Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Managing the Tandem

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

The NHL regular season is here! Ahead of the Leafs' first game on Wednesday, Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee check in on GM Brad Treliving and Craig Berube's practice availability. The guys dig into how games will be split between Woll and Stolarz, a worrying update on Hakanpää and whether donning the 'C' will change Matthews' leadership approach. Finally, Leafs radio analyst Jim Ralph (32:46) shares his thoughts on the adjustment period to Berube's play style, the goalie tandem and the burden of being captain in Toronto.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 affiliate.

live on sports at 590 the fan watching on sports at 360 and sports net plus the real kipper and born show leaf hour as we kick things off. A little over 24 hours before we go full throttle on Sportsnet with three games tomorrow night led by Toronto and Montreal. The Leafs of old will get killed in that game, by the way. The Leafs of old? Sheldon Keefe, Leafs.

You had that as a loss? Didn't they do that a lot? They usually won the opener, but it was always like a wild one. I just remember watching them play bad teams in the first month last year with you guys like Chicago and watching the Leafs just limp out to a 2-1 loss. Yeah, that's the first game we ever watched together

and Kipper said I talked too much. At least it didn't stick with you at all. National Hockey League gets on board on this side of uh north america the blues and the seattle kraken a little over half an hour puck drop 130 local 130 seattle time it's a triple header for i think espn and then uh and there's a bit of a main event at 7 p.m with the boston brunes and the florida panthers love that's uh love that that one's a must watch and then the blackhawks and this uh

this new utah hockey club that's kind of cool i saw uh paul marie said some quote that boston and florida have played 21 times in the last two seasons, and he said I had to pay to watch every one of those games. That's a good way. That's a good game. You get that in prime time. He had a new wrinkle into it with Zdorov. You know he's going to be looking to hurt somebody tonight. He fired up.

They'll be getting their, you know, it's a big night for those two teams. Now they're not doing the cup rings tonight, right? Why wouldn't they? So they're not doing the cup rings, but they're still having the game? Yeah, it was actually something weather-related why they were not doing that. I'm not sure. Did you see the rings, guys? I did.

I liked them. Yeah. Sure. They're all gaudy at this point, but they're supposed to be. But these were tastefully gaudy. I thought some of the new ones, like was it Tampa's that like unscrewed and you saw the rink on the inside? Relax.

This is a nice-looking ring. Good job. Like, was it Tampa's that, like, unscrewed and you saw the rink on the inside? And relax. This is a nice-looking ring. Good job. They all look the same to me now. It's just, like, as big as you can possibly do and as many diamonds as you can possibly do. Right. In our next hour, when we go national, we'll welcome in Dominic Moore, former Toronto Maple Leaf NHLer who's doing TV analyst work for the Utah Hockey Club.

So we'll get him and his thoughts on many things, including obstructed seats. I don't know what they have, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000. I think there's only about maybe 10,000, 11,000 people that can actually see the ice. Is that right? Full ice. Okay. Not partial. You've brought this up like three days in a row.

Well, that's dumb. Is this a thing? Like I haven't seen that anywhere else. It's a thing. Really? I don't know what the actual number of seats that are obstructed, but it reminds me of my dad coaching the IHL, and I want to say their rink in Vegas. So if you sat in one of the ends,

you couldn't see the short side goal. That's a crappy scene. These sound like issues that like... Like an IHL team in Las Vegas. No, no, in Arizona. Like there's always something going on in Arizona. You know, like it's... The only thing that bothers me here

is it's supposed to be this nice rink and hearing that they want... They're going to build a new rink in Utah. Yeah. it's the only thing that bothers me here is it's supposed to be this nice rank and, and hearing that they want, they're going to build a new rank in Utah for the 2034 Olympics. And so people being like, it's going to, they're going to fix it for the 2034. Providing you're still alive.

Right. Yeah. So I don't know, but I am excited to see Utah get get going i would like them to have a name i would like you know a nicer rink without obstructed seats but at least it ain't mullet at least it ain't mullet satchel will also join us uh at the top of the hour we'll get into the canucks a little bit the host of canucks central for sportsnet so uh, plenty to chew on. And Jim Ralph will come back, a guy that is very familiar to the Real Kipper and Bourne show.

We start our focus on the Toronto Maple Leafs, and we said a little over 24 hours. We saw their roster. It's locked in. Huge surprises, a few surprises. Some guys emerged as depth guys. guys Myers we mentioned yesterday in the show but overall kind of shaping up the way we thought it would shape up yes except for I think it was clearly Joseph Wool's hockey team they got Stolarz to be the backup you know that was kind of

the way it looked and then pre, Stolarz was awfully good. Wohl was good too. But it doesn't sound... We got some Ruby sound on this? Is that right? The theme of the morning skate practice... Did you just sneeze? No, I was about to burp, quite honestly.

Burp? Yeah. And I don't think I've ever heard anyone belch on air. You've also never sneezed on air. They wouldn't have if you didn't bring it up because I turned off my mic and went like this. I'm glad we did this. I know Kip's been in the media for 30-some years.

He's never sneezed on air. Yes, I've got a 30-plus year record of never sneezing on air. I don't think that's true. I think that's why. No, trust me, I know. I know because I sneezed last year a couple times. I'm telling you right now, if I sneeze, something's falling off the wall. You had the dad sneeze?

I actually don't know if I've ever even heard you sneeze, period. Not a sneezer. You might be a non-sneezer. It's like a Seinfeld episode. He's a non-sneezer. A non-sneezer. You had a silent belch just two seconds ago? I wouldn't call it a belch.

I mean, it's not like I had a can of Sprite and let her rip or something here. It was like a little indigestion. You're not that guy that can do the alphabet, are you? No, I can burp really loud. Anyways, the theme of practice today, like all the questions towards Berube, a couple questions towards Treleving who spoke today, a lot of it is goaltender related again. And I think, you know, in my opinion opinion here there's not a ton to talk about

with this team in terms of asking the coast questions and where guys stand so like the goaltending is a clear spot is bruby going all coy on this now so okay well here's what we'll do we'll start with uh the clip one on how he's going to handle the goalies. And then we'll go from there, okay? So, Berube clip one. Well, I think, yeah, that's a feel thing, you know. I think you kind of go, you got to go off of workload and things like that, back-to-back games. There's some scenarios that come up, but, you know,

if you're winning, there's probably a good chance you might stay in. Okay. I don't mean this in a condescending way, but he is a simple man. You win, you're in. This is an old school. Hold on for a second. Hold on, hold on.

There's a difference between a win and winning. So how does a win become winning without a second consecutive start? So where are we on this? Win and stay in? Maybe not as a hard and fast rule. I don't think they'll do back-to-backs ever. No. They'll always each get a game of a back-to-back.

So how do you get a second consecutive start is my point. There's got to be a day between. You've got to win. I bet, let's say one guy wins, one loses in the first two games. I bet I can predict who plays game three. It's just going to be pretty simple. So then, the second

clip on who starts tomorrow. Let's just have that one please, Derek. For the first start, was it an easy call to give it just to Joseph? Did I give it to somebody? I'm sorry. He was talking like he was. Well, I never mentioned nothing, but, I mean, whatever.

Will you start Joseph tomorrow? Well, we'll see tomorrow. I mean, I'm not jumping to conclusions or anything. We'll see tomorrow. That's tomorrow. Today's today. So he's made up. This is game one. Just say it's tomorrow. Today's today. So he's made up... This is game one.

There's only two scenarios here. He's made up his mind. He's not telling anybody. Or he hasn't made up his mind. So he has made up his mind. Right. Because all the information is in. You've had the meetings. You're prepared. They know who's going to start.

They're not like, well, let's see who dresses better today. You know? They've made up their mind. That Stoller's looks good in a suit. So I presume they know. So are we going to do a whole year? I don't know. Yes.

We're going to. All right. At least that gives us some juice. We spent so much time talking last year about goalies, and we're dialing it up again. Is this Bruby kind of setting his mark for the media? Yeah. Don't ask me.

Or just you're on a need-to-know basis, and right now you don't need to know. That's not for today. Not for today. Yeah. Well, okay. I am still assuming it's Joseph Wall. I think he went into this season assuming that.

But unless there's this, I don't know, some tweak that you don't know about. Well, we left last week's show on a Friday where, I don't know, somebody mentioned that Luke, was it Luke, that they thought he might have tweaked something, and all indications were that there was nothing. It was fine. But there's the other thing on this. Stolarz is from Jersey.

And they're going to want to play him in Jersey. That's like a thing. So if wool is healthy, he'll play. Wednesday night and go to Stolarz on Thursday. Yeah. If wool is healthy, he'll play. Wednesday night and go to Stolarz on Thursday. Yeah, that's... We're already in the back-to-backs to start three and four nights. That's written in stone. It's a Saturday night that'll be most interesting.

Based off performance, based off expectations. If it's Stolarz game three, it would be fascinating. We'd be here on Monday like, goal at controversy. So, they, yeah. Listen, he's coming off a really impressive preseason game in Detroit. Windmill City. Let's assume that based on New Jersey coming out of the gate, 2-0 out of Prague.

Feeling a lot of momentum. Not a lot of people would give the Leafs a chance on a back-to-back going into New Jersey as a win. One of the few games they'll be a true underdog in. Is that a scheduled loss for the Leafs? Pretty early to call it a scheduled loss, but I think, yeah. That's one you would look at and go, yeah, back in their home opener whatever yeah i would say that's a tough night like they're they're definitely the underdogs the leafs going into that game no question um but the injury thing that you mentioned is interesting we have clips both coach and gm weighed in on

wool's injury history a little bit sam is there an order you want to play those in? Well, we'll start with Berube because you'll hear the tone when he's asked about it. So, clip four, please. That's in the past. I really can't comment on that. I was not here. So, I mean, you know, not being here, not

being around it, not being involved in it, it's pretty hard for me to answer that question. That's in the past. Well, I have studied and looked at it, but it's still hard to determine what went on exactly and where the guy was at at the time with the injury and everything. There's a lot of things that go into it. So I'm not going to focus on that. I'm focused on the future.

He's going to be so sick of this so quickly. And also, like, what else is he supposed to say? Like, the guy sometimes got hurt. He's not hurt now. I'm going to play him. What do you need me to do? He gave the most logical answer. Yeah.

Is that there's no rhyme or reason to, and especially, like he said, he was not here, so he doesn't. That I don't. What he said he was not here so he doesn't that i don't what the the i was not here thing it's like well no there's a there's a better but but if you are here there's a better understanding to to to know exactly what the scenario is or the athlete's willingness to go through it that there's more if as a head coach, if you've been through it, then you got your opinion, you got your general manager's opinion, you got a doctor's opinion, you got a teammate's opinion, you got a trainer's opinion,

and then you kind of form whatever you want to form. Right. At the end of the day, he's like, he could still research it, but what's the point? Yeah. So I get what he's saying. It's like, okay, let's move forward here. If this guy stays healthy all year, then why did I waste my time?

Yeah. I'm already worried about it. But you're right. If he stays healthy all year, there's nothing to see here. Yep. And there is a sense that he did address a few things in the offseason the way he trained or the way he focused on certain muscles that necessarily could support whatever in the past that he suffered from there's there's there's different ways to go about your

your daily routine that that changed things up for him. And it was enough that the Leafs were comfortable, he was comfortable, because he is a, he likes his routines too. But he acknowledged that he needed to change something in the offseason. And the general manager alluded to that while speaking. Brad, Brad, just a little bit in clip one, please.

Well, guys can get hurt, right? Like that happens, you know, I don't know. We, we, we hopefully spent lots of time on working at it, but that doesn't mean, you know, sometimes luck runs in the way, right? Like I know he's, he's, he's worked really hard, David, like he's had a really good summer. He's really fit we we you know looked at some different things in terms of um his mechanics and and all those types of

thing and core and and and but he's he's always been dialed in with that so yeah we he's put in all the work we're hopeful he can stay healthy stuff happens um but he's looked real good is fitness been an issue in the past? Interesting, he mentioned we looked into things. He didn't want to say too much, but he said core. I wonder if Wohl is maybe a guy that they changed some of the fitness expectations for. Total speculation on that, but it did come up in that comment anyway.

You asked me if he's fitter or if he's trained harder. If maybe in the past it wasn't as fit as an nhl athlete needs to be here i think there's there's always ways that you can make yourself stronger in certain areas and but that's like now you're talking about a goalie right you don't you just have to stop the puck you don't have to beat it up right and the leafs have you know 17 doctors that probably all have a different opinion on it. So they've got a lot of really well-paid people to be able to figure this stuff out.

So I'm sure they've came up with some theories. Yeah. Well, let's, let's listen to the man himself. Yeah. Let's listen to Joseph wall. His,

his comfort level coming into the season. Definitely feel more comfortable coming in than, than last year. And, you know, to have a full year under your belt and that experience gives you the knowledge that you belong and you can do it. And I'm excited to take that step. Here you go. Yep.

Comfortable. Wow. I know that it's going to be a question mark. And it may be a question mark that I kind of feel better by a month from now, Christmas, February, March, but you're always going to go in with that unknown of inexperienced guys in the playoffs. But it already feels better in that than the last few years for me anyways. Agreed.

And I'm watching some of the biggest goalies I've ever seen, a collection of the biggest goalies I've ever seen on any NHL club. And they're way quieter than whatever I've seen out of Samsonov. Before that, David Redditch going going post to razzic going post to post yeah right and these guys are all like stole ours is like 240 pounds yeah i loved uh he's a big man and there's no signs whatever we've seen in this preseason that this guy is never not in control of his big body yeah it was uh valley i think who talked about once you get to a certain size you're no longer attacking

the puck but receiving it you know like he's just so big his job is not to go make these spectacular saves just you're just big be big in the net uh speaking of big guys uh brad for living gave an update on yanni hockenpah today, which you guys are probably interested in. So can I get a clip number two from Treliving, please, Derek? Well, we kind of thought coming into it it'd be a few weeks. Touch wood, there's been no

setbacks. I think we're hopeful the next... I mean, he's been practicing, but it hasn't been full, full, full contact. And then we'll hopefully have a game planned here in the next couple I mean, he's been practicing, but it hasn't been, you know, it hasn't been full, full, full contact, and then we'll hopefully have a game plan here in the next couple weeks, whether that means, you know, then maybe

get him into some games with the Marlies on a condition. We'll see, we'll see, but better read probably in the next couple weeks. It's the full, full, full part that's missing. Yeah, I also thought it was great. Yeah, you can it was great.

Yeah, you can skate great, right? You can do some nice drills. Yeah. But when you're expected to be physical. You don't know. No. You just, you're totally rolling the dice on this guy. Yeah. Clearly, Dallas had enough of it, seen enough, can't count on him.

Too hard to manage leafs it's a small blue line over the last few years that got real big and can get a lot bigger with this guy in it that's that's the lure he's big but i gotta tell you it's tough to see this one coming together i didn't like the phrasing. We should hopefully have a game plan sometime in the next few weeks. It is not promising. You know more things than you let on. And over the four years we've been doing this show together,

I can get a pretty good read on you of some. No. You don't think this guy. You guys don't think this guy's going to play much. You can't read him. Yeah. I'm just teasing. But no, you're right. I can't get through a book. You're right. But I don't think you think he's going to play much. You can't read him. Yeah. I'm just teasing. But no, you're right. I can't get through a book.

You're right. But I don't think you think he's going to play very much. If like at all. I think you're Elmer's glue, popsicle sticks, whatever you need to do is to keep this guy together. Just get him somewhat in a situation where in a game two, a game four, a game six, he might play. Yeah, the guy's played 11 games all year and turns like the Titanic.

I'm not thrilled about him getting into a playoff game. He's got the turning radius of my old 87 Volvo. And he's the type of guy that may play if you lose a Benoit in the playoffs. Right? So we're not even talking about this guy being a player for the Leafs this year. That's not the conversation we're having here. This is not, do you like Timmons? Do you like Lilligren?

Do you like Hockenpah? It's like if he's ever available, maybe someday. I don't know, 40, 50 games? Is that what the goal is? That would be great. That would blow my mind. If he plays over 41 games this year, I would be shocked. Yeah, I would be surprised too.

How about I, before we get to our Bet365 segment, I'll come up with my own number here. 28 and a half games for the Leafs this year for Hockenpah. This is just... 28 and a half. Over or under? I'll take the under. Who? I was going low.

Yeah, I think 25 to 30. Okay. But this is pain tolerance. We had Dr. Jason Smith on last week talking about managing it with his pain threshold and if there's swelling involved, how quickly does it come down, how much. So this is just him and the Leafs managing this thing together.

Yeah. Are you good on that one? Do you want to do power play two or expectations for Matthew's captaincy? Captaincy. Sure. Because True Living has said something interesting i wanted to ask you guys about yeah so let's uh clip three from living please derek well i don't expect i don't expect anything different uh right when we went through this and we talked about it at the you know the press conference when he was named captain this he doesn't have to change anything um he's a guy that people in this room follow.

He's on ice game. We know what he can do offensively. To me, he's one of the best two-way players in the game. I don't think he gets nearly enough attention to how he plays away from the puck and how he checks and how he sets the standard for our team. So I just need him to be Austin. So if you don't need him to change anything,

then why, what was the point of doing this huge ceremonial thing where you took it off of a guy that came home? If you wanted him just to be the same guy, then why'd you change anything? That's the part that I don't get. I think you hope that it changes things for other people. You know, like you hope it takes some heat off Tavares and maybe Tavares can give you a little bit more.

And listen, we'll have actual hockey to talk about here soon. We'll keep doing this, but I just found that interesting. Brad Tree Living's a pretty straight up guy. And, you know, he's been around a while, long enough, where he's earned a lot of respect for being a straight up guy he's not in my opinion like coming truthful on this comment bit of a fib it's it's to protect austin okay but he wants to see a change okay he expects this to feel like this is your team and it means it's your team in whatever way you see it. But you have to see it.

And that's what the C does. It makes him, it makes it abundantly clear. You don't appear in eight years to be a guy to stand up and start yelling. So I don't really expect that. But if you feel like there might be a moment when you need to say something, do something, you have the total green light to do it. And you're not stepping on anyone's toes. And maybe it was a scenario where maybe you were scared to step on JT's toes. Whatever it is, he's going to have to figure it out for himself

on what that means. But Brad Tree Living didn't do this to keep it looking exactly the same, Sam. So it's a smart thing to say, though, to say, did not pour extra heat on Matthews. He's not publicly going to come out and say, yeah, I expect him to take charge now. But from a fan's perspective, and that is why i'm here after all like you know could he not just say that this whole this core pressure i mean this core has been coddled forever jb's right it adds

pressure but this core has been nothing but coddled from the very start could one person come up like yeah we need him to be the captain we need him to lead we need him to be better at that like that's like yes would that kill everybody but not not before in early october before the seasons ever started okay you let it play out and you may need to revisit that or maybe even come up with that comment in, in November, mid November, maybe December.

You save that Sammy. That's a long season here there. You know, they're, they've lost four of six. Matthews hasn't played that well. And then maybe, maybe you want to play something like that out somewhere.

You also been a long eight years. It's, it's, it's, I get it. I totally get it. It's been a long eight years. I get it. I totally get it. Sammy wants to hear him yell, dig in! Dig in!

To Patrick, he made this the hardest working team. Hey, Patrick, you've been here three weeks. Don't tell that to the Leaf fan who's watched this for eight or nine years. I don't want to hear that. This is now one of the hardest

clubs you've ever seen when we've just eaten crap sandwiches in the last nine or ten years. True Living said it was the best, really good hard camp. It was. But so what? Everybody wants to see

that. Nobody cares. Nothing's won in three weeks of really hard drills and some success in preseason games. Nobody gives a crap. I wonder if any team has said they had a bad camp. That's what I was going to say. Have we heard from any team that was like, ugh. Your GM comes out, your camp was soft.

Edmonton had a bad camp, though. They sucked in their games. The only thing that matters now is do you have the look that is ready to challenge. They have the hardness. So the biggest clubs. And that's not getting answered in training camp. That's not getting answered in the first few weeks. This is just going to be a test of time right now.

But you've got to keep your powder dry a little bit on on matthews and you gotta back off a little bit here on on expectations that all of a sudden he's going to become you know the second coming of mark messier it's not happening i understand that but the whole reason that a general manager comes out and talks to the media is to get a message across to the fans and to kind of tell them what people are feeling. Like, that's the reason you do it. That's what it's for. And for him to be like, yeah, we just want them to be the same. It's not exactly what I wanted to hear.

It's not exactly what I wanted to hear. Yeah, I'm sorry that it wasn't what you wanted, but I think that's the best that you can do there. And listen, you know, your 7-3 or 3 seven will speaks volumes to if they're three and seven more and seven more the same right three and seven but show's gonna be dark i'm just saying no that's that's the the proof that things are are changing or you know that it looks like it's more of Matthew's team. All good. That's all.

Hey, listen, and I could be just coming up with something for no reason. That just rubbed me the wrong way. He doesn't have to completely look like he's the man. I want him to. By end of November. I want him to. He's the captain of the Leafs. They stripped Tavares of the C.

I want him to look like the man. That's the point of this. You can't snap your fingers and just have it. Then why make him the captain? What do you guys think? It doesn't work that way. I'm just telling you, it's fine that you can say it, but it doesn't work that way. I know.

There's 19 other guys going, okay, let's see, does he change? Is he now guys going, okay, like, let's see. Does he change? Is he now going to come in here and think he's something that he's not? Is he a rah-rah guy? Is he telling me what to do? Is he looking, you know?

I know you can't do that. They're all judging him, too. The teammates are all sitting there going, did you change? Are you still the same guy? I get it. I have great regrets about getting a letter in college and acting like a different person. Really? People can tell.

It's inauthentic. It didn't work. It was a bad year for me. You in the coach's office a lot more now. What are you saying? Like, he's got to walk the line. He's got to be careful. His alliance is to the teammates first.

It's not necessarily even the coach or the general manager. It's the teammates. As long as you've got 19 other guys that believe in you and trust you, he's going to learn how to get their trust now with the letter C on his jersey, not an A. And that doesn't come overnight. Okay. So, and he's not, he doesn't appear to me being a rah-rah guy.

And he's not even a guy that kind of brings the guys together off ice. He's not that guy either. He's not an organizer. He's not, he's not that guy. Mitch Marner is more that guy. Mitch Marner is more that guy. I think it was McCabe who made a comment, I think, about Mitch Marner saying, like, that's the guy that

keeps us together and it wasn't John Tavares either right and it wasn't Austin it was Mitch so you know all of a sudden now is is Matthews now organizing Monday night football pools and you know no

somebody's gonna call him out on that. They need Kerfoot back for that. He was a fantasy football guy. It's tricky. It's tricky. He's got to sit there and go, I got to look different enough so guys like Sammy don't go on the real Kipper and Bourne show and say, nothing's changed. I'm a Dumbo fan.

It's the reason I'm here. It's like the perception is he's the captain now. He's the guy who runs it all. Between Sammy and the guys watching you, he's have to figure it out yeah yeah i mean i think tree got it right he you know no pressure on the other thing too is again you can if you're john tavaris right now deep down he's pissed. Come on, how can you not?

It's your pride. That's the other challenge too is he has to now. He can go to a energy that, you know, I got stripped of my captaincy, but I'm still coming to the work every day with a smile on my face. I'm doing whatever. He's got a challenge too. But Kip, so many of these conversations that we have,

I feel like you have these guys in competition with one another. They're teammates. Like, he wants to win the Stanley Cup with Matthews, who should do well. I'm sure Matthews wants Marner to do well, and Marner wants Matthews. I don't think they see it like you see it as this hunger games of who's the coolest guy.

It's like, are they not a united group? There's always egos. There's always guys that look at the game sheet and go, I should have played more than that guy. Surely they've all got enough individual money, time, whatever, that they can say, it's better for all of us if we all just go have success. I know, but what does that mean? Like, I still need to have success.

Like, if Tavares all of a sudden became a healthy scratch and the team's winning like how happy you think don john tavaris is going to be yeah i think there's a difference between a healthy scratch and he's playing 14 minutes 40 points and they win the cup now he's off the power play and pat turetti's on the power play it's okay i'm here to win no no no we should go we gotta get around no no no that's not the way guys work so that's not the way guys work that's not the way they're built they come here for a minimum because they are willing to accept less for the team to a certain point but their egos are always involved

and you always think that you know i can help the team no you you can cheerlead right now we just need you to cheerlead and you're like well do I really want to win now just being a cheerleader? Yeah. So it's that balance. It's part of that chemistry. Part of the vibe. All right, let's take a quick break. And we return Jim Ralph, Toronto Maple Leaf Radio color analyst.

We'll ask him. We'll get into this with him, too. We'll get his thoughts. Love it. More real Kipper and Bourne after the break. The best Blue Jays show out there, period. Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The Kipper is Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee. The few minutes. Jim Ralph. Back again for another exciting season with Joe Bowen. Amazing. What a duo.

St. Louis had a goal waved off already. This would be his 58th or 59th year. Is it really? That's a great run. Here's to another 58 59th year. Is it really? That's a great run. Here's to another 58 or 59 more. Is it true you started, you and Bonesy started when you were 11 calling Leaf games? Well, if I was 11, he was 46. Yeah, it was.

Actually, you know, it's funny. And I don't mean to be an idiot to bring this up. The first game I ever did was a preseason game in 96. Leafs in New York against the Rangers. Do you remember that one, Kip? Leafs in New York against the Rangers in 96. No, no clue. No, don't remember.

Preseason game. Should he? Did something happen? Something happen? Did I score? No, I don't think you finished. Oh, gosh. Are you kidding me?

My knockout with Ryan Vandenbush? He did. Yep. How was your call on it? Hebush? He's dead. Yep. How was your call on it? He's dead. He's dead. Bonesy, he's not moving. That was your first game?

I don't say that to be an idiot, but that's the first game I filled in a couple of times with Joe and then a 97, you know, took over full time. But that was honest to God. The first game was Madison Square Garden, which was pretty neat. Well, I wanted to make it memorable for you. And clearly I've done that. Kip, how long after that were you in media?

Like when would you have gotten hired to work a media job? 12, well, I... Like a year. It took eight months I had the job, I think. I think I got a Sportsnet job by March, and it was still debatable whether or not I was going to be foolish enough to try to play again. So you and Ralphie have basically been in media

for the same amount of time. Oh, God, that's so depressing. No, I started at Global in 1990. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. At where? Global. It was Sportsline, and that was the OHL game of the week.

But he had been speaking. He'd been doing guest speaking, making everybody laugh hysterically, you know, charity events. Stand-up routine. Stand-up routine. So he was so primed for stardom. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm still waiting. But anyway. Well, listen, I'm glad I'm here talking to you right now. I can assure you that. How was the summer from afar, watching the changes that the Leafs made? The blue line, bigger, stronger, deeper. You like the moves that they've made to now challenge in the East?

Yeah, and you know what? I like bringing in Bertuzzi and Domi a year ago. But, you know, unfortunately, it's going to be done to death until we get to, you know, hopefully the postseason in April that it's not what they're going to be judged on. And, you know, it's kind of like sitting through Gone with the Wind with seven different alternate endings. And so far, you don't like any of them.

So we're going to do it again. And, you know, I mean, ultimately, it's going to be, is this team built for a run in the postseason? And, you know, I like the moves they made. I like the moves that Brad Delivian made at the deadline last year, bringing in Joel Edmondson and a little more toughness and grit. But it's that bugaboo in April that they've got to find a way to get through. But having said that, you still have to get to the postseason.

And you expect Buffalo to be better, even though not off to a great start. Jersey should be better even though not off to a great start Jersey should be better and you know in Detroit and Ottawa I think they should be closer to making the postseason as well so they still have to look after their business in the regular season and and then you hope that everybody's healthy and you know this this chemistry grows from from tomorrow night on so Ralphie everyone talks about talks about where teams who are outside of the playoffs at U.S. Thanksgiving, which is kind of end of November, just a loose proxy for that time of year.

Once you're five, six weeks into the season, things start to take shape. What are your expectations between now and that time for this Maple Leafs team as they adjust to a broody system and have some new players on the roster? Yeah, you know what, Bonnie? I think we should be maybe prepared for a little bit of a reset. I mean, it would be great to come out, you know,

eight and two in your first ten games. But, you know, there might be some adjustments that the players are going to have to play through. So you might give up a little offense to play tougher, heavier in your own end. You know, Craig Ruby, I know after the first preseason game, said we were too cute with the puck. We got to just get it to the net.

And that's a different philosophy than, you know, looking for the perfect play and the perfect look, you know, to try to create offense. So there might be, you know, some hiccups as you go along and, you know, a bit of a learning curve. Hopefully the talent's there to be able to pull you through any kind of, you know, disastrous start. But I think we will probably be smart to be a little bit patient to see how this all works

out. We're talking to Jim Ralph, Toronto Maple Leaf radio color analyst. So just touching on that a little bit, Ralphie, we know the world-class skill is there enough to have seen in the past on occasion and many occasions that they can make the perfect play, right? Yeah, absolutely. And I'm just wondering where that fine line is on what maybe the rope that a Nylander or a Marner,

a Matthews can have compared to the rest of the team, or if you're Craig Berube, do you need those guys as an example as well, or different rules for different guys? I still think it's a philosophy, Kipper. I mean, you know, obviously you're not going to tell Mitch Marner to shoot every time he's got a two-on-one. But I do think there's, it might be more that,

like, take somebody like Matthew Nyes. Play the Hyman role. Like, go to the net, set up, take somebody with you, and score 50 goals from three feet outside the crease. You know, I think that's where the philosophy might change a little bit. Not so much, you know, with the star players or trying to curtail them or, you know, modify their games. But if you're on those lines,

I think Zach Hyman was the perfect example of, you know, modify their games. But if you're on those lines, I think Zach Diamond was the perfect example of, you know, played big and tough, which, you know, Matthew Knight has put in, I think, 10, 15 pounds in the summer. And, you know, be more like that. Go to the net and score ugly, you know, whether it's a rebound or a redirection or provide a screen. And I think when you look over the last few years with the Leafs, they don't score a lot of goals from the point where there's traffic in front.

And I just think that that could be a nice addition, something to add that other teams can watch for, as opposed to trying to pass it around the box and look for those perfect opportunities. The Leafs are like bottom five and goals from their D for a while now. It is going to be fascinating to see if they can get a bit better there. Another place they're going to get better is your area of expertise. And I should say going to get better.

Who knows? What are your thoughts on, you know, it's not Jack Campbell. It's not Ilya Samsonov. We're looking at Wohl and Stolarz. What are your thoughts going into the season for these two big fellas? I'm going to say that I like this makeup or this tandem probably the most in Teddy Belfort.

And that's in due respect to James Reimer, who had some great runs. But as far as a duo goes, I mean, I think this is the best they've had. Now, obviously, one of the big concerns is I think Stolar is the most he's played in the season is 27 with Anaheim a few years ago. Walz only played 25 games in a season. So even if they were to split it down the middle,

both of them are going to have to play considerably more than they have in their careers to this point. So that's one thing you might have a concern with. But I think the great thing is, you know, Walsh is going tomorrow in Montreal. And, you know, Stullers is going to play on Thursday in Jersey. So I think it's the perfect scenario where we don't have to create some sort of goaltending controversy early on. I think they're both capable and really the big thing is to have them both healthy. Ralph, we had a pretty healthy conversation

about Austin Matthews and the captaincy. We heard from his general manager, Brad Treeliving, on maybe not so much looking much different than we've seen out of him in the past, but we know since the moment he first put on a Leaf uniform, he has been the leader at putting the puck in the net. But what other look could you see coming this season with a C on his jersey?

Depression. Obviously, I'd say that tongue-in-cheek, but the one thing I've noticed about John Tavares in preseason, whether it's the interviews or watching him on the ice, it looks as though he's had a piano taken off his back. He seems much more relaxed, much more refreshed. And, you know, Austin Matthews has been in the market long enough to know what's coming. But it is, I think, as opposed to so many other markets,

it is an added responsibility for nothing else in dealing with the media on a regular basis. And I don't want to jinx this, but I remember in, I guess it was 97, Matt Sundin's first year as captain, took seven or eight games for Sundin to score his first goal. And of course, after the first few games, everybody said, Oh, he can't handle the pressure. And you know, he was pressing and then it became a bigger story. Each game, he didn't score, you know, the, the and then it became a bigger story each game. He didn't score.

You know, the pressure of being a captain. So, you know, you certainly, I don't know if Matthews will start with back-to-back hat tricks like he did a year ago. But hopefully he gets one in the first couple of games to kind of get rid of any kind of narrative of the pressure that goes with it. You know, in thinking back, it's funny you say that like the weight has been lifted off Tavares and that Matthew's going to have to do talk to the media more like has, was Tavares talking to the media? Did I miss an interview?

Did we just not play it? Cause there was nothing. You talked every day, but there's never one thing. There's just no, we didn't clip it on the show. Cause there's nothing of everything. Okay.

Um, do you think Morgan Riley, go ahead, get rid of some, do you think Morgan Riley is also going to be freed up a little bit now that he has Tanev, someone who can handle the defensive side of things once they're on the ice? Yeah, absolutely.

And, you know, you go back to the Morgan Riley's best defensive year. It came playing with Ron Hainsey. You know, there's, you know, your stay-at-home, miserable defense partner that, you know, makes things difficult in the opposition. And, you know, Tannum's probably, you know, a lot like Ron Hainsey with just a little more anger in him. So I think absolutely it'll help Morgan Riley.

I mean, he may not see a 20-goal season come up again in his career, but I definitely think Morgan Riley's going to benefit from it. Listen, everybody knows the situation with Mitch Marner going into this season, much like Willie Nylander, a lot of question marks going into this season much like Willie Nylander a lot of question marks going into the season you expect it to play out somewhat like

Nylander situation last year where the better he plays the more pressure puts on the Leafs to sign him and you know could there be a contract midseason like we saw with Nylander last season yeah I think so and you know I know the bottom line is you don't want him walking a contract mid-season like we saw with Nylander last season?

Yeah, I think so. And, you know, I know, I mean, the bottom line is you don't want him walking for nothing. I don't think you want to be getting geared up in the playoffs and say, boy, is it better to let him go now? You know, Brad Treleving had to go through that with Matthew Kachuk. Or I guess, you know, when they cleaned the house in Calgary, Matthew Kachuk wanted out. You know, it's a difficult situation for everyone to be in.

But I can see Marner having, you know, maybe the best start in years and putting that kind of pressure on. And the bottom line is, you know, for the people that are saying, oh, you've got to move them, you've got to get rid of them, you're never going to get equal value back. You might get three pickups for the Mercedes, but you're not going to get another Mercedes in the deal. If you think the pickup trucks can give you better success down the road, that's great, but you will never guess. You know that old saying that whoever won the trade got the best player? It's going to be difficult to win any kind of trade

if you're moving Mitch Marner out. Yeah. No doubt about that. Mercedes, a lovely vehicle. I can get you a deal. I can get you a good deal on it, Benz. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know what? I can get you a good deal on it, Benz. Well, you know what?

I don't know who you have me driving, but I'll take it. Hey, terrific stuff, Ralphie. Thanks for doing this. Looking forward to your call tomorrow night and many more throughout the season. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, Kipper. Thanks, Blaine. Thanks, Ralphie.

Appreciate you. Toronto Maple Leaf Radio analyst, Jimmy Ralph. You know what's new about the show this year is we have hunting on the TV beside in the room this year. Just a lot of murder happening. Has that been on all last week? Yeah, I didn't know there's a channel where you just watch people shoot deer, but there is.

So before, last week it was the baseball games that were on. So that's equally distracting for me because I love baseball playoffs, and I don't want that, to be honest. I don't want to be on there. But we've done the exact same rotation two days in a row. It was MLB Network and the exact same time. Now the Sportsman channel comes on, and now they're chopping up some onions.

Cooking venison. That looks pretty good. It does. So we're in our second week here. And I didn't give out a shout-out to Kevin Barker. Of course, Barks and Jeff Blair do the baseball and the Blue Jays. Oh, yeah. Nobody better.

My favorite show. But we've got new chairs here. Oh, yeah. Right? They are. And I'm just having like a blast with these new chairs and it's come to you know our attention that barks actually wanted new chairs and got them but did he he had to put them together himself he assembled them he assembled them himself. Do you think if I had been tasked with doing

that, we'd still be upright? I don't think so. I think he's a little handier with a wrench than I am. And for me, I'm always ending up with like three extra, four extra pieces. That's how you do it. I missed something. I gotta start over again. I don't think these are IKEA.

These are nice. They're nice. They're really nice. Thanks, Barks. Okay. That concludes our Leaf Edition hour. Thank God, because they got to play. We need a nice hockey match.

They got to play now. We're doing another full hour tomorrow no game. Are we? Oh, yeah. I know, but that kind of... Preview. We'll know the lines. Game day, baby. We'll have prep to do.

A preview to do. It's game time. All right. We go national next on. Game day, baby. We'll have prep to do, a preview to do. It's game time. All right. We go national next on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Do not go away. Back after these words. We'll see you next time.