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Leafs Hour: John Chayka on New Era in Toronto + Travis Green

October 2, 20260 comments♥ 0
00:06 Dear I say it, off the rails Friday on the real Kipper and Boren show. Live on SportsSat 360, SportsSept 590, the fan in Toronto, streaming always on SportsDap Plus. Also available Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, where we begin our off the rails Friday with Sammy, not looking after the jersey. The moment you moaned, I knew what was going on. Yeah.
00:35 Rock of Shame. That's okay. I love the Blue Jays too. We do. Nick Kiprios, Justin Boren, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, Jake the Snake Shultz, Samuel Gacera, in for the next two hours.
00:49 Did I say it properly? Gisera. It's an eye. Gacira? Yeah. Can you give me till American Thanksgiving? Yeah, and he will too. Okay.
00:58 He'll give you as long as you need. All right. Pretty jam-packed show today. John Chica, the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is going to join us in about 10 minutes. Travis Green, the head coach of the Ottawa Senators, will join us in about 35 minutes. And then Doug McLean at the top of the hour,
01:15 and I'm looking at your desk, and I think I see two aspirins. No, no, no. Icebreaker's minutes. Okay, because if they were aspirin, I'd understand. Yeah. Well, I got to be prepared for Doug. A lot of people enjoyed his hit last week.
01:33 Not sure if you guys came across that information, but people really enjoyed his appearance of that. They thought it was thoughtful. Opinions. Interesting. Yeah. Interesting. Lots of thoughts.
01:42 Yeah, you're not going to want to miss the follow-up, I think, of Doug McLean at the top of the hour. Get them all you can. In the meantime, this is our leaf hour edition of the Real Kipper and Bourne show. And just to kind of talk about a little bit of what we've seen in the first couple of games in the National Hockey League. Again, last night, things not kind of shaping up. Maybe like you thought they would early. Tampa Bay took a bit of a beating. Florida now is looking at a world with no barkoff potentially for a very long time
02:22 is he has a really strange potential long-term injury leaving the ice in San Jose last night. And just to kind of bring this back to our leaf hour edition, I don't know, maybe it's It's a good sign that, like, we don't know what's going to happen this year in the East, and it could very well be wide open. Tampa lost, Buffalo lost, parkoff could be hurt. Go, Leaves, go. Our pets' heads aren't falling off? It's a strange start.
02:54 I mean... I'm really happy, Kimber. I thought you were all leading up there to talk about the obvious, but you didn't do it, and I appreciate it. Well, it is the obvious. Well, I thought you were going to bring up nice, and you didn't do it. So I really appreciate it. Oh, yeah.
03:03 But we're just a minute in. Well, yeah, guess what you were just a minute in. You were already writing off McKenna's career yesterday, so I thought you might be on Mike. He might be on Knives. Eric Lindross, you mean? You got to love the internet, eh? You got to love the internet.
03:18 I mean, so many people with opinions on Nyes and his really great debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets with two goals and an assist. I mean, I don't know, everybody wants to write the script after one or two games on everybody, right? Yeah. And it's like, can we, Remind everybody there's 82 games to go, basically, 83 for some teams. Yeah, Evan Bouchard's on pace for 336 points.
03:45 I don't think these are sustainable starts for everyone. It would have been nice for old Matthew. We just have a stinker in the first game. Nice. Just stinker just dash two, you know, just not really looking good out there. We know Matthew Nyes is a good player. We know he's a power guy. We've seen it.
04:04 So you can't trade that. Is it that shocking that a guy, who's maybe nervous a little bit to have a good showing would be on top of his game or the best behavior to come out and to show everybody that he's a really good hockey player. We shouldn't be that surprised. No, and if you want to turn it into homerism and pure slander,
04:24 you can be like, well, yeah, he's good when he's motivated. He actually tried for a change. Good luck getting him to try 84 times. I don't believe any of what I just said, by the way. He's a good hockey player. What I said to you guys, one of my biggest worries, when they made the trade was that he was a guy that seemingly
04:41 when his ups and downs here would be quiet at times and go through long stretches and you'd be like, oh, I don't know what you're going to get from him and that this has been the fire that's been lit under him where he's got traded from an organization
04:52 and he goes there and I'm like, oh, you know, it's three points scoring. Had a breakway for a hat trick, didn't score. Like he was all over it. Yeah, there's moments where he looks like one of the few guys in the league who can be that size and have great hands and all that. I just hope they didn't motivate like a lot
05:06 consistency into him and haven't be great. Yeah, you just hope he... I love him. Great start. He's a great player and he was a great leaf. I got nothing but good things to say about Matthew Nyes. Yep. Okay, where do you want to take this?
05:15 Because I see you have a clip from Brobrovsky today on the rookie lap. I know we've talked about this briefly and I get it. Some think it's a story. Some think it's not a story. I know where you stood. J.B. the other day that this is just not a story for me. But I don't know. I don't know what dictates a story or not.
05:38 Is it whether or not you believe it's a story or not or because the masses talk about it, it's a story. Yeah, when people talk about it, it's a story. And Bob, whether or not you think it's a story or not, Bob thought it was big enough that he needed to respond to it. Well, he was asked about it, I think, because people were talking about it, whatever the order of events may be.
05:58 What usually happens is something happens. It gets to us. We yell at each other about it for 25 minutes. Dan Luke Fox here's a lot. about it. It gets down there and gets asked and then it comes back to us.
06:09 It's just a rotational thing, you know? All right. We got a clip one on Bobrovsky on the opening night of McKenna's NHL debut. He stole his lap. Going out on the ice first.
06:25 Let's have a listen. No, no. I just, I completely forgot. I didn't think about it. I completely forgot. Yeah, I came to him and I also told him.
06:35 So I pretend that it's my first game too. But now, yeah, I didn't mean to do that. So it just happened by incident. That just like just kills the whole thing. It's like, oh, whoops. Unless you think he was just a plotted rebuttal. He's an incredible actor if that was an acted part. I said it.
06:59 I don't want to, I'm not here to make a big deal out of this. But I don't know. I have no idea. whether or not that's just a nice way of just kind of moving off of it. If it's sincere or not, or if it's a bit of a, I don't know. I think it's a much better outcome they had than they ask him about it. And he goes, I'm looking out for Numero, Uno, baby. I just, I don't know how one, I don't know how one guy could just not go up to him and say,
07:30 hey, McKenna's first lap. Laser focus, Kip, just like you get laser focused. Not a big deal. I'm sure it wasn't a big deal for the next guest of ours, General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Chica, joining us now. John, thanks for joining us. I know it's been, yeah, pretty busy week here. Yeah.
07:48 Going into a huge trade, the opening a few games. And I don't know. I know we had you scheduled with good reason you didn't make it the other day. But have you caught your breath a little bit here? And have you been able to kind of take in of? of where you are after a couple of games and what you've really seen, albeit this early.
08:11 Yeah, it's the story I missed you guys. I had to bail there. I had every intention of joining. And I think Don, I got it done in about three minutes to spare. So unfortunately, I didn't think I had three extra minutes to jump on. But happy to join you now.
08:27 And, yeah, I think it's been a good start. You know, honestly, a new coach, a lot of new players, a lot of new faces, new ownership, and in a shortened training camp. And you put it all together. And, you know, it's a bit of an experiment, I'd say. And, yeah, I thought we played well on the gates.
08:47 You know, the team was good against Montreal. I thought we carried play well. So a lot of good things and didn't get the results. And then probably didn't play as well against the Islanders and won. And so that's kind of how the game goes. But overall, you know, a lot of good contributions throughout the lineup. You know, the new guys, I think, are, you know, acclimating themselves well. Coaching staff is a nice job of getting guys prepared and lots of things to build off for sure.
09:11 John, how do you tease out some of this early information versus all the newness? Like, how much stock do you put in one game, two games when no one's played with anyone, new systems? How hard is the evaluation in the early going? Yeah, try not to overanalyze it. You know, I think we've got to give ourselves a chance here to kind of get everyone on the same page and new systems. those things you just mentioned to. And I think you're always looking for effort, performances and trying to find some signs of some players
09:40 that are coming together for the team. And, you know, I think we've seen some of those signs. But otherwise, you know, I think even with this short training camp, you know, your evaluation horizon is probably a little bit longer too. You know, these are really, what you call them, regular season games, there's still games three and four for a lot of these players.
09:57 And I think it's hard. You know, I think it's just been a mental adjustment for a lot of guys too. And, you know, with that guys that played really well in the preseason that haven't then played as well in the regular season and vice versa. So it's a bit of a mixed bag. You know, to your point, I don't think we want to overly analyze anything. But I think it's good teaching clips.
10:17 And, you know, we did good practice today after a good day off. And I think it's still just fundamental spilling blocks as far as I see it. You're watching and listening to John Chica, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. So, John, even prior to your. hiring. Keith Pelly made it abundantly clear where there was a strong requirement for the next hockey operations guy to have a deep understanding of data and artificial intelligence. So we are in this new world here and there's more and more guys coming through the system throughout the National Hockey League that feel somewhat in the same way. So, you know, based on all of this and
11:01 all the changes that we've seen so far to come out of you and mats and the whole team just what have you seen so far in terms of the way it's helped you shape what leaf fans are watching today yeah yeah i think that was one of keith's principles as he's just kind of looking down the field and trying to evaluate you know not what's happened historically but looking you know 10 years down the road and saying you know where could things be had And I think, you know, anything we're doing right now, the whole economy seems to be buoyed by, you know, AI or at least the expectation of AI and how it's going to impact all of our lives. Yeah, I'd say it's prevention of sports is some balance of all that. I think that's the beauty of sport.
11:48 You know, it's the ultimate test of humans coming together around a common mission and goal and go out on the ice and try to achieve that. So, you know, I think as we think about, you know, integrating intelligence or artificial intelligence, or whatever you want to call these things. You know, my perspective has always been if you can have, you know, the best evaluators, you know, going to the right games and collecting the right information and, you know, doing it in a very prescriptive way. And then we have the best analysts that are, you know, making the best adjustments and analyzing things, you know, at a deeper level than you can watch live
12:26 because live is happening live, obviously. I think if you put those two things together, you kind of get the best vision of what a player is and what a player could be projected to be. And, you know, I think together that's a powerful approach. But, you know, I also say, like, whether it's the sports science efforts we put together, whether it's, you know, the different ways
12:48 in which we travel and train and practice, you know, there's a lot of ways in which people are trying to find a better way or a new way and then trying to measure whether that is truly the case. I think that's an inner process. I don't think that's where you arrive on anything. I think you're asking a lot of questions and trying to find new and different ways to improve
13:07 and be better than the rest of the league at those things. And I'd say that's always, you know, a journey. So, John, if you look at your lineup today, albeit just two games, is there data, information, evidence based that you are bigger, stronger, faster, you know, more attention to detail? I know you mentioned last week that you thought, thought Austin Matthews, you guys had data that stated that he's skating better today than he did for five years.
13:37 And I'm wondering, like, that's great. But like, can you share with us what that data is? Yeah. Again, I mean, if you're talking about like some of the skating data, yes, there's, you know, some of that. Like I said, the sports science side, as we talk about how we train and how we practice, there's more of a kind of a data set there to draw some conclusions in terms of like the team play and how we see the team and changing any of our forecast or anything like that. I think, you know, to Justin's point, two games is a pretty small sample size.
14:06 So it's more anecdotal at that stage and, you know, how the coach is getting across their systems and whether or not guys are buying in, we're executing the things we're looking to do. I'd say on those two games, you know, we do see a lot of, you know, glimmers of hope and a lot of things that we think are good anecdotes and some data points that suggest some somewhat of a trend. But to actually call that something valid would be. be, you know, just be a little too soon.
14:31 But we certainly feel like we've added a lot of speed. You know, we've added some more skill. And, you know, we feel good about what we've seen so far. John, as you look at this team and continue to try to reshape the roster from where it was last year to a Stanley Cup contender, I'm not going to ask you to say it, but I'll put some words in our mouths anyway, which is just that I think the defense is maybe an area that you guys have looked out. There's rumors out there. There's always rumors.
14:58 You mentioned that in nine minutes. before making a trade the other day. On the defensive side of thing, are you guys looking at adding someone throughout the year? Is that sort of like a be patient and maybe that's a later in the year thing? Yeah, I think you're always looking to improve. If there's someone available that when we think is an upgrade,
15:15 we're going to be in on that. Having said, I like our defense. Maybe I'm on the high man on it. So we'll see how this plays out. But, you know, I think we've got a lot of good veteran defensemen that know how to play. And as a group could be really strong. and, you know, I think they're going to show a certain side of this as things progress.
15:33 But, yeah, like a lot of our defense, and like I said, we got a proud group that's, you know, ready to make a push on things. I think people also forget we lost Chris Tanev last season, so you're adding him back to the mix as well. For my money, one of the best, if not the best defensive defense in the game. I had a pleasure of watching Nicholas Yarmelsson in Toronto, or sorry, in Arizona. and what he was able to do for our group, not just on the ice, but off the ice as well. I see a lot of that in Chris. And so I think, you know, together with Radish,
16:05 once he gets acclimated and gets, you know, his game where we know it can be, we like the progress we've made there. I think, you know, defense is a team sport. The early, you know, results. And again, they're early is that we've been a better defensive club. And if we can do that, I think, you know, the combination of our goaltending and forwards,
16:24 you know, that would be a good formula. but certainly, you know, again, it's early days. John, I think we're all in agreement here, much like what you guys, how you guys feel about Marchenko, and it's very seldom you see a guy that is that big, that strong, that mobile can do a lot of things. They just don't grow them like that very often here. But just the overall decision to move out what you had
16:49 was your best trade chip in Matthew Nyes, right? because that's the guy everybody asks for. And with good reason, as we saw last night, with his two goals and assist, he can come in and play right away in your top six. But the decision to move a winger for a winger, and was there any thought about also at center or moving him for a D?
17:12 As a general manager who makes constant calls all day, is it hard to move a winger for a top 4D? Is it usually a winger for a winger? How did you come to this conclusion? Yeah, I think, again, like it's just a, you know, broader goal of always trying to improve the group. Certainly if you feel there is a, you know, a credible top six centermen or a top four defenseman that can impact the game and, you know, play 20 plus minutes a night. That's those are always valuable assets to have. I think, Carill, you know, is part of a larger picture for us.
17:47 He's a really unique player. You know, he was a guy that we were. were very deliberate and targeted in terms of just his ability to not only score and, you know, create offense, but dictate play and do it in a way that we think is sustainable and do it in a way that we think will translate when it matters. And so, you know, ultimately we evaluate a lot of different things with a lot of different players and a lot of different pieces and, you know, felt like it was the right fit, the right time and it was the proper transaction to execute. But, you know, make no mistake when you say, you know, doesn't make sense to try to get as many
18:20 good defenseman and centerment as you can get. That's certainly a priority for us as well. When you say dictate play, do you consider some of like the least lack of the ability to sort of get through the neutral zone last year, transition up the ice? Yeah, I'd never do say last year. I think it's been a trend for a few years from what I've seen.
18:39 And, you know, I think, you know, you can focus on the narratives of, you know, they've got to get bigger and stronger and greater and certain ways that's true at certain times, perhaps. But ultimately, I think, you know, you've got to be able to dictate play consistently and sustainably if you do want to win the majority of your games. And Carrill does that. You know, he has a history of doing that.
19:01 And we felt like it made a material difference to, you know, our outcomes to have another player like that. So as we were thinking through, you know, what the alternatives are to next point, you know, I thought, we felt that, you know, Corill was an important piece as we're trying to, you know, take the next step here. John, a real good sign that Anthony stole. Pollars played exceptionally well the other night against the New York Islanders. Few would argue that you guys had tremendous depth in the offseason going into situations
19:31 to talk about trade. We see Wall move on. The Hilda Beast is moved on and the decision to keep Stolars looks good as long as this guy can stay healthy, right? I mean, that's the key for Stolars moving forward. Is there a chance that you guys can reevaluate what you thought maybe might be a split between him and
19:56 Brobrovsky? I mean, the data tells you that this guy is not going to play 35 plus games. But if he manages to stay healthy, could you see him closing the gap? Yeah, yeah. You know, I answered this the other day, too, about a number of starts. And we're less focused on number of starts, more focused on amount of rest. And, you know, we do think there's a correlation, not just with our goal. but all goalies that they perform better
20:22 when they're well rested. And so, you know, for us, we'd see three really good goaltenders. You know, Arthur below, I'm not sure what more a goal he could do in the American League to showcase that they feel like they're ready to make that next leap. I mean, he was the MVP of the playoffs,
20:36 and he was about as valuable as he could possibly be from my shoes. So, you know, I really think, you know, Anthony was a starter last year. I think he's got the ability and the skill and he stops the pocket a start level. So that's obviously a good weapon to have as you think about depth of goaltending. And again, we went out and got surveyed because we believe he brings a championship mindset.
20:59 And he's done at the highest level and brings a lot to the team and the group. So to your point, I think it's about the balancing of all that. And sometimes you have great plans and they come together and it works exactly as he see fit. Sometimes guys get on a roll. Sometimes there's injuries. And, you know, our job is going to be to adjust and measure against what we think is a pretty good plan. to not only get these guys numbers of starts, but make sure that we're managing low workloads a bit,
21:25 not just in games, but through practices and throughout travel and throughout a season, and put these guys in the best position to be successful and stop the puck. John, as you enter this season, you're in the unique spot, you know, sort of having a number one overall draft pick, but also one that is, you know, he's pretty slight. He's a smaller guy, but he's obviously insanely talented. We saw, you know, he had an exhibition game where he was the best player on the ice, in my opinion.
21:49 And so for you, what's the ideal opportunity for him to get to develop as a player throughout this year within the lineup and also to help you guys win? Yeah, look, I think ideal would be the word that, you know, you talk about. But I think there's just a reality of Gavin's a good, great young player that's going through a very natural progression of adapting his play and, you know, figuring out how to be successful with the National Hockey League. And no one's really going to dictate that but him. And what I've seen is, you know, comes to skate and kind of gets acclimated and all of a sudden he starts looking good in the skates and then, you know, ramps up into training camp and again, finds his way. And then all of a sudden he's doing well and into preseason games and out of NHL, you know, regular season games. We all know that, you know, game one is different than, you know, after Christmas is after, you know, different than, you know, after making a push for the playoffs, hopefully. So there's just all these natural kind of progressions that he's going to have to go through.
22:46 And I think that the good news is, you know, I find those guys that do the best are the guys with the best hockey sense. And, you know, for us, we think he's, you know, special in that regard. So I'm not even from game one to game two. He showed great progression and just seem more comfortable, reach for a bit crisper. You know, as a result, he was able to do more with the puck and make more plays. And, you know, again, there's going to be ups and downs. And we can appreciate that. What we're focused on is, you know, he's going to be a really important player for us for a long time.
23:15 and we're willing to invest and endure whatever that takes to get him there. Are you guys conversations about how best to protect him too, John? I mean, if he struggles defensively, do you keep putting him out there in a top two, you know, position? Do you drop him down? Is there game plans to have them anywhere from the first to the fourth line to maybe even taking a night off? Is that all in play here on best how to protect him? I think everything would be in play at the same time. I don't think anyone's talking about backup plans.
23:52 Our main plan is Gavin's an important player for us. And everything he's done to date is to show and showcase that. So, you know, there's a lot of belief and resolve internally about what he can be and what he can do this year for our team. Obviously, if there was different information and, you know, this felt differently than he would adjust and adapt as we see. But again, everything even defensively coaches are impressed by, you know, his recognition. And again, the improvements he's already made in two NHL games.
24:23 And so, you know, we feel like when he's at his best, he's going to be a well-rounded player that impacts the puck on both sides and has some special unique ability to create offense. So, you know, to sit here and say that we're game planning for anything other than him being successful wouldn't be accurate. You know, we certainly believe he's a player that can make a lot of it. impact for us this year. You know, it's a good problem to have that you have him. And then you've also got Easton Cowan, another young kid who is fantastic and off to a great start. You know, are you guys wary of ever given these guys? Because like, you know, from where I said, it's like, oh my God, Cowan, you know, get them up there, play more minutes, whatever. Are you still cognizant of
24:59 development? Or is it just like play the guys who are going to give us the best chance to win every night? Yeah, I think it's the NHL. You're always trying to play the guys to give yourself the best chance to win, no doubt about it. It's not development league. But, but I do, then there are progressions of development as well. And, yeah, just something for our team, as we think about being successful, you know, not only early but late into the season and hopefully, you know, into playoffs is, you know, having depth and having guys that can go up and down and guys can play different roles.
25:26 And one thing I respect about Easton is, you know, he went down, he played the American League. And at times, you know, that probably wasn't easy. But I think he learned a lot and took the best approach. And all of a sudden he wins the championship where he was an integral part of that. And so now he's going through this process of, you know, working his way up a lineup and taking on more. And I was happy to see him kill some penalties. And you start getting that well-rounded game.
25:49 I think it's the development within the winning. And, you know, the times those things seem mutually exclusive. I think in this instance and the way we want to try to go about it, you can do both. And, you know, the way he's approached things, his mindset, who he is as a person, I think that's always a big part of that, you know, taking good feedback and willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. I know I've talked to him about this. He's willing to play wherever the coach
26:12 wants him to go have success for the team. And, you know, it's a pretty rare approach for a young kid. I'll let you go, John. But there are some numerous reports. I'm sure you're getting used to all of these daily in Toronto that you're aggressively still looking right now, making calls and looking for your next move. I'll leave that to you guys. Fair. It all gets going again. What's that? Appreciate you having me. It all gets going again tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators. Yeah, Battle of Ontario.
26:43 Thank you, John. Appreciate your time. All right. He ain't getting me nothing. Yeah, he's like, actually, yes, we're in conversations to get. Yeah, didn't think that was coming. Great job, boys, good questions. Yeah.
26:52 Good answers. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've never seen a team so many changes in such a short period of time. Yeah, well, that was kind of like the first thing I asked because, you know, I'm sitting here today and I'm looking at the lineup, and it's exactly the same. as last game. McKenna's back there at Tavares and Nealander.
27:12 And as much as after watching last game, I'm like, you got to blow it up. You kind of need to give everything some run before you can reach any reasonable conclusions. I don't think they're going to get out shot 19 to 3 every night. Can they get better? Can they figure it out? Well, it's pretty much about a wash.
27:29 I think both nights. Like they were great the first night you thought? Well, I mean, just shots on goal again. Yeah, as a team. Like they're not getting blown out every night. Last year they did. So that in itself is, I think, a big step. That's it.
27:46 I came in here after the Montreal game and they'd lose three, two. It's like, they look pretty good. You know, compared to how they were looking at times last year, just, you know, a dog chasing a tennis ball around a dog park. And I will say that there's just a renewed level of interest from the fan base. Totally. Like, just in terms of anecdotally in my friend groups and talking about it, And, you know, like just people are, myself included, are just pumped to watch the games again.
28:12 Like, there's a real intrigue. You have Marchenko back on the top line now. And you got McKenna, what steps is he going to take? Radish. Babrovsky is stolar. Like, there's just telling a hot topic with my butt buds. They're like, how about this guy? Yeah.
28:25 Yeah. He's a player. Yeah. I mean, I just, I'm looking forward to Saturday night. Battle of Ontario. It really sounds like they're just, they're going to leave McKenna with Tavares and Nielander. and they're just going to weight it out. That's the sense I got out of John.
28:40 I think that is. There's no plan B about. Yeah. But like what is the other plan? Like put them on the fourth line, I guess. Like you said, or third line or whatever? Like you can't send them back to college, can you?
28:51 No. No. No. So he's here. Yeah. And I do think, you know, we talked about this. He kind of needs to play with some guys
28:57 who can move the puck. I agree with your point that like, maybe it's not great to play with guys who can't defend. You know, could it play with Paul and Cowan or something different. but they may get to that. And I guess it's just like there's 84 games. You know, let him get his feet under him. And he's shown the ability to adapt and, you know, improve.
29:13 And, you know, you get the Ottawa Senators. Pretty darn good, DECOR, pretty fast team. He's in for another test Saturday night. I think so. Yeah, I think we're going to have Travis Green, head coach of the Ottawa Senators, join us just after the break here in about five or six minutes. But we have clips on count.
29:33 He's, uh, he's, uh, he's missing. and Brady Kachuk, and it will have, you know, a feel and effect on them as early as tomorrow night against the Leafs. But that team still, I think, shouldn't be completely written off. They got William Eklund. Who needs Brady Kachuk? Right. That was a maybe not quite what you're looking for to fill the spot. Okay.
29:56 What are you got on Kowen for us? We should probably go because we're going to break and Travis Green's going to call. Oh, okay. All right. You're the producer. Whatever. We should hit the break. We'll talk to Travis.
30:03 and then we can talk about Cowan after we talk to Travis. All right. Good? Thank you. Yep. Not much for me to add to that. All right, let's do it. After these words.
30:13 Dive deep into Toronto Sports and the NFL. The J.D. Bunk is podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in studio. Nickyprio's Justin Boren, Sammy McKee. We get set for the Battle of Ontario tomorrow night. Ottawa senators in town. The Leafs.
30:48 Is it safe to say that one of these teams will make the playoffs? We just don't know which one? Yeah, I mean, it's safe to say that one of them will, but I'm not ruling out two of them. Out. In. In. I mean, anything can happen with basically any team in the Atlantic to me,
31:07 and I would not be fully shocked. You know, as much as everyone's like, it's a strong division, it is, it's competitive. I don't know that there's a clear Colorado or whoever you think is awesome in the league. Is there? From what I witnessed, yeah, from what I witnessed, like, in the first two games, I think we're going to go through another week and a half of just like what would look like the fifth, sixth, sixth, and seventh exhibition game in a normal situation of prior, prior training caps. At Edmonton, Vancouver
31:45 game, which I know I'll save it for the national hour, but talk about exhibition game. Okay, let's welcome him in, the head coach of the Ottawa Senators. Travis Green joins us now. Travis, does it feel like you guys are just sitting around and waiting right now, or the whole league's just kind of passing
32:03 you by? Yeah, a little bit, to be honest. Yeah, I think our guys are chomping at the bit to get gone. and, you know, I think our whole team as coaches and players, we're all ready to roll. So let me ask you, obviously, the big off-season news is the captain's gone,
32:22 Brady Kachuk. And just as a coaching staff or as a management team, Travis, just the focus on, you know, how do we move on and what kind of message do we want to send moving forward, how is that gone right from the beginning of training camp to leading to tomorrow night's game. Yeah, Kipper, to be honest, like, I've been asked that question,
32:50 fair amount since coming back to Ottawa before camp started, first media session. And a lot of those conversations within our group had happened in the off season. You know, I give Steve a lot of credit, not an easy position to be in. And, you know, he got the deal done early enough that
33:13 from a coach's standpoint that we could kind of move past it and be past at the time we got into training camp. And, you know, our message really had nothing to do with that as far as moving on. It had happened months earlier. I do have a lot of communication with our group in the off-season. And a lot of those talks happened that.
33:42 And, you know, our focus when we got to camp was really how we get, how are we going to be better when we were last year and taking another step and, you know, learning from, you know, past seasons, what's gone well, how we've had to make the playoffs, how we made the playoffs, and it's not easy. And then ultimately, how do you win a Stanley Cup? And you've got to go through some trials and tribulations. And, you know, we're doing that. Travis one of the important things for head coach to do obviously is you want to lean into your strengths and shore up your weaknesses as you head into this season you know from an outsider's view looks to me like you guys have a fantastic defense I imagine you'll tell us about that what do you view as the senator's strengths this year heading into it and stuff that you're going to be working on well you know I looked at our year last year and point totals we didn't you know we didn't come climb a lot from the year before. I believe it was two points, but I really felt like we played a
34:43 much better team game. Our five-on-five play was excellent last year. And if anything, our team really learned how to fight through some adversity and fight through some tough times, which you have to do. And sometimes it's making big changes within your game. And sometimes it's just going out and doing it again and playing again, which isn't the normal. like we really liked the way we were playing last year and we weren't getting the results. And our message to the group was keep doing it. Good things are going to happen. And, you know, that's kind of how what did happen.
35:23 We just kept playing and got the results that we hadn't got. And, you know, you learn something from that as well when you're going through hard times. Like, how do you improve your play? How do you find ways to win? And sometimes that's changed. changing something and sometimes it's sticking with it. And players find that's not normally the message that I'd send or most coaches would send is keep playing.
35:49 You don't have to change much. You just got to go out and do it again. And that was kind of what we went through last year. And, you know, every year is going to present different challenges. It's going to be different this year. It's well known how tough the East is. We've got long-term goals, but our short-term goals are, you know, get to our game as quick as we can here and stick with it for the whole year.
36:13 Leadership, of course, always a key component in any successful season. Again, with Brady not there, now who steps up for you? Obviously, Shabbat's got a lot of years underneath him and will lead the way, I guess, with the letter. But who else is ready to make that next step for you, Travis? Yeah, I think there's lots of guys in our room. When I look at this team since I've been here, it's been a big core that are involved within the leadership.
36:49 I've never looked at this team and said, hey, this team is strictly led by one, two, three guys. Because we have a big core that is, you know, a large amount of players that are still relatively young and are growing, not only growing on the ice I could probably name 10 to 12 14 guys that I think should be better hockey players this year than they were last year
37:13 but also more comfortable in their own skin and becoming leaders in their own right and you know that list is long the obvious names that people talk about are Timmy and Sandy but you look throughout our room with a Pinto a cousins or Ridley Greg you know, Clevin is maturing before our eyes. You know, there's a lot of guys that I expect this year
37:37 that'll take steps not only on the ice but off the ice as well. And I've never, you know, there's some teams that are really, you know, you have a captain that's been there forever. He's grizzled. He's gone through a lot of wars. Our team has a lot of guys that have gone through different things together and they're still growing in that area as well. Shabat was the easy choice, though, for you, correct? As a captain?
38:01 It was. Yeah. I mean, he's gone through some, you know, some hard times in Ottawa, some better times now that we've made the playoffs the last few years. And not only from a team standpoint, but from an individual standpoint, where his game is, in my eyes and our eyes, it's changed a little bit. You know, he was known as an offensive defenseman, but he's really improved his 200-foot game. He defends hard. The one thing I didn't know about Thomas Shabbat when I got here was, you know, what he'll play through to play. You know, he's tough as nails.
38:45 I've seen this guy play through some injuries that I don't think I've seen any other player play through. And it's impressive. Travis, last year you guys, as you mentioned, made the playoffs for the second year in a row. and you did it with only three teams having a lower team save percentage than you guys. Obviously, Elmark, second half of the year last year, kind of found his game.
39:09 What are your thoughts on Allmark and his importance to you guys as you head into this campaign? Well, no secret. He's an important piece to our team, much like any team that has success or wins. You don't see it very often that a team wins or makes the playoffs
39:26 without some good goal pending. And he wasn't at his best at the, for the first half of the year. You know, and rightfully so. He had to take a leave and he came back and we saw the goalie that, you know, we knew and had confidence in. And he's looked sharp so far this year.
39:48 He looks good. He's in a great frame of mind. I'm expecting him to have a great year again. Travis, I know we were talking earlier about getting started, but watching other teams maybe on the corner of your eye last night, you're watching Florida and maybe Tampa Bay, but you got Toronto,
40:05 and we've discussed for two weeks how competitive this Atlantic Division is going to be and who gets in and who gets out here. How important or imperative or how much have you stressed to your hockey club, how important a good start is, including what could be even a statement game in number one tomorrow night in Toronto?
40:28 Well, we've talked about it with our group. We didn't get the start we wanted last year. And, you know, it's important. But for me, I don't want to over-stress it either. We got a smart team. They've gone through some things the past two years anyway that I've been here, and one of them was the start. We have a group that they love being coached.
40:58 and we don't have to over-stress it. I think especially game one. Our group's going to be very excited to play tomorrow. And for me, it's just we got to go and play and bring it. We've got to make sure that pace in our game is high enough since we haven't played yet. And get to our game, like I said earlier, as quick as we can. There's not a lot of places that you like playing better
41:23 than a Saturday night in Toronto. So it's going to be exciting. There's going to be a lot of emotions in the building. especially for our group not playing yet. And right now we're just concentrating on that first game. Last one for me, Travis, and we appreciate your time. Just want to get your thoughts on how do you use? I know Zubb is out, not sure when he's going to be back.
41:41 But you got Yakimchuk, I believe, in the lineup. This guy is very talented. How do you give him some sort of offensive opportunities when you have such great offensive D in Sanderson and Shabbat? Well, we're a, we like him a lot as a player. He's big. He's long. You know, we've worked a lot with him, and he's worked a lot on his defensive side of his game.
42:07 He had a great summer as far as his conditioning and strength training. He's looked good so far, but we also want to put him in a spot to succeed. Probably start him tomorrow with Clevin, and I think is an excellent partner for him. And we're going to get him some starts in the ozone. We're not afraid to switch our partners up for it, with ozone starts.
42:29 We might even put him out with Sanderson once in a while. And he'll get power play time too. But for me with a young defenseman like this, I'm not worried about his points. Those are always going to be there as offensive capabilities are outstanding. We just want to really concentrate on making them a player that we can win with. And first, it's almost like you want to take baby steps. Let's get him into the league as a full-time NHLer.
42:57 and take the pressure off him a little bit, knowing full well what he's capable. We've seen it. He had a few big games for us when he got called up last year. And, you know, I'm looking forward to watching him. He's had a good camp so far. We all know that exhibition and regular season are different, but we've got a lot of confidence in him,
43:21 and I think he's got it in himself. So you've got a bright future ahead of him. One more for me, Travis, and I'll let you go, I promise. We know the importance of Allmark to your hockey club and how, you know, he has to feel good mentally, physically, emotionally to get the best out of him. You made the decision to bring in his goalie coach, his mentor on your staff, just the thought or the reasoning,
43:46 you know, behind that decision. Yeah, I mean, this goes back to last year. You know, they go back along. long way. They've known each other in Sweden for a long time. We thought last year that having Meish come over for a little while will help with what Linus was going through. And, you know, it just went well. He played great. He was in a great frame of mind. So we talked about bringing him on in some capacity. You know, he's not going to be with the team or anything full time, but he's around.
44:23 He's in Ottawa, and it's really worked out well so far. Him and Petey have worked well together. And, you know, Pidi's done an amazing job as well with Liness. They work well together. And when something works like that, why not keep it going? Travis, really appreciate your time. Get a good meal in. Get to bed early.
44:46 Awesome, boy. It's a long season. Always. Okay. Thanks, Green. I appreciate it. Coach of the Ottawa Senators, Travis Green. They kick it off tomorrow night, Scotia Bank Arena.
44:56 It's crazy they haven't done a hockey match yet. Fans are probably more than ready to get her going. I know I can already think of the sense fans' excuses. Oh, you guys already played two games. We're rusty short preseason. I'm already feeling it. I know it. How about the importance of bringing a mentor, like,
45:15 Allmark's guy, and bringing him on? And just it goes to show you. And we're kind of seeing it in Toronto around Matthews a little bit in terms of Austin, what can we do to bring out the best of you? Right? And these organizations now, when you're paying these guys, what you're paying them, you're going to do everything you can to help them achieve, you know, the best of them.
45:43 They cost more than your coaching staff combined. Typically, they're going to be here longer than most people. their influence the wins and losses, it makes sense, right? Give them a chance to have success. You know, there's probably a balance to be struck between being supportive and giving them a good environment and not being over coddling. A warm blanket versus a kick in the ass. Right.
46:03 No, there's no more kick in the asses anymore now. Can I say? You take their blanket, that's all. Talking to, like, listen to him talking about the leadership group and all this different stuff. And he's saying all the diplomatic things. I bet you're behind the scenes are like, thank God he's gone. Thank God.
46:16 Well, Brady? Yes. You know what else are going to say? But, like, he was just all year. Podcast, distraction. Look at me. It's all about me. Me, me, me.
46:27 I bet you they're thrilled he's gone. Think so? Yes. 100%. Now he's down there. He's trying to rough up celebrini out there. Like, he just thinks he's, I just, I can't stand the sight of me. Like, sentence fans and leaf fans.
46:40 Can't, we're holding together the, the bloods. The bloods. The Christ. Shabbat, the captain? Yes. Easy. Easy. for you?
46:49 He's a rare, the rare guy, and Travis kind of implied this, who they come into the league and you go, oh, but can they learn the 200-foot game? Will they ever defend? It's like, yeah, he does those things now. He is a all-around defenseman that skates, obviously a greatly respected, respected guy there. Stisla or maybe Jake Sanderson.
47:11 Yeah, he just can't give it to everyone, right? No, but you can give it to a Canadian. Oh. Yeah. Instead of Brady, me, Chuck. Do you think that was involved in the decision? It should be. It should be why?
47:29 Because you just had a guy that literally sprinted out of town to go hide in Florida with his big brother. You know what? He's like, I went out of here. And he left. You're worried that Sanderson would too? Yeah, well. I don't know.
47:41 I'm just throwing it. Best thing to happen to Sends fans is Sanderson getting left off? The American team? No. No, he was on it. He was on it. Oh, yeah.
47:51 He was all over the game to. Ignor me. He was on it. He was sneaky by most feared guy. Yeah, I know. He flies. He's a hockey player. He's really, really good.
47:59 He scored against the least in the playoffs, the overtime winner. Okay. Who needs a big game tomorrow night? Sir Gabe Broski. Austin. Both great end. Barchenko. I say Austin.
48:15 I say, we can't start Monday's show. with the goaltender from the New York Rangers Shisterking having more goals than the captain of the Toronto May beliefs Monday. We did that exact thing last year. He didn't score for how long to start last year. I forget, a goal he scored.
48:31 The year he scored 60, I think he had one in his first six games. And then he got. But he's also had years where he scored six in the first two games. He's on a stretch right now. Austin's on a stretch in the last 20 or 21 games that he's played. How many goals is?
48:49 yet. Well, if you're cribbing a very obscure amount of game stat, probably one. Three. Yeah, okay. Three. Yeah. In the last 17 and a half periods, he's got fear. A couple would be helpful Saturday night. It would be good to see you shoot at the net. 100%. And he absolutely owns the Ottawa Senators. I like, I mean, you know what happened to his debut. I'm trying to quickly pull up how many goals he has in his career against them. Like, I know that sports net, I know sports net did this big time when, when they opened. the season because it was McKenna, right?
49:21 But like, his opening rookie game. Nothing like. I mean, when you look at what McKenna's going through the first couple of games, this guy goes in Ottawa, it scores four goals. One of the most insane things that are up. One of the most insane sports things I've ever seen.
49:37 Agreed. I enjoy that. We should go. All right. Our thanks to Cheika. And the head coach, Coach Green. Doug McLean next. Don't go away. way.