Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Lineup Logjam

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee share some quick World Series thoughts before looking at the Leafs' off-day skate. They discuss the long-term feasibility of two equal power-play units, Nylander's dwindling ice time, Robertson once again being left off the lineup and Liljegren's Leafs' future. Later, Gord Stellick (35:00) evaluates Craig Berube's adjustment process to a new team and shares what to expect from the Leafs players coming off IR.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.

we are live on sports at 590 the fans sports at 360 and sports net plus nick kiprios justin bourne sammy mckee derek brandeo and jake the snake schultz with you for the next two hours toronto maple leaf edition of our program we're going to welcome in about 35 minutes, Gord Stelic, Maple Leaf analyst, voice of our show, really. Yeah, I would say so. I like your haircut. Thank you.

I snuck in at 3 o'clock before you did, I heard. I know. You don't need one, though. No, I'm fine. I'm not in dire need. I do. You do. I do.

Have you ever gone for a sports night haircut before? Listen, I'm not, I wouldn't say I'm like a diva of any stretch of the imagination. I would, there's no, I don't have a diva bone in my body. But when it comes to my hair, I trust my girl, Anna. So you won't go see Costa? No. I'd rather pay the Greek buddy. I'd rather pay the, or I mean, 25 bucks, Anna, on Dundas.

She does it better than anybody's ever done it. 25 bucks. She's putting a bowl over your head and snipping around it for 25 bucks. I know. And I trust her with my life. So I wouldn't be going anywhere else. There you go. Your boy, Gus.

I don't know. That last name is way too many letters for me to say, but he does a great job. Yeah. I'm sure he does. Very solid. He'm sure he does. He's just not Anna. Very solid. What's the word?

Like, why am I hearing, like, seconds ago that you are the youngest, strongest guy on our panel, and you have a bad back? Like, I don't want to hear that. And you know what the worst part is? It's just, like, I'm kind of, you can tell by the way I'm sitting. I didn't really notice it until I looked at the screen. It's just from sleeping. Like I woke up funny today, and I was deep sleep, and I was twisted up.

I think it was the night before. And today is bad. If you're built like yarn, you know, like being like 6'5 and 110 pounds, I think you're bound to get twisted up sometimes. If you want to double that, you'll get to the actual number. We golfed on Saturday. Yeah. A big shout out to Ken May. you'll get to the actual number. We golfed on Saturday. Yeah. And a big shout out to Ken May. Yes.

The man. The man at Coppinwood. Yes. It's not his son, Brad. No. It's Kenny. It's Ken. Yeah.

The mayor. He runs the show there. Every single week. I sat with Ken May. I felt like I was sitting with Brad Pitt. Everybody came up to him. I played the member guest here this year, and Kenny took the mic. Yeah.

And he spoke on behalf of the membership at Coppinwood. So next time on our show we'll skip brad and we'll just get ken yes agreed but uh big thank you for uh having us on saturday coppin was awesome and didn't you also golf today i did yeah today was outstanding isn't it yeah but it's really cool it's like perfect weather today so hold on Just to get back to your bad back. Listen, we're about the same, right? We play at a what? A seven? I've gotten down to an eight.

Usually a nine-ish. And I don't know what hole we were on. He hit like a 220 for a six-foot birdie. All-world birdie. But your swing, I think, has contributed to your bad back. Oh, really? I do. Do you think he's going too hard at it?

I just think, I think that right to left. Cutting across. And he goes up there and there's no warm up. There's nothing. It's like he's on the clock. He gets up there and then he whacks really hard. It works for him, though. That right to left pizza slice works.

I work around. I bunt it around. But yeah, listen. But I think it's a happy enough swing that it's ruined your back. That's what I think. Listen, it's fine. I do what I can out there. There's something, you know, now that we're talking about non-hockey stuff,

I have to tell you, I don't know if you guys watched the world series game last night i saw enough okay do have we got a new celebrity in the world right now this is what i want to get at this guy jumps in the play and now he's like have he's he's worth fifty thousand dollars in appearance now i gotta look up his name the ball out of moookie Betts' glove, which, got to tell you, if you are a true Yankees fan and you watched a guy try to do something on behalf of the team there, you love him. So now, in New York, I'm sure he's beloved

by the rest of the Goombas out there. Austin Capobianco. Capobianco is the last name. So, I just am disgusted at the pearl clutching that's going on about this. It's the World Series. The guy reaches into the thing. You try to get

the ball out of him. It's like, you didn't bring out a baseball bat and whack him to death. People are so upset about this. The way things move, things move so quickly from, oh, my God, that was amazing to, like, he's in now to the public eye and ESPN's doing a story about them. And there's blowback to that story about him.

And there's blowback to this and there's blowback to that. Can we just not all appreciate an all-time great fan interaction where he pried the ball out of the guy's glove? That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. The look on his face when he's doing it was like the most. He had the FaceTime face. He couldn't have enjoyed it more. And listen, if they come back and they win the World Series,

Capi, what is it? Capo Bianco. Capo Bianco, number one guy. If they showed half the heart of Capo Bianco in the first three games, they would be in this series.o bianco what a guy front of the line of the parade honestly oh yeah they'll be famous all i gotta say is the job site was buzzing today when old capo bianco strolled in the job site was buzzing but it's a unique sport and that you can have those moments where the play can spill out into the crowd and

still be live is that is that a feature of the game is that the guy that fell into the penalty box with ty domey kind of moment or no we've never really had a hockey moment like we're not we're not reaching good of the home team i don't think you know we're not reaching maybe it was i don't know i mean if it was a playoff series and they turned around and came back and was maybe he'd be known. We even got somebody on the text line. He's the reverse Bartman. The guy texting is like, the way he grabbed his arm, it was borderline assault.

It's like, oh, my God. Can nobody have any fun? Can you imagine had he hurt Betts' arm? Hero. If he snapped a ligament in his wrist. Perfect. You just got rid of one of the best players like i said i said a tweet about this last night just wait for him to come out of the stadium and then

uh tanya hearty absolutely but like the funniest thing was and the whole clip is buddy doing this like like pointing out like the wall like he can't it's like this is my area no he's a he's eligible to come over there i just i thought that was one of the great all-time sports fan moments and i couldn't have enjoyed it more and i said like listen that's it sucks you got kicked out of the game they come back and win or whatever it's not sport yes it whatever you want, the greatest whatever it is. It's a fan moment. It's a fan moment. Okay, fan moment. But it's not a sport moment.

It is. Grabbing somebody from the stands is not a sport moment. I think it was incredible. I don't know. I'm torn on that. I think he was in the game, and he tried to do his best to help out, and it didn't work. We have the fans waving behind the free throws in the NBA.

We do what we can. You're loud when the other team's calling the play in the NFL. Spurred them on to victory, and away they went. I just got to say, I loved it. I loved it. I'm with you, pal. I loved it. If some guy did that in the Jays game, they were down World Series,

and some guy, listen, I'm not condoning it. Don't do it. But I enjoyed it. You just condoned the hell out of it. You can't do a weak asterisk at the end. It was great. You can't get that close to fans at Rogers Center anyway. Toronto Maple Leafs took the ice on an off day.

They get ready for the Seattle Kraken. I'm sure it's a practice that they're looking forward to, at least from a coaching's perspective, to maybe go over a few things. Watching some of that Kraken video, the Kraken eatingadians alive last night the greatest offensive team we'll get it all the time we'll probably get into that a little bit more in our national hour on where is the montreal canadians right now because there's a there's a

sense that people like the direction they're going and then there's others that said say what are we doing here i gotta say you you ate to see a loss like that for the Habs. Ate to? You hate to see. All right. Anyone? Bueller? What would be the number one priority for Craig Berube on an off day?

The power play for you guys? Yeah, the power play is no good. Like Reg Dunlop, we're working on it. So, yeah, I mean, I imagine they're spending some time on that. Power play units right now, Riley, Marner, Matthews, with Nyes and Pacioretty. And still have a Nylander and Tavares in the second one with OEL, Domi, and McMahon.

Okay, let's go to Craig Berube for our first Clippers of the day. I think I got to put them in here, boys. Uh-oh. Oh, I did. They're in. I got them got to put them in here, boys. Sorry. Uh-oh. Oh, I did. They're in. I got them. We're good.

No, no. Okay. All right. What's the main objective of creating two power plays for him? Let's have a listen. Well, yeah, a little bit maybe, but it's more about just trying to find some chemistry with, you know, the power play, I think.

I think, though, like i go back to looking at it and the opportunities we had our shooting percentage is very low on the power play and if it's up a bit that's a that makes a huge difference right um we're getting great a's like i talked about um but they're not going in but in the end it wasn't working so i mixed it up that's really all it boils down to i'm not looking for much more than that so something from there's two things from that he got asked if you wanted to create competitions between the two units which was what he said you know part of it yeah but the other thing that stuck out to me there was he said i did it right where like all the conversation we've been having is about savvy mark savard

running the power play and like how he's the new guy that comes in there is that him helping his buddy out a little bit i mean i don't think so i the most awkward moments when i was with the toronto marlies was when the power play wasn't working and then aj mclean who was running it and having the head coach sheldon come in be like seen enough i got it now like and it's like oh you know like when when take away your toy and say I'm gonna do this so maybe they're there with the Leafs by the way that rarely happened but this is 10 games in pretty crazy to see it this early I just jumped out to me that he says like it's like we worked on it like this like you know

they're so cognizant of what they say when it comes to it maybe it's the old era with Keefe that I'm used to but him saying like I made the change it was like okay he's like yeah i'm sick of seeing what it was what i was seeing it's also funny that uh you know a lot of people hate on like advanced stats and they whatever but then all of a sudden when it suits the old school guys needs they they do surface like their shooting percentage is actually low their grade a chances are actually quite high it's like the it's it's their defense right now it's not as bad as it looks is what he's saying

I don't mind it at all just for the sake of just changing it up but it has to come back for me anyways with Willie Nylander back together because there's just not a world where i see where willie nylander at 11.5 million dollars is taking the last 30 or 40 seconds of a power play and and you have patch ready ahead of him like i i can see it temporarily and if it can buy you time a little bit but this is willie nylander we're talking about yeah and he's already

down like a minute and a half of ice time he's not killing penalties anymore he killed penalties last year for them uh and played almost 20 a night and he's like at 18 and a half so now losing power play time it's like this is pretty early to take this much away from old willie you mentioned something yesterday when you were talking about the power play and why you liked it more is that marner had to puck a lot more in the top unit yeah felt like nylander had to puck a lot more on the second unit and that those two guys together on the same unit may be trying to do a lot of the same thing where and then you have one less retrieval guy you have one less shooter guy like it just feels like they both kind of do a similar thing on opposite sides and maybe it's not the

best one shoots one pass it really goes back to again just the way they kind of hold the puck a lot they do the skills not missing it's the chemistry that's missing. It is. But to your point, Sam, they all hold the puck too much. Yeah. Like, you know, the problem is the catch and find something and do my thing.

Yeah. Like, let's just, what about you? What about you? The partner of the Winnipeg Jets doesn't hold onto the puck too long. A millisecond on the middle of the stand for four seconds.

He knows what he is. Yeah. And in Tampa, when it was humming, Stamkos knew what his role was compared to what Kucherov's. But even think of Kucherov's touches. They're usually, as the pass is coming, a fake shot one touch into the middle or a one-timer.

He rarely ragged it. Yes. And he knew what he was going to do with it before he got the puck. Yeah. And he knew what his options were. And I'm not saying he got the puck yeah and he knew what his options were and i'm not saying he made the decision of his options but no he could process it that quick yeah all of it the leafs don't seem to process it's as quickly on the power play yeah and they make great plays and they're

great shooters but that's not how you make a team change their shape on the pk you need to move the puck around so well maybe not the point I was trying to make was not that, you know, it's just to have a guy like the distributor, the decision maker on two power play units and Marner is clearly a good decision maker if he's the one guy that does it

and having Nylander be sort of that guy on the second unit along with Domi, you can do it as well. I just, like, I think it's a better mix of guys. And you've got to be worried about hurting feelings and ice times. Maybe you've got to flip that or whatever. But maybe one unit starts one, one unit starts the other. I think we do that way too much on this show.

Worry about these guys' egos. Like, I... But this is the Kipper thing. This is the behavior of this team. But it is. But why are we not saying that it should be different? Why is it just like, well, that's the way it is, so we should play into it further.

Like, it should be shut up. You're on the second unit. It doesn't matter! I'll tell you when you get another look. But you also told me, like, during this bad streak, that, like, not enough accountability. We've talked about it. Like, where's that accountability?

This is it. You're going to be on power play, too. But we haven't seen it. And we haven't seen it for six or seven years yeah right it was always like protect austin protect neilander let the fans beat up on mitch but that's okay because we'll protect him too but they've been all of them have been kind of coddled up until now that's fair totally and the team goes as they go they are the engine this is really the first time and i'm really interesting to see watch willie in the next little while if his minutes are down and he gets the last 30 seconds on a power play seconds left of the power plate what where is he is he gonna hang in there? Is he going to work harder? Is he going to play with an edge?

Or is he going to get lost a little bit more? I totally agree. I think this is great. In my experience seeing Nylander, and you've been here with me for years watching them, and I've been following him since he was 19, when he gets his ass handed to him by a coach, he doesn't pout. He's usually pretty good about it. Taking away his ice time is different.

That's a really different thing than a public scolding or a shaming or whatever else can be said to him. This is one that will matter a lot to him, and he himself says that he needs to play to stay engaged. So we'll see if he's disengaged. There's a clip that we didn't get to yesterday on Willie. And I forget what day this is from, but I just asked Derek to grab it for me here. And this is Ruby Talk.

It was after they had the good game. And he got asked specifically about Willie. And this was what he said. After Winnipeg? Yeah. This is what he said about Willie. Well, I think Willie always has his groove, to be honest with you. You know, I mean, he's not the type of guy that's going to let too much bother him.

Get him out there and get him going. Get him skating and doing his thing. He had good puck touches tonight, which I talked about the other day, but he wasn't getting those puck touches, so he got more puck touches tonight. When he gets puck touches, he's a dangerous player.

If he has that attitude, he will get him out there then then he's just saying it's only a matter of time so even if he makes mistakes or he doesn't look that engaged i just got to get him out there this now feels less about accountability for nylander and more about we just have to do something with the pen with the power play like we just have to do something but to go back to the looking for your wallet analogy, we're doing the wallet searching with Willie now, where it's like, oh, you got to bump him down a couple minutes and then, you know, build him back up.

And to the point where he got to, what, 20 minutes a night close to last year with Sheldon. But think of all the battles Sheldon went through. He was one of the only guys you ever benched. Like, he went through it with him him and he was coaching him up and down and all the way through. So now we're searching for the wallet, a.k.a. getting. It's a big deal for coaches every day.

And La Violette in New York is going through it with Zibanejad, where it's like, I want more ice time. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I want more ice time. Yeah, no, and there is that balance. It's such a different thing when players now are so much more permanent

than the coaches. I never played in a position where I had 1% of the power of the people deciding my fate, whereas right now, I think you would say that famous big names who make a lot of money have more cachet than their coach they're more important to the organization they're more lasting and they can do to me i got a no move seven-year deal i make five times your salary the fans love me yeah i think i'll outlast you yeah i'll outlast you for sure that makes it awfully hard to be a coach and so you kind of

have to work with the player a little bit more anything more no i just had a i was going to move the topic to there's a couple different things that i wanted to ask you about first did you want to talk about robertson because he talked today or did you want to talk about lilligren two of our favorite topics uh let's let's go to uh nickon. Okay. Not in. According to line rushers today at practice for tomorrow, not in tomorrow. He got asked a bunch today.

He was good with the media. He answered a couple questions. But this is his response when he gets asked about not playing. Clip of one, please, Derek. I mean, it is what it is. I mean, again, I don't know. I just don't know if I'm surprised or not. I just, you know, go with it.

It doesn't take anything personal. I just, I don't know if I'm surprised or not. I just, you know, go with it. I'm not, it doesn't take anything personal. I just got to work hard. And again, there's other guys that are not playing that, you know, should be playing. So it's just part of the deal and my job to work hard. Better not be surprised. Scores zero one time in nine games. You don't get to be surprised when you don't play the 10th. In the third period of his six-point game. I don't think he could have picked or chosen better words to just not make it a story for him or the team.

This hasn't been him in the past. Sorry? This hasn't been him in the past, though, Kip. He has been pretty... I know. I know. But in the past, it hasn't worked out in his in his favor either yeah right yep so new coach new attitude yes i wanted to trade out but let's see where it goes i'm not sitting out training camp

which i think was an excellent move by him so come in stay ready Let other teams breathe through 10, 15 games. Find out who needs help on scoring. And then push like hell behind the scenes to get the out of here. Yeah, you think so? 100%. You know, I look at this Leafs lineup, and healthy as they are right now, it's tough to argue for who he should play over. Like, there you go.

Good job on getting the four up here. Third line, McMahon, Domi, Holmberg. Like, Holmberg does a lot of things for them. He kills penalties and he plays center. He's pretty versatile. Lorenz has been a breath of fresh air. Camp is $2.4 million. Centerman, PK.

It's him or Reeves, basically. I can't stress this enough for this hockey club. He's too small. Okay? End of story. Can't grow any taller. Can't put on any more weight. Bradtree Living.

24-year, it doesn't matter? Bradtree Living will not have you when the chips are down because you are too small for him. I want Horace's back. That sucks, right? There's nothing you can do about that. No. It's been in the game for 100 years, by the way.

Well, it's reality of competitive professional sports. Robertson got asked about that. Would you like to hear his answer? Yep. Quick to Nick. Nick Robertson, please, Derek. I'm not really phased by it. That's his decision on Winnipeg.

I'm not scared at all about how big or whatever. I'm obviously not the biggest guy in the room, but I think I play bigger than where I'm at. So I still want to work on winning battles and doing things that bigger guys can do well. Obviously, for me, it's a challenge being smaller, but it's my job to execute in that area. Listen, another great answer. He's saying what he's going to say smaller, but it's my job to execute in that area. Listen,

another great answer. He's saying, I don't know. And it's not that he's too small to play. No, he's too small to play for Brad tree living. That's a big difference here. It's just one guy and one guy's opinion,

or maybe it's two with Brendan, or maybe it's three with Ruby, Ruby, but if it's, if it's, if it's one, it's one. If it's three, it's opinion, or maybe it's two with Brendan, or maybe it's three with Ruby. But if it's one, it's one. If it's three, it's three. It doesn't matter. You're not playing. So 31 other teams out there start knocking on doors. That's what agents are for.

They're not just there to collect your fee every year for a contract negotiated. You're there to help that player get the heck out of here. I think so. But if he's Cole Caulfield, they'd love to have him. All three of the people you just mentioned would love to have him in the lineup. And I'm not saying he's going to be or could be. I'm saying...

15 goals last year isn't Swiss cheese either. Well... Like, it's enough for people to go, listen, I need some help scoring goals let's let's go get him and give him a try telling you if i'm san jose if i'm montreal if i'm chicago i'm falling all over myself to be like take a third we'll take him off your hands for sure in a heartbeat you know this guy with upside but he may be in a position no different than lilligren and it's like you gotta wait you can't can't make you can't snap your fingers and make

something happen here generally we're still in that window of the start of the season when everybody wants to see what they have internally and that's what Lilligren's going through now is that there are some teams that have now established a little bit that they may need some help. We saw Ole Mata get traded from Detroit. Suddenly has $3 million in cap space. To Utah. I don't know where he went. Went to Utah for a third rounder. Well, guess what?

He's 30 years old. Yeah, Utah is like, we need to. He's 30 years old. And Lilligren's 25. And a right-handed shot. So you think he would have as much value as mata i'd if i'm the leafs i'm certainly yeah and that's our floor i'm going in that direction lilligrant has more upside for me than only mata yeah no i i wouldn't disagree with that do you want to finish uh roberts Robertson here on Ruby, or do you want to talk Lilligran? I'm good.

Well, he, because Robertson was taking penalty kill reps today at practice. They do that when you're. And he got asked about it. He got asked about it. That was the clip. We don't have to play it or whatever, but he got asked about it. All right, Terry, let's listen to it. Okay.

Robertson, clip four. But I do believe he can, you know, we had him out there penalty killing today because I do think that he can be a penalty killer for us with his speed and his tenacity. And it's something I want him, want to keep working with him and him to keep building because that could be a very, you know, good thing to have.

And a little bit more of a role for him that way too. That's not taking away from his scoring ability or anything like that, but it's just another part of his game that can grow okay so lilligren is it not absurd that he he's been given one game like i am not a big lilligren booster but like one sign him to three million dollar deal give him one game i agree i think it's pretty sparse you you did it with the new head coach not knowing anything about him and the head coach watched training camp and just said ah no right now where is he eighth on the depth chart ninth philip myers played last game ahead of him timmons has been ahead of him you know benoit hasn't come

out yet so where is he yeah i guess hawk and pause about to come off ltir he'll be ahead of uh friday yeah but he's not he won't play play no no he's uh uh is he bruno caboclo is he two years away from being two years away i don't think he'll play this weekend. Yeah, okay. But he's probably close, but he's not as close probably as Dewar, Conner. Yeah, Conner Dewar, who's also not very big. It's tough to see the coach loving Dewar. Hey, coach, how do you like a fourth-line guy who's 5'10"?

You know, listen, and Dewar, Robertson, the clip where he said he plays bigger than his size is borderline offensive. Because, like, Conor Garland plays bigger than his size. Nick Robertson doesn't. But Dewar does. Dewar actually, like, fights and he'll have the competitiveness that I think Ruby will like more. But he's still small. So, like, they're going to have to figure it out. Like, they could really use his cap space lilligren's i i think there's gonna be a push now harder

maybe the holy mata trade opens up more of an opportunity for a market but he's not getting back in lilligren the problem that problem is like a third, you know, the Leafs are supposed to win a cup or compete for a cup, and it's like a third doesn't help them there unless you use it as an asset to trade at the deadline. But it's the $3 million. Yeah. The $3 million.

You have an asset to trade, and then you can have some more space. You can't have your cake and eat it too with the salary cap. No. They have way too many bodies. To be honest, once they get rid of Lilligren and those guys come off LTIR, they're just right back where they started. Yarncroft's not close. What happened to him? Did I miss him getting

struck by lightning? He's in his body cast. I don't know what the hell's going on. He's just like a guy in office space at the parties. Full body. It's the groin hernia thing going on where it just takes forever.

Yeah, so I didn't know if you saw Cervelli was on with Bunkus today, and he said that teams are inquiring on Lilligren, and it doesn't seem like they're going to have a hard time moving. Why wouldn't you? I just don't understand why they haven't done it. They're just waiting for a better – and they're just letting them rot. Like I can't imagine. It's the marketplace, Sam.

Yeah. It's the market. What's out there and no one's pushing hard enough. And I don't know, is anyone throwing them a third rounder and they're going to hold back and say, no, we want a second. Or is, is there just not a demand for him as of now?

I wonder if LTIR will force their hand here. He's a right-handed shot who's, I don't think he's played, has he played 250 games in the NHL? No, 200? So he's still in that window at 25 where someone can go. 197 games. There you go. So what do they say?

Defense need 250 games to really kind of fall into a place. And he's 25. He's not 30. So someone needs to say he's got some experience under his belt. We can help him take to the next level. Listen, when Rasmus Sandin...

He's been so far away from the Leafs now. I watched him in Washington. I wouldn't have bet that that guy was going to leave the Leafs, go get a contract like he did, and then help the Washington Capitals. He's making four and a half per year there. I didn't see that coming. Yeah. I mean, I didn't see them getting whether they have the

15th overall pick for him no i was lower than that was it yeah they ended up getting because it was the the boston pick that they got and they took so i'm not saying lilligren will end up being that kind of guy to another hockey club but there's value in lilligran look at his numbers over the past few years he's got you know five goals and 23 points six goals and 18 points you know he's he can chip in a little bit he's the lily pad i don't think that's a selling feature i don't know i just you know i can't imagine like who's his agent? Sure, Tree is fielding a lot. Like, you talk about the agent with Robertson. I'm sure Lilligren's agent, Brad, is fielding a few calls from him recently.

Yeah, I would think so. Like, he's just rotting. And, you know, people say, well, we had Ralphie on yesterday, and you asked him about the decor, and he's like, well, you know, it's a good problem to have or whatever. But even if someone goes down, Myers went in first. It's like he's not even the next guy up. You have Hawk and Pa.

At some point, you're going to have to do it. Did he just punch Berube in the face when he walked in? There's a saying about pooping or getting off the pot. It's close to getting off the pot time. Yeah. Okay, second line, Nize. What do you want to talk? We should probably go to get to Gordo here soon.

Just do the nice quote because i think it's a good you gotta ask about nize and about who he was you know you can compare nize to in this game and this was his answer so uh clip on nize please there yeah i look at guys like you know uh big guys keith kachuk and garen and these guys back in the day that were power forwards you know um john leclair type those types of guys that i've been around and Garen and these guys back in the day that were power forwards, you know, John LeClair type, those types of guys that I've been around and played with and played against for a number of years where, you know, you're a heavy guy, you're a good forward checker,

and then you're around the net all the time. He's doing a very good job of that. You know, he can skate extremely well. He's very powerful. And he plays north. And he's doing a good job of getting to the net with those guys. He lets them do their thing. And he's around that net.

That's Craig Berube's favorite player on the hockey team. I agree. He loves him. Agreed. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot to love, though. To be honest. He compares him to John LeClaire.

He might be my favorite player. I don't know. I don't know if he'll ever have that type of touch or finish like John LeClaire. But John also had the best five-tool player in the history of the game in Eric Lindros. Yeah, tape to him. Okay. Austin Matthews, a lot of tools. He doesn't have Eric Lindros. I'm running you over like a freight train.

The most impressive hockey player I think I've ever watched. He was genetically abnormal. Yes. He was a mutant. Yeah. But, you know, if he could be that big body presence like those guys, then Ruby's on to something. As far as Brady Kachuk,

I don't know whether or not he'll ever have that streak on his back. No. Brady Kachuk's a pretty high, high-end guy. Dumb guy, Chuck. But you got to be a little squirrely, too. Yeah. And he's— No, he's just too smart, I think.

Too smart. Maybe. Just maybe too nice. I don't know what it is. But there are signs of it. I don't know what it is. And there are signs of it. Like you can see it kind of bubble every once in a while. I think he has a willingness. I don't know if it's natural, but I think he has a willingness to do it.

He needs to eat some nails. Kids today. I don't see a lot of nail eating if they don't have to. But it's a heck of a start for him. It's something that a high-end player, Matthews doesn't have it, Marner doesn't have it, Nylander doesn't have it, Tavares doesn't have it. That big kind of every once in a while,

I don't have to go around you. I can go through you. That's a great asset in a top six. We should go. We can go through you. That's a great asset in a top six. We should go. When we return, it is Stelectricity time. After the break.

Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Gunning. We got you covered on all things Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the Fan Morning Show. Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. We're back. Hey, Gabriel.

It's Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee in a few minutes. As soon as Gord Stelic gets the manual on how to join a Zoom call. What? What is going on? You send them a link every week for four years. Yeah. No, not four years. Two.

Because we've only been on TV for two. Actually, not even in two. We're just a year and a quarter here. You're not helping my story. What is Gord's problem? He's got to figure it out here. He'll be fine. All good. I'm just so excited.

Why are the Leafs taking so many penalties? Good question. No, I know. Because it's a system they've never really been used to, and you're asked to do things that you've never really done before, and some of them have trouble. Do you think it's also a little bit that their coach is a tough guy and people want to look like they're tough too?

That's all part of the system. Yeah, the system is be the tough guy? The system is finish a check when sometimes you would have turned off on it and now you are doing something that you're really not used to and every once in a while the timing can be off and next thing you know you feel shame like our next guest gordon stelic feels shame for not opening up an email properly and linking on. You told me he was there. Yeah, I'm here. Ladies and gentlemen, the lovely, the talented.

Put your hands together for the lovely Gord Stelick. You good? Hey, I had to run upstairs. Lisa had to copy and paste stuff. In my defense, the link did not happen. I had time to take a leak, but the link didn't happen. That's all I'm saying. So, okay, I was ready and whatever.

So, anyway, it's all good. We're all set. Sammy said you were having a senior's moment. I didn't say that. See, that's unfair. That's unfair, Sammy. Don't go. That's not a automatic a go-to that is not the case you got to go to a leak academy or something you gotta stop talking about why they take so many penalties

and get all the little technological gizmo stuff done okay fair team gourd i'm on team gourd how are you you feel better you're good you're calm like the rest of the Leaf Nation after a big win shutting down the Winnipeg Jet winning streak? Yeah. Yeah, you know, it's, hey, after Monday's game against Tampa Bay Lightning, first place could have happened in the Atlantic Division. Everything's great. Then you have the crisis of the two losses.

Then you have the Boston game. Still not being able to get that overtime goal against a team like that was disappointing but the win in winnipeg like i again i'm the process is fine the process is fine what the atlantic division was becoming a little bit like an accordion moving in that you had the leafs and others dropping a bit in buffalo ottawa detroit moving up even montreal and now it's kind of gone back. You know, you know, Kippy, like a good accordion, Oktoberfest, accordion players will be out.

Gord, what do you think the experience is like for Craig Berube getting to know this team, getting to know the ins and outs of these guys' tendencies? And, you know, like how long would it take for him to have a really good sense of like, okay, this is the way this guy needs to be handled. And this is the way this guy needs to be handled and this is the way this guy needs to be handled yeah you know justin because keep in mind when he won the cup in st louis he was with the organization so it's that easy process

you move up from an assistant to the head coach and you know and it's funny uh kippy mike keenan doing that doing that book you never see someone come in in one year like he did with your new york ranger team and just have that you know meteoric coach them to a Stanley Cup. So, you know, there's a process to it, Justin. But nowadays you have access to pretty well everything as far as watching stuff on the ice. You know, years ago you didn't. You can break down everything. You can watch every game in the summer.

So you can learn that particular part. But the other things about how do players respond to you compared to other coaches how maybe can you get a little bit more of a player make them tick more how others do you learn that maybe maybe i got to pull back a little bit so you know it's probably about a i i don't for argument's sake a 20 game process we were just talking a little bit about the leafs and penalties and maybe being an undisciplined hockey club right now, where do you see that in terms of what's going on? Because we're used to a team that doesn't take a ton of penalties

and a team that didn't necessarily get hurt a lot either in the last few years. Yeah, yeah. Well, Jim Montgomery talked about it with the Boston Bruins after they played Florida. He just kind of said, first of all, you know, Jim Montgomery talked about it with the Boston Bruins after they played Florida. Like he just kind of said, first of all, the Florida Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champions, so they compete for the puck better than anybody. In that particular game, Boston had taken three penalties

to start the second period, right? And so there's that balance, and I think some of the guys, there's an element you want to be physical because you understand that's Craig Berube's style. He puts more of an emphasis on it. But you also don't want to get a penalty which switches momentum at a particular juncture where maybe you had the momentum. So, again, it's a feeling out process.

I don't have anything that's vital. I know the power play has got to get better. I know that's something they've got to work on. It's got to come at a more efficient clip. But I don't have anything that's critical right now as far as the Toronto Maple Leafs go. How do you think some of these new guys will integrate back into this Leafs lineup?

Is Connor Dewar going to be a relevant Maple Leaf come playoffs? Is Yarncroft his hawk and paw? There's a number of names right now that are guys that have been legitimate NHL players who just haven't been a part of it yet yeah you know and and that's brad trade living slot line right we don't have enough seats we got more people that want to get on the plane not enough seats but i remember dave known as did that years ago at a leaf golf event he said got all the players to stand up at a corporate event and just said you can see what we have we got a lot of players so there's gonna be competition for jobs and everything well it didn't work out then so it's not always a

guarantee but i think it is healthy i think in this case it is healthy and i keep going back to when they won the stanley cup and and by the way uh ruby won a stanley cup but they didn't win a ton of playoff rounds after that to be clear and that's not a knock but when he won the stanley cup he used like 15 forwards in the 12 forward spots. He had a good way of getting a Sandy Blais in a game and whomever, getting a Cal Gunnarsson on D in a game. He seemed to have a good touch about the different spices and how to include them.

So, hey, again, the jury's open. It's still the new teacher in school. It's still first term, and you can still make a positive or negative impression. We're talking to Gord Stelic, former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, analyst for Sportsnet 590, the fan. So Gord, when you got demanding coaches

over the course of my generation to this generation, you're not going to make every player happy here. You spoke of Mike Keenan. I get there right away. Some really good hockey players in a mike gartner or tony amante highly skilled guys that just found themselves you know butting heads with a head coach here so are we looking at maybe a chance that willie kneelander may be that guy

he had a pretty good game in Winnipeg if he has a good game Thursday night or Saturday night does he kind of calm the thing down a little bit because he seems like the first guy that maybe has the potential of being that type of guy with his minutes down he's not killing penalties on a second power play unit where do you see this you know and it's funny Kipper because he seems the most chill guy. Like, he's the guy that the new teacher comes and says, look, you know, you got to pick it up again. I'm going to call your parents. And he'll go, call my parents.

I don't care. Here's their numbers. Here's your cell number. Give them a call. Tell them I say hi. Or do you speak from high school experience at George Vanier? Well, yes, yes, whatever. No, I never got my parents called Kipper.

But, I mean, it's a funny one because Willie's not unused to that. So, right now, that seems to be, although the other night, that whole thing playing with Tavares and the reemergence of, or the finding of Max Pacioretty, who a lot of people had written off as injured for life, you know, was kind of enlightening in the Winnipeg game but Willie seems to be that guy but he also seems to be resilient at the end of it all and in a on a team where it doesn't take much to be the best individual playoff performer on a team that doesn't have playoff success he's probably been

the most consistent over the years yeah so big decisions coming up with the the goaltending like you want to get joseph wall going do you not you want to get him in and get his season started in a positive way my two co-hosts here uh they want nothing to do with it they don't like him they say you should never play again um i think they should get him in tomorrow night what do you think they should do with them maybe i didn't quote them directly by the way yeah uh well whether see i kind of look to start here. I'm very big on Joe Wall still, and I thought it probably would have been a two-third, one-third split in his favor.

But certainly, I think minimum you've got to do 50-50 now because Anthony Stolar showed that, hey, he's very capable of being the number one goaltender. He's been the better goaltender so far. Granted, Joe Wall hasn't played a lot. But, yeah, that's how I would use them. You know, when they start, how they're deployed, I but yeah that's how i would use them uh you know when when they start how they're deployed i mean that's what the coach can decide so i'd be cool if he's in with seattle if he's not i i would look at to be you know 50 50 at the start get both goaltenders

going and as the season winds down and you get in the playoffs uh you know i would have thought joe wall was going to be that guy i still think he will but the other guy that's been one of the lightning things i mean he's really he's really shown that if he plays this way uh you hopefully have two really solid and healthy goaltenders heading into the playoffs we were talking uh earlier in the show gourd about the the blue line and and lilla grin he's coming off a new contract that pays him three million dollars a year and where are you in terms of being surprised that he's only gotten in one game? And, you know, is it better to try to move him now if you can? Or do you keep him as insurance, as some depth?

Where would you be now with Lilligren moving forward? Because we just saw Ole Mata get traded for a third-round pick. Well, I'm disappointed that yet another defenseman has not been developed from within. And I'm trying to rack my brain about, you know, to make $3 million a year meant he played okay for a while. And I think he played with Giordano. I'm trying to remember. I don't know what it was, but there was a stretch of hockey that I thought he played half decent. I thought he played well

enough uh obviously you see Mata went for a third round pick to Utah the Rasmus Sandin again disappointed that they had to make a trade but they got a first round pick that they used quite wisely in that deal with the Washington Capitals so I mean hey if he's going to fall by the wayside he's going to fall by the wayside and uh um you know he could be that next i don't you're not gonna get a first for him maybe you get a second again that doesn't help you on the blue line right now but hey as the clock struck 12 for him and craig berube it's been a little bit too long so time to move on i'm disappointed though uh yeah same here so i have kind of like a a different thought on something and i know you're able to you watch this stuff as close as I do.

So when there is a timeout called for the Toronto Maple Leafs, whether it's, you know, end of game or whatever, it's never Craig Berube at the board, right? Like you see Lane Lambert down at the board. Typically, I think that's common around the NHL, that on the power play, you see the power play coach will come down and draw something up for the guys. I find that curious, and this is not a criticism of anyone. It's just,

is it all, am I wrong? Is it always the assistant coaches or do you ever see teams where the head coach is involved? It seems strange to me that he's never down there saying, here's what I think. Yeah. You know, it's funny. Certain things morphed into the game. Although Jessica Campbell has been made available because of the history she brought as an assistant coach. But, you know it's funny certain things morphed into the game although jessica campbell's been made available because of the history she brought as an assistant coach but you know justin and kippy when were assistant coaches no longer allowed to do media you know amarello toronto eight years ago well i guess so so it's weird so the head guy is the only guy that can talk to the media but then he doesn't talk during that you know. And I kind of look at that as being a presence about talking about things. But it seems like they want to get the X's and O's, which the head coach can do as well.

And it's not just Ruby. I've done the same thing, Justin. And, hey, you've got a lot of assistant coaches. So maybe you've got one that's best prepared for that. Okay, kind of your two-minute warning timeout guy at their herb woman at the end of the at the end of the game to do it but i always just thought that was one there's intangibles about beyond the x's and o's that can come from a coach talking but you and a you and i may be a field of dreams kind of sentimental era yeah fair enough gordo you need me to come over and help you with your VCR? Or, you know, is it still blinking 12 o'clock?

Well, yeah, I've just got my walkie-talkie outside, so I'm having some fun with that and a few other things. I've got to tell you, Kip's got a lot of cojones talking to you like that, Gordo. He's over here trying to figure out how to get his computer screen not to lock before the show. Oh, come on, Justin. Pod calling kettlebells. This guy, what do you what do you

call the thing that used to push in the car that would give you any kind of information a computer voice on star and he would ask hey push it oh where's the washroom in my house where's my bedroom like he used on star for every three minutes to try to whatever. So that's probably OnStar went out of business. OnStar. All right. All right. I get it. I get it.

Thanks for doing this, pal. Thanks, Gordo. Thanks, guys. Take care. That is Gord Stelic. See, I give him one shot and he gives me three back. I know. He's quick.

Hey, what do you think about the coach at the board thing? Like should it never be the head coach? I always remember my meetings kind of led systematically, system-wise, with the assistant coaches. And, like, I know the meetings in the dressing room, it's always read by assistant coaches. Like, there's a power play coach, a penalty kill coach. It's rarely the head coach.

As far as assistant coaches being available for the media disaster it's bad it's bad available it's bad do you know what team you play for you're not helping us here there's a famous there's one we could use a couple assistant coaches on this show i know but it's it's not it's not good ultimately for hockey clubs to have your assistant coach up there answering questions. One united message through the top guy. And there's always going to be one coach there that maybe slightly sees something different. And then they contradict each other.

And then there might be one that might be funnier or more charming. And it's like, can we have him? Can we get him? And then the next thing you know, he's acting more like a head coach than that guy. And then it runs like wildfire. No good. Nothing. I'm trying to remember the name of the guy

that they used to have on. Fabbro's listening. Fabbro's listening. He'll remember. But there was one, like, situation where, that when it stopped, like there was something that it was said and it was completely stopped.

I wish I could remember the name. Fabbro will text me if he's listening. If he's a good boss. We'll follow up on this. If he's a good boss, I'm realistic. Boy, for an off day, we sure have a lot to say. And we solved nothing. Zero.

Never do. Zero. Never do. But we still got another hour. It's the national hour coming up. Rick Bonas, head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, season do it wonder if he regrets it let's ask him doing big tnt tonight too is he oh yeah wow oh yeah all right rick bonus when we return plenty more real kipper and born don't you dare go away We'll see you next time.