Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Cruising in Calgary

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look back on the Leafs' 6-3 road win over the Calgary Flames. They dig into William Nylander's hat trick, positive signs from Morgan Rielly, and Auston Matthews' play without Mitch Marner. Then, they discuss the disallowed goals, the impact of goal reviews on the pace of the game and potential solutions to fix the slow review process. Finally, they dip into McKee's Midweek Mailbag to answer listener questions - including the feasibility of a Dylan Cozens deal.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.

All right, let's get her going here. Hump day. Is that what we call Wednesday still? Yeah, we do. We do. All right. Kind of getting over the hump here. Plenty to discuss, especially in the first hour, our Leaf edition here on the Real Kipper

and Bourne show. We are live on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, Sportsnet 360, edition here on the Real Kipper and Boren show. We are live on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus, Nick Kiprio's Justin Boren, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Jen Rolnick. 14 games on tap last night. A lot of flipping. Yeah. Were you doing the diamond surfing? Well, we had a later start for the Toronto Maple Leafs and we'll discuss their big win in Calgary last night, but kind of helped ease into our focus point obviously for this hour Toronto and Calgary, but man, busy, busy night in the National Hockey League last night. Yeah, it was funny yesterday we did the Senators two points behind the Leafs bit and then they took it off the chin against Love the Lightning who they very badly are need to beat and Leafs win and

all of a sudden it's not quite as close today, Sammy. I was watching Oilers and Blues before the Leafs game started. I was just watching a little bit of basketball too, Celtics and Cavaliers, just going all around the world of sports. But the Oilers are so fun to watch. Like they really, once you get over their grumpiness and you get over, you know, the, some of the stuff with them and the hatred

between the Leafs and the Oilers fans. But the grumpiness is a feature, not a bug. They are fantastic to watch. And they really just, McDavid and Drysot are at a totally different level. It's brilliant. Yeah. Florida Panthers all taking it on the chin And they really just McDavid and dries out a lot of totally different level. It's brilliant. Yeah Florida Panthers all taking it on the chin to the Washington Capitals with OV scoring an empty netter He's gonna break the record on empty netters

0.1 second one second. They're down five Importantly another one no, I'm more face is great more importantly than Sammy not being thrilled that Wayne Gretzky's record is gonna be broken is the fact that the Leafs once again pushing hard in the Atlantic Division two big wins in Alberta that have once again established their real strong push to win a division title. Yeah, we said going out west, how many points do they need out of the potential eight? We said minimum five. I said five. And Sam, he said four is good. He'll take, he's good with a couple losses now the next couple games.

No problem. No, you have to watch. I'm not going to watch 10 o'clock. I'm not watching, boys. Five would be disappointing now. Yes, I would think so. You'd'd love to grab another another couple at the very least Yeah, I thought pretty good game last night You know Matthew Knies ends up being the leading ice time guy for the Leafs last night 23 minutes The ice times were really funny 23 minutes for nice 21 and change for Matthew's next highest was 1803.03, I think, for Tavares. So they really liked Knives, I don't know.

He had a good night. As far as- What was Willie, sorry? As far as putting the puck in the net, we'll start with Willie Nylander. I kinda got- 17.56 for Willie. Little, like I was really surprised to hear that

that's his second hat trick coming off eight years ago. How is that possible? I have no idea. Like if you would ask me, could we find a hat trick between then and last night somewhere for Willie? I would have bet a lot of money that there was one or two. I mean, just this season and the two prior he's got a hundred and ten hundred and thirteen goals not once did he have

another hat trick so that's pretty wild really fitting for him to get it on a breakaway that that was kind of a cute touch to the whole thing yeah I don't know otherwise any major takeaways for you Kip last night? Just from the optics of watching a team move the puck very well, including the power play. Like they looked like a good passing hockey club last night. They did. I agree with that. Led by their number one centerman with three assists. Did you hear me? Three assists. Love it. Loved 34 last night with three assists.

I wouldn't exactly say the one was a traditional assist or he banged it off the pad on a breakaway, but it was an assist. It was, primary assists aren't his specialty. That was a primary assist. I liked. Two of them were. Direct primary assist. I liked. Two of them were. Direct primary assist.

Stick on stick. Okay, yeah. But I loved the entry. I loved the fact that he found Matthew Nyes who made a fantastic, another world-class fantastic backhand pass to Willie Nylander for the first goal. That was real puck movement for me.

Yeah, you know, there's a number of times I thought of you last night watching the game. So I was like, God, they're kind of zipping it around a little bit. That was unusual. But yeah, it was good to see. I would say from a player standpoint, my number one takeaway is that was the best Morgan Riles look this year. Skated well. Skated well. Skated well.

Didn't shoot it great. Had number opportunities to get it on that. But he was, he looked like he was making a conscious effort to be up the rink. And we haven't seen that from him. It was almost like, let's just see. Like it's not working staying back here. Let's just see what it looks like when I go.

And I know you can't play like that 82 games, but yeah, skated really well last night. Got on the power play one assist on the power play and then had the one taken back on the Tavares high stick so yeah involved that was a bright sign. Can we there's a couple brought up a bunch of different things there but we drill in first on the Matthews part of it the way he looked last night yeah and you know it's a natural conversation when Marner's not there to talk about with the way Matthews looks when he plays without him and There is something weird with this team where we're one of the core four goes out

I don't know what their stats are in that next game But it feels like they always win the next game when one of them's out they play differently Longer stretches it starts to get a little bit worse, but in short spurts that are really able to kind of step up But I just anecdotally Matthews just has the puck a lot more when he doesn't have Marner on his line. And it just feels like even when Marner is back, what you saw last night is the perfect example why you want to keep them separated because it just feels like Mark Matthews plays that real center role. Like you're always asking Marner is carrying the puck so much has the puck so much when they're together.

Last night it just felt like he was doing the zone entries, Matthews. It just felt so much more like a natural center to me. I don't know what you saw. For me, yeah, go ahead, Kevin. Yeah, I was just gonna say just, yeah, I get what you're saying for sure, and I just think it was a conscientious effort

for him to not only handle the puck when he needed to, but to move it because there isn't Marner there. If he's not looking to headman the puck, if he's not looking to move it, then who is? So you know how I felt for a very long time that Matthew is great of a shooter and goal scorer he is to play number one centerman you have to be in position where some nights that you can get three assists in a hockey game and I know you mentioned that on the stat sheet that that was the 55th career three-point game for Austin and I was wondering well how many Three assist games has he had in his career can't be many

11 It's 11. Yeah, it's 11. Yeah, you got it. It's right there Tuesday marks Matthews 55 11th career 11 I think and his 11th. Yeah, and You're never gonna compare his playmaking to Connor McDavid's or Nate's, but you know, those guys have triple and quadruple. Connor's got 50 plus 3 assist games. Like 11's not enough in 600 games for your number one centerman.

And that's, to me, he should be thinking a lot more of driving that type of play up with or without Mitch. Yeah, you know, I've got kind of two thoughts. One are that I hate overreacting to a single game sample and I feel the same way when Matthews is out and Mitch has a good game or whatever. It's like, you're not better off without Mitch. You're not better off without Morgan. You're never better off without good players. So

to me, there's no conclusion to be drawn there. The only other thing that I would take away is just when he's played with Domi, he seems to pass more. Like when he first played with Domi last year, I remember being like, God, he passes it to him an awful lot for a guy who doesn't shoot. You remember the one last night Domi got the puck like in The slot and he didn't turn in and take a shot They actually commented on the broadcast and then Domi curled up in the zone and he got the puck again He got another chance. He did shoot at that time for whatever reason that there does seem to be more puck movement and it's

It's pivotal that you know both him and Tavares are It's pivotal that both him and Tavares are making the opponents feel like they're not sure. And Tavares, again, another beautiful pass on the power play to Tavares in the middle. Tavares does what he does best in that area. He can finish plays. Cheeky finish back in. He's another guy that needs to drive up his passing ability. If the Leafs can move the puck like they moved last night consistently moving forward I think it takes their game to another level

Like I just Matthew last year at the end when Marner went out was the high ankle sprain that Marner missed all that time With it towards the end of last year when he played with when he played with Domi and Bertuzzi Yeah, he had the high ankle sprain in Boston that nobody really knew about. Yeah, and then he never, you know, anyways, besides the point, I thought that that was weak would come in here day after day during that stretch thing, that like we think this is the best Matthews' look,

we think it's the best he's looked. And it's because of, like I said, playing more of the center role in distributing and passing. And I just, I think they defer to each other way too much. And Marner is a puck carrier. He's a dominant guy in the puck. He's the point guard. He has the puck, which is great

when he's not playing with Matthews. I just, I know they love playing together and I know they probably asked to play together. And I understand how much power that has within an organization. But you can't convince me they're not a better team when they're on separate lines. You just can't convince me of it.

It would be interesting to see if they do get another high quality center. Let's say it's Dylan Cousins. The name in the news today would Mitch with Cousins and then Austin drive his own line still out to ours and Willie. All of a sudden, you're looking a lot deeper if you're able to do something like that. All right, just to note that in about 20 minutes, we're going to welcome in Sammy McKee's midweek maple leaf mailbag. Yes, that's a mouthful.

Sammy. It was just yeah, McKee's mailbag. McKee's midweek mailbag just to make you say it. So I'm sure we're going to get a few more comments around what the Leafs need to do, including can they go as high as Dylan Cousins. But overall, I think it was a pretty good feeling for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Joseph Wall, once again, better than the guy 200 feet away. I know we had Eric Francis on the show the other day and spoke very highly of Dustin Wolfe

and what he's been able to do this year as a rookie, which has been phenomenal, but that wasn't probably one of his better games. And who sent the group chat that he looks kind of small tonight? Me. That was you. Yeah, they were shooting holes in him pretty good last night, I thought. I think that was a fair comment.

It is funny as the pressure ramps up against the Leafs. A lot of those guys, obviously Kadri from here, and they just know the news. There's just so much media here that when it doesn't look like it's looked all year, and I've covered a lot of Flames games and that's not how they've looked there's almost this like They're feeling embarrassed like this isn't what our house it normally looks like like it's you know And you you can see it on the bench like Anderson and Kadri getting into it No, yeah covering odd man rushes against the goalies not great and the flames are just like they want to redo on last night They couldn't stop coughing it up like they must have had had five to six like crucially bad turnovers in the offensive.

The rushes that Willie and McMahon scored on were brutal. Yeah, Kadri had I think two assists, but he had oven mittens on the whole night. He was, he could not handle the puck clean last night. And when they did have really good looks, I don't think they hit the net very well, but they had ample opportunity. There was a grade A scoring chance, probably 30 seconds into the hockey game for Calgary, and they missed the net.

Yeah, I remember the exact one. Yeah. And it just seemed like the whole night they were kind of fighting it. Because I said, you guys, they four check and they came out and four checked hard, and I was like, here they come, and then they kind of stopped. They I said you guys they four check and they came out and four checked hard and I was like here they come and then they kind of stopped.

They look to me like a team that was looking for the finish line this week to a four nations break for sure and they played three and four nights but it's clear they weren't the team that you were expecting. No, the turned over goals, any qualms? I know we disagreed in the group chat at the times of them. Tavarez, high stick, Farabee goalie interference. You think both? Yeah, the Farabee goal that was disallowed for Carolina.

It's just a matter. It's Calgary. Sorry. It's just a matter of where are you? Is it black and white on being in the crease and having any type of contact? Or is it how much of the contact really made a difference? So where are you on that rule? I mean, if you move a guy's blocker as a pucks coming to his blocker, he's been interfered

with and it would be really hard to say yeah He hit him or he touched him, but didn't touch him enough for me. It's like yeah, he move the contacts there That's no goal all day for me It's just you know my thoughts. It's a joke. It's a that's an absurd called back goal. I couldn't believe it's absurd It's absurd touches the goalie and moves his arm as the puck's coming Lance So how is that absurd? He's one of the most equipment on the ice these guys are playing hockey, too So they were all love to hit the goalies now because they were equipment playing hockey to serve to say they're at the top of

The crease is still only at the only the pucks going in any way. The only danger is that you go back to what it used to be and that is a that you go back to what it used to be and that is a referee making a call a judgment call and you're like confused on some nights what is and what isn't yeah that's the only on the other hand I I think these delays and this brutal anti-climatic situation in the building where everybody's sitting there twiddling their thumbs is also taking a big chunk out of our game. It's the worst part of the NFL. It is horrible. It's like, can I celebrate?

I think we did good and waiting and waiting. And then, you know, it's even worse is that there's one call and then. You can still have a challenge after that. It's like, so now we got to go through it twice. One for the official to decide what the call is. And then there's a second way. It's like a game show. Hey, you lost, but come on back and we'll give you a second chance at the card.

But wait, there's more. There's more. Like, let's say the ref did the review for high stick and said, no, his stick was below the goal line. We have a good goal. There then could have been a challenge for goalie interference. And it'd be like, oh God. It's sucking the life out of our game.

And I actually thought that on the first Tavares one, they got the call wrong. I thought that it was goalie interference, not high sticking. Like I thought the stick was at like the bar level and he slashed the goalie in the head. I thought that. But TV did not give us the best angle of how high the stick was and how close it was to the crossbar until the very end.

So the only thing we really had to go on last night was is it goaltender interference or not? And Tavares is in the blue paint. His stick did hit Wolf's mask at some degree. His head goes back actually before the puck crosses the net. Now you tell me if that's interfering with the goalie or not. Well, it's like you've already, you know, you're allowed to hit a guy on the follow-through of a shot on the ice, you know. Does that mean you can baseball swing in the crease and hit the goalie's head after?

He caught him pretty good. I thought the goal should have counted, but... Interesting. So I don't know. I will say, and we have a clip on this, a Borube clip, but it's Jordan Bean, who's the other guy? The Sam? Is it Sam's? Pardon? Sam Kim, Richard Kim. Anyways, you have to give those guys an unbelievable amount of credit for the feel they have for these things. Where, like, oh, let's listen to the clip and then we'll talk about it after. Clip four, please, Derek. the video team has got quite a winning record when it comes to challenges. What do you enjoy working with Jordan and Sam this year? I listen to them.

I mean, yeah, they've done a great job, really, really good job. I mean, you know, they're dialed in on it and they study it and they look at a lot of goals that go into the league in different situations and they're on it. So they're looking at everything around the league all the time and they understand what's going on and what could be called and what shouldn't be called. They've done a fantastic job.

He's right. They're great at their job, but they are, they're the ones ruining the game. They are, they are. They're the one that's- Did that mean it? They're too good, they're too good at it. They correctly judged to save their team goals, they're ruining the game.

Get rid of them, get rid of them. Do not have any outside influence. You wanna make a call. It's the coach. It's the coach and the guys on the bench love it you've got it you've got monitors there you can have a quick look and then you have the guts to make a call or not we'll see how many more of these will have I totally certainly get a lot more wrong you got guys in lab coats like the pop in the dressing room and they're you know they're breaking it

down to like millimeters and hair like get out of get them out of the game. Hey this is no joke so I worked with these kids in a stats class at Bucknell University this year to try to calculate what the value financial value of having the best video coach in the league was worth. Two years ago Florida wins the most challenges overturns the most goals. They end up in playoffs, they eight seed by like a couple goals. Like they would have missed playoffs if they had an average video coach. They end up going to the cup final. So how much did they make their owner in gate revenue by, how much should they pay their video coach? Lots. Yeah. Millions.

Cut the communication off outside the dressing room, or cut the communication off Outside the dresser outside the bench you want to make a call You see it live. You're there. You're watching. Yes, you're in charge So then take the video off the bench. I'm going to go to the nerd room take the iPads off the bench I'm not even joking. No, the iPads off the bench Screen off move his floor You want to look up with the jumbotron and make a decision look up like the rest of us Who's with me on that cut the communication off? I would agree if I don't think it would hurt the product at all

I would agree if they did it in every other sport, but every other sport They have the exact same thing and we're either trying to get it right or we're not and if we're not it's really tough In baseball. You know, gambling's involved now. In baseball, they give one of these. Encourage wrong decisions. You don't have to get it right. Okay, hey, listen, I don't think it's a bad idea. It won't hurt the entertainment, I can assure you.

You know, baseball deserves the most credit for saying, we got a problem, here's a pitch clock, here's what we're doing, we're trying something that not everyone's gonna love it's gonna hurt some people help some people this would hurt some people help some people but it might speed things along which good for fans I guess with baseball challenges it's a lot more black and white like first base challenge it's pretty much if a guy gets it wrong you can look at it it's both go tendering and interference it's much like the catch in the NFL where everybody's interpretation is different

and there's weird calls and there's all this stuff. So like, listen, it's never gonna happen, but this is here forever. The toothpaste is out of the tube. They're not gonna get rid of challenges ever. I don't think they will. They can curtail them. They can.

I think they've come too far. But we're not pulling anything out. We're just limiting the access to go get information you just don't same rules nothing's changing too much and listen we're sponsored by gambling cup there's too much money involved like you're seeing these things it's like it's reviewed it's wrong so it's just nothing changes Sammy nothing changes not the calls not the amount of calls not what you can go to just where where the decision maker comes from.

And when the Leafs get one wrong in the cup final, Sammy is going to fight you on camera. But I'm sick to my stomach that I'm arguing for it, because I completely agree. I'm just trying to play devil's advocate here, but we don't need to spend six minutes at 9.30 p.m. Eastern time trying to figure out if it's a high stakes or not.

It'll just raise the stakes. What you're telling me right now is you don't want to raise the stakes. Correct. You know what I just got a great message. That's not pro sports my friend. I just got a great message. Someone said teams would cheat. Some guy at home, hey you're our designated guy at home who's going to be watching the

replays. You got to send me a text the second you see the replays. Team's achieved. Buddy, just put a clock on it. There's no time for them. Yeah. Okay. How long, 30 seconds to decide?

30 seconds to decide. They should put the clock up in the arena. Countdown. Goal goes in the net, the 30 starts. 29, 28. Give them- Give 30's long. Give them one- That's one or two long give them

nine give them give them one or two replays on their monitors on on the bench floor and then put a clock on them and that's it you've you will eliminate everybody else out anyways all right that's enough of that we're gonna time Morgan Riley Morgan Riley we don't have a clip on it from the coach He didn't get asked after but we even do the overview No, it's you met you mentioned Morgan Riley and what like what was it different for you guys last night? Just moving the feet. Is it that simple or what was it offense? Just joining the rush? Okay, he to me he led the rush. He had the puck. Yeah

Yeah There's there's always a breakpoint for me Like when I first got in television, I was so nervous and so scared of making a mistake And then you hit this point where you're like, I don't give a flying Anymore right? Throw it out the window. I'll do what I'll do, I'll say what I say, if it's horrible, it's horrible, and just move on.

I think Morgan got to that point the other night where it's like, okay, I'm getting beat up, I can't do any worse, just go out there and just skate and have fun and just let it loose a little bit. Much better. In 18, five on five minutes, They won almost 90% of expected goals He was on for two goals and none against he attempted six shots with three on net had a secondary assist You know like he was on the power play

Maybe that helped him feel a little bit more involved than a part of things few more touches But you know we've been saying I mean if you got that out of Riley every night, you'd be like, that's a player right there. Plus three for a guy that's been, was he minus 19 on the year? That jumps out to you. At the same time, then you watch Mackenzie Weger with a half slapper, just absolutely bury one in the net. And you're still reminded of what you don't have back there. Yeah, they don't have that I mean two five on threes by the way

Have we have the least had a five on three this year? Maybe a couple Remember the one year they went 60 or 70 games though getting one but two I think they've had one and also I can't believe Coronado ends up scoring that one because Tana made a great block. Too bad that he was able to poke the second one home. But yeah, no, you're right. That was a bomb from ol' Weger. How's Doughty looking?

Has Weger got the inside track right now? I don't know. This is awesome. Get eaten up by Willie, I think, at the end of the game. Weger. Willie eats everyone. Back to Drew. Back to Drew.

Bobby McBann. He's a Wainwright-Alberta boy. They're like, back to Drew. Back to Drew. Bobby McMahon. He's a Wainwright Alberta boy, goes into the province, scores in both places. I'd be losing my, you know what, if I knew that my agent tapped on another year at $1.2 million next year when I could have been a UFA. Bobby McMahon, 28 years old, 6'2", 210, he's got 16 goals already this year, so he's on pace for mid-20s. I call that one right off.

I'm like, this guy's too good. Too good. Yeah. Good on the lease. He's been hurt. Good on the lease because as much as they've been beat up over the cap over the years This one is huge next year having them at locked in already early in the game Like his second or third shift where he ends up on the one breakaway where he fans on the shot

Yeah As soon as the puck got behind the Calgary defenders feet if you've watched the Leafs at all this year and you recognized It was McMahon you're like bye Yeah, like there was no doubt. He was going to win that race get the puck have a breakaway You've just he's his top speed is right there with the best guys You know how many more guys and like outside of? Willie and Matthews. I mean is he the number three power ranking guy? You'd want one-on-one with the goalie like top speed? Like he's he rips it. It's just and it's not really a lot of deception involved

No, but it's heavy. It doesn't let it dekes. It is as heavy as anything right now in the league Like he puts he's got a snapshot. He's generating the speed That you just spoke of And it's behind his release. Like he just flat out beat Dustin Wolf on the far side. There's not too many shooters that have beaten that kid from that far out that clean. Yeah, he just wasn't even close.

Just right over the shoulder. Was it Lorenz who's on the rush? The puck went over to McMahon, it was like, yeah, it's not going back. That's the first thing I said, is you get that puck to him as fast as you can and you just watch. Well, it was the same with Willie on the one he scored.

He was on a three on one. He skated in front of Patch ready to shoot it in. He's going back there. Back of the bus. Speaking of patches. Yeah. Conversation about him? That, we're not seeing the same physical element in his game that we saw in

the first 40 plus. I want to say last night was game 35 for patches so I think he gets his bonus if I'm not mistaken. So he's there. So now you've paid him all you have to pay him. He's going to be here through the end. You're not trading him. You're not cutting him. He's going to be a part of this. I don't think it was ever a factor for him, the money. No, no, he's made too much.

And I think he, he gave it everything he had to start the season and he's pushed his body as far as he possibly can is now, is now a good time for a break and take another chance that he can come back and be at 70% of what he gave you in the first 45 games. They might take it. Yeah. They may take another 65, 70% of that physical element. He will never be what he used to be in his heyday,

but outside of that, there's not many options for them. He's gonna play third line wing, almost certainly. I think I look back now at the comments he made earlier on. The one day they were given a day off and he said, just spent the whole day in bed. Just can't get out of bed or whatever. And I was like, what? That's concerning.

And I think the play style is wearing on him I think it is interesting to that like he played 12 minutes last night He was he was in the top six as a winger So the coach is seeing it too and not McMahon went up there for a few shifts in the third period After in the in with me with Nylander and it's crazy McMahon only played 1338 last night Estimated career earnings for Max patch ready is just over 63 shmill. Yeah, I don't think his... I don't know what he's making.

A mil? 895? 875 with bonuses up to 600 make it worth 1.3. Was it nine games and 35 games? He played his 35th game last night. And you know what's funny is I remember giving him a hard time about like the Leafs need more scoring They got a guy who scored four times and 45 games last year or whatever Yeah, here it's kind of that pace a little better five goals and 35 games But yeah, you have enjoyed his physical play much more than his offensive play this year

What do you got on me on Willie? I mean, a day off. Yeah, he said apparently, they asked him how he was going to celebrate his hat trick. And he said, hopefully with a day off, which is just on brand. But the coach was asked about it in Borubi, clip seven, this is his play. It's funny. I asked William how he's gonna celebrate at Hedrick. He said he's hoping for a day off in Seattle.

I said I'd check in with you. He likes days off, I'll tell you that. We'll see. I'll have a chat with him about it. Unfortunately, a lot of those day offs come on game days. Keep that clip, please. He likes days off. He's running Borubuvian show right now.

It's crazy. I guess you got a day off today. Yes. The Toronto Mary Police in Seattle. Did they? Yep. I guess when you shoot three in the net in your hometown, you get to get a day off. He's having a blast.

He's having a blast. Yep. Just doing whatever. He's three or four back at dry saddle now for the league lead? Yeah, for doing whatever make three or four back and dry settle now for the league lead Yeah for the rocket chase him and Domi went to look like Banff and some of their Instagram pics nice before soaking in the winter and Truly spectacular place if you've never been there. It's like you must go. It's mind-blowingly. It is just gorgeous It is a a road trip within a normal road trip going out West

it always has been for the Toronto Maple Leafs over decades of there's something special about connecting with Western Canadian Leaf fans. And they are by the tens of thousands. What a showing last night. In Calgary, a Go Leafs Go chant in the third period, well up two goals. I mean, they're making a lot of people

on Bay Street look really bad. Oh, it's Bunk was tweeting about that last night. But here's what I'll say though, and we talked with this a little bit on Leafs Talk, and I'm not about to form a defense of the Scotiabank Arena patrons, I would never do that, but it's impossible to recreate how exciting that one night only feel is, where it's like, it's impossible to recreate how exciting that one night

only feel is where it's like, it's their trip here. It's like a high school reunion. It's like a family reunion where everybody goes to the game. You're out there. It's impossible to recreate that energy for 42 dates or 41 dates at home. It is. It just is.

To that point, you can save up your money for that one time that they come in town. Whereas, at Scotiabank Arena, you've got some jaded people who have felt like they've overpaid, and yet still find themselves stroking a check every year because they're too scared to give up their tickets. But they are, they've got a chip on their shoulder. They've got a few scars. When I was living in Arizona,

I used to have friends from Canada that would fly down, get tickets on the glass for Coyotes Capitals, whoever it was, ticket was 160 bucks, and it came with prime rib dinner, three beers, and like a hat. It was an unbelievable deal. So they said the cost of their flights to get there, it was still cheaper than just going in Toronto.

Yeah. So yeah, but like, I think the Calgary Leafs game is my favorite always on the trip, just aesthetically. The two colors, the Leafs white, their reds in the stands, the red versus the white. One day I would kill for them to both wear, for the Leafs to wear blue and them to wear Red one time I think it would look amazing, but I just outdoor match in Saskatoon

Blackhawks gotta play nice here, but Anyways, we should go I'll get some questions for you guys. All right Cousins McKee's midweek maple leaf mailbag. Attaboy. Nailed it. Coming up next when we return to Real Kipper and Born. Get smarter when you listen to Hockey Talk, the hockey PDO cast with Dmitri Filipovic. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in to the Real Kipper and Boren Show Leaf Edition. Nick Kipriels, Justin Boren. Sorry, which edition?

Leaf Edition. Oh, it's because I had someone in our mentions telling us how embarrassing we are because we keep talking about Ontario. Serious? Yeah, yeah. Where do they think the Leafs play at? We still get killed for talking too much Leafs in the Leaf Edition Hour. They hate us because they ain't us.

I mean, it's the Leafs Hour. Their home away from home is Alberta. They win every time they go there. It's half leaf fans. Anyway, so Let's pass it over to Sammy McKees. Okay, so this is a popular question in the mailbag. There's been a lot of these but I'll give Matthew Cattell the shout-out question a few weeks ago a few weeks ago kipper brought up the idea of Question a few weeks ago a few weeks ago kipper brought up the idea of acquiring

Dylan cousins from the Buffalo Sabres as a current third line setter and future second line setter man What would it take to get him? Yeah, and Sammy asked me a good variation of this before the show where he said why would the Sabres do that? What would they want? What could they get that would be worth it to them? Another rebuild like I don't know this is there's a Rebuild do they believe Easton Cowan is gonna be a Top-line NHL forward do they believe the Leafs don't have anything else to offer other than a first-round pick and either they're one of two prospects in the first and Cowan Cowan or Minton and I would think that Cowan would be easier

to sell Buffalo Sabre fans because he is considered still overwhelmingly the Leafs top prospect. And let's be real here. Like Buffalo may have some sort of view of what they think Cousins is and can become. He's paid well over 7 million a year. He's ninth on the team in scoring. He hasn't missed any games. He's ninth on the team in scoring with 26 points.

He went from 31 goals to 16 goals if I'm not mistaken. 31 to 18 from 23 to 24. He's got 10 this year if they think This is what he is a 18 goal 40 point Guy who's not great defensively is minus 17 maybe they're selling on maybe they're giving up on him and Should that give the Leafs and other teams pause? I Like him a lot six foot three 23 yeah, I, I think all season. I think there's upside and right-handed shots every The one that would scare the Buffalo Sabre fans is are you guys thinking?

Dylan's like no different than Sam Reinhart No, why well nobody had Sam Reinhardt as anything special leaving. Did Reinhardt score a ton in junior? They booted him out of Buffalo and all he's done now is turn himself into a potential Hall of Famer. Yeah, he's a second line center on Team Canada in a week. I don't know what Reinhardt's junior stats look like. I'm telling you there was no different feel than what maybe Nick Cousins is feeling right now underappreciated Dylan sorry

Underappreciated and not even close to scratching what I think is my My ceiling and he went and got another opportunity. I don't know, you know the long shot of Dylan Cousins ever being like Sam Reinhardt after a trade. It's minimal like it's not but it should scare Buffalo Sabre fans I think it certainly does and you know, I've had this thought for a long time just it's like What are you trying to do? You look at Brandon Hagel getting traded from the Chicago Blackhawks You know, he's 26 years old now and on Team Canada. And what do they get? A first for him? Two firsts.

Two firsts? Yep. Okay. And you're hoping to get a Brandon Hegel? You have him! He's 26! Yeah. If your team rebuild is five years long, he can still help.

Yeah. Cousins is the same way. If you want, five years from now, he'll be 28. He can still be great. There's a lot of teams that have proven they can easily piss away a first round draft choice. Oh, God. Most of them. Like, no one's been better at it.

Buffalo's better. And looking for Buffalo without Ryan O'Reilly and Montour and Reinhardt and Eichel and they've had players. Hang on and just let them develop. I disagree they should trade them to the Leafs. Trade them to the Leafs though. Kevin Weeks put out a tweet today talking about how the Leafs are interested. You had mentioned it a few weeks ago.

Maybe he's a listener to the show. I'm not sure. But... Calgary, Vancouver, there's... He's through Montreal in there as well. There's a lot. All Montreal in there as well a lot There's a lot of teams if the Leafs were gonna try to make something like this work though What are they sick? They have six hundred thousand bucks towards the cap right now like

The what's he make seven point one seven point one. It's like that's gonna have to be some bodies going out here Be a hard one to make work unless you phantom LTI are someone or whatever you want to do, but this feels like Well, they count in a first you'd have to think about Max Domi's number out. He is the highest paid guy outside of your big boys. Yeah, is he not? I paid forward so you can't hold on to that number but max has he limited no trade I don't know a dozen teams you can 13 yeah 13 teams what are the odds that Buffalo is one of those I mean I were talking I probably pretty good no no no no like great definitely you grow up in Toronto you don't end up playing for the

Leafs to only be sent to Buffalo. Yeah. That ain't happening. He will fight that tooth and nail. Yeah. Not going. Yeah. So how do you balance it out after? Yarncroc makes what? Two and a half? Like there's just, it doesn't really feel like there's this...

We don't even know like... Salary filler. It's either a lot or nothing. It like... Sorry but... Unlikely. Mailbag but... Really hard. Tough fit. Really hard. Really hard fit. It's either a lot or nothing it like sorry, but unlikely mail bag, but Really hard really hard really hard fit. I mean the only other thing would be if you're Trying to trade something to retain for this. Can you retain one year or does it have to be a whole thing? I don't think you can yeah, all right Then if you retain a million and then you you know LTIR again

so like well how many more favors could they do for the Toronto Maple Leafs if you're Buffalo and it's a division team. You got to face them five times a year, six times a year. You want them to come back with Dylan Cousins. How about jamming it down your throat? Some of the available options that I like for the Leafs are like Charlie Coyle. You know it's like Boston's not doing that You know on D. There's there's options to Brandon Carlo. They're not doing that

This is from Danny Dykstra on Twitter Lenny's son, maybe cool Hopefully he's got it. He's not as foul-mouthed as his father after last night's game Do you have any thoughts on the NHL slash Leafs returning to white jerseys at home like Kippers era? Injecting a variety of colors into Scotia Bank Arena may break up the monotonous blue versus random white team home fan experience. Thoughts? I only know white is home. White is home. That's how I grew up too. Prior to that, I think it was 67. I think the Leaf pictures of them winning the Stanley Cup, maybe a few in color. No way. They were blue. Yeah I like it. I prefer, I just I prefer I think the clean look of the whites but this is not, I think this started because fans felt like their

team's best jersey. A lot of fans like the colored ones were never at home. They didn't get to see the best jersey. I think, you know, team could declare what they want to do. Do you think the NHL did that much research? Yes. Yeah, yeah, no, I've heard Betman talk about this. Oh, he did? Okay, I have no idea.

Yeah, fans apparently were upset that they didn't get their team's best jersey. I like the whites myself, so I'm in. What's good with Batman? What's good with Batman? Where would that have been on the top priority list of how do we make the NHL better? Eskro, there's a pandemic.

Also the Jersey cars. I think there's something to that where, you know, I grew up being, I was a junior hockey fan. I went to a hundred games as a kid. And I got so excited when a team would come into town because the players that attack, we wear in their white and they'd come in wearing it they're cool different looking Jersey it does I think there's something to it anyways I don't think Kipper cares just get rid of that the black on black yeah every

Jersey have every team one oh yeah I mean you brought in the beaver jersey. You had it. I know he bought it. Yeah for sure. Yeah, definitely Sorry Justin this is from this no comment This is from grins above on Twitter question Is it possible to negotiate player contract as a percentage of the cap? So that the salary cap goes up in proportion with cap increases rather than a fixed amount year over year Seems like all the guesswork on where the cap is headed creates a lot of friction in negotiations. I Don't understand the question. The question is if if Mitch signs next year no number but a percentage Oh of the cap. Yeah, 14 for 14 six. Yeah, that's what your salary is that year. Oh, I like that

That's cool.4, 14.6, that's what your salary is that year. Oh, I like that. That's cool. Yeah. Come in. I mean, I think you do that. I can't believe you're looking at me like that. You don't like it? Well, it really is no different than someone going, well, I'm a lot better now and I deserve 16.5.

I mean, sure, yeah. Okay. Same idea. Good talk guys. Give it a try. Okay, this is from Jonas Leafsfan23 on Twitter. Everyone seems to think that Ottawa would win versus the Leafs in round one if they played. Who's everyone? Thoughts? Who's everyone? Do you have a friend named everyone? I sure as hell don't. I think it'll be a great series and I think Ottawa has gotten a lot better for two reasons. Jake Sanderson and Shabbat have gotten a lot better back there. So we're now talking to everyone. Can I get the Sutter?

It'll be a waste of eight days drop for Ottawa. Oh boy. Against the Leafs? Oh my God. No, no. Oh my God. They would not get cooked. I do not.

No, I do not agree. No, no, no, no, no. Oh yeah, you know, it'll be three games into the series and it'll be like, they just have to know when to go Shabbat and Sanderson They can't be up iced all game. They're getting burned all the way. I think well, they're faster than Toronto and I think I think they'll I Think they'll scare people. Yeah, what I'm saying is Lee fans if you're listening to this my fellow Lee fans Get ready for this

possibility because you look at the standings. There's many ways it can happen. Listen, it can go up and down here. 3-1-7. It's really great. 3-1-8. It's really, really exciting this year for Toronto Maple Leaf fans and fans of all teams actually that the Eastern Conference playoff picture, you have no idea who the hell you're

playing. But the Atlantic is insane. That's what I mean. It's insane. The Leafs could potentially play how many different teams this year four teams five teams Like it really does feel like it's a it's a different type of year What point totals Ottawa 62 Detroit 61 Tampa 60 Boston 60 four teams within two points of each other? With the Leafs in Florida just a nose ahead of that if I could if I could If I could hand pick a team it would be Detroit. Oh yeah.

That would be my thing. That would be my thing. Billy Huso is going to play that? That's not helping Ottawa that Josh Norris is hurt every other week. Yeah him and the lineup they're a different team. That changes things for sure. Toronto would be a favorite but I do not see eight days. Be close. I'm gonna be closer

It doesn't regardless of who they play would go to seven games. Uh, this is from Isaac Cowlin Maple Leafs for life three, okay Obviously Storlaars has been injured the past couple months, but in your guys opinion, who do you think starts game one of the playoffs in April? Do you think they'll alternate starts or ride the hot goalie? The only thing that I would like to do as a Don Cherry, happy birthday to Don Cherry, that I would like to do is to roll back the tape where I was saying that Wohl should get games

early in the season when he was trying to come back from his injury and I getting told by you two how Stolarz was the now the number one guy and he should blah, blah, blah. He'd still be the number one guy. He still could be the number one guy if could be if your fingers on the desk the piano I said at the time this guy speaking of grapes I

was man I Still think I still think wall to just see who's healthy Yeah, that's but we didn't mention this in our first block because I don't think it was a particularly amazing Joseph Wall start by any stretch last night. He was good. They had two five on three goals, whatever. But with the looming return of Anthony Stoller's here and it seems like he's trending towards playing Ruby talk today at a hotel with he I guess he had to work the least the players got to have it off. Gotta give credit Joseph Wall over this stretch where you know Stollers gets hurt and

We're all terrified about the workload and bunkers coming on these talk last night that the only goalie that has more starts and stores Got hurt in the league than Joe's false Connor Hellebuck. He's second. So He really took the starters work Key saves again last night. For sure, it was good. And I think that's a bit of a statement to his teammates that remember last year, I think it was, or maybe it was this year, how the big thing was trust. Yeah, the start of the year where he disappeared

before the year even started. Couldn't trust that he was gonna be there for ya. And still that might be there to some extent, but I think people feel better about that. There are times when he gets up a little slower than I'd like Yeah, I think that's probably Experience talking having seen some stuff before There's a question here about

Donato and Murphy from Chicago as a potential trade package for the Leafs. Yeah, I you know why Mark sear I ranted about Hagels because I listened to a thing today about Murphy being an option. It's like Chicago doesn't want Murphy. Okay, like yes I like Murphy is an option. Yeah, right-handed shot. They're hard to find. They have centers that you can poach in the process. Can Munch Minutes. How big is Murphy? It's pretty big. Six two. I think you want Jason Dickens. Six four. Whoa. And they mentioned Donato. Donato's not as big. Donato's a winger. Yeah. Right when it started. Yeah, that helped. All right, Sammy. Good job on the mailbag. Thanks guys. Thank you to all of you for your question. You're fantastic. You could be a mailman. You got the body for mailman. Thank you. You got mail.

All right. Don't go away. We got Ken Hitchcock coming up. Here we do. One of the winningest coaches in NHL history. He'll join us next as we go national on the Real Kipper and born show