Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Depth Delivers

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with Morgan Rielly's 5-game suspension, the 'Leafs conspiracy' when it comes to suspensions and what could come from his appeal. Then, on the Leafs' win last night over the Blues, overcoming the team's Frankenstein lineup, McMann's hat-trick, Bertuzzi's goal demons and the Brodie/Liljegren top D-pair. Then, on the Leafs' goalie situation with murmurings of Matt Murray's potential return. Finally, to keep Nick Robertson or to sell?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.

we are live and in color welcome in to the bobby mcmahon edition of the real kipper and born show nick kiprios justin key derek brandeo and frank the tank not from alaska barrasca oh you got it wherever you're watching wherever you're listening sportsnet 590 sportsnet 360 sportsnet plus thanks for joining us today ready to go where did you have bobby mcmahon at two career nhl goals not knowing that he was playing till four o'clock coming up with a hat trick on six shots last night i saw someone say that he was plus 700 to score a goal so really yeah so I don't know what happens if you do the multiple. It's not 700

times 3 to get to whatever those odds were. It's a big number for him to have scored a hat trick. A shocker. I think the odds of him scoring a goal was similar to the ones that the Gardner will actually be done in three years. Oh, did you see that?

I did not see that. Sammy told me about it. What is going on? I can't even get on the Gardner from the East End. Yeah, so it's two lanes shut down both ways from Duffer and Destron. And may I remind you, we are hosting the literal World Cup in two years. Yeah, but they're going to have it open

for that portion somehow. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Whatever repairs are being done will be fine at that time. So I think the odds are very similar to it actually being done. You guys don't use it to come to work every day, do you? No. I take the Red Rocket every day.

Alright. Yeah, but still, that's just brutal. That's all I've been thinking about all day. It's not just the Gardner that's affected. Not to do City News 680 here, but we're doing our Toronto Hour. People that are listening right now, there's many people on the gardener at this very moment listening to my voice. Think about how bad it is in rush hour right now.

Right. Four lanes down. Oh, my God. Dude, I bought my first ever house last year, two years ago. Thank you very much. Yes. Wow, congrats. I bought it on the East End, and the day after I bought it, they just ripped down the ramp to the garden.

I was like, I'm sorry, what? Can I get my money back, please? I can access that again? The Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh, right. Sorry. You guys done your 680 traffic report? We're trying to bail you out.

You got the sleepy eyes today. We're just trying to get power through the show for you. How are you doing over there, Kevvie? Well, will the Gardner be ready by the time Morgan Riley's suspension is over? Five games. Five games. Which was the number both hosts of this show predicted. We didn't get the news out fast enough yesterday,

but they did get it out prior to puck drop. And, yeah, we get it out prior to puck drop. And yeah, we said it, five. I said one underneath Perron's. And I don't know, your thoughts. Can I ask you about the report

out there that it was leaked before the Leafs actually knew what the number was? Did you see that? Yeah. That there was some, you know, that Kevin Weeks leaked the number that was the first thing and maybe that they were got that news broken to them by a newsbreaker oh yeah thoughts on that yeah I don't really care you know not to whatever but like I don't doesn't it certainly adds to the conspiracy theory that they're out to get the Leafs. Does it? Because there is a general feeling that, yeah, the whole thing was kind of set up, I think, just because the whole hockey world watches when it's a Toronto Maple Leaf. Why is it this whole thing that there's a conspiracy theory about the Leafs?

Hold on. Is there any factual basis why they would want the Leafs to take the hard end of things? Given the size of the audience, you think they would want to cater to? What would be the potential reasons? Because I think of us. I think that... Me and Kip? Yeah, no just us three we're the only ones well where would you talk want to hear anybody else talk with the least other than us three right but i think there's so much below there's wind from everybody talking about this for so long it feels like they they look soft if they go soft in the Leafs.

Yeah. You know, and I just, like, I don't know if I believe that Peros hates the Leafs or whatever it is, but to me, it's like, I tweeted it out, and boy, people are still, my Twitter mentions are still at war zone, but I said that there's a Leafs suspension tax,

and it's always two to three more games than it should be. And I just feel that's, I, you can never convince me otherwise that there's not at least suspension tax there is something to be said that uh the rest of the league does watch the way the leafs get treated for sure and we've talked about this on multiple occasions that there is this ongoing jealousy of the toronto Maple Leafs and it always has to do with the attention that they get or the money that they make and it pisses people off because whether they're in first place or last place it doesn't change and everybody else doesn't

live by that same principle so therefore uh you know there's a there's a certain arrogance around the toronto maple leaf so when there's a chance to stick it to them they want to see you get stuck but the league shouldn't want that you look at other leagues and it's like the nba will do anything to have the lakers be successful and to cater to lebron and you look at you know the yankees and like those leagues, those are their meal ticket. The Kansas City Chiefs. You know, they prop up. The Leafs prop up three teams in the league financially

with the money they make. You'd think they would go out of their way to cater to them. You know, so in terms of kicking around theories, what about Brendan Shanahan? Gary Batman. You know, he was the former Department department of players safety head he's been involved since he left there this is when all these stats you see right now but the leafs getting the hard end of the the deal is since peros has taken over and shanahan's been out is there some sort of

relationship there yeah yeah i listen, I don't know. Some people are suggesting would Brendan Shanahan have helped or hurt the process by being involved. I'm like, how does a president not go in to a call and protect his player? Yeah, and you think he would know the ins and outs of the system in a way that he could say. I don't think there would be any bearing on that one way or the other.

It's just, it is what it is. But I'd be a little upset if I was the Toronto Maple Leafs right now knowing that the PA had no idea how many games there were suspensions for Morgan. The Leafs didn't know. Morgan didn't know. Kevin Weeks knew before all three of them knew. I guess I'm different.

I don't care about this. Where would that information have come from? One of the guys on the panel there probably sent a text to maybe Weeks or whatever. Yeah, but that doesn't happen. It doesn't change anything, but why would you leak that information and you're not leaking every other suspension? If I'm a person in the Leafs front office, I am livid that that information came through a leak

as opposed to the Leagues tweeting it out. And I know that you're making a face, but it just shows that. It has no bearing. It has no bearing, but you're saying rather than're saying like, oh, rather than every other suspension, do we know that every other suspension doesn't leak? Yeah, we do. I don't think we do. I don't think.

I don't know. I just don't see. I don't care. No, I know that, but it's just, it's a personal, it's just personal. That's all. It's a personal leak. It's a personal that. I agree the Leafs should know first, by the way.

I'm not trying to be like. Morgan should know before Kevin Weeks is leaking it. Of course they should. 100%. I'm with you on that. The other... By the way, they are going to appeal it. Yeah, they are going to appeal it,

which again lends itself to maybe a bit of a I don't know, conspiracy theory that the reason why it didn't get to six games is because six goes to an independent arbitrator oh my five doesn't five only goes to gary and ends with gary six goes to an independent judge. Oh, yeah. I'm way in on that conspiracy theory. I'm in on that.

Are you? Tinfoil hat. 100%. Thank you very much. They don't want to get, they don't want some other person to come in and show them up and embarrass the process

and whatever. This is the safest thing they could have done to give them the most games possible. Sammy, what do you think? Am I on to something? Yes, you are. I think over the last three years

of doing this show, I have really improved on being Conspiracy Joe with the Leafs. Like I've stopped talking with the refs as much and being hard done by as a Leaf fan and all this stuff. But this one's revving the engines again, boys. Like, can I read a tweet that I got from somebody yesterday for you? If it really will make you upset or piss you off, absolutely. It really hit home.

What exactly are the benefits of being a Leaf fan anymore? Players don't take discounts. Every game against them is the other team's Stanley Cup. Penalized more than any other teams. Punished more strictly. Get the fewest five-on-threes. Called soft, but whenrees, called soft, but when they're not soft, they're banned.

You know why? Because you're relevant. All of those things. I read that and I was like, oh, my God, that was hit me way too hard. But you matter. People care about what's going on with your club. Good message. Good night, everybody.

Thanks for joining us. What is the benefit of being a Leafs fan? what is the benefit of being at least that what is the benefit of us talking the rest of the show yeah fair enough uh anyways i uh i could see that being the case so they're going to be without morgan for five games even if this appeal is one he's for whatever reason they dragged their feet on the sort of stuff and it never seems to get done in time to save you actual hockey games. So was it you mentioning that Sheldon had said that Brad Tree Living was going to make a public

comment? He said last night that they walked back? Last night during his press conference post game press conference somebody asked him about the suspension clearly I think it was Terry Koscielian that asked him and he said that tomorrow Treeiving is going to address you guys and we got news today that they're appealing it and he will not address them so in itself to me that's sort of newsy and the fact that was this just typing out the email and not sending it when

you're mad like what's the like you just you're you're pissed off yeah take a breath uh i i yes to to your point 100 this is just maybe sleeping on it or giving it a few hours letting it calm down taking more emotion out of it i think it's the right decision to not for brad tree living not to speak of it because all he's going to do is add more questions. And I don't think it would serve much of a purpose until you're further down the process of whatever appeal they think they're going to get. Yeah. I think that's a good point is that you're going to have an appeal and that appeal is going to be based on opinion and feeling and whatever.

And if you go out there and bury the league and the Department of Player Safety and Bettman publicly and then ask them for forgiveness, they aren't going to be so inclined to give you that. But I do think, Kip, I do think going out and saying that we just think this is garbage. Sure. You know, unites sort of Leafs fans behind you.

I think it's been done already. I don't think that Brad needs to put a cherry on top of that. I think it's been pretty much covered here. And I'm just wondering, too, a 4-1 victory last night. So a lot of positives last night. Good energy. Do you want to now go today go backwards and take maybe the focus off of a 4-1 win i think you know if they come out and they get smoked last night six nothing

or seven nothing like la did against buffalo perhaps we might hear from brad tree living but with such a good 60 minutes last night, I think Brad coming out and meeting the public today and refocusing on a negative like this story would kind of take away from last night. And, you know, Riley's gone for five games. Maybe he's gone for four games. You know, like total, like if they win this appeal

and get it knocked down again. It won't be heard fast enough. Yeah, so it's for four games. You know, like total, like if they win this appeal and get it knocked down again. They won't, they won't, it won't be heard fast enough. Yeah. So it's probably five games. So, you know, I think they probably like, well, just move on here. You know, like the, we'll wait and see if they win the appeal or not. But your point for Tree Living to make that the focal point today doesn't make it. Yeah.

Just move on. Yeah. Just move on. Okay. That's what we'll do right now when we go to sheldon key for our first kippers clipper of the day on his 3 000 view from the game last night guys played well you know played a pretty pretty simple game which was required especially once we got the lead you guys to step up in ways. I thought we had a lot of great efforts tonight.

And then Bobby, of course, you know, two huge goals for us and, you know, a cool empty netter to finish it off. So, yeah, terrific day or terrific end to kind of a strange day for us, quite honestly, you know, with a lot of our lineup uncertainty and stuff like that. Bobby himself really didn't know he was going to play until he got to the rink here today so steve's was a very last minute arrival for us and lineup change so lots of things uh happening there we had some other stuff behind the scenes it was just guy other guys sick and and trying to

get them ready and and uh guys battling through all of that. So, you know, all that considered, it was a really good effort. So, no Morgan. Then the late scratches from Mitch Marner and John Tavares, and you thought for sure this one had a bad loss written all over it. We did, though. I don't agree. Yeah yeah we called this in here yesterday saying it's the type of spot they show up but i think even more so with those two guys going down

it's an even more of a spot where they win the game and as soon as i saw that like you know you read the least pr tweet they put out the tweet being like tavaris and marner both out with injury and you read all the replies to the tweet. It's like 7-0 win incoming. They're going to win. They're going to win. Like people know this team so well. Yeah.

And I don't, how do you quantify what happens to this team when they're missing guys and they're down and there's adversity? Like, why does this happen if you would like my theory yes i would love oh net.ca i published an article today on this exact topic good um and so i do have a theory on it which is basically you know the leafs are really top heavy team we talk about that all the time they're big guys play all the minutes yada yada yada but you cannot play 82 games at your max level intensity.

So you get games against bad teams where they don't show up, but they still play 25 minutes because that's the way Keefe rolls and all that. These guys just never get the opportunity to be the guys who carry the mail. Domi played 18 minutes last night. You know, Robertson played a ton of time. You get guys who are suddenly hey you matter you're gonna play even if you make mistakes and you get these best efforts where it's like a tryout for these guys almost like a pre-season or new coach bounce where you get the very best

of these guys who say when there's opportunity it should be mine oh yeah yeah and last night i mean what that's their best game of the year defensive defensively by miles. 100% agree with you. Like, you are a team, and there's no question that you understand where your role is and how you can contribute, and ultimately it really comes down to 20 guys coming together, yada, yada, yada. We all know that. Then there's the quiet little voice in your head that says, that goes against that.

And we've all had it. It's called internal competition, where I heard a left winger got hurt. I heard a left winger's not playing tonight because of the flu, and I'm cheering because all it means is more ice time for me or a bigger opportunity. And I can't imagine the internal backflips that McMahon had and Gregor had and Domi had

when they heard no Marner and no Tavares. Yeah, you're going to be on PP1, Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi. All those guys for the first time this season must have been like PP which one? You're coming out like you've been shot out of a cannon last night. Gregor was like flying. He was like dancing dancing around guys. I'm like, what?

What have you been doing? Where have you been? Yeah. Yeah. They're all skating around. Like, yeah, you think I'm a fourth liner? I'll show you. Nick Robertson coming back on pucks, lifting sticks.

Like that guy hunted last night. Yes. Nick Robertson hunted last night. I really enjoyed his game. So this is what Bonkus and I broke down on these talks last night. I'll get your opinion on it. Will Keefe view this as a game where he sees the lesser guys play really well and now he's like, okay, I can trust these guys

in different situations even when the big boys come back. Is that something that can happen? It's just something that we haven't really looked at much. Sammy, you're asking, can people change? Yes.

That's what you're asking. I asked Doug Armstrong that yesterday. But he put out last night to finish the game when he has healthy Matthews. He has healthy. He put out Bobby McMahon, Kampf, and Gregor to finish the game. And it's like they win the draw, win a puck battle, and he banks one in off the boards and into the net, and they win the draw, win a puck battle, and Banks went in off the boards and into the net, and they win the game.

That will be Sheldon Keefe's greatest challenge the last 30 games, is you're going to get these guys back as early as Thursday night. You know, Marner wakes up, feels better. He's coming to the rink. Tavares, the same thing. He really wasn't at practice today either. He's not feeling good. Great. I imagine he was sick last night too.

He implied that. Not to derail this conversation, but I will a little bit. Think about what these guys have gone through the last little while between All-Stars and the hands they shake. Okay, first of all, I like riding the TTC, but come on.

Like, they didn't have to take the TTC to Nathan Phillips Square and load them up. What a zag. What a zag. Just, like, come on. They've been through a lot. They've been traveling. They've all been in airports. Who knows?

They're all coming back. Cut them a break. No, all coming back cut them a break i mean cut them a break before they take their subway every day you know i mean every year is what i meant to say it takes away every year i'm just saying every day but like you you're you're really in the last week and a half two weeks the chances of you getting sick were probably as better than at any point during the season. That's my whole point. Yeah. Right?

I mean, you guys all know. They've been through a lot. Yeah. To hear Marner's run down after everything that he's gone through in the last 10 days, let's put our surprise faces on. I know. It's some of the best things for these guys. Like, Morgan Riley having a break right now is not so terrible.

Marner to have a couple of nights. All right. Willie can sit one out on Thursday. Like, I don't think this is terrible for the Leafs. Okay. All right. I mean, if we on Thursday. Like, I don't think this is terrible for the Leafs. Okay. So, I mean, if we want, we're just kind of talking about that. If we want to listen to Derek Keefe clip eight about the plan for Riley during the suspension, he alludes to something like that.

So if you want to, if you play that clip for us. Yeah, we just because the nature of what's been happening behind the scenes with the whole situation, we haven't had a lot of discussions about that. But it has been on my mind about if he's if he's not going to be playing how can we manage him because he's obviously plays a lot of minutes for us here we've chosen to this point to keep him going and keep him on the ice while we're uncertain of how a situation was going to play out in the period of time and all that but but i do think it warrants a discussion in terms of how to manage him you know going forward here given that a as much as he

plays for us as much as we're going to need from him down the stretch and the fact that you know he he uh he didn't have the same type of break that uh that others had given his participation in the all-star game so all that stuff we'll uh we'll get to in time so he gets it and he mentioned that with matthews too at the end of his scrum today because matthews was out there for a bit and he went off the ice and he'd given him matthews the full optional treatment today like if you didn't want to come you could take the maintenance and he was there for a bit and he mentioned it again he's like yeah these guys like that was a lot that was it that's a big ambassadors for the all-star game right they're involved every single event they're

there and i mean maybe that's why they're not feeling so well. Sure. Very possible. All right. We've got the blue flu sweeping through the dresser. JB, you mentioned more minutes, more opportunity, and the man of the hour who took most advantage, Bobby McCatrick.

Let's get Sheldon Keefe's thoughts on his effort last night. Yeah, well, a night like this where, you know, when you look at his goals, one, he wins a battle, attacks the net. Great finish. Second one, he's competing at the net front and then just kind of turns and fires it at the net. So you hope that kind of helps some confidence

and helps make you feel like you belong in the league. But for a guy like Bobby, you know, he's – you want efforts like this and you want the goals to go in. But he's trying to learn to grab onto a role in the league, right? I mean, he can score. He's done that at the American League level. But it's been a challenge in the NHL. So if you're not going to score,

which you're not going to get a hat trick every night, so you've got to work on all the other things and do the other things really well. Be physical. Be defensively responsible. Be trusted. Be able to kill penalties. All things that can kind of keep you in the league.

So I saw one of my favorite Twitter accounts, Jake B. Leafs, tweet out this, that regardless of what happens for the rest of his career, he can say that he scored a hat trick for the Toronto Maple Leafs and that the Scotiabank Arena was chanting his name. He can tell his kids that. He can tell his kids that. It was a Bobby chant.

I can't tell my kids that. I was going to say there was a hundred and, how many did I put there? 136. 132 guys who scored a hat trick for the Leafs. I didn't know my kids that. I was going to say there was a hundred and, how many did I put there? A hundred and thirty-six. Thirty-two. A hundred and thirty-two guys who scored a hat trick for the Leafs. I didn't know, Kipper,

were you one of them? I only had one crack at a hat trick in my whole career and I shot it right in Joe Ricci's head. Okay. Against Glenn Healy, too. Oh, wow. Washington versus the Islanders

and I had a whole empty net and I'm telling you, I took a wrist shot right in, and Joe Ricci sat his fat ass down in the crease and blocked it with his head. Oh, my God. Lost my hat trick. So there you go. Anyways, I just thought, like, that is cool, and he's

been a good player. He'll probably have, you know, I don't know how many games he'll play in his career, but last night was awesome. Now, if Bobby McMahon's listening to our show, don't listen to Sammy, okay? Because don't come to the rink feeling like that was going to be your best moment the rest of your career i yeah think think it's just the start of something you know i thought there it was pretty instructive you know what sheldon keith said about him which is just that they want to see him do a

whole lot more you know that's a they're asking him to fill a hard role like the goals almost don't even matter they want him to kill penalties and block shots and hit people and he's he's big and he skates extremely fast and he shoots it extremely well if he can do the other things and stay in the lineup his shot will score him goals he's got an absolute laser he's not going to get it off a whole ton because he's not going to be putting great spots so you know do those little things stay in the lineup he'll shoot some in the net he'll shoot 10 in the net if he plays a full year gotta love both those goals too like the power move off the boards and then the one where he's falling away and puts a top corner like those are

two and they're big goals for leafs so yeah i want to yeah i want to continue this conversation on bobby mcmahon but i want to bring in, like, Bertuzzi as well. So you've got two clips here from Sheldon Keefe, one with Domi Robertson and Bertuzzi, or just Tyler Bertuzzi. Which one do you like better? Clip 11. Okay, let's go to Sheldon Keefe on Tyler Bertuzzi. To me, he's played good hockey.

You don't get those types of chances if you're not playing good hockey and doing good things. And then also he's made good things happen. I go back to the Ottawa game a couple of games ago. He sets Tavares up for a couple of grade-A opportunities in the first period. His forecheck and his disruption there defensively has done a great job for us. He's done a lot of little things very well that don't show up on the score sheet. And he's getting the chances chances so that's very encouraging and then at the same time as i've discussed with him he's

got to work at his game he's got to practice he's got to shoot with purpose he's got to take every rep and practice and have it be meaningful because um you know there's it's it's not quite honestly it's not just a this season thing it's last season season as well. His pace is not a whole lot different than where he was a season ago. You're trying to get him back to be closer to the 30 goal Bertuzzi, but he hasn't been able to do that. He's been more so when he was last season. Did he just dog his practice habits? Yeah.

He did? Yeah, he did, pretty much. Yeah. Which I'm did pretty much. Yeah. Which I'm okay with a little bit as long as he's probably told them a thousand times before he went public with it. Yeah. Can't just be. He went on the, they showed during the broadcast last night, they showed him being the first guy on the ice working at, you know, shooting into the net. They also showed him just bang went off the end glass with an empty net.

I was like, oh, my God. He was unbelievable last night. Awesome. Controlled the play. Right? I mean, he set guys up. He could have had, I don't know, seven points last night. But the breakaway, have you ever seen a guy fight it harder on a breakaway than that?

Like, he made six moves. He's deked himself out. I have never. He can't shoot the puck right like i haven't i don't know what's going on yeah i don't know either but you know as far as preferential treatment we know bertuzzi's had it for you know first 50 games and like yeah we get it you you're paying this guy what five and a half million dollars a year like you've spent the first 50 games trying to get him going here.

Yeah. But here we are today after the game last night. And as far as I'm concerned, that whole left side is wide open, guys. Wide open. Between Knives, Bertuzzi, McMahon, Domi, Robertsonon uh holmberg it's wide open i i need somebody to step up wide open and very not very good are those similar words i mean the points of the guys you just mentioned domi 25 bertuzzi 21 knives 20 you know like robertson 15 it can't be just a given anymore for bertuzzi that he's a top six guy.

Yeah, I agree. I agree with you. But I do think that, like, you watch him play last night. He's the best of the guys you named. You know, like Domi has been much better. He can create some, and he's a useful guy too. Robertson had a good game. But Bertuzzi, like, it's just not going in, for the love of God.

But you're right. He's been given every opportunity to find it this year the first miss is unthinkable like he's cutting towards the open net binnington's going the other way yeah he just shoot it in the net push it over the line truly again i don't know what else you can say and you can talk about how he's doing other things really well he's scored since my mom's birthday december 27th. That's a long time ago. I have a lot of recollection of trying to tell my coaches, like, I've had like eight chances in that game.

Like, why all of me vote points or whatever and be like, you know, you're not paid to get chances. You're not. You're paid a lot to get goals and they're not coming. Put it into the hockey net. I mentioned for that blue line again

without Morgan Riley stepping up a little bit i thought that was the most uh comfortable i've seen brody probably in a very long time yes i thought jake mccabe yeah no i thought he was way better totally agree and i thought jake mccabe it looks fantastic like those two guys were really good last night i guess you know brody and lilligren were paired up lilligren finally got that opportunity he were really good last night. I guess Brody and Lilligren were paired up. Lilligren finally got that opportunity. He was the one last night who should have had the day that Domi and Robertson and Bertuzzi

had, and he didn't. Let's go to Sheldon Keefe on Brody and Lilligren. 13. Yeah, I like the pair. I thought Brody, particularly on the left side, fared very well. His touches on the breakout, I thought,dy in particular on the left side fared very well. His touches on the breakout I thought were much cleaner

and seemed to have a lot more confidence on that side. Lilligan had some tough moments in the game at different times, but overall I thought they did a lot of good things. There's a number of good things as you go through the shifts that you pull out that are very positive for him. So you want to clearly keep building on that. So it's just a matter of keeping Brody on the left side now. Sounds to me like that's what he wants to do.

Like if I were to read into that, I'd say he says touches were a lot cleaner. You know, he liked how he looked there. So I wouldn't be shocked if they tried to find a way to get him there. That was eye-opening to me. Like, you know, because he's been comfortable playing on his offside right like for the whole time he's been here he's played on his offside most of the time and that's hard he's playing the whole game handcuffed it feels like for two seasons and when you're not playing well and playing with a guy like riley is a little harder to play with too right and so i just like just the way he was

handling the puck it's like oh yeah he's a lefty right playing on the left side it's probably a lot better so like if you're living watching that do you think like maybe if we get somebody to play with him or you have them lilligren and him play lesser minutes and you get somebody for the top pair like i feel like that opens things up a little bit no yeah magic words was getting someone in the top pair well Well, there's options. There are options. They might cost you a lot, but there's options out there. Luke Shen want to come back? Oh, man.

You couldn't afford him once. You could probably find a way to afford him, no? Sammy had, what, like four shots on, the first 15 like it was pretty incredible that uh they could play this kind of sound defensive system being down like that uh in in manpower and you're you're kind of wondering like can they not play this all the time when guys are in the lineup too? I know. And that's, you know, part of my article today is that that should be the encouraging part is it's there. You know, like they can do that. I have clips in my article today. Willie Nylander coming back in the D zone, picking pucks off and taking away chances.

Guys coming back, blocking shots. You know, the expected goals for St. Louis last night was like one. Like Samson, it was the lowest the Leafs have allowed all year. They had a couple of odd man breaks. They couldn't even get a shot on goal. I mean, they took the night off. They must have looked at the Leafs lineup. No, no, that's not it.

That's not it. Stink? No. The Leafs are that good. No. I'm going to keep guessing. Keep going. What was going on on the weekend?

St. Louis, Kansas City Super Bowl. Oh. Thank you. And where were they? In Montreal. Montreal. Oh, boy. One o'clock puck drop.

Without a game. Without a game until Tuesday. Oh, what you're saying is that they may have enjoyed theirself in Montreal. No, I'm not suggesting it. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. As an ex-player in a couple of those situations.

You don't get many green lights over the course of the season, and that'll double green seven one seven eight five straight of the road starch the hab come on all sunday let's not hard to connect the dots on st louis's credit to you for doing it yeah that is i was hard i didn't think of it yeah oh yeah oh yeah they didn't get their best you're speaking they didn't get their best. You're speaking from experience. Yes, I am speaking from experience. They didn't. Yeah, they gave nothing. Absolutely nothing. I thought Robert Thomas really popped.

Like, to me, if I was going to pick out one guy, like, I know he's their best player, but he was a little bit pass-happy, and you get when Armstrong throws in the oats comparison last day on our show. You understand what he's coming from, but, like, I thought he showed. But other than that,

I didn't really see a whole lot from him or from anyone else. No. Okay, let's take a quick break. And when we return, we'll talk a little bit of what we saw in the crease last night as Joseph Wall gets ever so closer

to returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs. You are watching and listening to The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Everything you need to know about the Blue Jays, Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Kiprios, Justin Boren, Sammy McKee. Leaf edition of the Real Kipper and Boren Show.

Not an easy game for any goaltender when you barely have, what, three shots on goal in the first period. Yeah. And leaves jumping out to a two nothing start. Is there a part of you thinking Samsonov going to hold the lead here? No, no. Part of me was thinking Samsonov is going to,

it's a tough task when you don't get a lot of shots and you're not in rhythm, and then one gets tipped through them, you know, in a way that it just felt like, you know, those are, maybe it's unlucky, but it's tough when you don't have a lot of action. So I can't say I felt a ton of confidence. I thought he made a couple of key saves.

I didn't, I didn't think that, uh you know he obviously wasn't overly pressed or busy but it's it's hard to to make those key saves when you haven't had a lot of action yeah not a great game to evaluate i'm tough to see the you know 64 other goalies in the league or 63 others going in net in that spot and being worse or better just pretty easy game this was from jonah siegel on twitter that the leafs had five stalls for the goalies in the dressing room today samsonov joseph wall martin jones matt murray and dennis hildeby that's interesting just one more note uh someone went over their gum well you i mean you mentioned that when the leafs went up when the leafs went up, someone sent me a stat that said

Sammy's save percentage went ahead by one goal is the worst in the NHL. Did you know that? I didn't know that, but I am unsurprised by that. And Sammy's save percentage went ahead by two goals is the fifth worst in the NHL. So that might have... Hey, what game state is it good? Well, I'm just saying that last night would have been a good confidence builder for him.

Personally, to shut the door. Every time he can get a win in a game like that where you only win by a couple with an empty netter, it's good. Definitely a good thing. And to me, you're just stacking wins without Riley. You're 1-0 without Riley. Well, that's it. You're looking at a five-game window and going, God, if we're 3-2, it's okay.

Anything less than that is disaster yeah philly tomorrow night philly philly anaheim st louis louis arizona arizona correct and then it's i think vegas is the next one dun dun dun you get into the tough part do we uh well let's go to sheldon keith for an update you mentioned the five goalies today uh let's go to sheldon keith clip 14 on what the heck's wrong with martin jones no no no today just the fact that he was he felt comfortable going on the ice to kind of give it a test run this morning um he skated before the practice group and and that was positive i haven't gotten a whole lot of a report uh in terms of how he felt, but he didn't do a lot today. It was just more kind of trying to stay up and running,

but certainly not ready to really push himself at this point. So it's just a situation that is day-to-day, and they've got to keep on top of. Is this the most mysterious injury of all time? The goalies they gotta get they gotta get the voodoo out for tyler bertuzzi and the goalies what's going on how can they not be like scared to death right now about their goaltending situation going into this stretch you know you can talk yourself into a lot of things as a Leafs fan or whatever, but could you create a more uncomfortable goaltending scenario

than young kid who, with not much NHL experience, who is often injured, is your best choice. Samsonov, who's just a train wreck mentally this year, is your next best. And then the old guy who hasn't had a 900 save percentage in a couple years who's hurt now is an option and and it's not your top priority not even close like yeah when you put it like that they could be they could be awesome wall could come back and be a 920 and be one of the best guys in the league. But you cannot, if you're Bradtree living today, you cannot spend any time on the phone talking about

or thinking about upgrading this situation. It's just not your priority. It has to be that blue line. Right. So you're looking at your goalie coaches and you're saying, it's up to you here you take this you think about this part of the game and it's up to you i don't know is it just a a hopeful wish that joseph wall can pick up where we saw him in those last few games before getting hurt here because there was that small sample size where we went what a player

oh my god is he good so good maybe he'll come back and look that good but like high ankle sprains who have you seen come back from that you know this season lilligren lilligren came back and hasn't been very good remember travis dermot went through it and he wasn't very good when he came back marner went through it in like 2019 or very good and he came back. Marner went through it in like 2019 or something but I don't remember how he was when he came back. So you mentioned the blue line. This is something that I wanted

to get to in the last segment that I didn't bring up with you. What were you going to say? I just want to finish the goaltending conversation. It's scary. Okay. Terrifying. So from the way I would handle it, that I would not play Joseph Wall between now and the end of the season. Huh?

I would not play him like it's your net to lose. Oh. Okay. Bit of a cliffhanger there. He cannot come back and play like five or six in a row. Yeah, you've got to treat him like he's a part of a tandem. You've got to treat him like you have to make sure that this guy is as close to around bubble wrap as you can to get to the playoffs. He gets hurt again, he's done for the year.

That's the way you've got to think. If he is in the net for the Toronto Maple Leafs in game one in the playoffs, I'll feel as good as most teams do about their goaltender outside of the three or four elite elite guys. I'll feel fine. Got to get him there, though. You do. And you can't do it by bringing him back as early as this weekend

or early next week and say, hey, go get him. That's why Sammy last night, if he can come in, if Wall can play two out of three games, two out of four games, like almost even a split until Wall can prove that the ankle's fine for another three weeks or a month in, then you got a chance here to not sweat bullets on your goaltending situation. Let's hear what Sheldon Keefe has to say

on when Joe Wall will play clip 10 there. Don't have a sense of that here yet. Today was another good practice day for him. We've been kind of taking the day at a time and communicating with him and how he's feeling, and I think he continues to feel better and better each day. So in terms of participating in games, I think he's getting to the point where we can have those discussions and start to map it out a little bit. So Tree's been a little distracted here

of late, so we haven't had the chance to really nail down some of these things, but I think we're getting close there. And of course, the Jones situation also is a factor here in terms of how the plan may need to be changed or adapted in terms of how we

projected it out a couple weeks ago. How much does jones make 850 750 how much does wall make same yeah i'll probably tell you what's gonna happen here pretty soon what's that like an ir for jones and they just bring back wall and there you go yeah one in one out type of thing feels like that jones is 875 um yeah very possible do we want to hear the clip on wall's mental strength as well i want to ask you guys about nick roberts okay before we go because we're running out of time here what you've seen over the last i guess since he's solidly been in the lineup since he you know he's healthy scratch but he's gotten back in

there and he's been there solidly. Where do you weigh him as a positive contributor for the Leafs as opposed to a trade asset for the Leafs? Because I'm having a tough time with it. I really am. Yeah, I waffle back and forth too because you can see it at times from him. I think he's made good strides. Yeah. So would you lean towards keeping him or are

you still very open not right now you know not where the leafs are at and where they're trying to go and where you're looking at needing a guy you know you you'd want to have more heavy guys then you know given the way your core plays and what you have what they do he just to me isn't a fit it's not that i don't think he's an NHL player, not that he couldn't be good for someone, but I don't... It's like I've said about Lilligren for years. What is the game state where the Toronto Maple Leafs put him on the ice?

Is it when they're up? It's like, no, he's not a defensive whatever. Is it when they're down? No, he's not. That's Robertson to me. When you need goals, he's not the guy that goes out there. He's not even close to your top few guys.

When you're defending at 8-10, when is it? You do hear. That's about it. It's's just a fit thing i give him a lot of credit because he has turned himself into an asset which i don't know whether or not we could have said that uh a short while ago when he was hurt or in and out of the lineup or even as a Marley. So I think he can play in the National Hockey League. The only thing you got to often ask, and this is what teams do when they envision trading for a guy, is where is he on a good team, on a contending team, not on a leaf team that's up and down like a toilet seat or even a bad team like san jose but where would he be for you on a team contending for the stanley cup is he in your top six or is

he in your bottom six no but see this is the thing and i agree that's a worthwhile question for teams looking to trade for him yeah but to me you know there are 32 teams in the league and there's you know how two left wingers per team and then there's the third line somewhere in there to me he's on a bad team i could see him playing 15 minutes a night on a third line somewhere i don't have him on a cup winning team it doesn't fit to me if he's your best if he's a top six left winger you're not good enough so but that doesn't mean he can't play in the league or play for someone the other thing though kip is that you're buying a 22 year old and maybe he can become that maybe he can find more and maybe he can but i'm not willing to pay a high price for that so my point in asking you where do you see him right dictates his value

yeah you're selling me a lottery ticket. You're not selling me a left winger. I'll buy that lottery ticket for a fifth round pick. I'm not trading it for a fifth round pick. I'd rather wait and see on the upside. Do you think, Sammy, that he's turned himself into a second round pick for you? I have no idea.

I'm asking you guys. I really don't know. I don't think he's there yet. But could he be part of a trade for Boone Jenner? Of course he can. Part of a trade for Chris Tanniff. That's kind of how you use him. I don't think you ever just trade him for a fifth.

A hundred percent. Okay. But is he an add-on? Is he a throw-in? Do you think his value has improved over the last three weeks? Yes. Okay.

I do believe that. Okay. I got a new read for you today, boys. On Tuesday, February 20th, Scotiabank Arena will celebrate its 25th anniversary, which is crazy. It'll be opening its doors to the community by offering the opportunity to skate on the Leafs' home ice and shoot around in the Raptors' private in-venue practice court. For this occasion, we are offering two passes to this limited time event, which is awesome. To enter, listen daily to Real Kipper and Born for the code word, then text code word

to 590590. Today's code word is Leafs. Text Leafs to 590590 right now for your chance to win. Listen tomorrow for the second code word. If you do not win with us, passes are available at scotiabankarena.com slash 25th anniversary. That code word again is Leafs. And our thanks to the Sportsnet Creativity Department on the code word. Yes.

Yeah, but we don't even need it. At least it wasn't like text for, you know, first round failure to, you know, text Carrie Fraser. Do we need a new creative department? know, text Carrie Fraser to. Do we need a new creative department? No, Leafs is good. Leafs is okay. Leafs is good to me. Fine.

Yeah, and people are texting in Leafs. It's all good for you guys. Happy to see it. All right. Anything else you want to cover from last night? I mean, we did Domi Robertson and Bertuzzi. The Tavares and Marner getting scratched, how that happened last night.

We don't have to play it, but it's funny how it is happened that at 4.30 he found out about Marner, like so really late in the evening. Yeah. How did you find Matthews without Marner? Matthews was fine. It was pretty unremarkable. Yeah.

Oh, God. No, I'm just saying. Yeah, I'm sure you are. are no not quiet for you no i didn't think he was any good i barely noticed him it's okay they can take a day off too right yeah he's not he hasn't got he didn't end up throwing up uh like mitch marner did yesterday but he's quite a beauty he can take a night off every once in a while yeah willie's what a beauty that was i did notice several occasions where Willie had Matthews open and just tried to not.

Fire one. Yeah. Nice to see you go on the net for Willie. All right. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, the national edition of the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Mike Hofford, co-host of Hofford and. Halford.

Halford. Sorry. See, I got no glasses. We'll be joining us. You guys good? Good. Halford. Sorry. See, I got no glasses. We'll be joining us. You guys good? Good. All right. We're good.

Stunning radio here on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Can't wait for the next hour.