Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Keefe Gets Leaf'd

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look back on the Leafs' 2-1 overtime win over the Devils. They discuss Anthony Stolarz stealing two points, the Leafs' flat first two periods, Auston Matthews' play, a quintessential Sheldon Keefe loss, the power play's Matthews problem, and much more. Later, they dive deep into Max Pacioretty's identity change this season, his massive hit on Jack Hughes and a familiar lack of response from Keefe and the Devils.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right let's get our leaf our edition of the Real Kipper Unborn show going. Nick Cabrios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Jake Schultz. I took out the snake. I know you took out the snake. Why did you take out the snake? I think he's been really good on our show recently, and I think he deserves a little bit more of a professional approach. And I spelled his name right correctly.

I went to his Twitter account today. I got his name right. Did you spend an extra hour on this today? No. Jake sophisticated Schultz today. No, I spent the normal amount of time. You know, I wake up, I have a leisurely coffee, and I start working on it.

I'm working on the morning, and then I come in here and I look at you two. What a professional day. We got a jam-packed Leaf Hour edition to explain what the heck happened last night. But we're glad you're with us. Live on Sportsnet 590, the fans, Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet Plus. Anthony Stolarz. If I told you that he stole a game that doesn't do it justice does it no

justin burglary i don't know yeah it's uh that's one hell of a performance man i mean been covering the leafs closely for a lot of years here at sportsnet and and before that she can't remember a goalie that feels as tough to beat that's playing as well as Stolarz right now. Last night was the cherry on top. He's now first in the NHL in save percentage among guys that have played 10 games. Yeah, I mean, there's been a lot of good ones this year. But last night was, I mean, like you said, since we've been doing this show,

it's either 1 or 1B of any of the performances I can ever remember watching a Leafs goaltender have. And how much did they pay him? Two and a half million bucks? Like, I think they've already got their money's worth. Yeah, if he never plays again. If he stopped playing tomorrow, which I hope he doesn't, their contract was worth it. They got nine wins out of him already.

So we're at December 11th. We've got another week and a half to go two weeks to Christmas can you recall any game where you're like that's a bad goal or he looks out of position like I can't even recall seeing him really lose his post, which is a really hard thing to say for a goalie that's gone this deep into a regular season. It's incredible. No, you're right. There's not like a game where you're like,

well, he gave up six that one night or whatever. It's like it just hasn't happened. I hate to do this to my boy, Anthony, but he wasn't great in the Florida game. There was like two goals in that one that you would want. And you can remember them. It was Barkov on the power play where it was a one-timer could have had it and the one was verhagey off the half board yeah i think that one got a little bit redirected a tad i'm sitting here being able to be like there's two bad ones i remember okay

if you told me to enlist goalies past ones remember we'd be here for the entire leaf hour listing them off yeah that's fair i think that's fair not a not not a great performance for him uh in florida but who cares he's been unbelievable it's been um it's been something to see it really has been and you know we can get into the overview of the game maybe with the coaches before we get into our own thoughts or do you want to give our own sort of – Yeah, let Craig Bruby kind of tee up what we witnessed last night with his overview. Let's start with clip one. Our goalie kept us in it, so it was only 1-0.

For sure, that's a big part of it. I mean, you know, third period we started to play better and more aggressive and controlled the play a little bit more. First two periods, I mean, they had the puck. We didn't get it from them. And we didn't get it from them. Yeah. It's like playing keep away with someone who's really like Datsuk

or someone you just can't get it from. They just had it the whole night. I can't. Talking about remembering as good a goalie performance as I can remember that first period in three quarters because I thought they started to clean up towards the end of the second period a little bit that's as bad as I can remember the Leafs looking in a really long time but like even in the Columbus game you know they had some chances here and there this year like it just that was awful do you do you think that is a symptom of like, okay, that's really what the Leafs are.

This is a problem. We need to worry about this. Or do you think it was just like the Devils played really well. They didn't quite have it. Great question. So where did the start, the 40-minute start? It's a long start yeah it's like if we call from now till 5 30 the start of our show yeah listen and in honor of sheldon they took a long time to start let's just say that where for you over that 40 minutes did the biggest problem stem from for you well the biggest problem stemmed from for you well the biggest problem is that they just can't create

anything going the other way like it's just if you look at the amount of opportunities that happen at their net and the other net not there's no ozone time no sustained pressure no chances created they just are stagnant in the offensive zone they They don't make plays. Yeah. I know we've often referred to New Jersey as the fastest team. And if you didn't, go watch the game last night because

they're the kings of the castle in speed. That's the one thing that I kept looking at. So, from your perspective of not watching a sustained four check, it just stems to me that the Leafs were too slow and New Jersey was too fast. So was that just no one had their legs?

Or is that something that the Leafs can sit there and say, okay, we just played the fastest team in the league, but do we have an issue with being a little slower than some other clubs? And I watched it last night. Like for me, Tavares had a lot of trouble. And I don't want to pick on John Tavares. I've liked him lately. I agree with you last night.

But last night. That turnover deserves picking. Yeah. But he doesn't have the speed to keep up with the New Jersey Devils for me. But nobody else did. So, is it... They do need to get a little faster. And we talk about Pacioretty.

We talk about Tavares. We talk about, you know, outside of Nylander. Like, is speed a bit of an issue last night that kind of came to fruition? Or no? You're okay? You're okay? I think it's a fair observation that one of the reasons they couldn't get the hockey puck is they're not as fast as New Jersey.

But I don't think you have to be the fastest team in the league. Florida certainly hasn't been when they won their cup I don't think Mark Stone's Golden Knights were the fastest team so I don't think it's a crisis to say that they're not as fast as New Jersey and certainly that was a symptom of um you know you saw that play out a little bit last night um but I just think the length of time they've got here without creating offenses worrisome but I did i wrote an article today where i said the good news is their goaltending and defense has been so good that they've got time to sort that out i don't think they're a bad offensive team i think you know matthew's

starting to come back i thought he was great last night he's finding it a bit you know they're patch ready and domi can come back and find their stride i think this is a good offensive team or at least not a below average one which statistically they are so i do think they're going to get there and i think they have time to add or do whatever they need to do to add more offense to it but they're okay over this era of leafs hockey we've often had this conversation about the speed of them and like that they've never really been a fast team i guess since like they had the capains and yonsons in the bottom half of the lineup like they've never ever really prioritized speed even dubas like think of the guys he brought in the veteran guys that he brought in over that time they were never fast it was never dubas would say when i was there that if he could pick the

the smartest team the most skilled team or the fastest team he'd take the smartest team every time yeah so i think that reflected his choices sometimes in personnel. Okay, let's get to another clip from Craig Berube on why the bad start. I don't know. That's a good question. I wish I knew. I mean, it happens. 82 games, you're going to have flat nights. It was one of them for sure, but, you know, a lot of shots by them, but, you know, I thought we defended the interior pretty well overall, and our goalie made saves, and he did them too,

and third period was better. We went to work and started to do some things and control the play a little bit more, but, you know, it's one of those games. I mean, I'm not really going to read into it too much. I'm not going to talk about it too much. Our goalie was excellent, and we found a way to get two points. That's all that matters.

My least favorite clip of the year. The other aspect of looking faster isn't just skating faster. It's moving the puck. Quicker decisions. That's the other thing that stood out for me is how much in sync they were for 40 minutes, New Jersey, just moving the puck between Brad and Hughes and having their D involved.

I've always kind of said this, the one difficult part that I've had watching the Leafs, even over the last few years, is between Tavares and Matthews being really good finishers and letting them be around the net, the Leafs don't move the puck sometimes as well as I'd like them to. And that was just another factor for me last night, is not being able to see them string two or three passes together.

Yeah. Habits take time. You know, they're lucky Austin Matthews existed last night. They had seven scoring chances last night, grade A, and he was five breakaways. He had good puck touches. And the one he set up Marner in the slot with a nice play. I didn't really like his game other than him finding open ice

to go in on breakaways. Only relevant guy on the team to me. I thought he had the puck. Every opportunity they had was because of something he did, I thought, last night and otherwise. Yeah. You okay with his best game last night? I thought it was his best game.

I thought. Yeah. I just, in terms of the defensive engagement willingness to play the body like he hammered siegenthaler in the corner after a play i i just i thought he looked most like himself listen not not many guys were very good for long stretches of that game but i thought he looked most like himself just offensively too jumping into the play like he doesn't shoot them in the net like he should have on multiple different occasions but thought he had the offensive instincts back.

Thought he was rolling pretty well so I thought he was good last night. Let's get a thought from the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the game winning goal. Yeah that felt really good. Yeah I couldn't quite seem to find my spot there a couple times but

yeah just tried to stick with it. And, I mean, like I said, the game was, you know, very ugly on our side for most of the game. So, squeak out this one. It's good to be back in the one column. And, you know, we just want to continue that momentum and be better the next game. It's hard to believe a guy that has scored that often in his career

could maybe have lost his confidence a little bit. Maybe that was part of the equation here until he got the game winner. I actually think a point you've made or implied about him is fair. I don't think he's had his cardio up, you know, to the level. Like now, I thought last night he was, I mean, the burst of speed he had in OT is incredible. We can sit there and say, okay, I mean,

there has to be a little bit of the benefit of the doubt that being off for nine games or however long he was gone day to day, that the injury may have had something to do with a bit of a, but he looked to me like he worked harder. He just worked harder than he has in the previous. You mean last night? Yeah, last night. He just worked harder than he has in the previous. You mean last night? Yeah, last night. He just worked harder.

Yeah. But I think a lot of that comes down to like what Borny said with conditioning and feeling better and where you're, if you're not feeling tip top, you're like, I got to say some of this to go down the other way. Like, I don't have enough juice. I don't have this. So it doesn't look like you're maybe digging as hard.

But I just, I think something's maybe not bugging him still but he's still recovering from something clearly he's not in perfect shape so it was an encouraging one to see him shoot it in like that last i did want to you didn't like the bruby uh clip because i you should probably know and like not knowing like we're gonna move on i'm not gonna think about it anymore it's probably not the thing i want to hear him say when your team has like one of the worst pour over this and figure out what happened yeah yeah it is one of 80 go ahead or maybe he does know and he just doesn't want to tell you oh that's likely he's fibbing to the media barube no way i think he does know my uh favorite tweet post-game came from JD Bunkus about, that was the most Sheldon Keefe way to lose of all time.

He says, the perfect Keefe game. Get goalied, bad bounce against, nothing from the power play, no response to physical play, win in the deserve to win-o-meter. All losses suck. Exactly how you've seen Sheldon's teams lose here in toronto in big games where everyone goes oh you should have won you were better you controlled the play you just got goalied and also patrick eddie flattens hughes nize flattens kovacevic a couple guys are digging at markstrom and a bunch of guys in new jersey went over and said, hey, don't. That's definitely worth a conversation.

But let's just go to Sheldon Keefe first because Sammy's got a ton of Sheldon Keefe clips that really has saved our show the last three years. I will say, a little shorter after last night. Who was he? Which one do you like? Let's do clip one first, Eric. I thought it was great. I thought it was as good a game we've played all season.

Everything's great. Clip two, please, Eric. We just pressured the puck. We worked. You know, I thought we won puck battles consistently. I mean, we lost some on the first goal. Aside from that, I thought we were just outstanding competitively. It's clearly our best first period of the season,

like not even close. So, yeah, I leave here feeling pretty good about our team tonight. So we had him on the show Monday, right? Correct. And if I'm not mistaken, he told us there's been a good number of games where they've just been out-goaled.

Mm-hmm. Right? And then then there was the comment that he made last night on the Leafs goaltending. Do we have that? Keith, clip three. We do. Coach, you mentioned it felt like one of the better efforts of the season. What do you think prevented

your team from being able to bury more pucks? Best goaltending in the league on the other side. Oh. That's not at your goalie, but it's like. Oh, no. It's, yeah, that's at your goalie. And can I tell you something? Like, good on Pontus Holmberg, but that one stunk beyond belief.

And if I'm the New Jersey Devil, and I'm watching Stolarz do that to us, and then you let them come down to one of the few opportunities over the game, and you let that in, that one is a complete ball buster. It is. Oh, come on. Like, you know, we're working so hard to get a sniff over there. It's, you know, when Connor Dewar and Pontus Holmberg break into the offensive zone short-handed with no possession of the puck, you don't expect it to end up in the back of your net, and it did.

Sure shouldn't. But they're so right. Like, you talk about the parallels between the Kee keef game and it's crazy because i've watched that game 15 times in the last three years here and i go well they were great they should have won like and that goal is one that peter marazic lets in one that sorry jack campbell lets in there's one that's elia samson we don't have enough time in our show for you to mention all the goalies and until we get to felix and kujo and eddie and you just you watch the game where like the desirable meter is all off the charts and the shot quality like

they had some good shots for sure but like you can talk about the the volume of shots and all this stuff i've watched that exact game from the other side 20 times in the last five years getting redundant so i was the keith drops back yeah it was very it was kind of therapeutic to be on the other side of it quite honestly and i can't imagine the group chat that doesn't have jacob markstrom in it today talking about that goal. The team minus Markstrom? No, like, you know, the Hughes guys probably have a group chat with a couple guys. I guarantee there's one of the group chats that doesn't have Markstrom in it,

and they're talking about that goal. Why don't we listen to Berube's clip three on Pontus' goal? Yeah, it was a great goal. It was obviously a big goal for us. We got more chances shorthanded. We did five on five tonight and power play, I think. i think so i mean our shorthanded chances were good i thought we created some opportunities there it's a big goal obviously and you know our penalty kill was a big part of the win tonight too with our goalie i mean yeah we had pk had a ton of chances that both penalty

kills gave up chances or both power plays gave up chances. Austin comes back, and then the power play stinks again. Yeah. Okay, explain that to me. I don't know. Can't. But they need to figure that out. Yeah, they were absurdly hot for, what, a seven-game stretch?

And they even got a couple once matthews came back but it's gone pretty sour here again for it's i don't know what the actual numbers would be but it's it's gone pretty sour i said you guys last night in our group chat that like this is how the five forward power play dies like a night where it looks like last night and i don't want it yeah it's just do they just focus on getting 34 the puck again? But do you see that? Like, I'm looking for that. I saw another beaver tap, by the way, from Austin last night.

I can't see them. They don't gain the zone. He wants the puck. He wants the puck. For the second time in a short period of time, I see him banging his stick, wanting the puck. But why wouldn't you want him to have the puck? Right.

Because you tell everybody he wants the puck, and then they make the adjustments to him having the puck yeah i know but like i don't think i i just i don't know what to say here you know what you know what the kind of pressure a beaver tap does to the guys on the ice do you remember the scenario where the beaver tap came after it was a low puck battle he was at the goal line down by the top of the crease and like a in a battle it wasn't like he was like on the side killing the power play saying don't pass it over there so that's not really reflective it wasn't danny heatley in oh four yeah it it just i i don't know if they feel differently when he's in the lineup to get him the puck they do certainly they do i i don't know that it's stop it then all of you guys just stop it just i came in here and said put him on the

second unit and i got treated like a pariah for the next you know 10 times we talk power play i i think it's great for them to put ego aside and find a way marner's a little guilty too i don't know one one one-on-one, the second one worked. The first one, he tried to slide it through. Yeah. And it's like, I don't know, disguise it better or look like it's not automatically going to him. I mean, I cannot...

Or shoot it. I cannot put my finger on why it becomes different when he's in the lineup. Because they want... And it's definitely true i can't sit here and say it's not but they want him to have the puck and this to me is how the problem with marner and matthews together because i i mean you talk about tavaris last night and didn't think he was very good uh knelander last night, didn't think he was very good. And it's like you put those two guys together who we've talked about never having any chemistry

and you just lose the rest of the team. It's like Marner and Matthews together, very good, obviously. But then you put those two guys together and the rest of the team looks way worse. So that is the argument against it. And what you see last night, him forcing him pucks, that's kind of the argument against it. But I mean, you know, we're sitting here and, you know last night him enforcing him pucks that's kind of the argument against but i mean you know we're sitting here and you know you're borderline hostile about the matthews on

the power play thing i sort the hostile i'm just wondering what do you see i'm just saying i sort the power play in the nhl for the past six years five years four years they're the third best team in the league 26 on the power play you know they're very very good and he's been on it the whole time so what's going on this year i don't know exactly but i don't think it's they don't need austin matthews or they can't be good with austin matt i'm not saying get rid of them right i'm saying figure it out guys yeah it's a major issue for sure like if they were during the nine games he was out i mean i feel like they scored two game. And you're not paying him 13.25 to take a second unit. No, I know that's not a long-term plan.

They're 18th in the league. They are putting $50 million on the ice. There's five forwards out there. You have to figure it out. It's just, I mean, the pressure, I mean, probably Savvy doesn't love thinking about it every night where it's not going in for him, but it's just i mean the pressure i mean probably savvy doesn't love thinking about it every night we're just not going in for him but it's it's the same thing so yeah i don't know it's kind of frustrating to watch a little bit strange uh maxomi yeah sure game thought it was

great last night yeah trying to have different looks yeah i said to sam before like a couple times he shot the puck i was like i don't know if that's a spot you want to do it, but I'd rather him err on the side of shooting it than not. Okay. Not to go full Ross-Agg. Oh, yeah. Play the clip and we'll talk. Yeah, we'll take Berube's Kipper's Clipper on Max Domi.

I thought he was fine. I thought he skated. I thought he had some chance, some shots. You know, he looked to shoot more, and, you know, I was happy with his game. So, yeah. And he did. Mid. Not to go full Ross Atkins here, but I thought the process was good.

I thought the process was better, you know? Like, the results definitely weren't there. He was banging it off the end glass a few times. But you look like a guy that listened to the coach is that a reference to the offer for soto no i can't believe we didn't do any jay's talk today because sammy's got jay's thought no no no the the thing for soto was we were honored to be a part of the process oh yeah well that's what i meant you said i said process but like baseball guys are very like process oriented because it's such a long i wasn't sure if it was a shot or no but like he process he would say process he's the type of guy that would say process let's just say that anyways the process

was good for him last night shot it more was around the net thought he had some chances thought he easily could have scored so they need more of that and he was good so alex neilanders back down right they put him on waivers yeah which means they're making room for somebody to come in funny you say that i actually didn't process that yeah yeah so that'd be mcmahon coming back uh maybe they needed to do it to get mckay back in k back in myers they want to keep them around because myers and refire are both up right now. Yeah. No, so I think it would be because I saw somewhere that McMahon was scheduled to come back against the Ducks. So, like, they're aiming to have the Ducks.

And what do you look at me like? McMahon's not even close. He's not even skating, it sounds like. No, no, he is. He is close? Yeah. Oh, okay. I think we could.

We'll read differently today somewhere. He's not tomorrow night. I think he's on the weekend, maybe. But he's, I heard he's close, too. Okay. I think we could. We'll read differently today somewhere. If he's not tomorrow night, I think he's on the weekend maybe. But I heard he's close to. Okay. But then that's what it is. So then they're sending him down and maybe they're going to activate him and away they go.

But anyways. Well, that would be great. He's fast. They're going to get some relief out of now. McMahon knocking on the door. Domi already here. Yeah. Pacioret domey already here yeah patcher eddie's already here it's less for bank and minton holmberg's top six gonna it has to get better hey how about nick robertson not being able to get in last night against like you know a fast team uh like that where he's

already been healthy for a game like they kept fraser minton in over him you know they it's crazy like they just that's felt like a weird one to me to go two in a row for robertson after a loss we do know how much they love fraser that's true and that's just their baby you can't i'm sorry nick you cannot compete against that love he really can't yeah i think there been a – I don't think he was very noticeable last night. I think there's been a bit of a dip for him since his hot start. That's a tough game. That's a tough game. It's a very fast, skilled hockey club.

Yeah, no question. Yeah, tough spot to go out there in the third line. Their centers are Nico Heasher, Jack Hughes, and Eric Holl eric holla one two three down the middle justin dowling not a bad fourth line center either so yeah that's a tough night for sure um before we go to break because we're gonna go break here soon yeah and we'll talk about uh pat ready on the other side yeah uh i just wanted to play this anthony stoller's clip because he was it was you know went home to new jersey gets the win from his family family, and this is what he had to say after the game. It must be that New Jersey water.

It's definitely exciting. I grew up with Devil's Manta. Anytime that you can beat your childhood team, it's exciting. But I think for us, just to kind of get back in the win column is huge. We have a busy month, so hopefully we can just keep it going here. And that got me thinking of one of my favorite movies of all time, Happy Gilmore, and you quoted it, and we had that clip, Derek. I'll tell you, the real winner today is the city of Portland.

Every time I come here, it gets harder to leave. I think you guys put something in the water. You guys put something in the water. Excuse me, I've got to go play a little golf. Come on. He went full shooter McGowan. Something in the water. It's got to be something in the water.

You guys put something in the water. So we'll see. Makes good bagels, whatever it is. We'll see Joseph Wall tomorrow night against Anaheim, a game that me and you will be part of the telecast. Yeah, that's exciting. If you go to NHL stats and look at save percentage, minimum 10 games played, Wall is now in the top five.

He's fifth in the NHL, Stolarz is first. So at least have two goalies in the top five and say and then stole ours in detroit on a saturday night makes a lot of sense you don't think uh i guess because they play the back-to-back on the weekend they'll just go right to the the switch again but yeah i i would be if i was a head coach after watching that performance i might be inclined to reward him with another one. Like, that was ridiculously good. And Wall's been awesome, don't get me wrong, but, you know, he may deserve to have another start after that one, no? I think he deserves a rest.

Yeah, the chaos in his crease before the Holmberg goal was like, the game almost ended, right? It's 1-0, Leafs can't create anything, they're digging in the crease, and all of a sudden they go down the other way. It's 1-1. So, yeah, there's no credence to what I'm saying. He says he deserves a rest. No, there's not.

Okay. Zero. Yeah. Okay. Zero. Zero. We still love you. You don't watch the game very well.

Right? And now that you've matured, Jake Schultz, right? Yeah. He's no longer the snake now. did I say? Schultz. No longer the snake now. He's just Jake Schultz. He's just Jake Schultz. Find the scientific name for a snake. What else can you do? I'm evolving. Jake the Serpent Schultz is the next. He's leveled up.

No more Disco Dan either? Disco Dan? I haven't heard from Disco Dan in a while. Okay. He's too busy. He does a morning show. he does raptors he does everything i don't know what he does we'll take a quick break and we'll when we return we'll get into max patch ready and what he's meant to the toronto maple leafs and also where was new jersey's reaction to watching their star their superstar get completely run over with no response that conversation is a must after the break everything you need to know about the raptors and the biggest stories around the nba smith and jones

subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Caprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. Max Pacioretty. The human missile. Oh, my God. Apparently, he was told right from training camp, we need a guy to run people over. And he stepped up. Like, how else can you describe it?

This guy was at one time the most dangerous scorer in the prime of his career for the Montreal Canadiens. And now he's just gone to keep your head up, kid. Yeah. He's just, he made some noise about like appreciating guys like Dale Weiss. Yeah, we have that clip. This is from yesterday and this is very apt after what happened last night. So this is from yesterday on his role clip.

Max Pacioretty. Pacioretty? on his role clip max patch ready patch ready no maybe not okay um but he talked about basically that like he had a bunch of guys come in for him when he was a young guy playing this role and you know doing the grunt work and then last night he does the yeah maybe i didn't appreciate them enough or something to that effect. Let's start with Craig Berube on a Kipper's Clipper on the Pacioretty hit on Jack Hughes. Well, I was, you know, we finally got some contact from somebody, which was good because you're not going to take the body on this team and let them skate around all night. We're going to be in trouble. Well, it pumps guys up. You know, it's it's a good hit clean hit and uh we needed it they get clean so we've

had conversations on where's that line between answering it not answering it fighting not fighting and i now kind of come to a little bit of the other side where i don't believe that you have to fight right away right away but if you're listening new jersey devil players that doesn't mean that you don't have to do anything at all dougie ham is also, I may say, the most Sheldon Keefe player to get stuck with who is so talented but just doesn't really want to do that stuff. And he was the closest guy to it there

and was like, hey, not cool, man. Kipper, that's not a wait and see one. That's Jack Hughes. That's your superstar. I won't argue that. I won't argue that. And if I was on the ice, I'd go right after him as well.

Brendan Dillon is one of the toughest guys in the league. He fought Gajevic. He's watching it happen. How do the flippers not fly off him? Oh, he had one visit. I just, I can't believe. And night-night. Like re-watching that.

How does he not? Hilton's like afraid to, he's like petting him. In all honesty, at that point, Rewatching that, how does he not? Hamilton's like afraid to, he's like petting him. In all honesty, at that point, I think Hamilton and a few others are like, we're up one, nothing. It's the end of the second period. Listen, I'm not, I believe that an emotional response

would probably be beneficial down the road instead of worrying about that moment. And that stuff does bring your team together. I've lived it. I've felt it. They missed an opportunity last night. Yeah. And he went over the top of Jack Hughes.

I have this, like, terrible memory. Quick story. When I was in Utah, you know, you go go to schools with the kids and participate in stuff and playing for the East Coast League. And I ran over some like four or five year old girl playing like, oh, my God, just like completely. Wow. It was terrible.

Like I didn't see her coming. We're just running around. And that I felt like Hughes was the four year old girl there. However old she was. It's just like, you know, he had no chance. Do people still cancel people still now? Yeah, you're done. That could be it right now.

I didn't want to tell the long story. It's a long story, but I really did. It's the real Kipper and McKee show now. It's a real Kipper and McKee cancel. She had an ice pack and asked me to sign the ice pack after it was really sad. Oh, my God. No, so I've had, okay, so I did on Leafs talk, we did a big conversation about this

and I drew a parallel, I did, between what the Leafs, the conversations we used to have about the Leafs, about the lack of response to Steph with Keefe at the helm and then the happens last night with the Devils, with him at the helm. And I happens last night with the devils with him at that and i drew the parallel and they sent her a clip and devils the devils twitter got a hold of it

and people are all over me oh it's a one nothing game blah blah blah it's a close game i'm like buddy i've been there we've excused it away i've i've been there i that argument. I've had that argument. I've done that argument for the years. The Leafs have done nothing. And I can't sit here and say that, like, it's a close game. Nothing should happen. That's a situation. That's an exception to the rule. That's your best player.

That's a star in the league getting Mike Peckard. Like, that's a Mike Richards in his prime hit. But so is this a case of a team taking on the personality of the coach? Or is this just again... That's a good question. Or again, does he not have the personnel? Does he not have the type of guys who play that way?

It's not like Keith left here and all of a sudden Matthews and Marner are fighting people. Marner did punch somebody this year, first ever. I do believe that Keitheefe, Sheldon Keefe, could have strategically said something post-game comment. Did you hear what he said? No.

Do we have it? You're not going to like it, buddy. Okay, let's hear it. Clip four. From Keefe. Talked after the loss on Sunday that you wanted to see your emotional response. Did you see that in those final 10 minutes of the game?

It was our best game of the season. Like I said, I'm leaving here today feeling as good as I have about our team all year. Clip four, Keith, please. Five. Yeah. Oh, my bad. What did you see?

Sorry. What did you see on Matt Chiaretti's hit on Jack? I saw him hit Jack. It was not even a factor in the game. I forgot it hit Jack. It was not even a factor in the game. I forgot it even happened. Yeah. We can't have guys running our best players.

Just can't. You forgot it even happened? Well, that may explain why the Leafs were the Leafs all those years that you just mentioned. I don't. I didn't like it at all. I didn't like it. That's the first I've heard of it. Yeah.

I didn't like it. The comment you don't like. His comment. Yeah. That it's, he's, I don't say, I'm not saying that you have to go to the public and air anything that you feel too much but there has to be a message to every team that you're playing from here on end that you know we have to have a better response when people are targeting our best players i mean even i thought nize on kovacevich who he it's an awkward play i think he's just a big guy who kind of leans on a guy who's in a bad spot really you thought you didn't think it was that bad i thought it was bad

i thought it could have been a major the way it worked out and all that i didn't think he was full of malice no he didn't like run him like patrick coletta used to there was plenty of time to pull up yeah sure so totally and again no one i think uh kova said it kova savage got up and said something to connor timmons had it wrong about who the guy was and i'll and again the leaf player came out like okay yeah so the other mistake i think sheldon made last night is that he's got a guy that they signed originally to go up against Matt Rempe. Oh, yeah. Curtis McDermott. McDermott, yeah.

Who's one of the toughest guys in the league. Yeah. So Matt's not even a factor for the Rangers. I think he's either in the minors or might be back up, but he's not. He's been up and down all year. Playing and not a factor. But you still got Ryan Reeves over there, and you've got Craig Berube,

one of the toughest players in the history of our game, and a newfound team toughness. How is this guy not in the lineup? McDermott? Yeah. How? Good point. How?

I guess it depends what you're prioritizing that day and sheldon is prioritizing being the fast team and trying to run and gun with the team he knows is pretty good and it's not like they signed mcdermott to like 750 minimum the guy's making like 1.4 if i'm not mistaken it's it's decent it's not outrageous but it's it's decent. It's not outrageous, but it's enough to say that if you really just signed him to go up against Matt Rempe when you play the New York Rangers and nothing else, then at least sign him to a minimum contract. But to commit well over a million dollars to this guy, you got to develop him. You have to have a reason why you signed him.

And last night, to me, was a prime example of why you wanted. And the Leafs now, I'm telling you, through Pacioretty, through McCabe, through a couple other ones, they've now garnered a reputation for being this team that, better keep your head up. They're going to take it off. And, again, for me, for not one guy to go up to max patch ready and say listen i'm coming after you or it may not be the end of the game

but it's coming or it needs to come right now that whatever decision but for them to have zero response and for max patch ready to have a credit card to go run Jack Hughes is, this team's not ready. I mean, I'm looking at their lineup and it reminds me of the Leafs in that they're not small, but a guy like Brett Pesci doesn't really push back like that. Timo Meier doesn't really push back. There's nobody in the lineup. Nico Heashier doesn't really push back like that. Like, they're big guys.

Curtis McDermott, just to your note, there's a story I'm just reading here from CBS Sports. Playing time, hard to come by. He's now been scratched for eight of the Devils' last ten games after sitting out the overtime loss to the Leafs. He's definitely not a Keefe guy. He hasn't played since November 30th. So, I mean, it's hard to talk out of both sides of your mouth and you're like, well, they skated the crap out of the Leafs

for the whole time. But I think it's still hockey. And it's a tough look to have one of the best players in the league, like I said, get Mike Peck and, you know, be lying on the ice there and have nobody do anything and no one even come up to him. It's a really bad look for them. It just is.

So people probably don't care about that anymore. But like, I don't know. I know. No, I think it matters. I think it matters. Yeah. Go ahead. Again, to Sam's point, nice that the roles are reversed now for Leaf fans. Yes. Yeah, I feel like you don't have to be the fightiest group,

but you do feel like you've got some guys that want to punch first rather than just retaliate, you know? So you got a coach that stresses it, and then it's like a dominoes effect, right? And do you think he stresses it, or do you think just his presence they know how to please him? I think he stresses it, and I think without him constantly stressing it, then guys like Timmons don't feel the pressure

to finish a check. Listen, Bobby McMahon, who you've said that may go against his normal personality, you know, he can be a dangerous guy out there. If you're not – Yeah, he's put some people on their back. He's hit some people hard. Probably like him to do it a lot more consistently he's going to come back we'll see where then why does it his next level stuff is guys has done it a couple times this year but they do they're bigger and they are hitting harder than i've seen in 10 years

yeah lorenz finishes everything they have a lot of guys that go through so if if i'm anaheim tonight i gotta i gotta look twice at my lineup and go okay who do i have if they start patch ready's flying around a little bit here who've i got it's funny to be on this side of it after the past few years of the leafs and to be like you know i think everyone you know on the broadcast last night they're saying start the car right you know like they stole these two points or whatever. And it's like, they definitely did. They definitely stole the two points with some good goaltending. But there's a lot of these things that have gone against the Leafs.

You're like, I see how that helps the other team, right? I see how it helps being the proactive hitter rather than the people being like, hey, stop that. I see how it, you know, the way that they just sort of defend and make you the, was it Berube said, they defended the interior well, keep people to the outside. They did a lot of things that keep you in a game

and give you a chance on the road. Back check, floor check, and pay check. Matthews makes a couple of plays. So you mentioned Timmons there. Everyone you mentioned Timmons. And I thought he was really bad against the Devils. i thought he was it was really bad against against the devils i thought benoit struggled me too and they put benoit with uh with panev for a little bit of the game like they were they're mixing it up and i didn't love that but to me and this is maybe a

bigger conversation we can have now this stretch just illustrates how crucially important Jake McCabe is to this team. Like, he just slots everybody into their correct places, and it just feels like they have been not nearly as good defensively pretty much since the second he went out. And I think that's a big part of the reason the puck's in their end so much yesterday. You know, like they just didn't have any shutdown pair to shut anyone down.

Misery loves company. Matthew Nyes, to me, struggled last night, giving the puck away. What are your thoughts on that, Cape? I didn't see it as much. I didn't think he was good. I just didn't notice that as much. What did you see?

Yeah. Sometimes he just has trouble picking the best option that he has offensively with the puck sometimes in his own zone yeah but again we're talking about a guy with 100 plus nhl games under his belt so So I think he's still learning. The problem is, unfortunately, he's asked to be the number one left winger on a team trying to win a Stanley Cup, which is a big ask.

And he's learning as he goes along. Do you want me to tease some of this work we're going to do on left wingers tomorrow or do you want to save it for the broadcast? You know what? We'll get into it tomorrow as we get ready for yeah for anaheim but uh the point is kip's thing about left wingers and the leafs pretty accurate yeah it just it's been it's it's been falling behind the best it's it's been their biggest challenge is is is finding that guy

yeah right god it would be funny to look at the list of guys they've had up there from nick ritchie to bunting to you know now it's nize and patch ready and joe thornton and andre kasha and you know kerfoot forever kerfoot you forget how much he played up there jason spetsa like go through the list of guys they tried there yeah it's a long list it is then you mckea have got time there it's a long list of mid mid totally mid flex seal then you watch uh mckinnon and ranton and as a left winger and you're like i was gonna say i could play right wing on that line they probably still get 20 a year yeah uh no you couldn't but i said i said saying but no you couldn't they'd still get 20 a year from me okay yeah i thought i heard no i said they would get it i'd be such a detriment

to me then but they'd still be able to get 20 in the league is with a joke but tough one if you played with mcdavid mckinnon mccarran hughes and you were the fifth guy all your minutes with those guys no it's like i think you get 10 a year those guys. No, I'd still get caved in. Think you'd get 10 a year? Buddy, you've never seen me skate. I'd caved in. Caved in. Caved in. That would not go well. How did we do on your clips?

I think we got through them. The only thing I don't think we played is Chris Tannev, the reason you won the game. But I'm imagining he just says the goal. He just says Stoli. It's a funny clip. We like funny. Stoli. I think, obviously, I'm imagining he just says the goalie. He just says Stolle. It's a funny clip. All right. We like funny. Okay. Yeah. Stolle. So I think obviously without him, it's not even close.

So big props to him. There you go. There are some guys who they just like never interview. Like I don't remember him saying anything this year. TJ Brody, did he do an interview as a Leaf? Yeah, not really. No. Rare.

He is without a doubt their best defenseman. as a Leaf? Yeah, not really. No. Rare. He is, without a doubt, their best defenseman. Tanev? Yeah. Yeah. So, like, if Canada needed him or Morgan Rielly, you'd rather be Tanev? Well, what do you need? Just a shutdown guy?

Yeah. I do want to have a quick chat about Connor Dewar. How often can he do literally nothing i understand he was on the ice for the holmberg goal can he do can he do literally nothing all year and we're just gonna go it's fine so we don't expect anything or at some point do you want something i like him which was six inches taller but i like what's he do i don't know he's just he's a presence out there to me he's a presence he is he i don't know. He's a presence out there to me. He's a presence. He is. I don't know.

He killed penalties. He's gritty. He's in guys' faces. We do not agree. He gets the puck in deep. He skates around. He does skate around. I mean, to me, he's fine.

Like, that's the last thing. You have Conor who are playing eight or nine. He is flexial. If he's playing eight or nine minutes, he's fine. Maybe we should give Flexi... To do it? No, just more credit. It's a quality product.

Or curveball. Curveball. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Flexi. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seal. Right? And stop leading.

He did it every once in a blue moon. Put a puck into that. Yeah, including in the playoffs, the leads in overtime. Give him a 3-1 series lead. That's right. That was fun. But Connor Dewar, like, he's... I like him, too.

He's an honest player. Yeah. Works hard. K honest player. Yeah. Works hard. Kills penalties. Yeah. But, like, nothing ever happens. Nothing. But there's a clump of them.

Like, he's one of. Right. That you can say that. But it's like he's wearing camo. It's like no one ever talks about the fact that he's been in the lineup every night with zero, zero, zero, zero. What's the Sam? Is it Sam Mitchell?

Boring. He didn't get an assist on that one last night? No, he didn't touch it. Nothing worse than goose eggs. He might have one. I don't even know. But I think it's goose eggs. No, I don't think he's goose eggs.

I think he's goose eggs. How could he not get an assist on that goal? It was all him. He created it. I don't think he touched the puck. He might have cut off his skate. They could give him one for that. No? goose eggs how could he not get a an assist on that goal it was all him if he created i think he touched the puck he might have got off his skate they give him one for that no but the point is like i'm if you're looking for someone where you go okay we need to like spice up this bottom six get a little offense i i would like to clarify tons of respect for the player great effort great work ethic the whole thing just no it's too late you buried him all right it's

fine yeah there's no coming back off of that you did get an assist on that goal yeah played eight minutes and 53 seconds plus one one assist and you're killing them you're killing them you're killing them it's his only point of the season he's got one shot in his last five games, but he's on fire. I'm surprised. You know, you mentioned Flex Seal and their Kerfoot. I sent out a tweet about the Jays' new trade. I said,

explain this in hockey terms. And I got a hundred Kerfoots. So, probably going to love him. So you're not happy about the big trade? So he's value. I don't know.

No, he makes like $23 million until the year 30. I'm thrilled. He's an average hitter. Is that what he is? So he's really... He's Connor Dewar of hitting.

He's the Dalton Varshow of the infield. But the Jays are going to win a lot of games, won nothing on this defense. Hopefully. That one ticket's a baby. Right? Hopefully. All right.

Our thanks to nobody. Nobody joined us today. No, not Sam. Good lineup. Oh, our thanks to you guys all right national coming up next don't go away