Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Duck Hunting

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee preview the Maple Leafs' matchup against the Anaheim Ducks with a look at the decision to slot Anthony Stolarz in net, why the guys aren't worried about the team's ability to create offence with the current group of players, and how Craig Berube can bring out the best of Max Domi on the ice. Then, Nick and Justin are joined by Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer (28:45) to get his perspective on the Ducks' rebuild timeline, whether Jacob Trouba will fit in on the roster, Trevor Zegras' tenure with the organization, and a look at the return of international hockey competition with the 4 Nations Face-Off.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

All right, let's get ready for the fastest two hours in hockey. No, not really. What do you think? How fast is it? It's pretty fast. Pretty fast? I think so. Okay, let's get it going then. All right, here we go. Can we talk faster or just is it? It's pretty fast. Pretty fast? I think so. Okay, let's get it going then.

All right, here we go. Can we talk faster? Can we go faster? I don't know. Nick Kiprio, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, it's the real Kipper and Bourne show, Derek Brandeo, and Jake the Serpent Schultz. You've changed his name on me. So let me ask you, do you think anybody listens to our show at double time?

Because that's an option on like. At what time? Double time, like fast. Oh, yeah, for sure. Maybe a double, but one and a half. Do you ever listen to a podcast one and a half? I only listen at like 1.3. That's psychopath behavior.

1.5. I can't believe that. It does help, though. Help with what? Get you through it faster. Yeah, but I mean, like, I'm on the subway twice a day, every day. The normal speed is fine. So was this you actually wanting to change Jake's nickname

or just you testing me to see if I'm paying attention to your lineup? Well, I thought we went with the more professional word for snake because of serpent. All right. Because he's been good recently. The serpent. It is misspelled. No!

Is it? Serpent is E-N-T, I think. E-N-T? I think so. That's so appropriate. That's awesome stuff. I'm sitting here. Like, you guys, I get to the office today.

I wore my uniform, a hoodie and a hat. Very, very used to that. You guys don't usually dress like a million bucks. I walk in here and these two guys I feel like I'm at a Halloween party, no costume. I'm like, what? You guys make me look more stupid than I usually do. We are, we have a reason.

Yeah, we do. I know. We're on the game tonight. We are, but for now, we've got wherever you're watching and listening, on Sportsnet 590, The Fan, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet Plus, we got Leaf Hour Edition, then we go into an international show.

And to your point, JB, we race over, and we've got literally less than 30 minutes between our show and the pregame show. Start of the show, yeah. toronto and anaheim the ducks are in town making their only visit tonight at scotia bank they are on uh the second half of a back-to-back you covered them uh last night yep with uh the game between uh ottawa and anaheim let me tell you they aresee TV. You will not want to miss it.

I had to say, I was watching the broadcast last night. Yeah. And when we had Ben in, my nephew, we did a tour of, like, the NHL studio. I got to tell you, I was blown away by you guys sitting in those seats. Like, CGI. Or whatever the hell it is. Graphic, eh? It was unbelievable.

And it really looked, like, when they zoomed in It was unbelievable And it really looked Like when they zoomed in on you guys It really looked like you were I was amazed by that Whoever did that over there You guys are amazing Okay I don't want to put a downer on it

Oh here we go And I'm not saying it didn't look good Yeah This is the part I hate Oh no It's fake Yeah It's phony

Oh they didn't go to sit in a rink? No. No. I'm not happy every time I pick up my phone and I don't know what to believe what's real and what's not real. You know what? That's a fair complaint. That's it. Yeah.

I have enough of it. I got to look twice to think, where are you? It is so true. It's fake. Fake TV. And I'm buying into the, I'm not happy about fake TV all the time. I believe the next generation is going to be good at discerning. It's going to be harder and harder to what's fake and real.

Like, did you see something today? Because you sent a very, like, text about Corbin Burns and the Jays. Did you see something fake that got you there? Of course I did. Of course. Every time I see something, I don't believe it. So you're my Blue Jay expert because someone said that he signed with the Jays and I'm like,

I don't believe it until I go to Sammy. He didn't. He didn't. And if you read Ben Nichols' myth and Shia Levine's latest from sportsnet.ca, I don't think he's coming. Anyways. Okay. Just one last thing on this fake computer enhanced TV. Augmented reality. Yes.

I believe they call it AR. Are they going to put us in a closet one day and make it look like the most spectacular set ever? Well, no. They're going to send us home, not pay us, and have animated figures. Yeah. They're just going to have humans that look like,

or fake humans that look like you. They're not going to need us at all. Yeah. Okay. You covered the Anaheim Ducks last night. Yep. you're just gonna have humans that look like or fake you're not gonna need us at all yeah okay you covered the uh anaheim ducks last night not their finest effort they kind of looked like i'm not sure if that's a real nhl team or not kind of look like they are they are they the worst team in the league if the leafs don't feed them their absolute lunch today it's embarrassing that's the point i wanted to get across is that based on what you saw last night is now you and everyone else including our sammy here gonna sit and watch

tonight and say if they don't absolutely crush them by X amount of goals, then it's not a good night for the Toronto Maple Leafs. No, it would be really bad. The Ottawa Senators had so much room last night. I sent you guys, I think, a screenshot of where the Ducks rank in defensive categories. Expect a goal, shot attempt, shots on net, slot shots, inner slot shots, slot passes, OZ possession time, rush chances. Last, last, last, last, last, last.

Yeah. They are dead last in every defensive category. They've played three times in the last four nights, all road games. Last night, all their guys had a shift of two minutes or more dragging their legs. Ottawa was running them ragged. Yeah. They're the worst team in back-to-backs over the past two years in the NHL. Oh, my God. it yeah they're the worst team in back-to-backs over the past two years in the nhl all they have

going for them is this lucas dostell their goaltender his fourth best in the nhl and save percentage he's good if he doesn't see 40 shots tonight i don't know what to tell you about the leafs offense so in about half an hour we're going to welcome in scott niedemeier to the program we got a chance to talk to him a little earlier uh he's out in BC, but he was kind enough to join us. Special advisor to the Anaheim Ducks. We'll get some thoughts in on him, on where the progress is and this rebuild to get to where he was once upon a time, a long time ago. And that's top of the mountain with the Stanley Cup.

But they've got some work to do, no question. As far as the Toronto Maple Leafs are concerned, where do you guys want to start? For me, hearing the news that they're going back to Anthony Stolarz is somewhat surprising to me. Yeah. But he will start against one of the worst teams in the league. Let's go to you first, JB.

You know, I don't understand it just because it's not that Stolarz, it doesn't make sense to start a guy who's playing well, but he's been playing well and he's been alternating with Wall, who's also playing well. Everyone's doing great. Keep them both involved. They're both going to play in a back-to-back this weekend. I really don't get why you would step out of the rhythm here.

I think that he was unbelievable against the Devils. And the only reason they got two points against a good team, and he's been really good on home ice, and he earned the start flat out. What did Joseph Wall do in his last game? I would say that they lost to the, was he against the Penguins? They lost the Penguins on Saturday night. Okay, that's not good enough to. so i just think that you have a plan and berube's talked about

how we have a plan we have a plan all these different things but i do think it's still you know it's a it's the plan there you go it's professional sports you perform that well i said it yesterday i would like to see him start tonight. I'm glad they did it. I think it's the right call. They play 11 times in 21 days here. So now he's going to have played three times in six days or something coming up for this weekend. It's like, do you need to lean on a guy who's never played this sort of workload in his life? Okay, let's go to Craig Berube on why Stolarz is starting,

and then we'll pick up the conversation out of it. Looks like you might change your goal-tending rotation a bit based on Stolarz having starting, and then we'll pick up the conversation out of it. Looks like you might change your goaltending rotation a bit based on Stolarz having a really good game, or is there a greater plan with the back-to-back coming up? Back-to-backs too, but Stoli had one hell of a game. We all know that. So that was the call tonight to go back with him. There you go.

And, you know, former team. He was a duck at one point, I guess. Maybe you could look at that i don't know if that's a factor here but with all with all those stats you read off there i mean are we expecting a super high impact night here good point i think it's just a thing that you reward a guy who's been unbelievable for you to start the year yeah it might even be a little deeper for me anyways just in in terms of his his game was so so good so good that maybe they just want to see if he could follow it up with another one and i know it'll be a different field different team you go from one of the top teams in the league to one of the worst. But if he can pick up where he left off, I think it bodes well that although we believe Joseph Wall

isn't going anywhere, right now the projection seems to be that Stolarz will start in the playoffs. Well, I think that's the greater point. And it might feel like a scenario where he stole the game in game one. You want to see him pick up because he's going game two. And I just feel like the window's now so tight that he's coming off such a spectacular game that in their minds, maybe it's a feel like, can we go go up to nothing in the series right now by going right back to our best goalie yeah you know they do play three games and four nights here

and they will split one of those split yeah but one of those guys has to play two of the three so you know if you think he's hot i guess that makes some sense but i love this point where it's like you know looking at the big picture we thought going into the year was like they want wall to be the guy it makes sense for him with the contract, the age, whatever, for him to be the guy. It does feel like it's shifted to where all things equal. They have so much belief in Stolarz. He's bigger.

He's competitive. That they would want him to be the guy now. There's no question in my mind who would be game one, but that's right now in December. It's hard to tell. I do believe that he's had such an amazing start, and we're closing in on Christmas right now, that they've got to really start focusing on, what are we now, 50 games left?

That it's going to skew towards Stolarz. But you're going to give Wall enough games and enough starts that if it goes south on Stolarz early or at any point, you won't be that patient to switch it up if you have to.

There's no one-on, one-off in the playoffs. There isn't. It's the hot guy. For sure and this is just maybe a maybe a first chance for for stolars to to go hot hot in consecutive games it's just funny right just i agree but it's funny that like wool going into the air is like all right i'm gonna have a chance to be the 1a they're bringing in a 1b sort of guy right based on contract and whatever and then he is a 919 save percentage he's well above you know whatever uh expected goals he's done wonderfully this year and now he's like so

i'm out yeah but i mean i understand he can see what the guy ahead of him he's smart enough to understand that if i was a coach or general manager i wouldn't look at me as being out you know a guy that uh deserves equal status right now with stolars that guy yeah i mean i've been good but that guy's been out of this world sammy's group chat sammy sent us the picture oh yeah they got the banner hanging it's like tim horton bill barilko stolars they got him in the rafters already i mean i saw i've seen legends row and it's like this guy is people love this guy and how could you not yeah how could you not i i will say that you talk about the playoff stuff and you know you've gotten you've given me the hairy eyeballs you like to say when i've said that there's reasons

i have more hope about this year and blah blah blah but you're but hold on yeah i do think because when teams go to the other goalie in the playoffs i think most times it's more of the backup guy to wake up call for the starter this is if the leafs go down 2-0 in a series or they lose a bad game the goal is bad you're going to another really good nhl goalie you're flipping over the page to another guy that's going to give you a chance to win so i don't know it's another the goaltending's really good it gives me hope so good so good and then disappeared so so good anyways it's just that is one of the reasons one thing i'll add about stolarz one thing i liked about the game against the devils is they gave him no support no support no support and he fought and fought and fought

and then got rewarded and then got the win. And that builds that mutual trust. And remember we talked about trust with the goalie last year where they go, we know he's got our back, and now he knows we've got his if he keeps us in it. It's really good. And that's really appreciate the superstar, but he's only playing 20 minutes out of 60.

That guy has got the, he's protecting the wall every single second. You know, excuse the pun. Yeah. But that's what it is. That's the only position. It's like a starting pitcher. You can win one nothing. Okay.

And you don't necessarily have to get that run in the first five or six innings. When you got a pitcher, you got a quarterback. Are you talking about his offense? Got a goalie. We can be patient and wait. So I wrote an article today in the Toronto Star on it a little bit. We've talked many years over our show since we started together

that they've always outscored their mistakes. That's not how they're getting it done now. From the net on out. I will say, as someone who pays attention to the analytics, it's good right now that they're winning. Their goaltending has been phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal. The process is a little concerning offensively, but you love that they have the all-stars that they have that can create.

Usually when teams can't produce offense, they don't have exceptional elite talents like the Leafs, so I feel like they're going to be able to find it, and that's what I wrote about, Kip, yesterday, was a similar idea that the goaltending has bought them time to figure out the offense and whether that means trading for additional offense yes matthew's finding it a bit more getting more from the back end this has bought them time to find it i do think that there's this unhealthy pushback against people that suggest that they have some

offensive issues right now i feel like people like like, oh, they're winning, they're winning, they're winning. I think it's fair to acknowledge the fact that they cannot create much at all right now. But the point that you made is important that their defensive metrics are excellent, excellent goaltending. They can figure it out. They have stars that can get the big goals.

They've produced before. Exactly. And their power play is at 19%. We know it can be a 25% power play. There's more there for this Leafs offense. And they'll continue to search i think internally until we do see a a trade eventually for for some offense but uh we got uh craig bruby on a kipper's clipper on uh some of the depth that may be coming back soon in camp and mcmahon let's have a. Camp is probably a little bit of ways away yet, but,

uh, Bob McMahon is very close. So practice today. He'll ski with us tomorrow and then we'll see. So it sounds like a potential for the weekend. Yeah. Uh, tonight on the show,

we're going to focus a little bit on that left side. I brought this up on a couple of occasions. We're going to kind of focus on it in our pregame show tonight. uh, it's, It's been a sore spot for this team for not just this year, but many years. And there's nothing to not like about Matthew Nyes. But is he quite ready to carry the load as a bonafide number one left winger, which means also producing at a pretty good rate?

That hasn't happened. McMahon, to me, is also a key in all of this, that he has not been able to stay healthy to show that he can go to next level 20 and 20. Yeah, you can't get to those numbers if you're not in the lineup so we'll see where max kind of fits in in the next few weeks for me it's got to be somewhere on that left side for mcmahon sorry for max for max like with matthews Marner? Totally. Something. Totally. Yeah, yeah, me too. Right? I, like, outside of Max and then, you know, where you feel about Pacioretty,

they've been playing with two fourth lines for quite a while now. Yes, well put. Yeah. So. Two fourths and then a third when Matthews was out. Yeah. Time. Lean time. Time now to kind of figure it out and for me somewhere in the equation is is max domey on the wing yeah um one of the

things that we do have a clip on for bruby how do you spend less time in the d zone and that's when i talk about their offense not being good they've been in their own end a lot so i don't listen to him on how they can spend less time in the D zone. Killing plays quicker and exiting the zone quicker. You know, when we kill plays and get the puck, where's our outs? Let's get going. Transition from defense to offense. Well, we got to be better at that.

Jake McCabe will help. There it is. That's good news. He's back. Just to the Domi thing quickly before we move to McCabe. Don't you think, I mean, they signed him to a to a three was it four year 3.75 million for him like to me the best way to extract the offensive value on that contract is to play him with the star players he's he's that's where he's the best we've seen him play with matthews when that stretch and

marner was out when it was him domey andzi. They have chemistry. They like to play together. They're two passers on the wing of the center. Maybe not Kipper's favorite thing with the center being the passer. But to me, it's obvious. And you think they'll go to it here somewhat soon, do you think? I can't agree with you more. Yeah.

I did. The onus now is on Berube to give Max the best chance to find a small window to kind of get going a bit, and it may be with reuniting him with Austin. Whoever gets a chance tonight should get some points. I mean, I look at Holmberg, Minton, and Domi, and if there's one thing I know about Domi, if you're playing him on a third line with, like, not offensive players,

like, you know, Minton's got a bit of touch, but Holmberg's got the opposite of it, you're just going to lose him. He's just, he's not as involved. No, no, he told us he doesn't care if he gets. No, but, like, you're not using him properly. And it's like that's maybe he doesn't have the experience of having him. Like, Sheldon kind of figured out towards the end of last year where to play him. But it's just you're losing he doesn't have the experience of having him. Like Sheldon kind of figured it out towards the end of last year where to play him.

But it's just you're losing him playing him on the third line. It's not the right spot for him. So anyways. Domi Matthews and Marner to me against Anaheim tonight makes sense. They would terrorize the Ducks. I did a little thing on Pinto last night who has one goal and three assists for Ottawa this year in about 20 games. And looked at the difference for him as line mates.

He played last year with Kachuk, Norris, Bathurst, and those guys. This year he's playing with Amadio, Greg, and Gregor. Sorry. And, like, that to me is Domi. It's like his numbers are down. It's like, well, you know, Holmberg's not going to shoot in the net. I know he did last game, but it ain't going to happen often. Yeah.

Jake McCabe. Yeah. Yeah. He's back. I think he'll go a long way to helping Craig Berube get the puck out cleaner. Let's listen to clip one on McCabe coming back. Yeah, he's a big part of our team back there. With him and Tanny,

shutdown pair and penalty killing and just, you know, physical play and just, you know, defending and things like that. So he's a big part of our team. So it'd be great to have him back. One of my favorite ideas for a sports talk radio show, I mean, we brought this up before, but it's the hockey nickname quiz.

And Tanev to me, Tanny is not what I would go with. Tansy? Tanner. Tanner? Tanner. Tanny to me doesn't sound right. Anyways, that's a sidebar. That's a very Jay and Dan. Tanny. Luke Asick knows all the nicknames. Yeah, I actually should do this with him.

He knows all of them. But like, Tanny. It's Tanner. Tanner. Anyways, go ahead. Danny Tanner. Yeah, prior to McCabe going down, him and Tanny. No, it's not right. No, we can't do it. It's not right.

It's just not right. Didn't roll out that well. As good as any that we've seen around. Yeah, and I think he mentioned that clip about how they need to get out of their own end. That's something I've noticed without him they've missed. Like just a quick little slip to the middle or break up a play, and obviously Timmons and Myers can't quite do it

like McCabe does. And McCabe's... Caber. Caber? Sneaky, like sneaky leader in that room. Well, but sneaky anymore. You don't really kind of think about him as that first wave of guy, go-to guys, but I'm telling you right now,

Gary's a big stick in that room. Really? Yeah. Well, I mean, every time I see him do an interview, the more his nose is broken and the more I respect him as a leader. It's like, this guy looks like he was, if he's not going to be an extra in Peaky Blinders, he's going to be a leader on a hockey team.

God, I wish I could give credit to whoever I saw put this out. But it was like, he looks like he would carry a Tommy gun in a gangster movie. He looks like me. Yeah. Like, his face looks like he'd carry a Tommy gun in a gangster movie. Yeah. He's got some grit to his game. You go to your desk and you'd be the banker.

I'd say yes, sir. Yes, sir, whatever you need. I'd definitely get shot in that scene. Oh, yeah, you're done. Done like dinner. Scene one. Done. By order of the Peaky Blinders.

There you go. What do you have on Lawrence? You know that he didn't take a penalty yet this year? He leads the team in hits? I don't know if that's allowed on like the fourth line. No penalties. Listen to the clip. Listen to the clip.

Cause you don't talk. They don't, I don't think I've heard Berube really talk about Lawrence much and he's been good. So play the clip on Lance. Lance, we can talk. Yeah.

He's been really clean, which is good. You know, he's, and he's been physical, you know, he's one of the, one of the hit leaders on our team. And, um, um, you know, I he's been physical, you know. He's one of the hit leaders on our team,

and, you know, I think he doesn't get his stick in bad areas, and he skates, you know. I think when you take penalties, you're reaching from behind or you're not skating and moving your feet, and your sticks are in bad spots, whether, you know, you high stick a guy or you trip him or hook him or whatever. So he's been clean that way with not taking any of those penalties,

which is good. See, now you know we're in another era when a coach can say that in 2024. If you're on the fourth line in my era, you got goose eggs. It's okay, goals, assists, points. What? No way. Goose egg in the penalty minutes? Yeah. Not a good look.

No. I'm not talking about going out there and tripping somebody. No, you're not. I'm talking about... Being enough on the edge. Having it going by five. How about a scrum where both of you go off for either two minutes or five minutes?

So the hits leader in the NHL is Kiefer Sherwood with about 163. Lawrence leads the Leafs with 70. Do you know how many William Nylander has for 28 games for Kip no one one one thrown it out he threw a body check this year one there's no way that's right

one hit they got that's some Nylander bias can we find it yeah it was October 24th or something I actually have the stat where is it uh yeah october 24th he threw his last hit so uh for a player who's seen at least 300 minutes of ice time he is uh second lowest one player in the nhl has played more than neil ander and only thrown one hit the answer is also shocking shea theodore what d man on team canada thrown one hit this year

oh i don't like that other got names in the list like lidstrom there if you got the putt all the time jack roslevic cam fowler cam fowler has two hits this year i gotta tell you theodore you're off that's enough you know my first thought is somebody else in there but you're done who's counting exactly i want to meet the guy that counts well the fact is someone's counting and they have simon benoit and ryan reeves at the top of the list with nize and lorenz like they're getting it kind of right here if kinda mccabe if you went up yeah like ex-player hatcher ready doing the counting no has he ever no it's an old guy with a monocle who just loves being at the games. But that's fine. And a seeing eye dog.

If you go up to Shea Theater and be like, hey, buddy, you have one hit this year. He'd be like, are you nuts? Yeah. Are you nuts? Like, there's no way he would say that he has one hit. But I told you guys, like, Tanev has five. You know, it depends how you. Tanev has five all year?

All year, five hits. Oh, my God. That's wrong. Wild, eh? Like, what are they? What are they? All year, five hits. Oh, my God. That's wrong. Wild, eh? Like, what do they... Good stick, good stick, good stick, separate. But, like, what makes a hit? Well, that's very subjective.

Someone, like, pushing back? I think someone... You go into someone hard enough that they stop their movement. How's that? Okay. Close? We got to go here soon to get to Niedermeyer, but there's just this clip that I had to defend my Toronto people,

my Toronto brethren. Can you play this clip seven from Berube, please, Derek? Are you guys okay out there today? A little windy and cold for you, or are you all right? I had a T-shirt on. Hey, Alberta guy. Is it minus six today?

It feels like it was chilly out there today. Like there's no question. It's cold. Like why do people that are from outside of Toronto gate? Keep the cold. Like, Oh, you're not allowed to be cold.

Cause you're from, Oh, you're from Toronto. It's not cold there. It's not cold. I hate that. All I ever hear. Like my, like my city buddy from all the time they're like oh yeah supposed to snow 80 centimeters up here you get any down there like no one just stop that stop gatekeeping the cold people from outside of toronto it's so stupid we went through the same thing when

i first went to training camp with the philadelphia. It's like the Western Hockey League would laugh at us in the O in the Ontario League for just not being remotely tough. All the boys in Saskatoon. Not remotely as tough as them. Oh, yeah, it's not cold in North Bay, eh? Like, it never gets cold there. Like, give me a break, buddy. We can't pretend that it's not colder there.

Of course it's colder. Of course it's colder. We get it. Like, oh, yeah, but they're like, it's not colder there of course it's cold need to be of course it's colder we get it like oh yeah but they're like it's just the insinuation you're so soft because it's not cold it's like shut up i will tell you lived in alaska for years it's cold and it's not fun no it's cold anything to be proud of yeah and it's like all the guys like wear shorts in the winter like we get it you're the toughest guy it's not cold it not cold. Ruby's mom gave birth in an igloo. All right? He can handle the cold. He's cold.

He is tough. So no challenge to him specifically. But I actually would say that he might have worn a T-shirt today. Like, I actually believe him. Anyways, we should go. Okay, we'll take a quick break. And when we return, four-time Stanley Cup champion, Hall of Famer, Scott Niedermeyer, next on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things Leafs,

Raptors, and Blue Jays every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the Fan Morning Show. Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. As we mentioned before the break, we caught up to Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermeyer prior to the show.

Let's have a listen. The Ducks continue their tour in Canada tonight with the second half of a back-to-back. Ottawa last night, Toronto tonight at Scotiabank Arena. Joining us now, Hall of Famer, one of the best in the game, four-time Stanley Cup champion, Scott Niedermeyer. Scott, thanks for doing this, man. Where do we find you these days?

I'm out in British Columbia at the moment at home here. So be watching tonight. Awesome. Let's just start with the Ducks in general. I think it's safe to say that you were there at the peak with a Stanley Cup championship, and then just the ongoing rebuild to get to that point again. A little level of frustration at times.

You watch him maybe take two steps, maybe three steps backwards. Where do you have their program right now moving forward? Yeah, I don't know if he can ever go through something like this quick enough. You know, no one likes likes to everyone likes to win no one likes to lose and uh you get in in these positions we got a lot of young players and this is a tough league that's for sure and you always want to be taking steps forward and sometimes the journey is not always forward there's a few steps backwards but i i feel our play this year has been good we were having a hard time scoring goals um it looks like we've made improvements in some areas when you watch

our games sort of night in and night out we we look better we're just really not getting the results right now and hopefully at some point that that will come we can break through and and score some goals to to help us get on the winning side scott i'm sure they're uh pleased to have uh someone with your career success involved, staying with the organization. What is your role with the team right now? What do you find yourself doing on a day-to-day with the Ducks? I mean, the title is advisor and I kind of do a little bit of everything, a little player development, talk with management a bit, as well as the coaching staff. So try and catch up with the team. I currently live up in BC,

so I'm not with them full-time, but I do try and catch up with them team. I currently live up in BC, so I'm not with them full time, but I do try and catch up with them every five weeks, every month to watch some games live, see some games in San Diego as well, and just stay in touch with the team so I can give some advice that hopefully is worth something. Got to ask you about the most recent acquisition of Jacob Truba. It's not quite in the we-just-acquired-Scott-Niedermeyer kind of level. But what do you see in that move? Why would a Pat Verbeek go after him at this point of the program?

And your overall thoughts of bringing a guy like that in? I think one of the things that we're trying to do is bring in true pros, guys that have played in the league for a while, to really be an example for our young guys. I know my personal situation when I started playing in New Jersey,

our whole team was full of veterans, especially on the back end, 10-year pros. It was a great situation for me to be in just to watch these guys, to see what it took to be an NHL player to be successful and I think that's what we're trying to do if we can get some guys in that have had success in this league that have been really good players play with an edge play play hard compete hard I think that's what we're trying to build as far as our culture in Anaheim is a hard competing team obviously Pat as the GM was a tough player, a competitive player, and that's what he wants our team to be. You got a couple of young guys on the back end there,

Mintyakov and Zellweger. What are your thoughts on how they've been for the Ducks so far? Yeah, it's been interesting to watch. You know, it is definitely not a straight line. Mintyakov had a great year last year. His first year, he's come in his second year and maybe found it you know not quite as smooth whereas Zellweger started in the minors last year and has come in and continued to play well and just kind of picked up where he left off last year so that's the way it is I think you look back on anybody's career there's ups and downs and for young guys especially defensemen it's a tough position to learn. And we're patient. We're, you know, wanting them to do it the right way.

And, you know, we're not going to get there tonight, that's for sure. So it's a long process. You're watching and listening to Scott Niedermeyer, four-time Stanley Cup champion, Hall of Famer, and advisor to hockey ops for the Anaheim Ducks. Speaking of which, Scott, of the ups and downs, I got to ask you about Trevor Zegers. I think five years ago, he was almost like this can't-miss kid coming in to the point where a lot of talk about him

either through individual efforts of a goal or being on the cover of a video game, and yet it's been a tremendous struggle. We know he's hurt and he's out now, but looking back on his struggles, what's holding him back? What has been his biggest obstacle from getting to the point where we're talking

about others, young players, great in the game today? Yeah, I mean, I guess sort of from my perspective, he came in, you know, joined maybe a little bit of an older team, just went out there and played hockey, you know, did what he's done his whole life with his talent and skill and had some success with that. Obviously now we're maybe a little bit younger up front. He's not surrounded by the same players he was when he came in and maybe asked to sort of add some things to his game to sort of play the you know whatever you want to call it full 200 foot game sort of commit to to that side of it with the the eye on the long long term here

of being a successful hockey team to try and you know be in the playoffs and have success there and I think that's been the focus the last couple years in in Anaheim. And, you know, it can be a tough process. I even personally, I remember playing for Jacques Lemaire. There were some stretches during my career where, you know, I was struggling and trying to figure out mentally how to play the game with the way he wanted and help our team succeed. So it can be difficult. Trevor's relied probably on his offensive skill his whole life and obviously it's taken him to to the top level of hockey so um for him to kind of push through and battle some injuries along the process here i think before this last injury he really was showing a lot of signs of sort of ramping up his compete all over the ice in our own end um in those little battles for loose pucks and and winning

them with his skill set so it's unfortunate that he ended up getting hurt again, and he was kind of definitely headed in the right direction. Kip, did you want to say ducks, or can I move to Canada? I love it. Yeah, I thought we'd get your thoughts. You have the Canadian jersey behind us. We're back to best-on-best competition. You yourself got to your two-time gold medalist.

What are your thoughts? What are your feelings on the Four Nations face-off and Canada returning to best-on-best? medalist uh you know what are your thoughts what are your feelings on the four nations face off and canada returning to best on best yeah i mean it's great to see i mean as a kid it was always a highlight watching canada cups um you're watching the best players in the world play against each other and with you know on the same team for team canada so that was a highlight for me and then for to get the chance to actually do it um you know whether it was a world junior or in the olympics and world cup those tournaments always a highlight um again to represent your country and then also play with you know some other great players getting to meet them

and be teammates with them so to see that back on the rails again as a hockey fan great to see i know the players probably love it as well so excited about that i know this is probably just a little teaser before we get back into the Olympics, but why not get started and have some fun with it? Got to ask you what you see today out of the blue line. We look back in your heyday and you led it, Chris Pronger, that era compared to maybe what Kale McCarr and others are doing today? Well, I think in general, the game obviously has become more skilled

all the way through the lineup. I think that's pretty obvious. Definitely maybe a little different as far as the toughness of the game and the way it's played. You know, but these players are fun to watch. I think you look at the blue line that Canada put together, there still is some size there and some guys that are going to defend hard and make it difficult for other teams.

I think that's always a success to winning when you can kind of make that other team really earn their offensive chances. And the Canadians have some of those guys on the blue line for sure. We had a chat yesterday. We were talking about Evan Bouchard. And we were talking about how defensemen who take offensive chances, they make really great plays, often have a moment or two where they turn the puck over and it doesn't look good.

And I asked Kip if he thought, is it possible to be a big mistake D-man when you're young and get that out of your game over the course of your career? I guess you'd have the best perspective of all on that. You're saying I made some big mistakes? I'm not not at all i'm saying you would know more than me no i i did i did you're right you're you're right on um and i think that's sort of you know when when jock was in in anaheim there for a stretch it was it was tough to figure that out you know like when when do you take the chance when do you look to push to create offense And when do you sort of make a decision to decide,

let's move this puck up and not take a chance right now, whether it's the timing of the game, the situation, who you're doing it against. Lots of stuff goes into it. I think it's a lot of trial and error and experience as a hockey player. So I think it is. I think you have to be held accountable. I know it wasn't all that comfortable for me at times going through that process,

but I'm pretty sure it made me a better player all around for my team and allowed us to have more success when you do kind of figure that out. mistake that none of us remember, but you may have. Did it scare you? Did it make you worry? Are the kids less apt to worry about it so much? And is that a good thing or maybe not a good thing? Yeah, I mean, you know what? I don't think I worried a ton about it until I had to play for Jacques Lemaire. And in New Jersey, we were going to play a certain style and it was basically to give the other team nothing. You know, and then I kind of

recognized after, you know, a few mistakes, I'd probably find myself sitting on the end of the bench for the rest of the period. And obviously that's where no player wants to be. And then the next time you get out there, obviously there is some thoughts in the back of your head. Well, how do I do this now? If I make this decision, I might be sitting on the bench again. So it, it really have to find your way through it. It's a difficult thing to sort through that. You know, young players, I think are always going through an element of that or a degree of that in their game, trying to balance the two sides of the game and, and be effective for their team. So I, yeah, for sure. I mean, I think there is some thought of it and obviously the culture, the coaches,

the way your team plays is going to dictate sort of, you know, the pressure that's put on you to play both ends of the ring. My follow-up question would be, you know, what would be your thought process if you missed a shift or was benched, but you never, yeah, absolutely. I experienced it for a couple of years. I sat on the bench a lot and, uh, you know, I, the funny thing was it was different a lot, right? Sometimes you're, you're getting mad at the coach and not really maybe looking in the mirror and kind of trying to learn from it. And obviously the best way to approach it was to kind of look in the mirror and say, okay, yeah, that wasn't a smart thing. And next time I get out there, I'll't try not to do that. So it, it was a process. It took a long time for me to kind of figure my game out of how to fit in with what Jacques wanted with us in New Jersey and how we had to play. And me as one of the, one of the members of that team is the D core. So, but definitely I'm thankful for it. It may be a better player. I think it made me help our, our teams more in whatever situation it was, whether it was in New Jersey, Anaheim playing for team Canada. I think I was a player that,

that the coaches could trust sort of in any situation and helped our team have more success. Scott, is there anyone in today? Who's you in today's NHL? Is it Quinn Hughes? Who do you do? Is there somebody you watch and say that that was me? Well, there's guys I wish I could be. I mean, there's so many. I mean, these guys, they can skate, and the skill they're able to display during the game now is amazing.

It wasn't quite that way. You had to really fear for your wrists, your fingers, your hands if you wanted to carry the puck 30 years ago. You were putting your health in jeopardy. But, you know, it's fun to watch these guys. The skill all the way, you know, up and down, forwards, goalies, everybody is amazing. But obviously as a defender, I really do enjoy watching those guys

that are so good with the puck, can skate so well, and create offense. It's fun to watch. One sec, Kip, before we go. We had Ken Danico on yesterday or the day before. He played 1,236 NHL games and scored 35 times. to watch one sec kit before we go uh we had ken danico on yesterday or the day before he played 1236 nhl games and scored 35 times well tell us about playing with ken danico did you see similarities in your game you and ken well kenny always used to say about how he scored points in junior so uh you know he learned the lesson quick when he got to the NHL that that wasn't going to be his game.

But he's one of those guys that made it tough to play. Great teammate. You know, a big reason why we had success in New Jersey. He, you know, he gave you everything he could every single night. And whatever it took to help our team win, he was willing to do it. Great teammate. Really was a great person for me to kind of come in under as a veteran. Really cared about me, whether it was on the ice, off the ice,

and that makes you feel good when you're a young guy, for sure. Hey, you can't bake a cake with the same ingredients. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, absolutely. Scott, really appreciate your time, man, for doing this. You know, keep enjoying the season. Keep doing the great work with the Ducks, and we'll join up again real soon.

Maybe around four nations time. We'd love to have you back. Perfect. Nope. Sounds good guys. Good talking to you. Take care. Thanks for your time. That is Scott Niedermeyer,

four times Stanley cup champion. And, uh, one of the best to ever play the game. Uh, it's great stuff. Uh, I call BS.

Do you think he was benched ever? You know, it's funny. I'd be curious to know how long he was benched for. These guys miss a shift or two and they're great. They're like, ah. Yeah. You know, I doubt he sat there for a whole hockey game.

We did talk about one of their faces of the franchise, Trevor Zegers, who's not in the lineup tonight, will not be a part of the Toronto Maple Leaf game tonight. But there is an update on his knee injury he suffered last week, Sammy. Yes. The Ducks announced today that Trevor Zegers has successful knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. He's expected to miss about six weeks.

I think Freed was saying that it was a little better news than they were expecting. So maybe a little shorter timeline than they thought it was going to be. So they will not be seeing Zegers tonight. No Michigan attempts at Scotiabank Arena. Well, yeah, his season's not over. Yeah. No, that's nice.

You know, really struggling to find it. 24 games, he's got 10 points. He's dashed seven, which is the worst on the team, playing under 17 minutes a night. Not that those are necessarily terrible numbers, but there were high expectations that he would be a producer. Interesting to hear still Scott talk about him breaking in early, mentioning that it was an older guy's room,

which obviously means that the young hotshot comes in, tries to do it his way. It may have worked for him in the past, as Scott said, but that to me was just the first step of what may slow down your progression is that there's still a pecking order. There's still hierarchy in a room. And if you don't necessarily acknowledge it, and I'm not saying that you got to just not be yourself or,

but he rubbed people the wrong way. He kept trying to do things his own way. It didn't work. Pat Verbeek comes in, says, no, we're going to do it differently. And that's the progress that I think's been missing, as Scott had just mentioned. I think there's this perception in certain sects of the hockey fan base or fans in general where they think that hockey people are no fun and don't want creativity or fancy play and that like a guy like zegras comes in and all of us want to stomp out the fun and energy and uniqueness from his game but it's not that it's that we've

watched playoff hockey for so long yeah and, yeah. And a certain thing works. You know, it's not that type of hockey. And we had his skills coach, Adam Oates, come on and say, you know, it's funny, Valley got killed for the Jack Hughes Instagram hockey thing or whatever. But Oates had said that the year before on our show about Zegers. I think maybe you can use that phrase now that I think about it. It could have been. That, you know, sometimes you have to chip it by a guy.

Sometimes you have to get there and create. We don't want to take the fun out of his game and creativity and all that, but you have to have success in the league. There's a style that works best. Once the calendar flips to April, you've got to beat it to a square and bounce it off somebody's leg. Just to kind of bring this back to the Toronto Maple Leafs as we close out our segment here on our Leaf Edition hour,

is that what Berube's been trying to tell the likes of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, and all the rest of them? I think that's a big part of this is that, you know, people are looking at some of the Leafs' success and going, well, they're getting great goaltending and penalty killing. That's why they're, you know, they're having success. And it's like, yeah, that's what they want to do i know it's not great you know they you need to create more than they have but still they're trying to be different they're

different and you know every time brew base talked about this he's given the group credit for you know buying into the group we listened to shanahan talking to kyle at the bog about how impressed he is that the people buying in and like that's all you can ask for and you know like you said kipper that there's going to be an adjustment period to the system and that they may have some middling results throughout that and there has there has been an adjustment period and they're still winning a ton sacrificing your offense a little bit you know matthews has not been we've not seen matthews a game no but the games that he's played the numbers don't suggest that you know he still has that kind of freedom i think to to go score

60 or 70 70 goals maybe christopher steve come on the show and say you can't do it you know like that's not you know individuals have to make these sacrifices for the the greater good of the team sometimes and i think you know talk about the growing pains and early going the growing pains is okay we're doing this defensive thing how do we now find offense within that niedermeyer talked about okay i can't do x how do i do this now and that's the piece where it feels like the leafs are at how do we find this offensive piece within this defensive structure? Hey, quickly, before we go, we were talking earlier about the Nylander hit. Our boy, the Serpent, Jake, found it.

He found the hit. Oh, no. I think he did. Here we go. Here we go. Here it is. Here it is. Oh, baby.

Okay. There you go. We're on the panel tonight. Anaheim, Toronto, 7-onto 708 puck drop on uh on sports net now that's all i'm watching now his shift will he hit yeah i want to hit just on audio there he gently rubbed someone i i have to see a hit he's got to double his hits tonight he had 100 improvement on his total that was the most nothing hit of all time it had zero impact in the play if you were tallying hits would you've of course that's a hit that is definitely a hit no question so what uh is what went viral with

mark gastineau oh yeah giving it. Giving it to Brett Favre. About taking the dive. A tackle. Yeah, because, I mean, the story was that... He was the leader. Yeah, Strahan was going for the all-time record. With two minutes left in the last game of the season, Brett Favre took a dive so that he could get the sack record, and the buddy confronted him about it.

The guy that used to have the record, yeah. It's one of the most awkward videos of all time. Have you even seen that? No. And then a full apology from Favre. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's one of the most awkward videos of all time. You haven't seen that? No. It's been floating around the internet. And then a full apology from Favre. Yeah, yeah. Was that the last one that Strahan got?

Yes. Oh. It was two minutes of the last game of the season. Last two minutes and he took a dive. I think it was 22 to break the record. Yeah, it was. For the season. Yeah.

And now he doesn't have the record, Mike Asno. Yeah. Think the league should go back and change it? No. Strahan had respect enough around the league. People laying down for him. Our thanks to Scott Niedermeyer in our Leaf Edition hour. Next hour, we go national.

Mike Rupp, NHL Network analyst, will join us. We'll tee up how many games? 14 tonight. The National Hockey League. Don't go away.