Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Looking For Revenge

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee begin the show by reliving the Maple Leafs second round loss to the Flordia Panthers last year ahead of their first matchup of the 2023-24 season, how should Toronto approach the game, the tough ask for NHLers to change their game that they've been used to, and whether it should apply to Auston Matthews cutting his goal scoring and focus more on defence. Then, Panthers analyst Bill Lindsay jumps on (27:09) to preview tonight's game, the key to success for the team this year, and the building rivalry between the Leafs and Cats. 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.

welcome in to our leaf edition hour on the real kipper and born show nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee derrick brandeo jen rolnick all with you for the next two hours top of the hour we will go national but in the meantime let's focus in on the toronto maple leaf starting their first road trip of the season against a team that should be very familiar to them yes the team that knocked them out in the second round yeah florida pathers and you know not exactly the same vibes uh radco gudas is an anaheim duck uh sam bennett is hurt and not playing aaron ekblad not playing brandon montour not playing so you know a little bit of the juice gone see i i totally disagree with you the the the juice has to come from the kit the team sweater

and not the name on the back but the the crest in the front as they say you know it's a good argument right like this is the team that did it to us doesn't matter who's in these jerseys we're supposed to care and obviously most of the team is still there so sure there's there's reason to see this as a revenge game but we couldn't get anyone to actually say the word revenge right president of the leaf booster club how do you feel about uh no gudas or sam bennett tonight should that even matter to the leafs yeah i think it's they'll be pissed but i definitely think it matters sam bennett's one of the main pugilists that had was a huge factor in that series i think it matters nice right yeah like you know kachuk's still there they're still

wearing florida panthers sweater he still lost a couple big games in that building. So I think it should matter a bit. I'm playing tonight. That just adds more juice to me to go out there and say, hey, if there isn't a Goudas out there, Sam Bennett, they're weaker. The perception is that we're stronger because we've got now, you know, bullets in the chamber that we didn't have last year,

including Ryan Reeves, including Bertuzzi, including Domi. They should be wanting to go in there and absolutely kick their ass. And I'm not saying don't focus on the two points, but if they were in there and laid a beating to them, I would have that more important than the two points. You know, I really, I'm sorry.

No, no, no, no. Listen, I, sometimes you say this particular game. Yes,

I know. And sometimes you say things where initially I'm like, wait, that doesn't make sense. And then I give myself a second. I'm like, I agree. You know,

I agree a little bit i just think the way that this leaf season is shaping up it's about thinking about playoffs right everything is about gearing towards playoffs and that may be more meaningful to them showing the heart and the pushback and things that they maybe didn't have some people think it was the turning point of the series right that that the physical players of florida were too much so sure maybe there is some value in going out there and bullying them up what do you remember the most about that series looking back on it because joseph wools five hole that's no t two my first one is sam bennett taking our prized rookie and

bashing his head into the ice yeah There's number one. Which you thought wasn't that bad at the time. Didn't deserve a suspension. No, it didn't deserve a suspension. It didn't, but to me, it won't matter. To me, it doesn't matter. You take out a kid like that, you take advantage

of him being in a vulnerable position. It might as well be dirty. I don't care. i don't care if you're suspended or not i didn't like it i want some sort of retribution i also just think i can see willie kneelander chasing games for the leafs you know cutting through the neutral zone they're down goals it just felt like they were behind the eighth ball so quick in that series and i know keith has said the same thing that like they tried not to celebrate the tampa series but it felt like they were down to nothing before you know the puck dropped on the series in florida it just from a fan's perspective it sucked so bad how quickly it sucked yeah i quickly didn't

get to enjoy because say what you will about the first round victory no kip will make fun of me for this but it's an amazing moment to have Tavares for an overtime winner and like they probably didn't deserve to win the series they win three overtime games in that series in Tampa including one where they came back from 4-1 down with all the 4-1 jokes and that was an amazing moment in the city and everybody chanted we want Florida and it was oh boy you know and then they start putting that up on the billboard I would like to say that they also chanted we want Tampa but just though it's been edited selectively. And I know all about editing selectively.

But it's just, give me the cats. Meow. There you go. There's me saying it too. That's a great drop. But if you want to give a team that knocked you out

and anyone else who's watching around the league a chance to learn that you're not the same team, then it has to be watching tonight. And no, there's no Sam Bennett and there's no Goudas with his memorable pose over Joseph Wall. But there is a guy named Matthew Kachuk, who I would hope that a few guys on the Leafs would be targeting.

Hmm. Go after him. Go. There's the heart. There's the pulse of the team. Go challenge him tonight. Or fight him? Whatever.

It doesn't. Fighting. Don't get caught up in fighting or not fighting yeah get caught up in the emotion where you're you're looking him in the eye you got no problem going shoulder to shoulder and you're challenging him every which way so i know we've got a clip of Ryan Reeves talking about this game. And, you know, just to go back to our conversation yesterday, he started talking about Corey Perry after he left. Ryan should have been talking about Matthew Kachuk yesterday and say, Hey, buddy, forget Corey Perry. That's done and over with.

I want a piece of Matthew Kachuk. That would have been a better thread for him and the Leafs moving forward. What do you feel about the Florida Panthers raising a banner tonight with the Leafs in attendance? Would that be an extra, would it matter to you or is that just a ceremonial? Is this usually a thing?

Raising of a conference banner? I think it probably is. It's going up, but we're not actually going to get the guys, get around the ice, and we're not going to hear drums while they lift it up, are we? Or is it just going to be one of those commercial break, hey, everybody look, it's Eastern Conference. Yeah, they shine a spotlight on it.

Yeah. That's okay. I hope they raise it in dramatic fashion. If they have any type of ceremony for being one of 31 teams that you could say lost last year, then I got a problem with that. I think it's just usually one of those ones that ends up there. Like you said, like you just like,

it's there when you get into the arena and like, Oh, that's there. If they did that in Toronto, like if it was an Eastern conference banner raising, I feel like that would be. Yes. Lauded.

Yeah. You could say it would be. And that alone, whether or not it's a, an official ceremony or you got to stare at it all night which the leafs will tonight i again extra motivation for the leafs i'll never forget uh the night that we got presented our stanley cup rings yeah and of course you know after the after the ceremony you go to the china Club with your new Stanley Cup ring.

Yeah. Clearly. And, you know, walking around like I've got launch missile codes in my back pocket. Right? Yeah. I'm looking for a few rockets. There's Claude Lemieux,

and I think he was with Scott Niedermeyer at the China Club, too. And Claude Lemieux being Claude Lemieux says to Scott Niedermeyer, with enough of us close, he says, Hey, Scott, look at the rings we gave them. Right? Yeah. And I think the Leafs tonight should look at that banner and say, Hey, look at the banner we gave them.

That should be our Eastern Conference championship banner. That should be ours. A little added tonight. I want to see some emotion here against a team that pissed you off. I think that's fair. Do you want to hear the Reeves quote? What do you have to say on facing a team that knocks you out? We brought up Ryan Reeves. Let's go to Ryan Reeves. Yeah, there's fair. Do you want to hear the Reeves quote what he has to say on facing a team that knocks you out? We brought up Ryan Reeves. Let's go to Ryan Reeves.

Yeah, there's always a little bit extra, I think. I always look forward to those games the next year, especially when it's earlier in the season. It's usually a little extra emotion just because you took your dream away from you. You come out swinging.

All right. And he's, he said stuff before and he's backed it up. Yeah. Right. He doesn't seem shy on backing things up. Did it against Minnesota? I would think that. But I don't want it to just be him.

No. Excellent point. That's what I mean. I don't want the nine minute guy. It doesn't work. No. It has to I mean, I don't want the nine-minute guy. It doesn't work. No. It has to run through your team. It has to have that ripple effect.

But, like, is Mitch going to go punch Kachuk in the face? No, he's not. Is John Tavares to go punch Bobrovsky in the throat? Jake McCabe. Okay. Jake. Okay. Tough, competitive. Let's see it tonight.

Yeah. Go. Go be that guy in his face. Because the complaint has been about this team that the toughness isn't in the core. So does it even matter if it comes from these four sort of fringy parts? I think it does personally. Mitch can be a fire starter. Austin can be a fire starter.

They can go start it. Yeah. And then just let the other guys come and clean it up yeah that's all let mckay be a fireman but there's there's a perfect guy that you want to see now more where's that guy that cost all these draft picks and was regarded as a guy that can come in and be a muzzin. Who did he crunch on Florida last year before they went and scored? Nine seconds later, he crunched someone on Florida at center ice. Remember? I do.

Yeah. Can't remember the name. Can't pull it for you right now. Not relevant, but you're right, Kip. I'd like to see that too. So we have some clips on from Florida's coach, Paul Maurice. We played his clips all playoffs last year on the backs of John Cooper. The smarmy condescension was dialed up from Paul Maurice.

I haven't actually heard all these clips of Sammy Pold of Paul Maurice talking about it this year. Yeah, it was this morning. He got asked just about these three things that are here. So if we want to go into that. Much of direct traffic, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So we can start with just on the Leafs-Panthers rivalry

if it's different this year. You know what? Opponents, I think rivalries are built in the playoffs they're not divisional or conference but if you um do you get into a there's no way to play a series with toronto and not have it be an event right there's just so much coverage and so much scrutiny put on everything um so this will be there'll be an extra energy in this for us with tor, Boston, and Carolina. It'll be a different year in these series for sure. Playoffs.

It's where rivalries are built. You agree with that? Yeah, no question. Well, now that you play your own division three to four times, kind of tough to form any sort of rivalry. And he's behind the eight ball with some key guys out of the lineup. You mentioned all three of them,

two defensemen and Sam Bennett up front. And they're still expected to be one of the teams off the basis of last season to be in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Is that at jeopardy with some of these guys not expected to come around until, what, mid-November? Man, Florida's in it. Last year, people thought Florida might miss playoffs,

and they snuck in, right, to end up there. This year, I mean, how much better is Detroit? They're 3-1 now. How much better is, you know, Ottawa? Ottawa's way better. Buffalo's better. Florida has injuries. Like like every point matters to this panthers team they cannot let these games go yeah they're gonna have to just kind of keep their head above water here right with those with those defensive injuries remember what you were talking about with the guys who play

a lot and oliver eckman larson being in the top 10 and played we know how that goes that's people in vancouver about how that goes. It's not a pretty sight. I played 26 minutes plus a night for Florida right now. You got a clip in here from Paul Maurice on Gutis screaming in Wall's face. We know Gutis isn't there. He signed a $12 million deal to play now for the Anaheim Ducks. Good agent.

And someone asked him about that. Well, yeah, they were talking about playing in the series, and someone asked him about that picture. All right, well, I have to. You have it in the lineup. That's my line here. No, no, no. He's like Ron Burgundy.

He reads everything. We play everything. Do you care? Let's hear it. This is for giggles. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Probably with different emotions. We just thought it was kind of funny.

He's just such an emotional guy, and it was his barbaric yelp. People in Toronto probably didn't appreciate it the same way that we did, so we'll see it again, I'm sure. Right. It's a poster here, and it's kind of different. Well, one has dark marks in it. So just as an aside, Paul Maurice is the most Canadian sounding guy.

I'm sorry, have you heard Mike Babcock talk? I think Maurice is like, he is on the Mount Rushmore of Canadian sounding guys. He sounds so, oh, it's barbaric. Yelp. It would have taken another level if Goudis somehow was still a Florida

Panther tonight. Yes. I mean, if I were David Kampf and Goudis were in the lineup, I'd move to a different country. I would not play ever again. I didn't really get too bad in shape about that. Was that the hit on Kampf?

No, the yell. Like people were like, oh, it's so... You know what? I hate it personally. Oh, you didn't like it? It's just such an unnecessary... Your team has won.

Go celebrate with your team. Don't worry about the other team anymore. But there has to be a bit of a leeway for just raw emotion. Sure. There's not a chance that I ever believe that Gudis would have sat either in between periods or on the bench or on the ice saying if we score i'm going straight to wall and i'm gonna do i'm gonna

scream in his face he just happened to be there but it is a mindset of a confrontational player and like my first instinct in any team sport when something goes good is to go to my teammates and celebrate some people the whole thing is an FU match, and that's how Gutis lives his career. That is indicative of the guy he is. So, sure, we'll cut him a little slack. I mean, I like it. All right, we'll get to...

I mean, people got a benefit with him interfering on the way in. Interfered a little bit. Yeah, but... No, it's playoff hockey. You're grabbing some stick. Let's get one more clip on the most Canadian-sounding guy,

according to our Sammy McKee, on what he remembers from the playoff series with clip number three from Paul Maurice. That series was the start of us suffering some injuries that were starting to mount on us, and it was the thing I remember the most, I think, was walking into after game three and watching Sam Bennett trying to take his shoulder pads off, and he really couldn't.

And the story at that point was Toronto had figured a way to shut the Bennett line down, and we were just happy he was in the lineup and we needed other people to step up and play. So I remember kind of the small things starting to watch these guys, what they were willing to go through. We were banged up even then and still playing. Bennett was that injured, huh? I don't believe you. He's got, he's dealing with a high

ankle sprain right now and bad shoulder in playoffs, apparently. I just think it's interesting how much you know i watch i don't know if you guys watch that quarterback documentary on netflix that was with uh patrick mahomes and kirk cousins and i forget the other guy but like patrick mahomes was so hurt and he's still playing and they win the school he had the ankle sprain too and he's just like so incredible so incredibly hurt yeah and you know we're watching

these games like oh god he probably should have finished that check and he's like playing with a separated show i know it's it just the clip that i put that in there it's just so interesting what these guys actually go through for the greater good of the team like it's insane it is you couldn't take his shoulder pads off no i mean allows in the minors and doing it playing with a separated sternoclavicular joint like just like getting needles it's brutal brutal are we going gonna see a more relaxed toronto maple leaf team getting away from home going on the road uh possibly a rookie dinner coming up soon while they still can get to minton's money well i mean uh what do you expect

uh well sunburns yeah i mean I don't expect any greater performance. We saw them go to California to start last year and party it up and team bonding and all that sort of stuff. I don't expect to see too much different. Oh, God. I need to see tighter everything from them on the road, simpler, just you want to open it up again or are you gonna you're gonna start looking like a team we can address your call well listen i did write to uh today i in

the toronto star on uh on what i've seen so far and it's just not off of three games it's off of a training camp it's off of of what we saw in preseason with a good portion of an NHL lineup at times. Yeah. And loosey-goosey. And today I wrote, and you can find my article from the Toronto Star on my Real Kipper X account or Twitter account.

And it's calling the guys out. i included the edmonton oilers because there is a mirror kind of situation between the two where they got this high octane offensive team but they just don't know how to quite shut the door down and uh the the gist of my article is i think it starts at the top with your top players um and then that having a residual effect on the rest of your lineup to tighten up the game that's what i'm looking for tonight you know the premise of the article being that you would be fine with mcdavid scoring less matthew scoring less if they commit more to defense yes and then that leads to some trickle down throughout your lineup. No, no, no.

It better because that's the whole premise of the article is that you have to start with your top players. And the only way to get the attention of 19 other guys, and it's not, my article isn't indicative of pointing the finger at the two stars saying they're, they're not good enough defensively. And we know Matt Matthews is, is fine.

I guess that's where my questions start. Is that he's okay. He's he's fine. I, okay. So we disagree on that. I think he's an excellent defensive player, but that's fine.

We're allowed to disagree on that. I think he can be an excellent defender, but he's, he's not in the top five. He's not. Let me ask you something. If we're talking about Selkie, which is regarded as the best defensive forward.

Yeah. Is Austin Matthews talented enough that if he focused on this 100%, he could win this thing. Yeah. I totally agree. But he will never win it because 60 goal scorers don't win Selkies. 30 goal scorers win Selkies. I mean, isn't Federov a guy that probably?

Anyway. I'm just saying. Yeah, yeah. Okay. You don't win it the year you score 60 goals is all i'm saying okay and another part of the article is that matthews has scored 60 connor scored 60 150 points both mvps doesn't really get you anywhere i mean maybe maybe just using those guys as a top example to say okay i don't need 60 goals i can do it at 45 or 50 if i if i just set a better example defensively so so 19 of my other guys can get it yeah so like i think i agree with what you're talking about

you know with having your star players make sort of different commitments like i think i agree with what you're talking about you know with having your star players make sort of different commitments like the way i see it austin matthews is the best goal scorer on the planet and asking him to play more like david camp is a complete neutering of a special thing that you have so i don't i don't like it myself i think that asking connor to be different whatever i don't like it either john tavarez and william nylander you know these guys that are going to get you 90 points maybe can willie get you 90 could you get me 75 and defend i i don't want to run the danger of of of splitting the room up jb where it's like i just don't think you can ask more from Matthews if you're Tavares and Willie and it's like you're asking me to

bust my ass back here and not blow the zone and I watch Austin do it for the whole night or but I think Matthews does it I think he is he does do it I think he's a guy he needs cleaning up in aisle seven in his game I'm sorry but I don't want to see

him suck up two minutes and i don't want to see him uh suck up two minutes and i don't want to see him stay on the ice on extra long shifts because he thinks he can get one more rush up the ice if he tightens that stuff up then it will it will say to willie i can't do the same i can't i can't go with the extra rush mean, there's certain little details in his game that I think he can clean up defensively. But my whole point is you have to start at the top. It doesn't work if you pick guys in the middle and say, okay, here are the rules for you.

But Austin, you know, we're going to let him go do whatever he wants on 60 goals. And that causes a little dissension. To me, we saw him last year lead the league in shots shot blocks scored 40 goals which is way off of his norm and they still ended up losing in a the same way that they always do i guess they play they won one extra game than they usually do so it's like i think the great thing about austin matthews and maybe not so much with connor mcdavid i his defensive play leaves a little bit more to be desired than

the matthews the good thing about matthews is you can have them both like you don't have to pick and choose like he is so good offensively and like he's to have a guy that's that good offensively and passable defensively is one of the biggest advantages in the league, Kip. Like, it's like not that you're just, you know, you're asking him to defend or whatever. If you want the 60 goals, they need 60 goals from him. Look at the rest of the lineup. They haven't got a goal from the bottom half that they need 60.

I actually think there's an interesting question there. Go ahead. Go ahead. Yes, they need it because they're so loose defensively. If they were better defensively, then there wouldn't be the need for the 6-5 goal. Maybe it's the 3-2 goal. It feels like asking Canada to play 2-1 against Latvia.

That's what it feels like. Justin, you have to ask them to start learning how to win 2-1 against those teams. For sure. You do. Why not start now? The Leafs' best two defensive forwards are mitch and austin like they're their best guys already to me i also disagree that's both ways by far yeah i disagree

with the idea that there aren't different rules for different players there are there are but you just you you don't present them you don't present them. You present them that we're all equal. And at the end of the day, we found out that Austin, as an MVP and a 60-goal scorer, still can't get it done for the Leafs. I don't know. Maybe it's a Selke winner year. He does. But they got to be better.

It's just exchanging chances isn't working. And the idea that you put forth about protecting your team, your defense, and saying we all need to be back is 100% a Leafs thing. That they need to look out for these guys, have that third guy high. Like, they're going to have to be tighter than they've been. And I think this is the loosest i've seen the leafs

through you know yes sheldon's how many goals do they have in from the bottom six so far there are two like gregor scored one yarn crock scored one right against yeah against the wild from riley yeah but like they you know they don't have any support scoring from anyone else really right now so i think they i don't know i just think it is one of the places they differ though because mcdavid does fly the zone like crazy he's gone and matthews is below the goal line half the time yeah the narrative of just go out and trade for one more defenseman or that's our answer isn't gonna clean up issues that they can clean up on their own now. Yeah.

Yeah. And part of that is buy-in from the new guys who haven't seen, who haven't been here for the failings. Yeah. And seeing, like, just how perfect you have to be sometimes. All right. Good. Did you get to break? We figured it all out, boys.

Oh, yeah. Well, we'll see you tonight. Yeah. I'm actually extremely excited for the hockey match tonight. I am, too. I just want to see you tonight. I'm actually extremely excited for the hockey match tonight. I am, too. I want to see what look we get out of the Leafs. And notoriously, it's been a pretty good place for them to go. Right, Florida?

There'll be a lot of regular season anyways. Yeah, all those Leaf fans. They'll have to watch the beautiful banner getting raised to the Raptors. Later, you should give us a nice Hizad to score a goal today. Okay. With that top line. All right,, you should give us a nize. His odds are scoring a goal today with that top line. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to welcome back Bill Lindsey, of course, former NHLer, Florida Panther,

current Panther radio color analyst. We'll get his thoughts on raising the Eastern Conference championship banner in Florida. That and more after the break. Thanks for watching and listening to Real Kipper and Born. Toronto Maple Leafs set to do battle

against the Florida Panthers who have their season opener, which may include a banner raise for the Eastern Conference. I'm not sure how official it will be, but we'll ask Bill Lindsey, of course, who does a terrific job covering the Panthers.

Radio color analyst. Bill, thanks for joining us. How are you? Doing good. How are you guys doing? Everything good? Yeah, we're good. We're excited. Maybe a few league fans looking for some retribution over the second round of last season's uh uh playoffs uh and uh maybe a different looking team as well as uh some injuries but first of all i i mean what what's going on with the banner is this thing going to be like a big production or is this going to be

one of those things where you know some people notice it uh halfway through the game they're going to put it up it you're going to pay the respects and for what they did last year it's not going to be like a stanley cup celebration or banner that goes to the rafters it will be acknowledged by by the fans and in the team and i don't think it will overdone, but for us for not being there for so long and having some down years, it's something that this team's extremely proud of, of what they accomplished last year. So there will be a ceremony.

It won't be over the top, and it'll just take a moment for the fans to soak it in and the players and kind of relive the moments of last year and then drop the puck and let's go against Toronto. That's awesome. Well, Bill, we appreciate you joining us today. Leafs fans obviously, as Kipper mentioned, excited about it. Could you give us sort of a state of the union

on where the Panthers are at right now? They're coming off a win over the Devils but got some injuries. Where are things at early in the season in Pantherland? It's in flux. The defense got a bunch back there sam bennett's been a big hole he was a big hole when they missed the start of the playoffs last year he's out of the lineup up front four new defensemen that you're trying to put into this this group and the breakouts have been an issue that getting clean out of their zone

they're one of the the efficiency of getting out of their zone, they're down near the bottom. So that's somewhere the forecheck has caused problems against the Panthers. They've got to be able to clean that up. What they did was sort of get back to their identity, though, against the New Jersey Devils, where they really cleaned up the neutral zone and were able to limit the Devils' speed.

And it looked a lot more like the team from last year. There was a lot of jump and chase, get back to it, hard work mentality, really solid goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky that wasn't at the level that we saw last year in the first couple of games, but he got back to it against New Jersey, especially in the third period when we needed it. But up to this part, there's been some inconsistencies that Paul Maurice and the coaching staff

are just trying to get cleaned up. Watching the Leafs, you probably could say the same thing about them. When it comes to the blue line, we know Ekblad is out. Montour is out. I look at what Forzund, Gustav Forslund and Oliver Ekman Larson. Do these two really have a shot of

kind of holding the fort here? Yeah, they're going to be out. Gustav Forslund is really good. He can skate both ends of the rink and he's a guy if you watch him play every night, you're just impressed. He's smart. He's in the right position. He took off offensively with 41 points,

so he's going to get a little bit more chance. But he's that guy that can be that fourth man on the rush, get up on the attack, and if he does get beat, he has the skating ability to get back. Paul Maurice, everyone loves what he does for the club. You look at OEL and he had a really good training camp. Paul Maurice was raving about him. Came into

shape and you go back to Vancouver and there's a lot floating around about the Vancouver time for Oliver Ekman-Larsen with nagging injuries and not feeling right. He seems pretty healthy and he's skating well from the games that I've watched. We need someone to quarterback the power play, and it's getting a little bit better, and OEL is in command on that. He knows how to quarterback a power play. He's done it for a long

time, and there's a good enough group around him with the Barkoffs, the Kachuks, the Reinharts, Verhageys, people that you can throw out there. But if you've got an experienced guy like OEL to run that, the power play should not see much of a drop-off. Ekman Larson is playing more minutes than he ever has in a long, long time. He's up around that 22-minute mark, which he was not seeing in Vancouver. So he can do it. As you said, how long? We need it for a few months, and we're going to need it well.

The rest of the group as a collection is just going to have to keep it simple, do what they do best, just grind those hard out and chip it out and let the forwards get to work. But those are the two guys, and I would say Kipper, especially the OEL. If he's healthy, and he seems to be skating better than I saw in Vancouver and he seems to be no injuries he seems to be health free at this moment and that that's a big improvement had a good training camp and it has he's been decent the first couple of games and if he can continue on this trajectory then we'll be fine you know I

think if you ask leaf fans bill about the story of that series they would just tell you that the core of florida's team is a little bit grittier a little bit greasier matthew kachuk is obviously at the the heart of all of that how much is that still an element that the panthers are going to rely on to have success this season um you know it's it's a different feel here in Toronto, but the Panthers seem to really embrace that come playoffs last year. They did. With Paul Maurice trying to...

What's good about this team going into this year after that Stanley Cup run, Paul Maurice was trying to find an identity. He wanted to go away from that run-and-gun style that won the President's Trophy the year before. He's a new coach. He says if we want to win in the playoffs, we have to get into the playoffs. But we are going to have to be able to dump it out, dump it in, grind,

have a work mentality. And just after the new year, especially after the All-Star break, everyone started to grasp it. Let's start cycling pucks. Let's wear the team down. We have the players to do it. And then it became the identity of the team. It came to the playoffs, it came to fruition,

and they were able to have that. Now that is the identity. They know what to expect and they know what to do. It will be the same style, and they have the players up front to continue to play that style. I've looked at the numbers. They're completely almost off the rush. They haven't done anything this year, which I think the last in the league is

odd man rushes four. It's gone to just dump it out. Let's try and wear teams down. And that's what Paul Maurice wants. That's the style he wants. And they've had that identity now, and that's what Paul Maurice wants that's the style he wants and they're gonna they've had that identity now and that's that's what got him there last year that's what's worked and the players know what to expect so they're from a standpoint of where they were at last year as far

as searching for an identity now at least year this year they know what they are and what they want to be we're talking to Bill lindsey panthers analyst uh as we get set for the toronto maple leafs taking on the florida panthers this isn't uh the same look that uh the panthers will see lots of talk up here about a different look and feel and jb just mentioned it with the likes of bertuzzi domi and r Ryan Reeves. Is there an anticipation that the Florida Panthers will see a different team here? Does that put a guy like Ryan Lumberg on notice here? Because if everybody's been listening to comments

about coming from Ryan Reeves since training camp, this guy comes in banging drums. Yeah, you know what, Kipper, that's the great thing about this is that especially for us and our fan base, we have rivalries now. We went through a couple of series with Tampa Bay that didn't exist. Now we got Toronto on the radar.

We got Carolina. We got Boston. We've been waiting for this for a long time. Yeah, we won the series. Toronto tries to answer it. You mentioned those are some pretty guys. It's a different looking Leaf team. Ryan Reeves, we know what he's all about.

Maybe tries to take a couple of shots. Yeah, good for the game. It's good for us. Whatever transpires in the game, it's for us coming out to the game for me going to the rink personally it's exciting and we haven't had that down here in a long long time yeah okay we we got okay we got the Leafs coming to town they hate us yeah it's nice to have someone not like us yeah you know we don don't tell them. Yeah, Ryan Reeves doesn't like us. People are talking about us.

We earned that last year, and that's what's different about where we've been in the past and what's happening now. Now the Leafs are coming to town. They're talking about us. They want to get some revenge, do some damage. It's good for the sport. It's good for our fan base, and we like teams not to like us at this moment. Yeah.

Actually, it's funny. I remember about five, 10 years ago, hearing a Columbus player be like, yeah, we have a rivalry at Detroit. And I was like,

no, you don't Detroit. Detroit doesn't know you exist. Florida. Now, you know, everyone knows about Florida and has a little something to say about them. So that is a good thing.

No doubt about it. What are your thoughts on the way the Atlantic division has changed has changed because it seems to me atlanta or sorry ottawa no atlanta yet ottawa detroit buffalo all better how does florida fit into the mix now with some of the rising teams up from the basement uh right where they were going to be last year yeah uh ford is going to be kind of into this mix here in that third spot spot, that wild card, maybe push. But they're going to – we'll see what happens. To me, Tampa Bay is going to struggle this year. If you look back, you can't lose that many key pieces

and just try and keep it together. It's like duct tape after a while. And if you watch Tampa, they give up a lot. The goal counting is not going to be there for 20 games without Vasilevsky. So to me, I see Tampa on the outside this year. You never doubt what they can do. Detroit looks really

impressive. Ottawa, the last couple of games, that blue line on Ottawa, if Chikrin stays healthy and the way Sanderson's playing, Shabat, you talk about guys that can move the puck and get up in the play. And with Norris back, it's a couple of goals. They're exciting.

Same thing with Buffalo. So all those teams are going to be pushing hard. And then you have the Leafs, which to me are a playoff team. Austin Matthews looks truly healthy. That wrist, his butt looks a little bit different uh this year so so the leaps are in uh boston's still very capable i know they leave creche and bergeron but hard to see them out of the playoff picture and then i throw that panthers team in there in that mix and then all around them are going to be detroit ottawa and

buffalo it's going to come down to to winning those head-to-head matchups and just trying to cement yourself and stay in there. But you've got to give credit to what they've done in those three teams. This Atlantic division is intensely competitive. One more, Bill, before I let you go. The fan interest, running the team to a Stanley Cup final. Will that be enough to keep a few less Maple Leaf jerseys in the building tonight and a few home jerseys?

Yeah, we'll be in good shape. It'll be a little bit different. We'll have to see. The teams travel well down here in South Florida, and winter has hit down here. The humidity's gone, and it's 80 degrees today, so it's officially wintertime down here in South Florida. But we have sold out our little bowl for season tickets,

which is something that's never happened in the history of this club. Wow. So that's good. So if those regular fans show up and they want to come to the first game, this is one of the few times I do actually anticipate that it's going to be at least three-quarters Panther fans that would largely be my guests tonight. We'll see.

You never know what happens on the free market and how tickets are sold, and at least one of them go to the first game, and maybe not all the snowbirds are down here yet but this is a perfect chance i think you'll see i'll see this will be overwhelming tonight for the panthers and their fan base they're going to come out and support this club we'll keep an eye on uh for brooks kepka and his pile on i forgot about him yeah i hope he bought a season ticket for his pile on yeah him and him and Eklat, I think, made up for that.

Oh, yeah, we know that for sure. Hey, Bill, thanks, as always, for coming on our show. Really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight. All right, guys, appreciate it. Have a great afternoon. Thanks, Bill. I forgot about Kefka.

What a bum. Bill was mad at me. Oh, was he? Yeah. What for? You crapped all over Florida Panther fans. When I texted him to join the show, I purposely withheld my last name.

I'm a Sam. Because I went on after one of the Leafs talk games when I was just completely unhinged, pissed off about the Leafs losing to the Panthers. And I was saying how little it mattered to their fans. And, you know, like they would, they'd fold them for a Florida Gators championship. Like I was saying a bunch of mean things

about them and their fans. And I think Bill Lindsay caught wind. Fans are emotional, guys. I know. You're so immature. He caught wind of it. And I ended up on Florida Panthers Reddit. Did you?

Oh, they're eviscerated. Really? Oh, yeah. They hated my guts. And like all the comments on YouTube, bye, we want Florida, Sam sucks. It's great. I love it.

You know what? I think that makes Leafs fans like you more. Go ahead. Agitate. Stir the pot. Yeah. It's good. You're a Tyler Bertuzzi.

They can lie and say that they care. Oh, you're sticking with it. Oh, who cares more? Florida Panthers fans or Leafs fans? Give me a break. Oh, you're sticking with it? Oh, who cares more? Florida Panthers fans or Leafs fans? Give me a break. Of course I'm sticking with it. It's a straw man argument. Just to pick a little bit up on the Atlantic

and what we saw last night. You mentioned about upcoming teams and the threat of taking points away from even the likes of, of course, Toronto and Florida, Tampa, Boston. Watching Ottawa on last night's Wednesday national game on Sportsnet. Josh Norris comes in. Josh Norris.

Doesn't even look like he's missed a beat. Looks excellent. But I'm watching that Ottawa defense, and Leaf fans should just be, like, going, okay, just give us one. Jake Sanderson shooting that one in the net was pretty nice. That move off the wall, snap, bar down, was elite, elite stuff. You know what I remembered last night?

In his own zone, he's between the hash marks and he takes two steps to his right and he leads 180 foot three on two. Yeah. Like. He's galloping. Something Carlson galloping. You don't really see too often.

And watching him last night, it was reminded me of watching like Kale Makar really for the first time with the wow factor. He's got the pop. I will say we can all really a little bit. No, no, no, no, no. Listen.

I really hope he's not Kale Makar. I hope he's not Kale Makar. Let's just say that. I don't think he quite has that fast twitch lateral move of McCarr. But he's, oh gosh, in two or three years. Oh my gosh. Yeah. But I mean, Zub and Brandstrom and Hammonick,

like they're not, you know, this is not the best decor in the league or anything. But the top three are really good. Shabbat, Chikrin, and Sanderson. Chikrin shoots it in the hockey net, doesn't he? He's really good. And we're still in that window where really crappy teams could look like playoff teams

and playoff teams could look like really crappy teams for the first week. But boy, Ottawa's looked really good. Even their loss, they lost to Carolina. They looked really good. They've been a very good team thus far. If they get decent to good goaltending, then I think they might be set to make a big push here.

I don't know if we want to save this for our national hour, but I'll quickly mention it here. Ovechkin, first time ever, two shots, two games in a row, no shots. I would say that the Capitals look like a crappy team and are a crappy team. Capitals are, sorry, pal. I know you got some Caps alum connections, but they're

not much of a club here. But we've been talking about this for a while now, that there is... There's a switch going on, and you just mentioned the upcoming teams, and it's going to come at a price. And the price

for the last year and a half that we've thought of is Pittsburgh andsburgh and washington and good for 15 years is it is it still coming i mean with the changes that kyle dubas has made in pittsburgh they're they're not ready to throw the towel in yet but i don't think washington's did enough in the off season to say that that father time isn't catching up to them. I mean, Ovi and Wilson and Oshie, the guys who play a lot backstroms are older players. And then the guys, the other guys are like, it's Beck Malenstein. And real player, by the way.

Like, it's just. Pardon? Yeah, exactly. So they, yeah, they've got, they got some issues in a pretty tough division. So we'll see. See if Ovi can get it rolling or if he is washed. There is. Ovi washed.

Hit us at 595.90. Because Ovi might be washed. What happens in your 30s or your late 30s is even if you lose like 3%, 4% of some push or some of your fast twitch, I think Ovi could still score 30, 35, 40 goals. Of course, he's Ovechkin. He's a great shot. I'll never put that past him.

But if he's lost just a tad i know it can it can affect him this could be the the very next day do they play tonight whenever the caps play next and ovi scores four tonight or whatever it is like you know one of those nights is coming but he is no longer out skating anyone to the net right people know where he's going to be and he's great at doing it and he'll score x amount of goals from there but 822 so he's got to get to 895 yeah he'll get there but you're still sure i mean assuming russians are still allowed to play in the nhl i think the first time in his career back-to-back games no shots on goal that's crazy that's unimaginable first of all that's an insanely impressive stat

18 years in the league that is never mind-blowing but like it's also telling i think i is it something or is it nothing it's always a fun stat game absolutely something probably something you can always say he's got one more assist than austin matthews oh here we go you know okay did you catch in the game last night i think it was uh uh brady kachuk making fun of i think josh norris for uh the cy young yeah yeah and josh norris had played two periods it's a thing it's a thing it's i mean the joke is a thing it's an yes nobody wants to get hammered in the dressing room as a Cy Young guy I want to know what the opposite of that is when you're pure assists without scoring Joe Thornton that's what you are in the uh uh game time you'll give us some odds on Austin Matthews getting his first assist

of the year I could absolutely do that for you I was just looking at that cap friendly page for the caps god they got some bad ones. Cap-unfriendly for them? Yeah, that's what I'm nicknaming it. Until it goes up, it is cap-unfriendly on this show. Pretty much every team. Dylan Strome makes $5 million per year until 27, 28. Is he their number one centerman in Washington?

Yes. Ovi, Strome, and Wilson are a line. And that's where backstrom you appreciate his comeback but you want to talk about a guy that's lost a step unless you make a nine schmill a year fine two for two more for two more years he's playing with uh matthew phillips and sunny milano on the third line yeah that's an issue yep they got plenty of them i'd take them all for one of their cups the one cup they got i'd take them all i'd of their cups. The one cup they got, I'd take them all. I'd take all their issues. Fair enough. At least Rasmus Sandin is playing on the top pair with John Carlson. Sandin.

I like John Carlson. I watched Sandin in an exhibition game when I went down to Washington. How'd he look? The same. Yeah. Oh, okay. Just the same. Tons of promise.

I'm not sure if he had him here. Where are you better? I guess he's Lilligren. It's a little bit of the issue of, I think he's fine when he's going north, but coming back south, he gets caught at the border somewhere. All right.

Just like that, our first hour is over. We will be picking it up in our national edition of Real Kipper and Born. Jason Bukala from Pro Hockey Group. And, of course, Sportsnet.ca, where we know him best around here. And he's also doing work with Kaplan Friendly. Kaplan Friendly. He's doing scouting reports for him. Yeah.

We're going to ask him about that as well. So stick around. Plenty more to get into, including what's going on with Shane Pinto. And is there some movement there? I'll let you guys know after the break. Okay, so it's more real Kipper and Bourne after these words.