean, last night I thought was the best of the games he's played since coming back. So that's really it. You know, I don't think we've seen a massive change in him or anything like that,

but I just think he's gone out and done his job, and that's really what you need. He's a guy that plays important minutes for us, plays a type of role and position for us that doesn't get a lot of notice or doesn't get a lot of accolades or anything like that, but he's a very important job to play for us and seem to do that well all right he's trying his best to stay positive i thought that too so yeah he's been the same player doesn't notice anything too different which if you healthy scratch guys probably not a huge compliment not saying just saying um we have a couple clips on injury updates. The Lilligren one is intriguing to me

because we don't even know when or what happened necessarily. Why don't we start on clip three and talk Lilligren. Timeline not exactly set, but not a day-to-day situation. So it's more week-to-week, I would say, but we're not expecting at this point to outlast the regular season. All right, so he's out 10 to 14 days. Not expecting it to outlast the regular season. So we got three weeks to go.

Yeah, season ends April 17th. There you go. So we're right on the... Here's my concern there, is that he hasn't exactly looked electric when he comes back from injury. Like when he came back from injury the last time, there was four or five games where it was like, ugh.

And then he finds himself again. It's like, okay, this is Lilligren. And then they put him on the power play, and then he's out with the goal he pulled, and he's finding himself, and then he gets hurt again. Fun fact, when he comes back uh in the lineup in two weeks simone benoit will have played more nhl games than timothy lilligren right now it's 193 to 191 really and that's surprising yeah lilligren tends to get hurt benoit played 78

last year for anaheim almost at 200 games now god benoit shot right i could have got him four million dollars a year legitimately if you were the other hand he'd make two million i honestly think that were the case teams would covet him all right um mitch marner doesn't sound like he's going to play this weekend. Tomorrow night's out. I'm not even sure what it's going to look like to start next week. They've got Florida, Tampa, Montreal next week. Three times? Is it Monday, Tuesday, Thursday?

No. No, is that not next week? No. Monday, Wednesday, Saturday? Does that sound better? I don't know. Sammy? Sammy? Lee Skidula. next week no monday wednesday saturday does that sound better sammy sammy lee's skidula let me see here all right they play um monday wednesday saturday great job

thank you very much you're welcome panthers lightning canadian there's lightning so monday So Monday, does Marner play? Against? Florida at home. No. How about Wednesday against Tampa? Okay, Wednesday. Yes. April 3rd. That's my guess.

Let's listen to Sheldon Keefe clip two on Marner's injury update. They just look good today. In terms of the next step for him, I would say it's just, you know, further participation and practice. I would say once we get into that territory, you start to think about when to put him back in, but we're not there yet. Is it more a conditioning thing at this point? Obviously with the leg, nothing will escape to the step.

I mean, I'm not so much worried about conditioning necessarily with Mitch, but you want to build up the workload and get used to playing in competitive situations and all of that. So we'll just continue to grow his workload through practices, and it's a challenge this time of year, especially because you're trying to prepare the team to play tomorrow night against Buffalo, and then you've also got players that you're trying to bring along,

such as Mitch in his case. We'll manage that as best we can. We won't have another chance to do it until Tuesday in his case, and then we'll sort of take it a day at a time from there. Yeah, it doesn't sound... They're overly cautious right now with Mitch Marner. I don't blame

them. No one can blame them for this, for dragging it out, making sure they're one of their two most important people as well. I don't blame them. No one can blame them for this, for dragging it out, making sure they're one of their two most important people as well. I would not play him three games next week. Oh, give him another one off even after he plays? Oh, you're saying, okay, wait to get him in. Two out of three. So I'd pick one game from Florida, probably the Wednesday,

which would give him another two good full days to heal. Yeah. And then try Wednesday, and then if it feels okay, then you can go to Montreal on Saturday night. And if it bugs you even a little bit. Yes. Take the next one off. Yeah.

Now, he spoke today. He had an interesting response. Yeah. To the media about, what, his injury? Is that what happened? Yeah. Let's check out marner's clip one uh yeah i mean i've been watching every game you guys been talking about

every single game so i think you guys want to say it is. It's been happy now. I'm excited to be back out here with you guys. That's Marner on how we got hurt in the game. Yeah. I've been watching every game. You guys have been talking about it every single game. I think you guys can say whatever you want.

It's behind me now. Stuff happened. You just go on from it. What do you think? That's weirdly defensive to me. I don't know. Yeah. You can just go on from it. What do you think? That's weirdly defensive to me. I don't know. Yeah.

Well, I'm not sure every player gets pushed on an injury. Stars do. And I think Mitch got his defense mechanism up. Yeah. You know, if I had one advice to Mitch Marner, it's do not use the phrase you guys. Yeah. You could say absolutely the same thing, but it's the you guys. That's a great point.

Makes it adversarial. Exactly. Yeah. Now you're back to you versus me or me against you, and that's never a good thing, especially against the media who will always get the last say every day. The most volume, the most, yeah. Just, yeah. Yeah, you don't have to say we.

We ain't a we. We ain't a we. We ain't a we either. But, you know, listen, it's been a somewhat roller coaster ride for him over six or seven years, and I'm sure there's a ton of stuff that's built up that kind of feel for him. For sure. But a couple of wins in the playoffs, a couple of series wins, and, you know, you can put a lot of stuff behind you too. They would love that group of media to put him on a pedestal

with some good play. What's really great right now, if I'm Mitch Marner, is it's really evident how badly they miss him. They miss him on the penalty kill they miss him setting up the power play they miss him helping drive a line it's um you know it's he's a key part of what they do and the sooner he's back the better i think it'll be a huge push when he when he comes back yeah i do and i like i like the the feel of the Toronto Maple Leafs now going into. And, of course, you can go back to that New Jersey hiccup

and a few others behind them. But there are signs that they're coming together as a team. Now you stick a superstar back in the lineup to do all the things that you just mentioned and, you know, go in the first round uh us against the world mentality well then that's you know there is this opportunity because of the injuries and illnesses a lot of guys have got opportunities they normally wouldn't get they've thrived and i think have gained confidence and now you put the star back in with those guys feeling better about themselves okay we'll take

a quick break and we'll welcome in gourd stellick maple leaf analyst for sports at 590 the fan former general manager of the leafs and our very good friend hey jb good start buddy i was a little worried about you without sammy but you are doing terrific thanks i appreciate you too keep it up all right gourd stellick when we return to the real kipper and Boren Show. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays every weekday morning, 6 to 9.

It's the Fan Morning Show. Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Derek Brandeo says it's Stelectricity time on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. Let's welcome him in. Gordo, we got no Sammy on the show today

because we're going with the load management idea here for Sammy. And, you know, years ago, me and you, we used to work on Sportsnet playoff shows, right? And we experienced load management, but it didn't involve rest. It involved a food order called Dante's Fiesta. Yeah.

That was more of the load management for us. Yeah. Yeah. We were at the Dante's Fiesta. Yeah. That was more of the load management for us. Yeah. Yeah. The Dante's Fiesta. By the way, I saw Sammy at the Consmite dinner. I forgot how tall he is. Sammy's like 6'8", man. He should be doing the basketball show.

They just advertised there. But yeah, the Dante's Fiesta. And it was Drager's problem. And that's why I wrote him out of this network. He's somewhere else now. Because he told me the woman said the Dante's Fiesta, and it was Draeger's problem, and that's why I wrote him out of this network. He's somewhere else now. Because he told me the woman said the Dante's Fiesta was an order for one person. It was an order for a family of eight. And, of course, I have never lived that down with the likes of Nick Kiprios

and company all these years later. Oh, it was a classic. And then he'd go into the mozzarella sticks, calamari, garlic bread, and then there'd be a pause, and then Gordo would scream, and a Diet Coke. And that Diet Coke stood no chance. No chance. Well, I think we're finishing the Fiesta off today.

So it's going to be the last piece of all these years later. But yes, good memories then and good memories. Great memories. Great memories. So Gordo, in all seriousness, 10 games to go. Some teams are battling like the Washington Capitals. I don't know where the Islanders may still be in this here. They are.

But where are you on rest versus rust? I'm in the overthinking sometimes category. I think the Kawhi Leonard thing, it was a unique situation, right? Because what a situation in San Antonio. So then load management became the word du jour. Every year around this time, we're going, oh, my God, Freddie Anderson, we've got to get him some rest. Well, whatever they did, he never played great in the playoffs,

so I don't know, you've got to do the anti that, or in the key games anyway, need it. So, you know, I just think nowadays, Kippy and Justin, that during the course of the season, things are so planned out now, there's not as many practices, there's not day game skates, rest is a real important thing. The mental part, I think think can wear people down and you know that well you guys as players and that's an important part to maybe try to address but

when the playoffs start you're gonna have a lot of rest before the playoffs start and you know you want to get one of those juices going and you want to be going basically every second day and you're in a different mode so i would just use common sense about things, but I wouldn't be, I wouldn't start saying, okay, you missed this game. You missed that game. You know, cause you're at the game anyway, you're up in the press box. You probably want to play. So I think it's something that is already been thought of over the course of the season and you don't need to overthink it. Well, before I ask my question,

I just want to say that Sammy called you the star of the show at the cons might dinner. He said, you were the highlight of the show at the consmite dinner. He said you were the highlight of the event and did a great job. So that sounds like a lot of fun. Don't know if that's true or not, Gord, if you feel the same. Just a pro. 24-7 pro. First of all, the two ambassadors are always the star of the show, but Christine Simpson and Sid Cicero.

So, Andy, I appreciate that. I had Tiger Williams, Ernie Witt, and then Jennifer Jones as three people I interviewed. So, anyway, it was fun. Raised a ton of money. I had Tiger Williams, Ernie Witt, and then Jennifer Jones as three people I interviewed. So anyway, it was fun. Raised a ton of money. I know you guys have been there before, and our station has supported it quite a bit. So it was a fun night. So I appreciate that.

That's awesome. I did want to ask you about a veteran guy in the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last night, Mark Giordano gets in the lineup. He shoots one into the net. He points his up to the heavens. Recently had lost his father. Kind of a nice moment there last night. You know, I guess I want to know how viable you see Mark Giordano at this point of his career.

Like, if they need a guy in playoffs killing penalties, is he a guy who can still come in and help? So, again, yes. To answer your question, yes. I think the depth-wise, you've got a lot of different options there, particularly if you go deep, which they haven't historically but you know you want to may use those and it you know i remember cal gunnarsson the ex-league played for the st louis blues and got an overtime goal one of their 16 wins right you know so if you get someone that can make a difference in one or two

of those playoff wins intangibles again can be overrated sometimes but i think his are genuinely what he brings the guy who's been a captain that veteran presence like that so i i do think that is important so again on a leaf d that you know you have some questions about you know tj brody's not had a great kind of season you know whatever may be last year justin hall kind of fell apart this time that all of a sudden luke shen was a guy that played well at the right time in the playoffs so that and, and obviously Sheldon Keefe knows that, is going to have to identify who are the guys that are going, particularly on the D in the playoffs. And I think Giordano, he may be a healthy scratch or he may be a spice at different times. We're talking to former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, now current analyst

with us here at Sportsnet 590, Gord Stelik. So Gord, JB last night on our telecast mentioned that we don't necessarily know where the lines are going to get up, the pairs, who's going to be the number one goalie. Yet we wake up today and you like to hear about Benoit being locked in at a really friendly number for the Leafs and his play almost 20 minutes last night. Bertuzzi, 11 goals in the last what 15 games the play of mcmahon and holmberg domi is this some in some ways this also the best we felt about the toronto maple leaf season so far yeah yeah it is you know and um so it's

funny because first of all bertuzzi we talked it around the trade deadline and i just mentioned that bertuzzi and domomi are trade deadline deals. I know they were signed in the summer, but they're expiring contracts, hired guns. And that's really the kind of trade deadline player like Ryan O'Reilly you got last year or Luke Shedd or whomever. And I think the fact that they've been able to find a role is huge, and particularly Bertuzzi. Last year when he went to Boston, that was a huge deal, and it just didn't pan out for him. And he's got a big X factor that I think is going to be able to bring in the playoffs, and we're really seeing that come through.

And then, you know, I kept always going, you know, where are our diamond in the roughs? You know, where's the new Zach Hyman or someone like that, that, you know, isn't here just for one or two years, Colin Blackwell or those guys. I mean, you know, that stays, and you you find them and you get them at a reasonable amount. And Bobby McMahon's been that guy. Of course, he's drafted from within, but a six-round pick. Real pleasant surprise. Really seems to have found a role.

And then Sion Benoit, like you mentioned, you know, like to come and seize the opportunity. A guy never drafted, a journeyman type guy. And then re-up at a reasonable amount i mean you look at justin hall's getting almost four million dollars a year to sit in the press box in detroit right you know and i mean so the going rate for defenseman is uh is high uh elite defenseman anyway so i think that was again you go back to your pro scouts and everybody else in the organization if you're cap if you're cap heavy to the ceiling you really got to be able to find those legitimate diamonds in the rough. And that's,

what's really been encouraging the last couple of weeks. So last night, as the game kind of wound down, Matthew's had a shift where he was like, well, the game's over. I'm going to try to get my 60th. And he shot,

I don't know, four or five shots in the final couple minutes there. And it, you know, it was a little bit noticeable, like out of context for the game how much should anyone care about this goal chase who roots for the toronto maple leafs i know kipper how he feels about it he wants him to focus on the playoffs does it matter if he gets

to me it's get to mcdavid 64 last year he's not getting a 70 but should he care at this point well it's up to the individual player. I would say no. I think 70 is the number, obviously, that would be neat. But, you know, when I did some fan forums with these guys, the all-star break, it was Matthews, Nylander, Morgan Riley, and Mitch Marner. And kind of because people, he was tired of the talk about goals.

And really the good question, as we said, is let's be a candidate for a Conn Smythe trophy. That means you went deep in the playoffs. And that's the individual accolade for going deep in the playoffs so i i think austin matthews uh maybe he does want a better last year's amount but i think he's a team guy and you know justin you know what it's like when you're winning team is telling you to go for it yeah they're getting pissed if you're not doing okay you're not you're not a selfish player during the year and they kind of like it so if there's apples be had, they're not begrudging you those apples.

Has it changed or has it remained consistent, our infatuation with putting the puck in the net? Like 50 was a huge number in my era, right? 60 we know got a little bigger and crazier with the likes of Yari Curry and Brett Hull going to 80 mid eighties. But if we got an obsession about a number here more so today, is it more driven that people want to see the big number? Well, and so, and Kippy, by the way, you were a 50 goal scorer in junior.

I think a lot of people don't know that. You know, it's funny because, look at dennis marouk 60 goal score right but was never with teams that did anything minnesota cleveland washington whatever the guy scored 60 goals in a season that's a huge number in back then you know and so i i think probably fan wise we get caught up with what you call selfish. Well, it's not selfish, but I mean individual statistics. But when you had a nucleus of a team so long like the Leafs and these Toronto Blue Jays, as a matter of fact, like let's face it, with the novelty of them making the NHL,

making big money, putting up big numbers, being all-star players, okay, that's all there. We enjoy it in that. You've got to start getting the team success. So, you know, you can get caught. Like I'm not caught up with the, being all-star players. Okay, that's all there. We enjoy it in that. You've got to start getting the team success. So, you know, you can get caught. Like, I'm not caught up with the number at all. I'm happy more the way the team's playing as a team of late, some of the other things, and can that depth come through in the playoffs.

So I guess it's up to the individual player. A lot of them are selfish. You know that. You know, I think a lot of them, when they're looking at the laptop, they're not looking to decipher. They're looking at their great shift they had. They're like kids, right? They want to watch the video of that breakaway.

They make it look like it's a chess game going on. So each individual is different, but I got to think that they're focusing. Hey, they want to get their points. They want to get their contracts, but you want to get the wins and you want to get some playoff success. And I think these young guys have evolved more into team leaders the last year or two. Gordon, when I was the video coach of the Marlies, you would load the players' shifts on the iPads, and they would come up to me when they wanted to watch their shifts

on the bus after. And you'd have guys who hadn't watched a shift of theirs for three months, and then they score two in a game. They're like, I'm going to watch my shifts today. It's like, yeah, yeah, I bet you are. You know, a lot of these guys certainly do enjoy watching themselves have success, to say the least. So...

We had a guy, God rest his soul, the late Walter Podomny, and he was in the dressing room after a game, and we'd lost the game by a lot. And all he was doing was forward and rewinding his goal, right? And then he was big on getting pucks mounted for, which you could say, maybe not big milestones. So I remember one time they dumped all the pucks in his stall

and said, here's the pucks of all the goals you scored in practice. You know, kind of thing. That's what happened. So anyway, God rest his soul but i kind of you know you remember uh you remember that just like you're talking about justin well we were we were talking about you know for ovechkin there's a point in his career which is very similar to where matthews is at now seven years into his career and kip had a comment in a 2011 sportsnet magazine piece about how people are not going to care about all this

if he doesn't win a cup and Matthews is going to get to that point too it's funny the Matthews in year seven or he has seven years behind him now is kind of at a turning point in that how can you find a way to get your team over the hump and we've always said it's all about the core four here you know it does feel like if this milestone has made any kind of a priority it's it's missing the big picture right yeah well connor mcdavid's in the same boat you know and uh god love marcel dion he's the one guy that way up there and scoring never got there we talk about daryl sittler um you see in the hockey hall of fame some people use it as a criticism that a lot of Stanley Cup champions or players from those teams,

like your dad played on, Justin, and again, not a criticism, a lot of them, they're based on winning multiple Stanley Cups because, you know, that's the ultimate prize. You hoist the Stanley Cup, you get your picture taken with the Stanley Cup. It's the ultimate attraction at the Hockey Hall of Fame. And, you know, we do have to understand that,

okay, the last time Leafs won were six teams. Now there's 32. And, you know, we do have to understand that, okay, the last time Leafs won were six teams. Now there's 32. So, you know, mathematically, you're only supposed to win once every 32 years. Of course, the math's up for Toronto, okay? But it's not an easy thing to win. But I agree about, you know, to get where Ovechkin finally got

and Sidney Crosby's been and Gretzky and Orr and all these particular players. Yeah, that's a piece that, you know, eludes you at the end. And we saw in Ray Bork at the end of his career. You know, I don't know if there'll be more situations like that. I mean, Toronto's not that team. You know, maybe down the road they are. I mean, Pittsburgh, like it'd be like Sidney Crosby without a Stanley Cup.

And in Pittsburgh next year, what do they do around the trade deadline? So, but right now in Toronto, let's just get win two rounds. I mean, let's incrementally start growing going deeper in the playoffs gordon the atlantic division has predominantly been dominated by boston and florida this whole season and many rode off tampa bay as just having one of those years where they can look great, but then they look horrible. And then we've got the last two, three weeks where they've just caught on fire and they look like Stanley Cup champions once again.

I think they've lost once or twice in the last 10. And where do you, with 10 games to go, a lot can still happen here, but how much of a wake-up call is Tampa given the rest of the league in the last two, three weeks? Well, I think it's just, like, when you win Stanley Cups, you've got that winner's attitude, right? And they just got it all going together. Vasilevsky's playing like, I mean, he wasn't the best Vasilevsky

last year, the Leafs you saw. So you're seeing him playing. So I think every team, it's a little bit of cage rattling for every other playoff team that, you know, they're not going to go away quietly. But, you know, Kippy, five years ago, if the three of us were talking about the Leafs, we would have them pegged to be first place perennially

in the Atlantic Division. They would have passed the aging Boston Bruins. Now the Florida Panthers have technically passed the Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning won't go away. And that's the challenge for the lease. They're not as good a team to win the Stanley Cup compared to a year or two ago, but they may be a better team, okay?

They're not as talented. They may be a better team as far as going forward in that direction. So that's kind of a sign about spinning your tires. Why from five years ago, they're at that this level why aren't they there that the assumption was they would be in 2024 well anyway that's a that's a bigger problem outside the box the way you take care of it is whether it's tampa bay florida boston whoever comes your way that's who you got to take on and beat in the playoffs great stuff gordo as always

my friend really appreciate uh your visit on our show on this good Friday, man. Have a great Easter weekend. If you order the Dante's Piesto, you get a Diet Coke for free. Just so you know, okay? Make sure you get that. Thanks, Gordo.

Appreciate you, bud. Love you, man. Gord Stelic. Do you think if you're Florida or Boston and you could choose to play Toronto or Tampa, do you think either of them would pick Tampa? Like, who do you think they would pick? I think they would both say give me Toronto.

Vasilevsky's played, like, something like 17 of the last 19 games or something ridiculous, and he is just looking like... Starting to heat up. ...the best goalie in the world. He would scare me more than... Yeah, they would both say give me the the world. He would scare me. Yeah, they would both say, give me the Leafs.

They would for sure. Give me Wall. Give me Samsonov. Don't give me Vasilevsky. All right. All right. That's our Leaf edition. Just like that.

When we return, Doug McClain will join us on this Friday. Where is he? At the beach? Is he playing pickleball? Fresh off their Dante's Fiesta. Carmen Sandiego. I think they owe us dinner, Dante's. Are they still in business?

We'll find out after the break. More. Stick around. We'll be you next time.