Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Debunking the Cats Conspiracy

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Daniele Franceschi honour and remember Greg Millen, former NHL goalie and hockey broadcaster, who passed away on Monday. Then, they look ahead to the first half of the Leafs' Florida back-to-back against the slumping Florida Panthers. They discuss Joseph Woll getting the net, whether Mitch Marner and William Nylander's milestone chases could become distractions, and they review Paul Maurice's game-day availability. Later, former NHLer and Panthers analyst Jeff Chychrun (31:05) discusses his son, Jakob's big-time extension with the Capitals before weighing in on the Panthers' tanking conspiracies, the Atlantic Division playoff picture and Sam Bennett's contract situation.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.

Game day on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne in for Sammy McKee, Daniele Franceschi, Derek Brandeo and Jake the Snake Schultz with you for the next two hours of our program. It comes with a heavy heart though to start the show as the hockey world mourns the passing of a Sportsnet colleague, broadcaster, friend, husband, dad, grandparent, Greg Millen, gone far too early at the age of 67. Greg was someone that I was fortunate enough to start at the very beginning here at sports. Yeah, was he a day one like yourself? Day one or Scott Moore was in charge of putting together a hockey department.

And I was one of five faces in that department. Jim Houston, of course, was the lead play-by-play guy, veteran of broadcasting and of course, the second veteran was Greg Millen at that point. Had been retired for quite a few years and came over from the Hockey Night in Canada side where he spent a ton of time with John Shannon and Joel Darling and really was the veteran on our desk. Of course, Jim Houston and Craig Simpson started off as well. Craig had a little bit of

And Craig Simpson started off as well. Craig had a little bit of broadcasting experience. He'd done maybe a year or two in the States, maybe if I'm not mistaken with Fox. But it was Greg Millen for myself and another unknown rookie from out west in Darren Drager. And you couldn't have found two greener guys in the hockey world but we had Greg Mellon to lean on and we did those first few years. Yeah, it's interesting for him being that role in such a big spot and

everything I hear about him these days is just how much people liked working with him. You know, quick to laugh, family guy, sounds like he loved the game a lot. And you know, I didn't have the luxury, the treat to know him personally, but man, you guys have all raved about him. I'm not sure you guys were even born when we started. So yeah, well, you know, this goes specially. Yeah, I mean, I certainly was maybe for me.

I don't know. But I will say in my own personal experience Greg Mellon Joe Bowen soundtrack of my my childhood growing up and watching and listening to those guys call leaf games that was you know, it's part of why Frankly, I'm sitting here too with you guys is the love and passion for that and seeing individuals like Greg and Joe and others do it. But you know, he's firmly entrenched in my memory and in my formative years, listening to him call games on hockey night in Canada and covering the Toronto Maple Leafs,

pretty special. And I also remember specifically, you know, like the in between the benches, that was a bit of a novel concept a little bit, you You know Ray Ferraro does a terrific job with that, but he was always really good in that role as well and Yeah, Greg Millen will always you'll always have a special place in my heart because it was it was at a point in my life where I was becoming a sports fan growing into being a hockey fan and He was a part of that. That's awesome We didn't hit it off that great too at the start. You and Millen? Yeah, I mean, it was me because I was young and raw

and he had been well established at Hockey Night in Canada and there was a bar, there was a level. Yeah. And. He wanted you to be good. Nobody. And you weren't. No, no, you're not you're not you're not wrong at all. You're not far off. But I wasn't getting good in like anytime fast. And he knew

that he knew that. Yeah. But like back in those days, like there was hockey night in Canada, and then there was no one else. I think at times he was frustrated with a startup company like us and especially working with a guy like me after he's been with the very best. So there were times when he was a little hard on me and I didn't understand it at the time because I'm an idiot, young and foolish and still thinking you're kind of cool. And you say you were more confident then or now? Stupidly confident back then. Yeah. But I didn't understand. And he taught me he really did that to do well in this business. You've got to start over again. You just cannot come

in off the ice and think that people are going to respect you because you just played in the NHL or that you were part of a Stanley Cup or you could storytell. Like you have to reinvent yourself. And that comes with a work ethic and that comes with taking your craft seriously and at times I was an idiot again because I tried to crack a joke here and there and sometimes it just didn't work like a lead balloon. Funny now that's such a part of it. He knew it. He knew it right from the start what would work for me, what wouldn't work for me.

And years later, I could see it every year passing. I could see, oh now- And did your relationship with him change? Now it only grew stronger. The more I appreciated maybe a kick in the butt every once in a while from him, which you don't understand. It's like a parent, a child, right? They don't get it when you're young and an idiot, but you get it when you get older. And I spoke to Greg maybe about a month ago.

And I mean, sometimes we shared stories of starting out together and sometimes we just laugh at the fact that we've been in this business for 25, 30 years and we're still getting paid. It's like, Millsy would be the first guy going, Keper, I'm still fooling them. Yeah. Right? And that's the way Millsy was. But he was in a happy place. And it's really, it's really, yeah, we send condolences to the Millen family, his wife, his children, gone too soon.

Alright, as Melzi would say, the game must go on and it is tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs facing the Florida Panthers for the second time in a week Yes, and do we know for sure what kind of lineup we're going to see JB We have a pretty clear idea. This is a team that has been missing Significant pieces with Kachuk Barkov Bennett Reinhardt Greer Sturm Kulikov Forstley and Ekvlad Wow, that's a great hockey team that they've been missing. Tonight, though, they are going to get back their captain Barkov, their best D-man and Forsling Sam Reinhardt will make his return.

So that's big news for them. What do they miss a game? Reinhardt might have missed a game. Reinhardt was one game. Yeah. What does one game do? Right. I would rest that guy too, maybe one game. Yeah, what does one game do? I would rest that guy too maybe. Yeah.

Well, it's funny, you know, like I don't know why I waited into Twitter. I'm like fully done with Twitter. You can't say anything. You literally can't be like blue is blue and people be like, not always. Oh my God. You lowered Suzuki to top 40. Yeah. No, I just, you know, I pushed back on the stupid idea that the Panthers are losing to get the Leafs

The pushback being you don't know that Leafs are gonna win the division You'd have you don't know a place to finish to get them You know Tampa Bay if you think they're better is probably gonna win the division like they're two points back with a softer schedule anyway is probably going to win the division. Like, they're two points back with a softer schedule anyway. And then, you know, you got a bunch of people saying they're trying to lose. And tonight, Reinhardt, Forzing, Barkov, they're trying to get guys back. They're trying to find their own game. They're worried about themselves because frankly, they believe they can beat anyone. So you don't... They rest guys till they're ready.

And these guys are apparently ready, Kip. So I trust them on that. If he needed more games, they'd give more games. And as far as the other guys, and correct me if I'm wrong. We heard from Paul Maurice today We did this go we did indeed. Yes, he talked about Sam Bennett He did talk a little bit about Sam Bennett just briefly the the rationale by the way Sam Bennett they're shutting him down between now and the end of the regular season and The expectation is game one playoffs. He'll be ready to go Paul Maurice a little bit of insight into what went into that decision.

It hasn't it was over the course of the road trips and we can manage it, but he can't play the game at his best. So he could play but it doesn't make any we got to get him to write to as close to 100%. We think we might be able to do that, but we got to do that office He could play it's really their only chance to to be taken seriously in

repeating is to get I believe Sam Bennett back and And even at blood and I'm not a huge Aaron at blood fan, but that guy can munch minutes and he can play specialty teams and He was a key part to a Stanley Cup last season those two guys for me and I mean we know Kachuk's out there too is almost like a cherry on top but Those three guys like it's imperative that they're healthy.

People get it twisted sometimes when guys get too much money or they're drafted higher. And Ekblad's a great example of a guy who people are like, ah, he's not a number one pick. So they treat him like he's whatever, he's a valuable player. Every team in the league would benefit from having them they miss him quite a bit right now considering some of the guys they have in so

yeah, that's that's a big loss. All right, let's kick in a kippers clipper on Craig Boroughby discussing going up once again against the Florida Panthers. We got to have patience playing this team. Cause they check extremely well. They're in your face extremely well. And there's not a lot of room. So we're gonna have to be patient.

Simple puck plays are important tonight. Putting pucks in behind them, getting pucks out of your zone. Those little things are crucial. And we did a real good job of it for all the game I thought and we got a couple good opportunities in third period and capitalize on so you know there's there's a lot of good things we did well playing them but those are key for me. Yeah those are key things you know Florida's interesting spot. I think it's been seven games

I think you had in the lineup since they've scored three goals. They haven't won in five right there Oh four and one and their last five games But no one seems worried about you know, the panic is not there from anyone You know, there are ways to get at them. I is the Reinhardt clip worth playing? Honestly, the one that's interesting to me here in terms of on that subject, on that theme, it's actually Brad Marshann. Brad Marshann, we could play clip one because I think that gives us a good indication and idea of why nobody's really worried about this team. I think the biggest thing is just make sure we're playing the right way going to playoffs. Yeah we've lost some games lately but if you look at the way we're

losing we're playing we're playing strong hockey I mean we're giving a couple opportunities the game and running some hot goalies but that's gonna happen. If we continue to play the way we are and forecheck the way we are and close the way this team has all year I mean we're gonna be a tough team to play and we know we're putting a good game together. A lot of guys are in line up and guys that are coming in are playing well, so just have to keep building. Yeah, what I've been able to gather the last week and a bit out of Florida is that they're not playing poorly.

The record doesn't indicate The the way that they've played and Brad's right they've run into some hot goal tanning the least had this exact stretch They're they do it. What do they lose in a row? Was it four or five? I think it was four. Yeah We went through this they ran into some good goalies and they played pretty decent They just didn't get the wins and it happens over certain stretches But also that's kind of why you get Marchand, isn't it? You have a guy who's like, he's been there, he's won a lot, things are going poorly, and he's not like,

oh God, we really need this one tonight. And I still think that there's a level that he needs to get to still, and at times it hasn't come quickly for him in Boston this season, and even in Florida. So I don't know. Is it just the start of a small kind of scale downwards or is this, are we going to still see a very good prime kind of Marchand?

Do you think he's got a lot of hockey left in him Does this mean you're worried about the contract the Leafs are gonna give him? I I would question any team in terms of Being careful with term and money. Yeah, I He's a great penalty killer still we know that And he maybe will go down as one of the best modern day penalty killers in history. I think he's just a phenomenal, phenomenal guy

that can do a lot of good things on the specialty teams. But as far as maybe losing a step or two, I think, I don't know, is it just having an off year or is this just at his age, it just starts- I think he's slowing down. Slowing down. I think he's slowing down a bit. And then it's combined with you're not on as good a team,

right, like you're not, if he was this version of himself and still playing with Bergeron and Pasternak, you're in the offensive zone a lot more, it's easier to look better, but I think he's had to do more this year on top of being a step slower So a couple Leafs thoughts for tonight their lineup staying the same Absolutely, no changes. So Jake McCabe not back in still no David camp Robertson gonna stay on the fourth line Joseph Wohl getting the start tonight no Anthony Stolar's

thoughts. I gave you mine yesterday. I had no doubt in my mind that I think if you wanted to to leave a lasting thought on the Florida trip and you're coming off a Florida win already the one you probably want to focus on is Tampa Bay with what you perceive as your number one goalie and right now that's Stolarz. Yeah, you liked Tampa last night, eh? Oh, yeah. They're scary power play. I think three against the Rangers last night, if I'm not mistaken.

Best team in the East? Tampa Bay Lightning? I think right now they seem to be the... Kutra, Point Gensel, Hagel, Sorelli, Goncalves, Bjorkstrand, Gord, Paul, and then you know Headman, McDonough, Czernak, Vasilevski. There's a lot to like. Not to dwell on our opening conversation here, but it's hard to pick your poison right now. Even if you thought that Florida is very confident against the Leafs. It's like all three of these teams and now we throw Ottawa in so they're all, they all have elements of being very dangerous.

Yeah. All of them. They do. They do. The one thing I will say that everyone doing the Ottawa freakout thing, they don't score like these other teams. Like they're bottom, what are they in the league in scoring? I can figure that out fairly quick.

But they're like 20th, 21st, 22nd in goals four. They just don't have the guys who complete finishers. They don't have complete finishers. And then the Leafs D since adding Carlo has really been good at taking away high danger chances. I just think Ottawa would have a tough time scoring. They're still very good. That's not saying they couldn't beat the Leafs, but I think it's just such a different ask

than it is to say play Florida or Tampa. They're about middle of the pack, Borny. They're literally right in the middle. Pretty much. And that's in Goals 4 per game? Yeah. Goals 4, they're exactly like right in the thick of things in the murky middle of the NHL.

In the expected Goals 4 category, they are significantly below the murky middle of the NHL. In the expected goals for category, they are significantly below the murky middle. Looking at the sport logic chart, so. And, you know, nevermind. They're pretty close to dead middle, anyway. I wanna get your thoughts on, are we now in that area of personal agendas because I'm starting to hear topics of conversation on

Willie for 50 and Mitch Marner for 100 here. So I don't think it's anywhere near what we had to go through last season with Auston Matthews and 70, but is there a chance that's creeping in right now? I mean, Willie's not even close, right? He's got, he needs a goal. Games, six, six, six games. Yeah. Yeah. He averages a goal every two games.

He has six games left. You know, he's on pace for 46, seven, eight. I don't think that's that interesting. And Mitch, Mitch has been well below a point per game for how many years now seven? I don't know you got six games left. He needs a point per game He needs a point he's six he's six points away from a hundred he could end up with three tonight Like you can't tell me one of these games. He's not they're playing Buffalo Detroit Some point he's gonna have a three-point game and then you chip in a couple of siss. So he I don't think it's that

Now if he has a couple games where you know, it doesn't go well, we can sit here and go You got to get it. He has to get it this year, by the way, not like he needs to do it They need to make sure it happens for him Like just put them out there at the empty net get them on you know, you think so just make it happen And I feel like there's more incentive Like just put them out there at the empty net, get them on, you know. Oh, you think so? Just make it happen. I feel like there's more incentive, there's definitely more incentive for Mitch to do it. Yeah. Right?

Because the, I mean, Sammy said to you in jokes about it too. He's a hundred point guy, but not really. Yeah. Right? And everybody, all the, I don't wanna call them. Sam's the only one that goes, not really. Kipper, I've heard plenty of people do it. I've heard plenty of non-Mitch believers, right? The folks that want to rain on the parade

when it comes to Mitch Marner frequently joke about, oh, Hunter, he talks about, we could say he's a hundred point guy, but no, he's not, 99, not a hundred. I just, and I think it's silly. I'm a rounded out guy, rounded up. I'm with you. Think about, you're talking about a guy and this is a game here and there. Lost is a 70 gold guy, he'm a rounded out guy. Rounded up. I'm with you.

Think about you're talking about a guy. This is a game here and there. He's a hundred point guy. Yeah. Last year he was a 70 point guy or a 70 goal guy. You know, like it's I wouldn't grind on that at all. I think it's there. I do.

I hear it. We hear it. All right. Let's get the head coach's thoughts on Marner clip three. It's like a guy scoring 50 goals. And it means a lot to the player, individual, and to our team and to the organization. He's just got to make sure he stays in the moment with things

and plays the right way, and the points will come. He's a very good player. He has the ability to do a lot of good things. So he's just got to stay focused and just keep playing his game and focus on playing the team game. I don't think he has anything to worry if there's one guy that does not cheat. It's him. Often the third guy high, often the first guy back.

I mean, this guy's got a conscience defensively that he's just not built to go for it and hang the rest of his game out to dry. No. No, when you're gone, he had a really good game against Florida. Well, he had a good third period, like in big moments. And I did some bits on like how it could look for Mitch in the playoffs For him to be successful and how just because of the way he plays he doesn't play that power Overwhelming game we've come in and said before in certain games where you say you've said that that game's just not built for Mitch certain Game here there that sort of style games not built for him But there's a way within those games we're seeing,

and we saw it in the Four Nations, we saw it against Florida in this one game, where it's like, he can make those game-breaking plays and seems by just staying on the front foot a bit more, being in the action a bit more, he can make those plays. It feels like he's finding something within himself here that that can keep happening for him. And I think that's an encouraging sign for just get him the party to sometimes

If he seems lost it's because he's not he's not getting the puck He's got a skate like in playoffs. I don't feel like he's up in the play the same way, but he yeah He's got a space. Yeah space right like this There's less space and that's where he struggled a little bit historically I think when they get the puck on the power play to him it changes completely if he's off the side And he's not that involved or they've had him in the bumper on occasion, and it's like that's not his game he needs to handle the puck he needs to See three or four different options and he can he can make that pass without

see three or four different options, and he can make that pass without telegraphing anything. He can, for sure. He's the best at it. The one thing that I think has been good lately is with all the movement, with Willie and Austin and Mitch at the top, you don't really know who it's gonna be or where a guy is gonna be,

and I think that's been really effective for them. All three of them taking it to them, and their power play's been so good now since January They've really found something, you know, can they be like Tampa Bay in the postseason with those guys? I think it's there for them more this year than in past years. So Here's to hope it. Anyway, all right, let's I want to get Craig Brewie's thoughts on one of my favorite players in the league Barkov is one of the best 200 foot players in the National Hockey League. So it makes it he's difficult. It's hard. He's a hard opponent to go against, you know, who's ever out there against them. And, you know, he makes a power play better. He makes a penalty kill better and he makes their five on five game better. It's very seldom he's in the wrong place, this guy. Yeah, he is.

He's a horse. He's a horse. Yeah. It was a Hubert who had 115 points on his line or something like that. It's pretty good. You know, and we know without him, he's like a 70 point guy. Yeah, he is. I think he really...

Yes, Kachuk for sure and even Bobrowski last season, but this guy is the Florida Panthers. He is the face. He is the... He is the man. He is for sure. Before we get to Jeff Shickren, Yes. Do you want to... We have Marchand talking about Brandon Carlo and Paul Marie is talking about Anthony Stolar.

So I know he's not playing tonight, but yeah I love his thoughts. Okay. Let's hear his thoughts on Stolar's awesome clip 3 Maurice Sorry, that's Paul Maurice clip 3 and if not, that's okay I thought that coming out of January his entire game changed and I'll be clear about this I don't know anything about goaltending like nothing so I can only tell you what it looked like from the bench and from kind of the middle of the ice in practice I just thought he got to a structure in his game we played we played against the New York Islanders at home on back to back,

I think it was on back to back in January and he stopped 41. We should have got beat by 10 that night and that to me was kind of when he took off. So that was, and then Robbie Tallis, who I think is just brilliant with these guys. We have players like Alex Lyon kind of come in and, you know, carry our team for a while and still, he was a really important force in that push last year.

He would, he said that right from training camp when the year started, this guy's a player, this guy's a goalie. He's just had some injuries and he's been on some teams that it's tough to kind of get that confidence to get to that role to get feeling good but Robbie Tallis Never wavered from his belief in story I know that Sergey loved him as a partner because he told me that directly and we loved him here in the room and

He's one of those guys that when he when he got the opportunity He got a payday a little bit like he had earned it. Everybody was happy. We loved to kept him, but it's in that Ryan Lombard mix. Love the guy. He's great for us. Good for you and your family. I hope it works out great for you. That's how you watch the whole wedding.

That's great, isn't it? There's some coaches out there that wouldn't give it 10 seconds. No. Here's 93 seconds. Yeah, wouldn't give it Ten seconds. No Happy for him Answer to Borny. I didn't even another question after about him next question Yeah, no, he was all in so it does seem like this is just okay. Stollers is our guy We're gonna play him against yeah I don't even there's I don't even think there's enough time to for him to change it

change it or stink or Plant a seed of doubt. I don't you know scary phrase Do you think there's any don't be that guy right you shout out shout out You guys place any stock in in the I don't know It's like the implicit confidence that comes with with the guy that's there in the communication element Because every time you especially the last couple weeks for whatever reason The the common theme with any of the guys on the Leafs talking about stole are specifically you can hear them at Any end of the rink wherever you are you can hear him. He's vocal

He's emotional and he connects with them in a different way where he's not the goalie it's like he's kind of one of the guys he's he's part of the team he's not that weirdo goalie type you know what i mean i i wonder if some of that is just even provides extra confidence and faith for the the skill players up front for the defenseman on the blue line, that they're like, oh, we really trust this guy. His eyes and ears matter to us back there. I think it depends.

So yes, typically, I think that's a great thing that he's that confident and comfortable and he's a part of it. That's awesome. But then you have some really weird goalies. And I like that too. I like the guy who's comfortable with who he is and he doesn't need to be one of the guys because he's into the universe. I mean, Joseph Wohl is like a big Lego and piano guy, but that's cool too.

So as long as you're confident, whatever your real personality is. I played with super quiet guys, Don Boulpre in Washington. He was pretty damn good. Yeah, he had a great career. Glenn Healy and Mike Richter were chatty guys, but they're not loud guys. It's not like you could hear them a hundred feet away from you. Yours wasn't? No, it wasn't like a...

It wasn't like a yeller. When he had something to say, he would say it, but he... Most goalies see the game differently, right? So but they're not they're not scared to share information on a whistle or something for you but not loud not like where it kind of ripples through you and Whatever the case is with Stolar's like it's working and that's the most important thing, that there hasn't been any cracks, there hasn't been any, even on their three or four game losing streaks throughout the year,

it's never really seemed like they've been off the page. They're always, they seem to always be on the same page. So he's found his place. He's found his comfort zone for the first time in his career as a go-to guy and it's taken him what 12 years. Think how much money is at stake for him from now over the next whatever 8, 9, 10 months. Like if he holds down this number one job and they win a couple playoff rounds Yeah, the number one guy and it goes well, and then he starts next season decent

You know as he it's like all right. We better extend this guy. You know where he's still a long way, and I think The history his health is history definitely will not allow him to sign a six-year deal at 40 million bucks right I just I cannot see it but To your point if he can string together a great run here and come back next season At Christmas and it looks like his health issues are somewhat behind him and he can convince some medical staff that Nothing's blowing up in the near future maybe you can talk them into a yeah a lengthier contract. Eight months from Christmas it's like you know those are that's a big chunk of his

career that he can his next deal could be worth two times two or it could be worth you know four times seven. Alright we'll take a quick break here and when we return we'll bring in a former roommate of mine Is that right? Really? Jeff Chickren covering the Florida Panthers Or should I call him? Jacob's father More on tonight's game Toronto versus Florida when we return to real kipper and born Get smarter when you listen to hockey talk the hockey PDO cast with Dimitri Filipovich. Subscribe and

download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The Toronto Maple Leaf play a front end of a back to back in the state of Florida. Starting with the Panthers tonight, which welcomes in Jeff Chickren former NHL defenseman current analyst Covering the Florida Panthers my former room roommate plenty to get into tonight. But my first question to you Jeff is What are you doing working man? Your kid just signed for 72 million? Bananas, why aren't you on a private plane right now peeling some of them?

Crazy how they talk about what are they calling PJs? Yeah private jet Know that I Wouldn't know that Your money I'd burn mine. Hey Thank you very much. Congratulations on that. No, what's the dad fee on that? What is what's the percentage agents get what three to five percent? What's in what's in it for dads? Apparently it's not going up You know, I guess hopefully less gray hair from the stress of being sort of in this environment kind of waiting to see if it'll ever Happen but we're honestly Nancy. we're just so thrilled for him.

It's been a really fun nine years going through some ups and downs, depending on how the hockey clubs were doing, and just trying to enjoy the process. But we're just really happy. Obviously put a lot of work in and recently got married. So for my wife and my perspective, I mean, we're just happy parents at

this point, hoping to hoping he can just enjoy the next while. And the great part now is it's all about winning in Washington, hopefully. Yeah, that's awesome. So when when he signed the contract, you know, all the think pieces come out and everything. And I all of a sudden was exposed to how much of a fitness, I don't want to say freak, a fitness committed athlete your son is. Does that come from you or were you a hard working committed type player? Well I just always tried to be under 12% body fat when Pat Croce was getting us at camp there, right Nick?

And he tried to run that two miles in 12 minutes or whatever it was. No, definitely not for me. I think I always put the work in to try to be in shape for camp, but he certainly takes it a little bit further than I did. That's for sure. And, you know, he's got to overcome a few things. So probably a good thing for him. What about Kip?

Was Kip more like Jacob or more like? I always thought Nick was in great shape. Oh, yeah, I won awards. I got the bench press. I was right behind Timmy Kerr. Look at him. I got that was easy. Oh, and they pay us offr. It still is. Look at him. I got it. Yeah, that was easy. Oh, and they pay us off, eh, when we came in shape.

Oh, really? Oh, yeah. They'd bribe you to be in shape, eh? They'd pay cash for coming in at the top. That's awesome. All right. Let's focus a little bit. Chick, let's focus a little bit on the Atlantic division and what's going on, particularly

with the Florida Panthers. There's some up here that may suggest that they're tanking on purpose to maybe meet the Leafs in a lower seed. But the sense is that they are legitimately banged up. What kind of lineup do you expect tonight? And how serious are some of the injuries? Yeah, well, I think Barakov's back. I haven't been to camp that much. I was there last week.

I didn't see Kachuk skating. Kulakov, I guess, is close. Ekblad obviously won't be playing until early in the first round. Sturm, I'm not sure there, but I guess Sam Bennett's going to be out now for the next week to 10 days. They're going to hold them back. So some serious pieces. They did the game in Ottawa the other day.

And geez, you know, they put 40 shots on, 22 against. Sort of looking at that game, I think it was halfway through the second period, Ottawa hadn't had a shot similar to the third period. Really sort of put on a dominant performance, couple of mishaps in the first cause that goals and that sort of set them back to zip. You're not scoring five on five.

I think that's the biggest concern right now. You listen to Paul Maurice talk though though he says he likes the process. He likes sort of the game that the important things to him. They're playing these tight games, a lot of one goal games and they're playing well. Maybe they're gripping the stick tight. I just think there's a lot of guys that'll line up Nicky and a lot of forced manipulational lines and it's just taking a little while to come back. And they played a hell of a lot of hockey in the past three years. Yeah, yeah, it's understandable, right? It does catch up to you. Um, how is brad marshand fitting in so far as a florida panther? Yeah, I think he's fitting in well, obviously it's interesting listen to uh, it was marisa a couple weeks ago sort of talking about

Their talks about acquiring marshand and the first thing him and zito sort of talked about they needed a penalty killer And they sort of looked at him and Bergeron as really elite penalty killers. And then you get all the great, obviously characteristics and guy in the room, hungry veteran, the offense that he brings. But I think it's been a little bit of a struggle because really the club struggle,

I think Ferhagi scored in 13 games or something. So there's a lot going on in that locker room right now. And, but I think structurally, he plays really well. he plays really well. They have some good looks on the power play with him out there in Ottawa the other day. And I think it's just sort of trying to fine tune it and obviously hoping it comes together the next six games before they start the real dance. And is there a stronger optimism with Matthew Kachuk coming back? I do hear that he is feeling better to what extent? I'm not sure what that means, but I think there's some people that really believe that he could be ready by game one Yeah, I think that I think that the skate picked up somewhat today from what I heard

So that that could be promising. Obviously, we don't really know heard. So that that could be promising. Obviously, we don't really know what what's going on, but or what the injury is. But we're just sort of waiting to see how that comes through to Nikki. So I guess we'll get news at the same time and in the next week to 10 days. How about the the gold 10? How's that shaping up this year? Obviously, he was he's, you know, such a he can run hot and cold. He's been very good for a long time. Yeah, he's been, you know, such a, he can run hot and cold, but he's been very good

for a long time now. Yeah, he's been, you know, really, I think we spoke maybe last January and I think that's sort of when it really kind of kicked into high gear. I think they went into Toronto and things went a little bit off the rails there too. But from that point on, he's really been solid, you know, obviously his work ethics second to none in practice, just so methodical. But I think, I think he plays pretty relaxed. Little guy kind of makes himself bigger. I think you can sort of see the, anytime he's out, the communication between him and, and, and the defenseman is picking up Vanacheck. He seems to be a pretty solid goaltender. I think they probably did miss that, that tandem with Anthony Stoller.

I thought he was so good last year when they needed him to be. But I think Bob's been his usual consistent self all year. He can't put the puck in the net and I think that's really sort of the problem. A lot of one close games have been lost recently. We'll get a good feel out of the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight against Florida, but

From 60,000 feet is is Tampa the team that might be bringing it together at the right time the most out of this division Yeah, they look good. Don't they? You know when Kucherov gets hot too, that's kind of a frightening proposition point looks good Headman looks like he's healthy and moving moving well. I think McDonough was a good pickup. And obviously when Vasilevsky looks like he's the old Vasilevsky, right? Stopping everything and then some. So yeah, I mean, obviously with that Stanley Cup final coming through Florida, is it five years in a row? Vasilevsky was a huge part of it.

I think that you can't count them out. They look healthy, they look fresh. And obviously bringing you guys back like Johnny Gourd and those are sort of key pickups probably for the feeling in that locker room. Jeff, after spending some years watching Ottawa and then you just saw them a couple nights ago, are you surprised to see how they've got themselves

into the playoff fight? Yeah, not really. I actually didn't think they were that good against the Florida Panthers I think Florida really dominated the possession side of that game but Joe Vanoskin we were talking about sort of the high-end talent Jake Sanderson on the first power play goal it was pretty exceptional play by him obviously moving his feet. Thoughts Timmy Stutzle was very evident, his skill sets. But no, I think that's been coming for a few years.

I think we've all sort of been wondering when it might take that next step. I was talking to Dave Poole the other day, and he said, you know, with Travis coming in, they've really just focused on the defensive side of the puck. Hasn't even got into teaching the offensive side. I think they're really happy with sort of David Prawn's play the past little bit and

that's certainly going to help. But no, I'm not surprised. I think the goaltending has been really solid and probably due to the large fact that the defense has been quite good this year. Well, we've got to round out the Atlantic with maybe the Montreal Canadiens who have already announced that Demidov is coming over from the KHL out of his contract with his respective club in Russia here.

Are we poised for somewhat of an upset here in the East? In the first round? Yeah, in the first round. Like is it between Ottawa and Montreal? Do you think knocking off one of the big boys? I suppose it's possible. You have to remember I'm a parent now, Nicky, so I really would want one of those teams to get really hoping for a long run. But no, I mean, yeah, looks like Montreal starting to put a little distance between the pack and look for a while that nobody really wanted to get that second wild card.

So I suppose it's possible. I don't know, I still think winning is learned behavior and it takes a little while to sort of, you may get in the dance, you may not quite be ready to totally compete. So I think that's still to be determined, Nicky, but it's possible. Looking at Florida's spot and all this,

do you think it matters to them who they draw? Or is it just that they're so confident, used to kind of handling whoever, it doesn't really matter? Right, sort of that we don't change our game mentality. I think that's the mantra that they try to throw out there. But I think matchups are keys and some teams just match up differently than others. I think there's probably one or two teams they'd prefer not to play too early but you know they certainly I mean they won seven of their eight lot playoff series going into this year so they certainly seem to adapt well. I think with them

the key is really going to be health come that first round in my opinion. Two common themes tonight with the Toronto Maple Leafs in Florida is their respective free agents Yeah going So far without a contract with Mitch Marner in Toronto Sam Bennett in florida your kid could have gone that way but Washington stepped up and made sure he didn't go anywhere There's probably different dynamics involved in the negotiations for Marner and Bennett. But how do you see the Florida one shaking out between Bennett and the Panthers?

Because this is a guy that's many ways might be irreplaceable. Yeah, he to me, he is really the guy that drags his team into the fight, right? He's that nail-biting center man that really is able to play with a skill level, but also a controlled aggression on the ice. And I think he is intimidating to play against. So it is interesting. I think there's a history in Florida.

If you look at Reinhardt, you look at Verhege, you look at Ekman Larsen, Montour, all those guys played it right out last year. So there is a bit of a history with that. I'm sure they would love to have it locked in. I think there's still a little bit of debate. I mean, obviously the salary cap and the projections the next three years,

it's all sort of gone public obviously, but I think there's still some, maybe some fine tuning in the mind of the general managers to see exactly where they are and what their pay schedule Is going to be moving forward? So I think I Mean, I'm sure everybody would love to have all the guys locked up I don't know what what the deal is in Toronto with Mitch, but it's sort of sort of new frontier

I suppose I almost think that the salary caps been artificially held back for the past several years and now is sort of accelerating So we'll see where it all pans out but sort of new territory for everybody involved in my opinion. Great seeing you. Thank you, Justin. Great to see you guys too. And enjoy the game tonight. We'll catch up again soon. Yeah, thanks for your time. Appreciate it. Jeff Chickren.

Every time we call him it's like 80 degrees behind him with palm trees and it snows here. Yeah, I know. Today's actually the most disgusting, the most disgusted I've been at the weather in Ontario since I've lived here. How long have you lived here? 13 years.

Are you serious today? April, it always snows in April. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then it's gone. It snows one little flurry and then it's gone, except it snowed today. It's supposed to be minus 13 for three straight days. Oh, yeah, yeah. And then it's gone. It snows one little flurry and then it's gone, except it snowed today. It's supposed to be minus 13 for three straight days. Oh, I didn't see that part.

No, I didn't look either. Is that real? Well, the feels like it's minus 13 till like Thursday. I don't like that. You are not to book anyone south of Georgia. Okay? Fair enough. Unless, yeah, you get someone in Georgia.

If you get Rory on, we'll take him. Yes. Big week. Big week. Big week. This is my favorite week of the year. Mm-hmm. I'm so excited. And they scheduled us to work Toronto and Carolina on Sunday. But don't forget, there's a big TV in the middle and then a rainbow of TVs around it that we can have them on different holes. Amen Corner. I'm telling our producer, Matt Martin, to get me a clip of maybe an approach shot. We should do a pack at one of the intermissions. If you're watching us and golf highlight comes up, don't be surprised. You're Scottie Scheffler on 15. And just sit there quiet while he addresses the ball.

Hush. Hush tones. I mean, no more golf. Great drop. Yeah, kind of quiet, eh? Between Bennett and Florida and Marner and Toronto. I think everybody knows it's just... These are different animals, though, Kev.

These are not the same players. It's nice that it's parked. Okay, different in what way? Well, I mean.... These are not the same players. It's nice that it's parked. Okay, different in what way? Well, I mean- The situations are exactly the same. Yeah, but Mitch is a guy that I think people would consider a top, whatever, 10, 15, but whatever you put him at in the league.

Yeah, well. Benitz, not that. Yeah, we may be talking about a difference on an AAV of maybe four million bucks. If one gets nine, the other one could get 13 or 14. But I think both are viewed in the same way. How do we replace that player if he leaves? I just have so much less confidence that Bennett can be this Bennett later in Bennett's career.

You know, we did this with Ovi yesterday. I don't believe that, I didn't believe that Ovi could hold up. There's a physical element to this that suggests that you are correct at some point, because it's easier to last longer playing like Rich Marner than it is Sam Bennett. Patrick Kane scored 20 goals this year. How long has he been in the league? 20 years?

He scored 20 this year. Didn't he like have that, what was it, the hip surgery? They remade his hip and he scored 20 goals this year. You know, like, I don't think that works when you're so much of who you are is intimidation, force, fear. Yeah, he's gonna alter it. He'll pick his spots better as you get older. And then he can score and play and be effective

and he's smart and he's always gonna be a good player. But there will be someone that knows that they're overpaying or giving him one or two more years and then they'd like to but they'd still rather have them for the next five or six. Yeah. Yep. And that's just- And Vladdy for years 12, 13 or 14 or whatever.

Welcome to free agency, right? Yeah, yeah. That's part of the deal. Like, you okay with 14 for Vladdy? But that could sour and a lot quicker. My favorite thing I read about it, Jeff Blair, Blair and Barker has an article on Sportscent.ca where he basically says, don't worry about that right now. Be happy that this guy chose to be here, be a part of the Blue Jays, a superstar pick

the Jays. It's not our problem at the end of the day. It's not our problem. And it won't be this management's team's problem either. 100%. 100%. You know? So it's like, it's a good thing that when good players are in a place, other good players want to be there. People aren't trying to get to Edmonton because they love Edmonton. You know, McDavid's there, so that's why Perry wants to go there and Kane wants to go there. And the Florida fans think the same way about Bennett as you're telling

Toronto fans to feel about Vladdy. Right? Don't worry about it. Five or six or seven years. Don't worry about it. No, I don't know if that's the same. Why? What's different? Bennett's not that superstar class. He's not that same caliber guy. The only thing I would say I think is different, you know, even with Marner and Vlad in this, Florida's won. They've done it. So going to the brink of free agency or even the guy walks out the door, tests the market, I don't know if you're a

fan of that team how it's going gonna feel so much worse, right? Like it's not, you won, you've accomplished it. You've already, you've seen what it looks like. You have faith in your coach, in your staff, in your front office. And if you do go to the extent of saying, ah, we probably overpaid a little bit or we gave him too much term, that's okay.

We'll live with it, we won. In these instances with Marner, and we'll see what happens this year, but with Marner and Vladdy, they haven't won. The Blue Jays haven't won a playoff game. And Sam has, and Sam Bennett has, and he's, and like, I know what you're saying. From a skill point of view, from a optic point of view,

this guy skates amazing, he scores 100 points, but hey, Sam knows, Sam's been more valuable to Florida than Mitch has been to Toronto. He's a winner. He's a winner and the other one hasn't won yet. And you get to carry that tag, and he has earned the right to cash in a chip, he's a valuable player, if you give him nine, five,

I'd be like, I got it, you gotta pay him, you know, but. Oh, everybody's getting rich except the three of us. Buddy. Don't check the stock market. Don't, don't make that mistake today. I have much money to lose, but she go. All right. Mr. Rallicat coming up. He's up next on his Tuesday edition of our program. Don't go away.