Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Goalie Jolt in Game 1 of 82

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

After a long summer, it's finally a Leafs game day! Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee get you all set for game 1 of 82, including a late scratch for Jo Woll, what to expect from Stolarz's Leafs debut and Hildeby getting the call-up over Murray. How worried should Leafs fans be with the freshly-extended young goalie's long-term health? Finally, former NHLer PJ Stock (31:45) helps set the stage for Leafs/Canadiens tonight, shares his expectations for their seasons and weighs in on each team's offseason changes.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 affiliate.

for the second consecutive game i'll be at a summer in between goaltender joseph wall will not be available for the toronto maple leafs for a scheduled start. Welcome in to the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. This is the Leaf Hour edition of our show. We are live on Sportsnet 590, the fan, Sportsnet Plus. Nick Kipper, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. Was it yesterday that we were complaining that we were running out of content? We're just happy that the season needed to start. But not like this.

And then you said, well, you know, puck drop won't happen before our show. We still got to find content. Do you think that the Leafs heard you and said, let's give them something to talk about? No. No, I don't. I think this is just the hockey gods doing the hockey gods thing.

I mean, I don't even know what to say to start. I have things to say. It's not you I'm worried about. It's our boy Sammy who's like, I don't know. Have you checked in with him? I'm scared to talk to him. I have. I sent some texts with him on the side.

He has thoughts on this like sammy are you first of all let's just let's not worry about the leafs or joseph are you okay i'm fine you're fine i woke up this morning feeling very positive like very positive very happy excited you know it's just it's a good day it's a good training camp ready to run Leafs are back baby good training camp for sure and Justin's right and that they're gonna win it all all over the place much like I woke up on the day of game seven feeling great feeling excited the Leafs are on a comeback and then tweets started to trickle in from various insiders like Kipper like elliot like there were

some business nasty tweets that were going around on the day of game seven and i was saying what is happening what is happening and then today i see again that joseph wall is not playing tonight due to injury now precautionary whatever and people are saying it's not that big a deal it's because it's not it's the principle of it it's not clearly the biggest issue in the world right but the fact that it's just two straight games where by all accounts totally available and then just disappearing the game day the day it's happening it's just a tough pill to swallow boys i just don't want to do it i don't want to do this every night i don't want to do this all year this is a huge worry where are you on this well like in regards to wool himself or the way this is shaking out well okay like let's

let's take a deep breath here and break it down. Where do you want to go from a wool perspective or even the way it came down? We had finished our first week on a Friday, and there was some talk and speculation that wool got hurt, and we kind of left it alone. Luke mentioned it. Luke mentioned it on our show, Lukeke fox senior writer for sportsnet.ca and it kind of got left alone then it got kind of did it get strange with craig bruby playing coy

on who's his starting goalie yes but also the way the preseason game shook out was strange because remember it was going to be wool didn't play he played half a game the first game or a game but he played half a game and then four games later he had got in they were like don't read too much into it don't read anything was he hurt a week ago and they tried to cover it up and get him better to the point where it slid by because last time time I checked. As of yesterday. Finishing practice. Press conference.

Or press media. With your thoughts on. Playing a home opener. Against Montreal. Said all the right things. I didn't even cut the clip. Because it was just the exact type of clip. That you hate Kipper. That's just like oh I'm I'm really excited to have this opportunity

to play in Montreal. So he finished practice. Didn't even bother cutting it. He finished practice. He did. I talked to people who said nothing happened at practice, that he left. There was no moment.

Well, there's no moment for him tipping his hand that he's dealing with anything or he might not play. He genuinely looked excited so what the hell happened tightness ah tightness you got the tightness you got the tightness big case of the tightness as a yeah there's there's some people tightening up about this i can tell you that it's the least fans i think no certain areas can tell you that. It's the Leafs fans, I think. No, no. Certain areas of my body tightening up. No, the Leafs. The Leafs are not.

Do you think they feel uncomfortable? Are you kidding me? I'd be going ballistic right now. Out of anger, confusion, frustration. What would it be? All of the above? They're all yeses. Check all the boxes.

Okay. Like, we addressed this. We went through it all summer. We talked about all the right things. And then the bottom falls out of training camp, guys. Yeah. This isn't just another player with a minor tweak. This is your new number one $10 million over three-year deal.

Let me be the Leafs. Sure. I'm the Leafs and I hear you say that and I say, ridiculous. I say, we told everyone we were going to be a tandem. We have two good goalies. We have one A and one B. One of them is just feeling a little tight. So we're just going to use the other one.

We have two guys. This is a non-story. We have two guys. We're using one guy. We'll use the other guy the next night. What's the problem? I couldn't disagree with you more. Okay.

For the record, I don't agree with me either. And I'm not the Leafs, so I'll take that hat off. Why? I don't agree with that either. Because I'm just saying that's what they would tell you. All right. That's what they would tell you. And what do you see now? I think that there was an obligation on Wolfe's part to show people that they didn't need to be afraid.

We had Valley come come on say soft tissue injuries are the player's responsibility and i would feel some responsibility after a chance to be the starting goalie for the toronto maple leafs and i know you're not supposed to say this in sports but like i think i would be making a real effort even if i didn't feel great to be out there. But if I had one limb hanging on a string after what I put the team through in game seven, I'm playing

tonight. Okay? That's it. I'm playing tonight. If I heard it more, I heard it more. But I can't miss this start under these circumstances. I'm sorry. If I'm in practice and I go post to post and I'm in agony

and two guys need to carry me off the ice, I'm missing the start. But this way where you finish practice and there's nothing and you wake up and you tell the coach or the trainer, I'm feeling a little stiff. Well, guess what? Too bad. Okay. Play. You got 21, 22 teammates that probably are a little stiff as well.

Maybe tweaked something, but he just play. Just play. And according to Puckpedia here, so they send out little tweets here and there about what's happening with the Leafs and all teams. But according to them, Wol is on IR now. So is that seven days minimum? Is that what it is?

I don't know. That sounds right. So there you go. But also, the team has come out and had to sort of like do this, I don't know, smokescreen for you. You know, he's fine. Don't read anything into this. He's, you know.

They could have been truthful. Say, hey, he's working through something a little bit here. I don't know. We're not sure if he's going to be ready. He's got something. Did he go to him before he went to the press and basically lied, saying that he's excited about the start? Probably not. For me, did he go into later that night and call a coach or a trainer

and say, I'm not feeling well, I'm stiff, it's not right? I feel like lie is a strong word because maybe he doesn't know and he's just leaving the option open to play. I'm just saying, I'm actually giving the Leafs the benefit of the doubt saying up until last night they thought they had their number one starter in net tonight. That's all. So Hildeby

was he there last night? Did he get there this morning? So I mean at the end of the day it doesn't really matter to me but just the way this thing went down again absolutely stinks. It stinks. I'll say that's probably the most frustrating part. If they're like, hey, you know, it's week something the first day.

We're working through it. Should be ready for opening night. Might not be. We're going to see where he's at. All right, he's not quite ready. We're going to go ahead. You know, Stolarz will get game one. We'll see if he's ready game two.

Something like that would have been a lot better than just like there's nothing don't read it there's nothing there's nothing happening here and then the next day when asked if wall's gonna start it's like you know ruby got almost defensive about it i went on jd's show uh on monday and we were talking about who could be the biggest whipping boys for this season outside of the Marner category, just who else would it be? And I said that Wall has the potential because of this exact reason. People were pretty hurt game seven when he wasn't there. Where you just, the number one thing you want with your starting goalie

is availability and a guy to count on and a guy to be like, hey, every, you know, three times a week, two times a week week regardless of how many times they're playing that week he's going to be in the net he's going to be there he's your guy and it's game one fellas we're doing this dance for you game one that that happened in april yeah game seven And that broke me pretty good. Then, you know, the whole kind of, we're looking over everything and we're going to revisit everything.

And then lo and behold, you know, the Leafs announced that they've resigned Joseph Wall to nine, five, over three years.

Right? Over three years. So so that was a commitment that was a huge commitment by the Leafs to say that whatever he's gone through in the past is in the past well we were addressing it and we're gonna find a way to overcome and this is us hedging because that's what we do as general managers now and presidents to give out huge contracts, right? They're not earned. They are now given on the assumption that you will hit the place that we project you to go. Three years, $11 million. $11 million.

3.6 million. That was nine. Yeah. Okay. All right. you to go three years 11 million dollars 11 that was nine yeah three okay all right but so with that came a new pay to paint a coat for joseph wall that you will get another opportunity right because you've had this reputation for being a guy that's hurt yeah okay not too far off from matt murray by the way yeah hey they both at this point have come in with a reputation that you can't stay healthy i don't want to be memory has a couple of these that gives you the benefit of the doubt on that one a little bit but i don't want to be

the injury blamers all the time because i've taken a slap shot in the face. You know, like I've had an MCL snap, you know, when I've been in good shape. It happens randomly, freakishly, whatever. No, no, that happens randomly, freakishly. Waking up and telling your coach you're a little tight is not that. Okay, that's exactly where I was going with that. This feels not like that okay yeah so you know what we're gonna do about it though you're gonna do nothing about it and he's gonna hopefully play game two and off you go no he's not gonna play a game two because he's on the

chance he's playing okay well hopefully he plays game no he's no no no no he's he's he's done till the he's done through the weekend you don't wake up and say, I can't go Wednesday, and then you show up and play Thursday or Saturday. Not a chance. We're talking game two or three of the season. He's not available. It's going to be, we're going to see Dennis Hildeby? Listen, we'll...

What just happened? The guy Sheldon Keefe would not play. His name's Dennis, right? Yeah. Hold on for a second. Hold on for a second, Hold on for a second because I just reel it in here.

You can't cast me out there and then try to reel me in. Alright. I just want to just finish this thought that that with this new coat of paint and this $11 million contract came

like a new sense that things would be different. And they're not. So I think outside of just whatever he's dealing with and maybe he's back in a week but there's significant damage done to the the Leafs here moving forward and that's even if he returns a week emotional confidence a hundred percent yeah that there is this thing that the goalies need to have above any other player above any other position on a hockey club and that is the trust of your teammates and i think that is gone right now and and can he get it back? Can he get it back November, December, March, even if he comes back and he plays 50 games? That trust is very hard for a goalie,

especially one that thinks he's going to be a number one goalie on a hockey club to have and goalie on a hockey club, to have and to hold on a hockey club. He does not have that. It might have been debatable in April, but the Leaf players woke up this morning and they all said to themselves, if not quietly to a teammate, I don't trust that guy but i wonder if that matters

like i wonder i agree that their confidence would be shaken in his ability to be there but if he's there if it's game seven around one and wool's in his gear and he's gonna play goal yeah yeah does it affect yes it does it does it affects the mindset that I can go out there and I can play a great game, but that guy will bail on us. That guy won't be there. That to me is affecting relationships, not hockey. Because I agree that there's... The only relationship is hockey.

That's the only one that matters. I couldn't care less about anything else. Can you win with you? Right. Can we win with you? Right. Can we win with you? Right. But that's the thing is like, I agree that they might be like,

boy, I just don't know if he's going to be there. But if he is, if he is there, is it affecting wins and losses? I don't know. I don't know if this has any sort of, I'm telling you right now,

if you don't believe in your goalie, you're cooked. You're done. Done. It's over. It's over. If you don't trust your goal goalie, you're cooked. You're done. Done. It's over. It's over. If you don't trust your goalie, it doesn't matter. If I don't believe that you can make a save and be there for us

and not disappear or not feel tightness or tweak, and no, we're all in the same boat. I'm playing at 60% or 70%, and you need to be a hundred percent apparently i'm gonna take yeah so i'm gonna take the show dangerous place here like culturally with hockey it has certainly changed from you know you are paid we are a unit if you can drag your body out there you do it for the team things have changed it's not like that anymore now there's a sports science department and they want to protect every player so you get the most out of every player and in theory everyone plays more games healthier

stronger the team is better for it but you don't have these guys this is a little bit unrelated to this conversation but i was talking to my mom today who was telling me about my dad and having concussions in the 1980s and throwing up on the couch or whatever and like two days later a hockey game and just making himself be there it's not that anymore and it shouldn't be like that but this isn't that anymore i know but i'm saying this this this situation cannot compare to that but is there a middle ground here where it's gone too far? No. It's gone too far. We're too protective of the players.

The players are too coddled. At some point, is there not some sort of pendulum swing back to like, we get it, we're looking out for you, but we need you too. Even if you're not perfect, give us your best. That's where they are with Wahl today. And so why I said it was dangerous is because of Kneelander and because of the Amazon documentary and because of the text messages I've received from many people

about watching Willie with migraines. And they'll know people with migraines who are in a dark room with the shades drawn and, you know, they can't talk or their vision's gone and Willie's watching the games, cheering them on. You think that hurt Willie, the Amazon? I think it didn't make people be like, boy, he was really ruined.

Like, it felt, I know he said he had some vision blurring. I'm not saying he should have played. I'm saying that people looked at that and said, I'm not sure. I'm not sure how bad that looked. Are any of those people in this room? Sure, sure. I'm talking about Sammy. I keep gesturing to Sammy. I'm talking about Sammy. But you're not sure. I'm not sure how bad that looked. Are any of those people in this room? I'm talking about Sammy.

I keep gesturing to Sammy. I'm talking about Sammy. But you're not alone. So those of you watching and listening that have not seen the Amazon, it focuses around Willie Nylander, who didn't participate. Game one, game two. Game one and game two. Three?

He played early in the series. Yeah, he played in two. I agree. But the camera still had access to him watching the games and cheering and watching his dog. And so that's what you're speaking of. That people wanted to see him with gauze wrapped around his head. Or just like, get these cameras out of my face. Or I can't look at the glare of the TV. Or like, so i'm sorry he was just like i crashing crispy green watching you on that

sammy i hate you need to see the guy well no i just like i'm watching that wrapped like i would prefer him to not be like at the phoenix nightclub watching the game and like it seemed like he was watching that like i would have preferred him to be in a dark room, whatever. But this is beside the point. What you're saying about Wall is bang on in terms of there's got to be a little bit. But is it him that's making the decision? How many people they have employed that are – That's a great question. That's what I'm wondering.

Whose job is on the line saying he's not cleared by me to play tonight? You go through the page page the team page for the leafs and it's you're scrolling for a minute like all the people that are employed how many of these people are talking to him making this decision saying oh we got to protect this asset we got to do this we got to do that they're going my job's on the line if he goes and gets hurt more the guy feels okay and he's going to play the first game of the season like how i don't know who makes the decision what makes the decision but of the season like how i don't know who makes the decision what makes the decision but ultimately the way it was handled it's awful and it's we're

sitting here on game one not talking about the haves and leafs opening night we're talking about them lying practice we're talking about lying to us and it's not being forthright and him missing the opening game in maybe seven days after he missed missed game seven. The good news is that Anthony Stolarz is very good. I'm not finished here. Don't switch it over to that guy yet. Okay. The issue here now, again,

is now you got Wall, whenever he comes back between now and the end of the regular season, or if it happens again. Who's holding responsibility off of that? I think the answer should be someone. And not Wool.

Because Wool's 23, isn't he? No, he's older than that. 25. 26. 26? Yes. Come on. He's 26.

Look at that. 26. Never mind. Ignore everything I was about to say. He's 26. Look at that. 26. Never mind. Ignore everything I was about to say. He's not a spring chicken either. No, he's not. You're on the hook at that point. But I guess in my head I have, what are we talking about?

You're going to trade him because he's a very good goalie. People have had runs of early career injuries and overcome it. He's just going to continue to kind of cross your fingers and hope and pray that it just ends. Do you remember Crosby had concussions for like two years? He played a year and he missed so much hockey, and all of a sudden he's just fine. You can't even compare the character.

I'm sorry. You can't compare character. One has a track that is a track record since the moment he put on skates right the other one i don't know does he like hockey does he want to play does he come to the rink saying i need to feel a hundred percent or i go to trainers and i say i'm tight i don don't feel right. I also am skeptical of the word tight, whatever that's covering up. But, like, surely it's not muscle tightness. They could have used a million other words.

I'm with you. What exactly is tight? I'd take tweak over tight. And what's the harm in being like, ah this his knee is or you know what does that affect things i don't know i don't understand why it's like you know what it probably is it's probably to avoid this conversation you know they were hoping he'd just be able to play and we wouldn't have had to heard or thought about any of the previous stuff and now that he's not able to play there's some people on the hook for how it's handled and then whatever the team is who looks after him

maybe on the hook for something's not working it's going to take a long time to come back and earn trust that's the thing for me is he's got a long road ahead of him

not to get back on the ice or play or have, he can come back and look like an all-star. Like we know he's good. We know he has potential to be very good. But what you've really damaged is the thought that, you know, you're going to be there when it counts. That's all.

And that's a hard thing to get back for a goalie particularly when do you want to ballpark how many career nhl games he's played oh yeah that's what my next point was going to be he's at 36 regular season games 47 including playoffs you know yes this is not yeah there's no track record, like none at all. So, yeah, it becomes. You think that weighed on him? Or is weighing on him? No, but I think.

That he needs to be the man. He just signed for $11 million. People are expecting him to be an all-star. I think it affects how I look at him. Because if this is a guy who had 250 NHL games, I'd say, you know, we've seen him deal with things. We've seen him play enough. Like, we don't know if it can happen in the pros at all. I mean, his pro career, the most he's played is 32 with the Marlies in 1920. Yeah.

And it's 15, 15, 21, 25. And then going back to college, it's 37, 34, 35. But, I mean, college, that's quite a bit in college. That's all they play. But the point is, he's never played a 40 quite a bit in college. That's all they play. But the point is he's never played a 40-game season. All right. Listen.

What is that? Like 25 minutes just on this? Open it now, Vinny! And we haven't discussed Stolarz, who's starting tonight. Yes. Who I have a scary amount of trust in, which that can't go well. Okay. Hold on there, Sammy.

Are we allowed to talk about something else yet? You just told us how inexperienced Wall is. And this guy's never played 40 games in the NHL either. I know. So where's your, you know, concern over that? He saw a couple of preseason windmills on Tarasenko. And he's like, bingo. That's it. I just thought he looked good in the preseason. I don't have anything else to go off.

He played well against the Leafs a couple times last year he's a backup goal he's a he's a journeyman until now but he's got 108 until now yeah until the starting goal now he's the starting goalie the toronto maple leafs against the montreal canadians on opening night baby let's go that's not there's a lot of things that i've liked and witnessed in a very short window here about him. But how concerned are you that they're going to start asking him to extremely look and feel like a number one goalie? Extremely. He played 40 games in 1920 between San Diego and Atlanta.

1920, that's a long time ago. He's getting up there. 104 years ago, he played 40 games in 1920 between San Diego and A&I. 1920, that's a long time ago. He's getting up there. 104 years ago, he played 40 games. Look at his list. New Jersey teams, jerseys. Is he going to go back-to-back right out of the gates? No. No.

I think he should. Why can't guys play back-to-back? They're not going to die. We're talking about the second. Not talking practice. We're talking about the second game of the season.'re gonna go back to back you're gonna throw sheldon keeves new jersey devils dennis hildeby's first nhl game i am just like through casimir cascasu to the pittsburgh penguins he's gonna tweak something in the second game and then you go i don't know this answer

how many back-to-back nhl games has he played in his career? Probably zero. I would bet a lot of money it's zero. So just roll the dice, right? Does it become pickleball the second game, or is it still hockey? You also can't throw him to the Lions either. The Lions are out there. You've got to beat the Lions. You can't win the cup without beating the Lions. Not in game two or game three.

Well, we'll set them up to fight the Lions in game two. Which brings me to my other point here. Uh-oh. The call-up is Hildeby. I know. Where is Matt Murray? Stunned. It's not Murray.

By all accounts, he's very healthy right now. You're not the only one. You know who else is? You. Matt Murray. Oh, Matt Murray. Uh-oh. You talked about people yesterday.

I had my list of ups and downs for the Leafs that the new management or new coach might like. You. Matt Murray. Oh, Matt Murray. Uh-oh. You talked about people yesterday. I had my list of ups and downs for the Leafs that the new management or new coach might like. Murray might have just found a little something out. Now, could this be waivers related that one of them? No. No, no, no. Nothing to do with that. Okay.

Matt Murray's with the Marlies. Maybe Murray's just going to Jersey for game two. No, he's not going to New Jersey. He's going to play Saturday, I think, for the Marlies. Big game against Utica? Well, whatever. But so here we are. The season hasn't started, and there's a real possibility that your number four goalie

on the depth chart going into training cap will start. Sounds like he was number three to me. Sounds like he was number three. Woo. Sounds like he was number three. Woo-hoo! Hey. Catch the fever, baby. Let's go. Who's not excited about 6'7 Dennis Hildeby?

He's awesome. Okay. I don't know if he's going to be great in the NHL, but I'm excited about him. I would just rather that he stole ours tomorrow night than Joseph Wall tonight. Is that a fair thing to wish? Yes, absolutely.

The game that you're supposed to win and take two points is tonight. Maybe they start the beast tonight. Is that a fair thing to wish? Absolutely. The game that you're supposed to win and take two points is tonight. Maybe they start the Beast tonight. The one... No, it's Stolard tonight. It's been confirmed that Stolard's... Stolard's, Hill to Beast, Stolard Saturday against Pittsburgh.

That's common sense. You don't see it any other way? No. I mean, if Hildeby plays great enough. What's the betting line in game two? What's the betting line against New Jersey in their home opener? The President's Trophy favorite. The Devils are not the 70s. Habs yet, boys.

Just relax. They've won two games against the Sabres in Czechia. They might be the Habs. They might be the 70s Habs. All right, let's go. We've got to get to PJ. be the Habs. They might be the 70s Habs. All right, let's go. We got to get to PJ. Speaking of Habs. Not even one Kippers Clippers.

Berube has a goaltending comment. Do we want to hear it? It's just him being gruff. He doesn't sound thrilled. Let's do it. Okay. Yeah, Berube. Oh, I don't even know if I put the clips in.

I was so busy talking. On the goaltending? No, I think I did. I did. Yeah, clip one to four. What's the planning net tonight? Stolarz will start. Why was that?

We'll experience some lower body tightness yesterday. It's precautionary, so we're going to keep him out tonight. Will he play tomorrow? We'll see tomorrow. We'll see. He's a great guy. And someone buzzed his tightness disappear in 24 hours it loosens someone buzzed in my

ear I'm not sure who it was the voice of God said that Anthony Stoller's played in a back-to-back last season okay against the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs whoa I don't know all right let's go to God didn't tell me that all right we gotta go you think things will cool off in our

after we come to break? Not a chance with our next guest, PJ Stock, former NHLer, now covering the Habs. Played for the Habs, the Bruins, the Flyers, the Rangers. He's fired up. PJ, after the break. Teeing up the biggest games of the night, it's the Fan Pre Game with alish forfar and justin

cuthbert weekdays at 6 p.m on sports that sports night 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcast What a night it is on the network here as we kick off NHL hockey, especially in this country. Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal. We'll start things off 7 p.m. Eastern. Then we'll go to 10 o'clock. Winnipeg. Winnipeg and Edmonton. And then Vancouver tops it up with the Winnipeg Jets.

Triple header, baby. It's Vancouver and Calgary. They're not playing another season. I didn't have it in my notes. Kipper, it's literally on the front page. Is it? Yes. Like detailed which channel it's on, the whole deal.

All right. All right. Okay, you caught me. Just takes the L and whole deal. All right. All right. Okay, you caught me. Just takes the L and moves on. All right. PJ, bail me out here. PJ Stock, former National Hockey League. Look at him.

What were you? Oh, boy. You look like a CEO. Where are you right now? I look good. I actually admit I do look good. You do? Kipper, in the way you started off this segment,

I actually look better than I thought because I sound better right now as well. We started that off with getting the games all wrong on the opening night. I know, I know. Pretty much. Well, not opening night, but Leafs Nation opening night. I do have glasses, but I don't use them. You wear them on the bridge of your nose. How excited are you to start this thing?

Yeah, you know, tonight's a great setup. I think it's two teams that are really in important phases of where their core is. One's growing, obviously, the Montreal Canadiens, and then how they're going to continue this growth with a lot of their young guys. There is a huge step that has to be taken by the organization. I think a huge step by the coaching staff.

I think it's very important to understand and realize what they have moving forward in the, I guess, the trajectory of what they've been kind of putting in place. And are these guys actually going to be part of the future? And the Leafs, I don't want to say, everyone says it's making a break at season, but they brought in a great guy, Craig Berube, to help write in this. They changed the captaincy,

and I think the Leafs nation you have soon to be, or is he the top, most expensive player in the league right now, or about to be the top? I think he is. He is for now the most yeah for now you have the most expensive player in the world on your team uh there's i know there's always expectations whenever you put on a jersey there's so much more expectations this year and i think uh for that organization, from the jump, this should be nothing about trying to win their conference,

at least the division. They can't start off and put themselves in a position like they've been in every year, you know, finishing second or third and playing another tough, whether it's Boston or Tampa or a tough out. You've got to find a way to get yourself a little bit of a cushion by playing against a 7 or an 8 team and give yourself some of that playoff momentum to get going because they've been great during the season

and they just lose it every time when April comes around. PJ, in that answer there, you mentioned the organization, talking about Montreal, that they need to take a big step, and then you said the coaching staff needs to take a big step too. What do you mean by that with the coaching staff? Well, there's, again, it's, I think it's been, I don't want it to sound this way at all. I didn't want to put any excuses in the coaching staff's mouth,

but they've been decimated by injury. And there hasn't been a lot of depth in the organization. They're starting off now with again this is how it started off last year and they lost doc after a couple of minutes so it's kind of they now have that depth they brought in uh kirby's back they alex newhook's uh healthy right now it's it's how fragile this organization is they brought in a player patrick lanny pretty much in play all last year and losing him. And now the wind's been taken out of so much of their sales,

but they do have a second line. Now they do have options on the power play. They got Lane Hudson. Now that's going to be QB in their power play one or their power play two, which means there are second options. Marty, Marty has been coaching in the last couple of years. It's just been the same thing.

That number one line just rolled him over the bench. That's all he's had. And he wants to win every game. And, you know, it was tough to watch at times because they don't deserve to be on the ice some nights because some nights the puck's not bouncing their way. But Marty wants to win. And there was no option B for him, really. This year there are,

and he's got to, he's got to make decisions about maybe that top line's not going tonight. And maybe I got to put this second line on. So there's going to be a lot of decisions that he didn't have to make before that he's going to have to make now. So we're good decisions for him, right? Right.

BJ, where, where are the fans listening to you right now in terms of expectations or patience? Is this just another year of getting to the place in a few years where they can compete? Or Montreal Canadian fans said, enough already. I just can't.

I can't watch bottom feeding anymore. I can't watch them go into another lottery. I've had it. It's pretty amazing the atmosphere in Montreal and in Quebec about the hope for this team. It really is.

I say it and I speak to some guys and I'm like that are in the organization. It's amazing how post-game news conferences, the way they talk to the media and the way the media portrays the story that everyone thinks this team had a great year last year because they think there's all these new pieces that they haven't had in a while they finished 15th out of 16 teams

in the conference 28th in the league their power play the last three years has been, I forget the year, but 32nd, sorry, 27th, 29th, and 31st. They're decimated by, there's a lot that there isn't to like, but everyone in this province has been drinking the Kool-Aid about all these great pieces that are in place. And it's going to have to start, you know,pkoski now another big year suzuki's been here for a while caulfield's got a you know another year we got donkey's got to stay healthy madison on the back end there's a you know anderson's making a lot of money gallagher's got a lot of money um it's one of those things that the people and the fans are behind them they see all the young kids and the potential future and they never like to compare it to other teams. They just think that the Canes have the best young guys in the league,

and this team's going to go like this. That's the thought process in Montreal. The media, I think, is going to be waiting to see if this team is going to play in important games towards the tail end of the year. Like I said, it's been kind of, I don't want to say easier on Marty because he hasn't had an option. It wasn't easier, but he didn't have to overthink too many decisions.

But for the players too, they have to learn as part of their trajectory that the games in the second half of the season mean something, and you've got to compete, And you've got to block shots. And you've got to back check. And you've got to do all these different things that they haven't really had to do because they've been out of it so early. And part of the, you know, the growing of a young player is learning to hate losing, as you guys both know this, learning to hate losing in those important games. And they haven't been in any important games for years now. So tonight

Max Pacioretty's going to return. He's wearing the blue and white. He has said that it's the hardest group he's ever been a part of here in Toronto. He said his kids think this is the best he's ever looked in a jersey. Yeah, and he didn't actually say hardest working, PJ.

He just said hardest. But we assume it's hardest working. So the years that he was captain of the Montreal Canadiens, what the hell were they doing during training camp? He learned how to speak, guys. That's why he learned how to give it to the media. That's all that it is. We. That's all that it is. We know that's all that that is.

So is he going to get booed tonight or what? Oh, no. He left on kind of a good note. He was great here for the Montreal Canadiens. You know, it's been pretty futile here for many years. But he was a guy that scored a bunch of goals. I thought he could have been a different player. You guys are going to watch him play and say that i he's got all this talent great

speed great shot uh he's not a guy that loves to drive the net and i don't think he's going to want to do it later on in his career but he always likes taking that shot and almost like a fade away in basketball shoots it and peels a lot to the corner and i just wish more often he's one of those guys that would put the weight on his inside leg and drive more to the net uh but he still gets 30 goals in his sleep with his shot and speed coming back from a couple injuries will be interesting but he's he's consistent uh he he does what he does goes down the wing uh you'll be you'll be seeing yourself some like you know just drive the net drive the net uh but he doesn't, but he still does his thing. He likes to shoot a lot from outside. And he'll get his, you know, his advanced analytics cookies.

But you're going to, some shifts, you're going to be like, just shoot it off his pad. You're not going to score from there. Shoot it off his pad to give somebody else a chance. But consistent. He's always been consistent. And Montreal Canadiens fans are going to love him. I don't think they're going to care about him. I think they're going to be interested to see how Ryan Reeves comes back

and plays and how the big boys are. Matthews is now the big dog in the league with the money, and the Montreal fan base is always quick to jump on guys like that. What's the over-under on Jack-I and Reeves tonight, first five minutes? Well, Arbor's been pretty excited this training camp, a little bit too excited, I'm sure everyone saw. Yeah. Yeah.

First of all, there's ways about doing it. And he's a young guy, remember. He doesn't really know how to do it properly yet. But I love that he's doing it. I really do. And, you know, I – and the only reason why I like that he's doing it, first of all, for people that forget, the first one was the hit on – the Stutzel hit was the second one.

I'm trying to think of the first one. Greg on Doc? No, the first one was on Patrick Laine. The pairing hit on Laine. And then he went out there. The look of it looked too Bertuzzi-ish. It just looked bad. Glove on, hitting from the back of the head.

It was a message to be sent that we're not going to be pushed around anymore. I get it. I get it. I like it. I just don't like the optics and the way that he did it, but it's at least the organization, they haven't had that for a long time. And then the second one is,

yeah, they just ran that dark the next game Ottawa did. So unfortunately the way, the way the league is played right now, it's hard to, to go back and threaten another player, say something, do something.

So you take Matt, take matters into your own, and he goes and hits Stutzla, which is, you know, it looked way worse than it was because Stutzla's stick hit him in the face. But it was still, you need that. It sounds, you know, I don't want to sound caveman-ish, but early in the season, you need to set that tone to other teams that, yeah, we're not the best team but we're not backing down anymore and it becomes contagious kipper you did that when you played and it's a

tough role and not everyone knows how to do it and i think he has a little bit more confidence in that department and he had a great tilt with the mclaren the other night uh in ottawa and did really well at them. They did really well with them, and I think that's just more confidence. And it's just noise. It just makes noise in the league. And Ryan's got an important role with Toronto, and Arbor does with Montreal.

So we'll see how the game goes out and plays, but I love that stuff. Well, we're going to love puck drop because no matter where the Montreal Canadians are in the standings, there's always something a little special in terms of what they show the Toronto Maple Leafs. I mean, if they're not in the playoffs or playing meaningful games, they're always meaningful against the Leafs. So I expect Montreal to come at them hard tonight. I'm excited to see. You guys are going to have a fun time watching Lane Hudson tonight.

Just keep an eye on him. It'll be interesting on the defensive side. For me, I want to watch how he's going to be able to play to get stuck out against a Matthews 6'3 big body or even a smaller bar who's really shifty. I think that'd be better for Lane Hudson. But offensively, he's one of those guys that attacks you. When he has the puck, he doesn't just try to find space.

He'll go at you, attack the forward checker, attack the penalty killer, and make you move. And he's so shifty that, you know, he's not fast in a straight line as he is almost Alex Kovalev or Zuboff back in the day. He can walk the line really well and step forward as he does it. So keep an eye on him. It'll be fun. We'll have fun watching him and talking about him this year.

All right. You're going to come on our show one year and look a little older. Can you do that for us? I got to go get my makeup on now. It's no paint yet. I did do my hair. I did get all dressed up for you guys. It's opening season. Leafs abs.

Opening game, guys. Kipper, you look like you just came out of your bed. What's the matter with you? I usually do, though. That's the routine. You know what? This is all about consistency. You want to be consistent. I'm in a makeshift

closet here that I turned into a studio for you guys. Well, I got a plant in the background, some old picture. That's some artwork. I shut the door. I'm at work. Awesome. For Barney, anything. Kip, for you and I, got to have a negotiation for the next one.

Really appreciate you putting the effort for us. And enjoy game one. And we'll have you on again soon, PJ. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, PJ. I'm about to go on. Who's winning tonight? I again soon, PJ. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, PJ. I'm about to go on. Who's winning tonight? I mean, Leafs.

It's Leafs. Come on. They stole ours tonight. All right, guys. See you, PJ. Have a good one. PJ Stock. He did look sharp today.

Yeah, he did. Shiny speech. He did. Yeah, they're going to play. Montreal will play them hard. This is, I don't know. Lane Hudson. They're playoff games.

Leafs, on a team like Montreal that we all suspect will be one of the bottom teams this year. Yeah. Always have something to prove against Big Brother. I mean, I feel for Habs fans because it takes time when you draft players for it to come along everyone's talking about how good their d is going to be hudson's very exciting you know they're like ghoulie and baron and they got jack i gotta get bigger though yeah we gotta get bigger but it's it to me it's like you look at the the depth down the lineup it's you know heinemann evans and dvorak and barboula armia doc like it's just there's not

enough not enough yet to be competitive with the big dog so hopefully slavkovsky ends up becoming a elite power forward of getting malkin or something to that effect and that would be a good step in the right direction patch ready some magic still left for you at all i wanted to ask you about this last year you complained about the leafs didn't say complained you observed that the the least were in a great passing team the offensive zone in particular their passing stats were down compared to most teams yeah great shooters matthew shooter bar shooter neilander shooter shooter shooter and all of a sudden you go oh a lot of shooters not a lot of dishers. You had Max Pacioretty, shooter. Nick Robertson,

shooter. You're asking me who's passing the puck. I guess, what do you think here? What's it look like on offense when every guy who gets it wants to shoot it? Well, first of all, I'll start at the very top. In Matthews, I

think Matthews has the ability to be a much better playmaker than he's led on the last few years. When Marner got hurt, he played with, was it Bertuzzi and Domi? And he played like a center. He was passing all over the ice. And I think it was one power play goal I remember in preseason was this incredible maneuver and then a dish to yeah tovaris yeah that was that our game or no no no that was the following night yeah i think it was saturday this

the back-to-back against detroit uh and what does that mean like if again and not to be a broken record but if it's not 69 goals and it's not 59 and it's only 52 or 41, I think if he makes a conscientious effort to be more of a playmaker, I think Matthews can really elevate that scenario or that situation. Yeah, that can change things for sure. I was just looking through, as you were talking, assists in the NHL last year, and 38 assists is what Matthews had, and that was tied for, assists in the NHL last year. 38 assists is what Matthews had and that was tied for 78th

in the NHL with Brad Marchand, Carter Verhage, Max Domi, Devin Taves and Pavel Zaka. Drake Bathurst and Luke Hughes. I don't know how it ends up but I was never a fan of watching Tavares and Pacioretty again, to your point.

I don't get that at all. Two guys who... They like to play the lower paint. Shoot it from the outside, both of them. Tavares led the league last year in shots where he went, ugh, he's just like a rally killer. Step in over the blue line, that little toe drag into the middle and shoot it right at the goalie's chest.

Somewhere high. And to PJ's point, if you're going to shoot from distance, at least make it, hit the pillow so you can get a rebound. To me, a key in this lineup could be if Holmberg

holds a spot as a third guy. You love the Holmberg. I do. I do. Good player. Maybe just, it's his time right now.

Lawrence, big heavy guy. Camp Reeves, fourth line. Let's see it. All right. Just warming up here as we go national next. We'll welcome in Rob Brown, former National Hockey Leaguer.

We'll get into the Oilers tonight. They get set to face the Winnipeg Jets. Plenty of news and notes as well. Don't miss that segment. More to come when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne.