Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Going Streaking

Episode Date: February 26, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with the Leafs' extending their win streak with a win against the Avalanche over the weekend. They discuss what's spurred this recent change in play, the power play starting to heat up and how much this streak changes perceptions of the team inside and outside the facility. Then, they get into Saturday's game, Colorado's intimidating top-end talent, Bertuzzi's birthday hat trick and the sustainability of the bottom six's elevated play. Later, a conversation about Samsonov's recent stretch, how much credit he deserves over the win streak and how Joseph Woll will be reintroduced to the team now that he's been cleared from his ankle injury.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.

there is nothing like starting your week off and with the three of us no i agree this is lovely just the highlight of my week every week welcome into the real kipper and born show the three of us include justin bourne sammy mckee nick kiprios and watching high above making sure that we're doing well derrick brandeo and jen roland i thought he died i was like we're about to do a tribute here to someone and watching us from the heavens they're just on the second floor and we're on the main floor that's all how's your weekends guys it's a good weekend what floor derrick are you on third floor see i don't even know what floor we're on there's a lot of them um i don't know what i press yeah can i how was your weekend sammy can i give

you some details of my weekend yeah did you golf somewhere why why you got the the look of a weirdo a cat that swallowed the canary here so went up north for on saturday had a wonderful time with my wife a little getaway enjoyed some couch time yesterday watching some golf nice uh was sleeping soundly uh this morning around 5 a.m when i was awoken by a loud crash and bang outside my house, I went outside to have a look at what happened, and a guy traveling very fast on Jane Street crashed into a parked car, which in turn crashed into my parked car. Oh.

At 5 a.m. Really? Yes. And the car is pretty much written off. Three cars. Yours written off too? Yes. And the car is pretty much written off. Three cars. Yours written off too? Yes. Just an absolute disaster.

No way. Yes. So there you go. So that's how you start a Monday morning voice. 5 a.m. with a cop knocking at your door being like, hey, guy ran into your car. So there you go, bud. That's how I started. So I want to tell you my details of my weekend.

I was just, I was wondering, I didn't know if there's anybody on this show that, I heard these commercials on the station. You need a new car? Some kind of cars that are nice. I don't know. You need a Benz? Maybe, I don't know. Kipper, you might need to give me a Benz, buddy.

You need an excuse to go get a Benz now. Well, listen, I love this. He's gone as excuse. My beloved Toyota Corolla was doing pretty well and she got banned up pretty good. You know what? You mentioned it last week. I know. And now it's gone. It's now. Well, listen, I love this. He's gone as excuse. My beloved Toyota Corolla was doing pretty well, and she got banged up pretty good. You know what? You mentioned it last week. I know. And now it's gone.

It's gone. It's gone. Weird. I know. I think you are leaning towards a new car. I think it's Ben's time. Thanks, Kiffer. So we'll talk off air.

I hope no one was hurt under the circumstances. No one was hurt. Guy was all good. The one guy was fine. Arrested, but no good. I don't think he even was arrested. He was charged, but he wasn't arrested. He left. He just had a nap at the wheel. Yeah, probably. He was hurt. Guy was all good. The one guy was fine. Arrested, but no good. I don't think he even was arrested. He was charged, but he wasn't arrested. He left.

He just had a nap at the wheel? Yeah, probably. He was fine. He came over. He's like, I'm so sorry. I'm getting a Benz out of it, buddy. Your Monday's worse than mine. All right, buddy.

I'll talk to my people. I'll have my people call your people. In the meantime, wherever you're watching and listening, Sportsnet 590, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus from 4 to 6. We're glad you are starting your week with the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. And wherever you

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don't look now, but your Toronto Maple Leafs are on a Jack Hughes heater. Oh, boy. Just a straight heater for the boys. I mean, what is going on here? This looks like a hockey team that i don't know

it was unrecognizable yes okay is is like balanced yes a hat trick from tyler bertuzzi you know a week removed from a hat trick for mcmahon it's uh it's pretty cool to see and suddenly you can see a world where this team is, you know, is competitive. Listen to what they could look like at their best. The ceiling is definitely higher than I thought it was at one point. Just to give you an idea of what is going on here, the balance in the lineup, the Maple Leafs are a plus 21 in goal differential,

meaning goals for against goals against. And it's the highest over a seven game span since February of 1993. Like that's 30 years plus ago. It's a lot of goals. That is. And that's a lot of pucks out of your net. And that means that your guys who play a lot don't have to play as much, which helps you in a variety of ways you can give other guys more opportunity try different things it's just i mean it's been really enjoyable

to watch can i ask the two experts just an overarching question what do you think the biggest difference is what do you think is it the balance that you mentioned like what has changed the most to make them look the way they look i think the sense of urgency to get away from depending on four guys that's it in a nutshell and i don't even necessarily think that that was a conscious effort so much as they had a night where marner and devars were sick and riley was out no conscious no i mean kip you think that think that McMahon wasn't going to play the game he scored a hat trick. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about pulling Tavares off the top six. That I'll absolutely agree with.

But that stretches out your lineup. And that pulls more people in. And no bigger guy that benefited more than Tyler Bertuzzi. Yeah. Okay. Here's a guy that is ice cold, and you just needed to fit him in somewhere where it got him reengaged.

And that was pulling Tavares off the power play one and putting Bertuzzi in, and then there was a trickle effect around it. That's conscious. I agree with you. Yes, totally conscious in that case. I think that them putting those guys in after the night those guys were sick and Riley did what he did and everyone played in different roles

and they had success, it gave him permission to go to Tavares and say, you know, this worked pretty good when you weren't there. Maybe we'll try it for another game. Like, it's almost like the impetus to do something you had been wanting to do. And, yeah, since then, they've definitely stuck with it. And to great effect, it's definitely the difference is the lineup, having those guys spread out. Yeah.

Okay. Quick thought on Saturday night before we go to Sheldon's first overview of the game. Or you want to go to Sheldon's uh first overview of the game or uh you want to go to Sheldon first because just give me give me your quick thoughts on on Saturday night because this was a team that is expected to challenge for a Stanley Cup they got one of the best players in the world and and Nathan McKinnon and the Leafs went in there and and got two points in regulation yeah yeah they handled their business i'll say i think they got lucky at times in that samsonov looked very dicey to me and pucks didn't go through him that almost went through him so they kind of got some breaks in that regard but good push from the

top guys you know the power play is probably the difference maker right they're 10 for 21 over the seven game streak 47 that's an incredible incredible and you know i don't know i don't think so much it's because bertuzzi's there but that to me is something in the in the playoffs we've talked about a lot big game big team get an opportunity at the power play can you take advantage they haven't in previous playoff rounds yeah this was a night where they took advantage that was my exact thought that to me this was the most playoffs type game they've played in a long time yeah like i don't know why i just felt like the stanley cup final to me i don't know i was just really into it and it felt like two really good teams going after it against each other and the fact that the power play came through

like there's a lot of leaf fans out there that'll tell you the reason the first round x is not choking it's not this it's not that it's their power play their power play has gone cold at the wrong time we've talked with us a million times and for it to come through especially with bertuzzi in a big game like that my biggest takeaway plus my other biggest takeaway is that we're very close to john devarus becoming patrick stefan on the pokemon i know you see nate going the other way it's just like. When Nathan McKinnon was coming through

the neutral zone and he cut it to the outside, I actually looked away. I was like, oh no. Like I, I was so into, I was so into that game

and I just like, you know, it's the monotony of these games but that one just felt huge and I was so into it I couldn't even watch. I thought he was

going to be Stefan. Baffling he didn't shoot that. Yeah, because he, it rolled on him and he was stuck in between and he just shootling he didn't shoot that. Yeah, because it rolled on him. He was stuck in between. But that's why you shoot it when the net's open. Shoot it at the blue line.

You're across the red. Yeah. Anyways, those are my two minutes. Anyways. All right. Yeah, pretty much the same for me. Nothing overly convincing that they dominated or they were able to make people really believe that could they be Colorado in the best of seven?

Maybe, but two, three weeks ago, you would have said not a chance. And they've now put themselves in a position to think that why not, right? We have a couple of tweaks here and there, which we think are still coming, but maybe not to the extent of that sense of urgency that you had two weeks ago. There's more to build off, more to think about, and certainly Saturday night, I think, illustrated that. Yeah, to your credit, you have been unwavering that the Leafs in playoffs, but I would say two weeks ago

was when Sam and I were doing the whole, are we sure they're going to make the playoffs thing? You know, so... Up until the seven-game winning streak, I wasn't sure of anything. Right. And even with Marner and Matthews by themselves representing the A team

with the B team right behind them, they would never let this team miss the playoffs. Yeah. It just felt like, okay, you know, we talked, I think, quite a bit about aren't they better getting the Rangers in round one and playing out of the Metro and, you know. You sure about those Rangers? I don't know anymore.

Yeah. We'll get into the Rangers later on in the show. Can I ask you about Colorado? Feels like a team that's got a, I know they, they came out of the player assistant program today, which was very good for him and for them. So that's good on both sides. But to me, just a little thin underneath the big guys.

Like a lot of Ryan Johansson, a lot of Cogliano and Colton. They took a chance on Johansson. Yeah. And he's – I know he scored a couple recently, but it didn't work. There's a hole right now that has not been filled since Kadri left. And you feel it. It just...

They're going to fill it, I bet. For sure. When McKinnon and Rantanen and McCaw are on the ice, they're the best team in the world. There's not a team at the trade deadline that need a centerman more than colorado no boys when mckinnon is on the ice he is a force of nature he is just skates so hard all the time as a fan there's few guys that really strike fear in your heart yeah and it's him it's mcdavid yeah it's kucherov it's pasternak and that's like that's it but even like kucherov and Pasternak aren't like McKinnon and McDavid. No, no, no.

It's different styles of fear, but those two guys, McKinnon and McDavid are on a different level of scared. Yeah. But every shift, you're like, you're hanging on that this guy's going to burn you. Yeah. Like if you were at the Iditarod and had to pick one hockey player to lead your sled dog thing like nathan mckinnon is getting hooked to the front of the whole sled dog and the pass he makes on the first goal where he does the no look through the legs on the tape it's just he's got

every part of the game it's there so we don't need to spend the whole leaf hour talking about hey guys you know nathan mckinnon's really good? But, no, he's awesome. All right. Let's go to Sheldon Keefe for our first Kippers Clipper of the Week. And I guess just tonight, you know, it's a different type of game than the ones we've played here recently. I thought, frankly, for most of the game, I thought we were pretty overwhelmed. But I thought we didn't break. While they had a lot of those pushes, our guys were competing hard, blocking shots, boxing out, fighting through fatigue.

So that gives you a chance because you don't allow them to really blow the game open, and then we just stay with it. We obviously got a great push at the end of the second period. It sets us up for the third. And then again, they tie it in the third, but we don't break. We don't panic. Just stay with it. Power play gets its opportunity and makes good. So, you know, it's a pretty good recipe to beat a really good team

on the road at the end of a long trip. Interesting choice of words, overwhelmed. Yeah, it is interesting. They're fast. They're the neutral zone. Maybe that's what he's talking about. Yeah, they go up 2-0 too, right, early in the game. It could feel like maybe the game was getting away a little bit,

but that's another example of the power play stepping in and reestablishing, okay, we're not out of this game. Bertuzzi gets one in the first period there, and all of a sudden you're right back in it. Tyler Bertuzzi, what did they say? First Leaf to score a hat trick on his birthday in history? Yeah. We're getting really strange with these stats.

Totally one of those weird baseball stats to me. Why is that weird? That's crazy. That's cool. Well, it's cool, but it's also like what it is. So a man scoring a hat trick in the National Hockey League on his birthday is not worth noting? I don't know. It's worth noting, for sure.

No, it's not worth noting. It's an oddity. It's a freak show moment. It's not like, this guy on his birthday, you can't contain Vertuzzi on birthdays. It doesn't tell us anything. We should go back and check on who scored on their wedding anniversary next. Did you guys know? Yeah.

What else can we do? Crosby was a bum on Valentine's Day throughout his career. Worst Valentine's Day player in history. What else can we do? Hey, St. Paddy's Day is coming up, Sammy. Anybody score on St. Paddy's Day? I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I can think of what's my Corolla, boys. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I can think of what's my Corolla, boys. I don't know. But that said, birthday or not, you know, Sammy had the question for me before the show, and I'll steal your question here if I may. Yes. How many of the Tyler Bertuzzi hat trick goals would you have finished standing where he stood?

So backdoor from Marner, front of the net from Nylander well jam went in off the rush judging by the ones that Pertuzzi has missed this year I'd say none I did say he has shown us he can miss from good spots too so happy to see him go in he gets in the right spots yes and all of those the hockey gods owed him they owe him yes he is for sure owed more but you know what was interesting saturday night is that when he wasn't scoring then this is to your analytics world jb his numbers were always way better when he wasn't scoring than they were saturday night when he scored three yeah like five on, five on five, that max. His line got crushed, right?

I caved in five on five. Yeah. They did not look good five on five, and they did not have any type of five on five pressure, but, hey, lo and behold, he still ends up with a hatcher. Yeah. Yeah, and that's where you pay attention to process versus results and go, okay, you can't play like that against good teams

and always come out on top. That's the overwhelmed part that Sheldon's talking about. Yeah, but what's funny is their fourth line has actually been really good since Reeves has been playing with Kampf and Holmberg. That line has controlled. I think they're up 3-0 in goals and heavily out-shooting their opposition. Holmberg's a mule. Him and Kampf together have really good numbers.

I wouldn't be surprised if they are stuck together. There was one play that Holmberg, in the offensive zone, kicked it up to himself about two or three times in the corner and ended up deep. That's a presence. I think with McMahon on that list with there that could be a line with those two guys looking and playing heavy now you start thinking about better balance if you end up going against florida at some point for me that's the best sign i've seen

out of the leafs in the last two weeks is Holmberg and McMahon look bigger and heavier to balance out this this lineup McMahon for sure and just to go back to Holmberg and camp camp last year remember all the conversation about how good he was with Engvall and how bad he was without Engvall yeah that was like a big conversation when they traded Engvall and his numbers kind of fell off maybe Holmberg is kind of doing the Engvall. That was like a big conversation when they traded Engvall and his numbers kind of fell off. Maybe Holmberg is kind of doing the Engvall impression for him. He just works with a certain style of guy. 100%.

I don't know. He's just looked way better since he's gotten him, honestly. But McMahon drops his shoulder goals to the net really hard at least twice a game. He's catching guys off guard with how fast he is. So, I'm impressed. Yeah, do you think it's sustainable, McMahon, looking this good? Do you think this is like, have they found a guy that they can use on a third line so not you're asking them 64 000 question is

it sustainable is it you know where is he in his head is it is it a maturity that just needed to get to this point does he realize how he has to come to work every day, whether it's practice or the game, and be in a situation where you think, my next shift could be my last one? Sounds like he's one of those hockey, I don't want to call him weirdos, but like, you know, he's green smoothies and discipline and doing the right things off the ice.

McMahon, you're talking about? Yeah, like he's one of those guys that, like John Tavares, like this is his thing. It takes a certain mindset to play a bottom six role things off the ice like he's one of those guys that like john devar like this is his it takes a certain mindset to to play a bottom six role where you sometimes got to do some dirty things and look guys in the eye a face wash uh an fu and a scrum can you play that role is someone gonna call you on it and if they call you on it are you ready to take the next step are you going to call you on it? And if they call you on it, are you ready to take the next step? Are you going to take two steps backwards?

Like so much out of that equation comes into play when you want to play that type of role, game in, game out. This just happened with someone where he got in a little jawing match. Because, you know, this is not his nature. Well, I remember you telling me that. He's doing a pretty good impression. He is. Well, the well the fact that to me you know we talk about the different kinds of toughness that he'll go to the net front that he'll finish his checks as long as he's able to stand in there and you know with guys i don't need him to fight anyone but you know just be tough on

the within the gameplay can i ask you guys just about the bottom six, about how convinced you are on all these sort of guys we're talking about, the Holmbergs, the McMahons, you know, the Reeves, if you want, the Greggers, that they can be playoff contributors? Or how many guys do you think they need? Maybe there's a better way to ask it. How many guys do you think they need for the bottom six heading into playoffs? Are they adding multiple guys to this thing, or are they going to go with these you want to go first sure i don't think they're going to add too many guys i just you

know given the amount of assets they have and what they want to do i you know i think they're talking themselves into a mcmahon and a holmberg and those because i am i am well yeah and and what are you going to go get that's better than, you know, what Bobby McMahon might do? He might shoot it in that. You're not. Yeah. You're not because this is, these are your guys.

You've developed them. You've put time into them. And you do not bail on them now. And they don't even have the resources to, even if they wanted to upgrade in that position, there's too many holes they've got to plug first that's not their priority one thing i do wonder is right now um kelly yarn crock is waiting to come back in they're at the 23 man roster limit when he comes back which should be very soon or joe wall as well or he may be back now but either way they're at

23 man limit when these guys come back you're gonna have to drop someone so and you're close you're close potential this weekend maybe early next week yeah so one of the only guys whose waiver exempt is nick robertson you're not sending robertson down to the marlies at this point he's become no an established nhl guy and you're you're still trying to move them well see that's where I'm going yes you're still trying to move is that I wonder if the health of these guys coming back expedites a trade because you don't want to wave guys send them down like you know devalue this guy by calling yeah if there's a trade to be made they're gonna pull it no matter what the lineup is or who's coming back I think it's at this point irrelevant,

but if there's not a trade to be made for, for tree living right now, then you're just going to move Reeves out and put Yarncroft into the lineup. You move Reeves. Like, would you have to waive them though to free up a concrete? Yeah. If you do not a problem.

Yeah. Cause no one's claiming them. And if they do fine. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Yep. All right. Um, do we want to hear keith on bertuzzi yeah for sure some love to him let's go to clip three and hear what cheldon had to say i think it could only it could only help of course i think we saw that you know when he scored his first one in a long while

uh before we came out on the road trip i think that's where it sort of started and that that builds to one like this. I mean, you look at the types of goals that he scored here tonight. He's been getting those shots and those chances all season long, and the puck hasn't fallen for him. So that's why you just kind of stay with it, and obviously we've increased his opportunity to get even more of those types of looks. But, you know, we're chilled for him.

Those are the kind of goals that have come to expect from him through his career. And I think I talked about it a couple weeks ago before he even started coming in. I believe this guy, he's a gamer. And those pucks are going to come for him. He's going to do all that he can to come through for us. And thrilled that it happened here on his birthday. On a night when we weren't at our best and we needed that type of an effort. Did you see...

Birthday matters, boys. Did you see Max Domi singing Tom off the plane? I did. Oh, nice. Happy birthday. Yeah, he did like his... I will say, if you're interested in this kind of thing, I don't follow him,

but if you're interested in the inside look at the Leafs locker room through Instagram, Domi's doing a lot. He does videos from the room and like he's very active on Instagram, which I feel like is something that none of them really are. Right. So if you want a little peek inside, you can go to Dolmy's Instagram. Yeah.

As far as Sheldon's concerned, the difference is Sheldon, you got him on the number one power play unit now. That's the difference maker.eldon you got him on the number one power play unit now that's that's the difference maker yeah that changed everything for this guy it does he is a power play guy he makes five and a half million dollars I told you the year he scored 30 he led the Red Wings in power play ice time for the year that's where he did a lot of his damage to get to 30s so do you give him credit for finally making the move or do you take away from how long it took for him to get there yes that's the question it's so

obvious that like he needed to find sheldon needed to do one of two things put him on a power play, number one power play earlier, or developed a second unit, which he never did. I don't blame him for not doing that. I mean, that's a matter of taste. But to me, you know, the NHL, I don't want to see Matthews and Marner coming off the ice after 55 seconds. I would like two units, but they just don't do it. You do need, you can't have them play all two minutes.

No, but every successful power play in the NHL has their best guys on the ice for as long as the Leafs. Yeah, that's what I mean.

Like, I personally would like two units, but I'm not going to blame them for doing what every other team does. Yeah. The,

but what it has done for Bertuzzi now is alleviate the pressure to score when he's not on a power play. Yes, I agree with that. That's the mindset of that type of guy. When you're not getting any looks on a power play,

you are squeezing your stick like crazy five on five. That's gone now from his game. Totally freeze him up to just play. And not worry about getting looks now because he will get looks. You're playing with one of the best passers in the world and Mitch Marner right now. All you got to do is take one, two steps off the post

and put it in your open net now. How about maybe put a body on 16 there, Avalanche? Yeah. Let him walk in. Mitch Marner named the NHL's second star of the week. Who was first? caprizov caprizov yeah had uh six and six for 12. oh okay all right okay then i take it back but mitch had one and nine for 10 in his four games um obviously very good so mitch went into Saturday night, I think, with seven consecutive multi-assist games.

Wayne Gretzky had the NHL record at eight. Mitch shoots the puck, and it gets redirected by Nyes and hits the crossbar to tie Wayne Gretzky's record. And I even thought the one he scored was tipped. What's funny is it's another multi-point game that he had, right? He just had a goal instead to ruin the streak. But yeah, pretty impressive stuff.

He's an alien at the edge work. The edge work on that goal where he's going back towards the net, cuts it back around with his legs open somehow, and fires it across his body. I got misshaped acetabulum. That's your hip ball. I can't do that. Yeah, no, but his edge work is just...

Both want to still convince me that the Leafs should trade him for Sid Crosby. I'd still do it. You'd still do it? Yeah, I don't know if you noticed, but he had four points and a 7-6 win for the Penguins. I'm still doing it. All right. I'd still do it. You'd still do it? Yeah, I don't know if you noticed, but he had four points and a 7-6 win for the Penguins yesterday. I'm still doing it. All right.

I'm still doing it. And I love Sid. I know. We all love Sid. I know. I want to make a point about one of the reasons I think this lineup working the way it is, with Tavares on that third-line spot,

is a strength of Sheldon Keefe, which we don't get to see much because he hasn't had much beyond his top five guys, is when he believes in someone who's kind of out of the top whatever he works them in really well like just gets them extra minutes tavara's on that third line is now getting run with matthews and marner he played i think three shifts with them on saturday night the whole spot duty of him yeah and like and we've complained about nize maybe not being you know quite ready for first line left wing yeah that's an interesting solution to say hey tavarez we're gonna get you up to 18 minutes by giving you some run with these guys and they have been dominant in those minutes

they actually drew the penalty that led to the game-winning uh power play goal so did you notice on one of those shifts when tavarez got the puck in the high slot and he had Matthews and Marner both like standing there like this and he just called my own number again I don't get many shifts anymore I'm a third line center guys that's funny you want to touch on the second and third lines

now with Sheldon it's a good clip so that's why I put it in there so it's a let's play it alright Derek clip 8 I don't so it's a let's play it all right derrick clip eight i don't think it's been a perfect um experiment here so far but but certainly we've been getting good results in terms of the team winning and guys have been producing and feeling good i still think there's a ways to go for each of those lines to develop chemistry i think for the most part both lines have been getting outchanced when they're out there, and that's something

we've got to really manage, but they've been doing enough to make sure that the goals are on the right side of it, at least. But there's lots inside of the chemistry there with those guys and their line mates and the matchups and assignments that they have that I think they can continue to do a better job of.

A little hard on him. Yeah. I think he's just trying to reel it in a bit the hype train yes it's out of control yeah right with these new lines and everything and everything gets so micro examined he's like yeah they still got they suck kind of but we've won seven in a row yeah so where are you guys now uh in terms of a trade deadline that is less than two weeks away. In terms of top nine now, if you were to start the first round of the playoffs and these were your top three lines.

Not good enough. Against Florida? Against Florida? I mean, overall we could feel a lot better about what we've seen in the last three weeks yeah right absolutely but here's the but are you confident that this lineup can get you deep in the playoffs buddy you might go six against florida instead of four now every time i see bertuzzi domi and nylander and they get hemmed in their d zone for half a second

it's instant becomes looking through the fingers territory like I don't love that as a line I like all the players but like I need more of a conscience somewhere out there I don't know do you feel like they still they can do it with this group uh no Robertson is currently in the nine, by the way. Yeah, I think they're in need of another top nine forward. Yeah. Can I give you a name? We haven't talked about this and it's totally random, but the Islanders have gone to pot. I don't know if you've noticed that.

They lost the last couple games. I was going to bring that up a little later in the show. They're nine points out of a playoff spot now. The old coach, you see the, sometimes you pull it and it works yeah sometimes you pull it and she now are you here to suggest to me that uh the leaf should try to pick loose pocket a little bit here i am i mean i so do you want the insane name or do you want like the realistic name? Both, please. Anders Lee? No, Brock Nelson. Brock Nelson.

6'3", 215, scores 35 goals a year, three straight years. He's on pace for 35 plus goals. Yeah. He has... He's perfect. He has a year and a half left on his contract. So the rest of the season and another playoff run. He only makes 6 million. So maybe you need to retain whatever whatever but you can figure that part

out i mean expensive it would how old is he 35 32 32 32 for another year i mean it would cost everything you got see that to me like okay like is he a difference maker for you to win the stanley cup he has scored 22 goals in his last 55 playoff games. Yes. Is he a difference maker for you to win the Stanley Cup? Yes. So why wouldn't Lou ask you for Cowan? He would. 100%. And he probably knows all

about Cowan. Now... I'd probably say yes. We're doing this again? We are doing it again. 100%. I'm not backing off i'm not i'm not backing off no i'm not backing it off trades going here soon boys okay yeah that is like that's a name that makes me feel like he's at the top of the list for what the leafs could use in in a lot of different situations so my earlier point how much are are you all in on you thinking that that guy

could make a difference to beat the Florida Panthers or, you know, win a Stanley Cup? He's very effective in front of the net. Like he's, he is unfortunately another guy who shoots first, asks questions later. But yeah, he's, he'd be a nice one.

The other ones I'm not interested in really like Palmieri. You know, he'd be available as kind of a veteran. Adam Henry. Henry for sure. Is another one that is garnering a lot of attention, but I'm not doing Cowan for him. And my favorite that I will bring up again is Yanni Gord,

but I love Yanni. I know you guys hate when I bring up. I don that I will bring up again is Yanni Gord. I love Yanni Gord. I know you guys hate when I bring up him. I don't think. No, I love him. I am the Yanni Gord president. Kipper gets. He just shoots it down every time. So I don't even know why I bring it up.

You got a better chance of getting Wenberg out of Seattle than you do Gord. Yeah, I get it. I just love Gord. I know. I know. He also makes quite a bit of money, Gord. Five something? Five, yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, i get it i just love gourd i know i know but uh he also makes quite a bit of money gordon five something five yeah yeah but yeah i get it that's yeah that guy can play anywhere you certainly can so yeah there's there's some and for the record you would trade cow and forum

for one for one nelson if you could move money out or make sure that the money fits in the salary cap that's a type of trade that you would give up cow and for i hate saying yes but yeah yeah yeah you gotta take some risks risks so he is yeah i'm with you buddy what is he what is he even done in junior it's not like he's set the point street for the most storied franchise in the chl or anything he's not even like playing that well's going to be great in four years. You'll be selling your Mercedes-Benz. Your lease will be up.

Your lease will be up when Cowan is helping you win a Stanley Cup with the Leafs. I got to tell you right now, I'd train him for sure. I really would. I really have no connection. I don't mind. Like you said, when he's contributing, you know, Matthews might not even be here.

Yeah. So I'm willing to do it. All right. But Brock Nelson, he's pretty good. Pretty good. Maybe not for you. All right. We're going to maybe pull out a few more names here,

including after the break, we'll talk about the goaltending situation. The Leafs are getting healthier in that department so much more on our leaf edition of the real kipper and born show don't go away diving deep into leafs rafters jays and nfl the jd bunk is podcast subscribe and download the show on apple Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. MacCyprius, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. All right, maybe... Can I flag something with you about the trades?

You were just talking about a potential Islanders trade, right? Yeah, yeah. And then, so, Lou connections. Like, I'm sure he's not thrilled to be trading with the Leafs. Another potential seller that's got some good pieces. Now the Islanders. The Penguins with the

Dubas connection. I'm not sure he's gonna be helping you out. And then the Flames. Like, that's not allowed either. You think Lou's mad at Shani for picking Dubas over him type of thing? So now you can. And then the Flames, like, that's not allowed either. You think Lou's mad at Shani for picking dudes over him type of thing, so now you can't trade with the Penguins, the Islanders, and the Flames? I'm kind of worried about it here.

It's actually not a bad point. I don't know. Is that not a valid concern? Lou's been around so long that I cannot believe that he would... How long has he held? You know what I don't think? He'll pull the trigger on anything he thinks he's getting one up on.

You don't think it's an extra pick, the leaf tax? Maybe. Yeah, okay. That's something I thought about during break. If you're in, you're in. If you want a guy, you want a guy. All right. And there are some believers, Sammy,

that Cowan won't need three or four years to to get to to start playing with uh yeah yeah with uh austin yeah two years yeah maybe i don't know i think i don't know if you want to like you want to rush this kid either i get it sammy you're all hot and horny over his records I'm not hot and horny London Knights records he is like I'm wearing an Owen Sound shirt today I can't stand

everything he's about this guy was nowhere near the first round the Leafs went off the charts everybody told them they were nuts and now you're at the point where the Leafs went off the charts. Everybody told them they were nuts. And now you're at the point where, hey, the Leafs made a great pick. It's because Leaf fans haven't had a prospect like this in a really long time because they haven't had first-round picks.

Like, you had Nyes. He's a second-round pick. But I don't think it's the same as for a college guy as it is for an OHL guy. You know, Robertson had a bit of hype but this is the first real ohl london night in the news every day type prospect they've had in a while so that's why they're all hot and bothered i'm not one of them kipper i'd trade them all right well i'll drive to the airport has to be the right guy right for sure all right where are you guys now uh since i guess samson has been called up is that is that what we say since being called up yeah All right, where are you guys now since, I guess,

Samson has been called up? Is that what we say? Since being called up? Yeah, I don't know. I want to. Here we go. Here we go. He made you a little nervous Saturday night? Buddy, everything they shot went through him and just.

I don't think it'll change at all between now and game one in the playoffs. I know. He can hold his own, and there's some times when he's does make really good saves but the damage from the first 50 games of this season will not allow you no matter what he does to relax it sounds like yeah burn me once however this is not just emotional scarring. This is real. Since the All-Star break, when everyone's like,

Samsonov's found it now. He's an 897 save percentage. He wins all the time because the Leafs are really good. I mean, yeah. He is there winning not because of him, but because he's been fine. He's been fine. I can't believe it. I mean, listen to me.

I'm praising London Knights and praising goalies, but I think he deserves a little more credit than that. I do. Okay. I think he's had some pretty good games since he's come back. I will give you pretty good. There's been moments where he's, you know. Don't tell me that unless you're telling me that I'll be fine with him

being our number one starter in the playoffs. Then you've got something. I think. being our number one starter in the playoffs, then you've got something. You want to give him credit for just doing enough? It means nothing to us. He was the worst qualified goaltender in the NHL. We all said that he was never going to play another game. So now he looks somewhat like an NHLer. Yes.

No, I think he's an NHLer again. It's good for today, but do you trust him to start, to be your goalie, Sammy, for your Toronto Maple Leafs when puck drops in game one? No. You know, we did. Thank you. Thank you for at least being honest.

He was really good in the first round. He was the main reason they won game six against Tampa in Tampa. He stood on his head. He was good. You know, going into just this show sam and i are sitting there chatting and i said about the oilers you know about how they're kind of struggling i was like you know that 16 game winning streak of theirs was unbelievable and they're obviously an excellent team but you look at the teams they beat i think they beat three

playoff teams and 13 non-playoff teams that's the leafs right now they've won seven in a row but they beat up on the blues the flyers the ducks the blues the coyotes like yeah samson has been in 897 against non-playoff teams i'm sorry for not being all the way back on samson did they catch vegas at a bad time yes vegas is lost in a shootout to the sands well the sands are the hottest team every year in february so it's yeah right they're the best february team once the season's over 85 oilers of february yeah all right let's pick up sheldon on samsonov's effort saturday night obviously sammy uh in that battled real hard tonight and kept it out gave the guys hope it's

again end of end of a end of a long trip um a lot of things have been going our way you know you're going to need a night where the goalies are going to have to make some saves and give you reasons to continue to dig in. There's a lot of fatigue here tonight, some I'm sure because of the trip and all and some that's inflected because of the opponent

and the type of game they're playing and how they're asserting themselves Alright Not huge praise but battled and, you know, in the type of game they're playing and how they're asserting themselves. So... All right. So not huge praise, but battled. Yeah. He gave him Sammy praise. Yeah.

Battled. Battled. Right. Just enough to, if he's listening, he's not feeling bad. He wasn't mean. No. No. I would call the praise tepid.

Okay. Yeah. I get what you're saying sammy yes listen to big fork in the road all-star break for him yeah no i mean his career looked like it was you know in jeopardy at one point they patched it together with the goalies boy they got that week of martin jones which you look back on. And he was unbelievable. How did that happen? I don't know. But now, Joseph Wohl plays a game for the Toronto Marlies,

makes 36 saves on 37 shots. Not sure if you guys watched the highlights or not, but the other team. It's not someone fall on him. Yeah, they were on him all night. Great. Like, there's like six clips of them running into him. And Wohl made 36 of 37. So, you can't tell me he's not ready to play tonight okay let's go to let's go to sheldon on an update on joe wool well today was

the it was an important day just to get him back with the nhl guys and see where he's at after last week and uh it looks he good. He says he feels good. Since the practice has ended, I haven't had a chance to talk to the medical team or anything about what comes next. For today, just in order to get a full assessment on Wall,

we had Jones just do a goalie session. We want to keep it just two goalies on the ice to give them each their own net. It'll be sort of a day-to-day thing here as we're getting Joe back up to speed and managing the three guys. So we've got tomorrow night Vegas, Thursday night Arizona, a game that we're scheduled to work. We are.

Oh, nice one, boys. Yeah. I would expect to see Joseph Wall on the bench tomorrow night and a possibility to start Thursday. That'd be good. I like storylines when we're working. Makes a lot of sense to me. You don't rush him back.

I mean, Vegas is banged up, but there's still Vegas. And then give him the easier one on Thursday coming back, Wall? Yeah. No, it does make a lot of sense for a return start for him. So we're looking at a few days away. You know, how do you feel about how much time he has left for the playoffs where the trade deadline sits nine days after his first start? Like, is it just we're just going to cross the fingers? I will tell you that there's plenty of time in the season

for Leaf Nation to get really excited about him. What if he gives up six on nine shots on Thursday night, and then he does it again the next night, and then it's March 7th? What if we can do a whole new show called What If? We should. That should be a segment where I create Tuesday scenarios. I actually love that segment. I'm going to do that.

What if? The what ifs. What if my aunt? I actually heard a Don Cherry quote from back in the day. Yes, I believe that's it. But again, it's shaping up that this is what we have and this is what we're going with. And let's roll the dice. Reminds me of your parents being like, that's what's for dinner. And we're going with and let's roll the dice reminds me of your parents being like that's what's for dinner and you're gonna eat it you know and you're gonna like it

you're gonna like it yes yeah i didn't mention that you something else spaghetti again yes this is what you're eating kids now how quickly can joseph wall kind of find a little bit of magic here like he did uh you want him to find it yet listen you'll take anything at any time some magic because it has on occasion disappeared on a few of us over our careers so you never found it pal you you want you want joseph to come back and uh and and feel as as good as well as he can and then you hope that uh he can hit that level that we saw a week before he got hurt which was off the charts yeah goaltending i think he's really good i do and i think if i had one worry it's not performance it's injury for sure i i if you put him in the net there and he stays healthy they are a much better super confident guy i mean you looked at him in playoffs last year he just

looks you also protect yourself against that as best you can between Sheldon, Brad Tree living, and Brendan. Like carrying three. Well, carrying three, yes. And more importantly that you map out, what do they have, 26 games to go? 25 games to go. Wow. You have a scenario right now where he ain't playing three and four

and you're not overtaxing him no matter how good he looks. Straight tandem here. You are building towards game one. So there's no time to try to get him to go on a heater like the rest of the team. You have to include Samsonov here. And lo and behold, I told you guys months ago, and you laughed at me.

Laughed. We laughed. Laughed at me when I told you Matt Murray is not out of the picture here. Let's listen to Sheldon Keefe, clip six. Laugh. Matt Murray update. I think he's making great progress. He's seeing pucks now and getting his work in.

So he's been very consistent in here and putting in his work, and they've been happy with his progress. And I know he's been hard at it, and he and Curtis have started to really connect and build out a plan for on the ice. All I hear is salary cap sabotage. That's all I hear. It would just ruin their camp. Could he just stop doing that?

Could he stop making great progress? I know. Why? Because of the salary cap. He's going to make $4 million or whatever and you're going to send him down. You'll need to bury one point, whatever. If he's healthy, aren't they in trouble? No, there's no salary cap issues here.

So he's not coming back before the playoffs or something? He won't come back before the playoffs. Okay. I would believe that he'd play with the Marlies and be in a position to be your third goalie come playoff time. What's so hard? It's Wall, Samsonov, and murray just like last if you need to send if you need to put jones back down there you put jones back down there okay yeah i guess as

long as it's not at risk of sabotaging their cap plans no no they're too smart for that yeah that's not it's a non-issue here okay everything. Everything's going to happen after the trade deadline. Any chance they're having him ready to go in terms of being able to trade him at the deadline? I don't know. Yeah. Memory? Yeah. I would believe that no one would probably.

Right. Take a chance on him. Yeah. And for what? Like, what's the point of giving him away? I don't know. If it like changes something with their LTIR or whatever. I don't know.

No, no, I don't think it's an issue. Okay. I don't think it'll be anything that sets the salary cap further back than it already is. You put my heart at ease with that because I'm seeing him. I'm like, oh, that would be a fly in the ointment. I got to remind people, this guy is not 34, 35. He's a young guy still.

He's got brand new hips. And hey, if we've learned anything about new hips, Patrick Kane, you know, he's looking like a hockey player again. And it's possible these days with the surgeries to come back and be decent. There you go. Yarn Crock, what are they saying about Yarn Croc? Close.

Close. Going to be on the ice with the morning skate tomorrow with the guys, aiming for this weekend or early next week, apparently, which creates a roster issue. Yeah, they got to do something. Quick question before we end our Leafs hour. The Toronto Maple Leafs have a game in hand on Florida and two on Boston.

Let's say they were to win it. If they were to win that game, they would be four points behind Florida with 25 games to go and five behind Boston with a game in hand. Any thoughts on the Atlantic Division being still open? Yes.

Why not? Game in hand's help. division being still open yeah yes yeah why not yeah i mean i came in hands help yeah uh you know they're not is florida gonna hit a bit of a rut here boston has edmonton has the leafs play florida i want to say three times still two at least twice yeah twice so in boston again is really kind of starting to stumble their three three and-3-4 in their last 10 games. I'm not saying, I'm just saying. Still a lot. Still a lot on the table. Yep.

Just throwing it out there. Back in the top 10 in the league. Look out. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to welcome back Eric Francis, senior columnist with Sportsnet. And he's going to tell us how close Tanev is to being a Toronto Maple Leaf.

Oh, that's nice. More when we return on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show.