Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Ontario Battle at the Bank

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a look at tonight's messy edition of The Battle of Ontario, the Leafs' mindset, whether Knies can secure his spot on the top line and Klingberg's role after being taken off the first power play unit. Then, on Keefe's deployment of the goalies for this week, if Samsonov would benefit from an AHL conditioning stint or if his rocky start is being overblown. Later, Brent Wallace of the 'Coming In Hot' podcast (30:04) shares how things have begun to spiral for the Senators after their hot start to the season, the length of DJ Smith's leash and the fans' rowdy response to the recent skid.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.

it's like we never left we are back the real kipper and born show you can find us on sports at 590, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus, anywhere. You can't shake us. You cannot get rid of us. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and General Nick with you for the next two hours. Yeah.

I'm in shambles. Yeah, listen. I'm pretty much you. Scramble all over the place. What, listen. I've produced this in shambles. You scramble all over the place. What was the last thing you said before it went on air? No coffee. I forgot my coffee. I think outside the studio.

I forgot my lineup upstairs. My phone doesn't work. Okay. So I'm producing a... You know this is a... Lime blind. This is a Rogers building. Yeah, I'm producing a nationally...

And your phone doesn't work. That's your fault. No phone. You know this is a Rogers building. Yeah, I'm producing a nationally televised show. And your phone doesn't work. That's your fault. No phone. You can find somebody in this building that can fix your phone. I did. So I have a loaner phone, a gold-fashioned loaner here that I'm waiting for. You can see that it's loading.

I'm loading my things onto this one because my old one doesn't work, and they didn't get the ticket started until 3.30. Love IT. They've been working with me on this through and through. They gave me a new computer last week but now I'm trying to get a new phone. I'm flying blind. I'm feeling very naked.

We've seen Patty's Day theme going on here. The green boy. I'm green too. I guess I am green. I'd like to think that you're better prepared and cooler, calm, collected. The last thing you said to me a minute before we get in the studio is,

don't sit there. It's wet. That's not a good thing. It's not a good thing. Listen, we know our hockey. We don't have our materials together. I'm damp over here, too. I overfilled my water bottle.

I'm dying for a coffee. I'm low energy. It's dark at 3 p.m. Oh, my God. I'm hot. Talk to a shrink. Are you happy with your selection of the jerseys because that was like a 30 second at the buzzer decision to go with the la king yeah they play a big game

tonight against the vegas golden knights i love that jersey it's a classic king's jersey on the backward move though you're gonna do senator's jersey and build not only whose shirt is it? Jason. Jason Allison. Yes. Yeah. Now Jason was Kuznetsov in a shootout before Kuznetsov was Kuznetsov in a shootout. Did Jason mean to be Kuznetsov? Or was he just a little slower getting there? Yeah. I think that was full speed for Jason Allison back then. Some say Jason Allison is still skating towards the net this day. All right. Battle ofario gets underway tonight senators coming in take on the leafs is this thing completely back to where we think that they can really entertain us in that

province kind of way you know what's entertaining and surprising is I would say that this is the rare time the Sens come in as the team in disarray. You know, they're the Sam McKee of hockey teams. Like, they're truly in flux, though. Okay, why? Where is this coming from? Losing. They're 4-6.

They're not 2-8 like the Edmonton Oilers. Where is all of a sudden the shine off the Ottawa Senators? I think past performances probably in the month of November and them looking eerily similar to they have in years past at this time. It's all in the cluster. It's that they got off to a three and one start and everyone was believing in them. And also, yeah, they're four and six,

but that's a lot of losses in a row here. You had the fans booing. You had the captain calling out the fans. They're chanting to fire the coach. Someone's reporting that Patrick Waugh's eating a croissant in the middle of somewhere in Ottawa. At Parliament Hill. Yeah, like, you know, there's drama around the Sens right now.

Meanwhile, the Leafs, medium drama. Okay, in about 25 minutes, we're going to welcome in Brent Wallace. He also is a co-host with our good friend Jason York. He works with Bobby Ryan as well. Coming in hot, the Sens podcast. And we'll get his thoughts on why everybody just seems to be jumping off a bandwagon right now in ottawa yeah and it's not even like jumping off so much as they want a different leader driving the bandwagon well they already they they got their wish they got rid of pierre dorian

and now they've set their their claws on dj smith yeah they want blood they're not happy i think they were promised this new beginning with Andlauer mentally, whether they were verbally promised it or not. And so that's part of the frustration here is fresh start. Here we go. And it hasn't been a fresh start. Okay. And just a note in our second hour, the national hour of

Real Kipper and Bourne, we're going to welcome in PJ Stock for the first time. Ooh, yeah. Love PJ. When we can find pj we just love pj yeah he's tough to get so it's a great show we're we're glad everybody's around and wherever you are getting our show uh just remember give us a rating and review if you can on any of the downloads uh you can find so all right well let's start on the Leafs and the mindset and whether or not the comeback against Tampa could be seen as a turning point to their season.

Kind of mirrors last year's slow start, and then they went on this torrid run in November. You getting that vibe? You know, what you need to go on any on this torrid run in november you getting that vibe you know what you need to go on any kind of torrid run is some things to crystallize like your goaltending and joseph wall pretty clearly seems to be in the driver's seat in terms of who's going to be the goaltender you know that top line is that bertuzzi spot well matthew nye's played pretty darn good so you know what the top line is about you feel like you had a third line find itself so for the leafs i think the start of a run involves finding yourself and it feels like they did a little bit last game part of that third line uh includes max domey let's go uh to our

first kippers clipper on max and the battle of ontario uh yeah i remember the playoff series for sure it was always fun to watch. I think I've said it a million times, but I was never really one to really watch the games back then. I was more of a mini-stick player, so I don't really remember much about the games. I remember Alfredson with his long hair. Danny Healy, obviously. There were a lot of good, talented players over in Ottawa,

so always fun to watch. I forget what game it was. I want to say it was game seven. You guys probably can know more than me about this one. But Joe Neuendijk had that big game. Was that game seven? Yeah. Yeah, it was huge.

I remember that one pretty vividly. So, yeah, great memories of watching these two teams go back, way back when. And head-to-head, it was a lot of fun. So, excited to be a part of it tonight. Okay, Max, stop, stop, stop. You're making me feel incredibly old right now. It made me feel really happy just listening to that. It's like when I really loved the Leafs.

That's like when it was like life and death, those playoff series. I find it really relatable as a son of a former NHLer to have people be like, what was it like being around that? And being like, I don't really know. We played mini sticks a lot. I do remember the Daniel, Daniel Alfredson, like Bozo the clown hair coming out of his helmet. That's the type of thing as a kid. Like, I remember that.

Like, I remember, you know, that guy had a big beard, you know, like whatever it was when you were little. Like, it's not like. That was peak sports hatred for me. Alfredson? Oh my God. How do you hate Daniel Alfredson? Mostly because of, well.

The slap shot incident? Well. The faux slap shot incident? The chucking of the stick, the fake Matt Sundin. But this is all one game. That bothered you? Oh, my God. I despise that dude.

You guys are asking me as a lifelong Leaf fan why I dislike Daniel Alfredson? He was the number one hated guy for every Leaf fan for 10, 15 years. He was the number one guy. It's not like he ran anybody over or hurt anybody. He ran Darcy Tucker from behind and then went up and scored the winner. What are you guys,

were you watching a Leaf game in the 2000s? Are you crazy? I was in the U.S. They played one game a week in the Outdoor Life Network. Oh, my God. Alfie was despised in this city. Oh, my God. I'll look it up on my phone.

Yeah, show us. Let's see a clip. All right. Knies. There to stay with Matthews and Marner here is another solid effort tonight. Going to kind of instill him. You know, the thing that we've complained about in past years was people being thrust there immediately

that maybe you wanted there in the end, Richie and Thornton, and they just couldn't handle it. Like, at least they didn't start Nyes in this spot. I think a lot of us, I think yourself included, thought that maybe by playoffs he could work his way there. Well, yeah. In the second half, in the new year, I would have imagined to see a lot more of him there.

Yeah. But again, it's really by default now because Bertuzzi didn't step up and take it. Right. And I think they think they can't put bertuzzi in the third line making five and a half million you got to give them an opportunity and the chance to work through this so they keep them on that second line but yeah i love nize in that spot to me that's the best fit if he can be who the leafs and people like us want him to be by the way i wanted to

get doug mclean back on the show right after that game. Giving us a hard time about what Matthew Nyes is. Then Nyes goes out there behind the back pass, scores a goal. Get Mac on the show. Well, we'll have him Friday. We'll have plenty of chance. We need one more game out of Nyes. You need. Not we.

Yeah, we. You and the Leafs and Nyes just to really stick it to Mac on Friday. Let's go to Sheldon Keefe on why Nyes is working out right now with the big boys. He's a confident guy. So, you know, he's not intimidated by that. And that also was on display when he came into the playoffs.

And, you know, the moment and everything associated with, you know, being a Leaf player in the playoffs didn't seem to bother him. He's a confident guy. So I had no issues there. Because of how it fit and why it worked, I think Nyes, it was the most tempo and pace that he's played with

in terms of his hunger to get the puck back and moving his feet and getting on top of the puck and winning puck battles. That's the best we've seen him in that regard. So I think, you know, maybe just the responsibility of playing with those guys brought out the best in him and not, you know, wanting to do his part for them. And he did that and then some, so it was terrific to see. See, I referred to him the other day as a hunter a true hunter and there's sheldon talking about the hunger to get the puck back um

the one thing that implies it wasn't there before right well just not not throughout the whole lineup jb like if you sat here and you said you know who are other hunters in their top 12 you gotta you gotta take a pause and think about it for a second you do i actually so i wrote an article on the caducks today and was looking at like some of their stats and the thing they're best at in the nhl is for checking like getting for checking chances getting the puck back and look at there you guys for for checking it'sheyev and Lafferty who are here, but skaters like Hoglander and Bevilier and, you know, DiGiuseppe and Joshua, big guys,

like they have guys that fly in on the four check, right? Here, it's tougher to come up with those names. And to me, like when I played, that was the easiest thing. I knew that whatever's, if I feel like I'm struggling, the easiest thing I could always rely on is just to get a puck in deep and then go get it. Yeah. Or scare people into turning it over.

Glass Rattler. Glass Rattler. Five steps after the pass is moved. I'm coming. Yeah. I'm coming. Yeah. I'm coming for you. And that's where I look at Tyler Bertuzzi and I say, you could still do that.

He's 6'1", 200, right? No reason he couldn't put a shoulder in his arm. He's not even putting it in places where he can remotely get it back. They're not spending, he's not spending time in the offensive zone. He's chasing. You step behind all the time. The nice thing, the comments from Keefe were interesting because you mentioned that hunger to get it back.

He had the most. That to me does imply a little bit that he hadn't seen that as much. So take that as a half criticism. It's nice to hear him talk about how confident he is and have a kid go up there and just immediately elevate his game to the point where he looks like he belongs as opposed to people going up there and not taking advantage of the

opportunity, which we've seen a ton. Yeah. Like the opposite happening is really nice. It is. It's funny though. When I hear a guy get called confident twice in three sentences, I immediately think,

Oh, they think he's arrogant. That's like my first thought is like, you know, for that to be like the frontline thing. Yeah well he's super confident so which is good he's confident guy that's a good thing to be second best hunter on the Leafs forwards you want me to come up with it yeah is it Nick Robertson after one game Gregor yes yeah Gregor? After one game. Gregor? Yes. Gregor, good one. To me, it is, which is crazy. I think other than finding ways to put a puck in the net,

I notice him every game. He's skating. He's hunting. Matthews and Marner turn pucks over, but with their sticks, right? Like they find ways to lift sticks and pull the pucks away. They're stick lifting everywhere. Which, towards the latter part of the season in the playoffs,

it gets a little dicier there. Yeah, there's not as many unsuspecting forwards just sleeping. When everybody's on the body, it gets a little harder and trickier to fish for pucks. Yeah. But, Yarncroft, to me, no.

But he's not a hunter not a hunter no the best i've ever seen is zach hyman zach hyman gets in stick on puck first body through body second one of the best in the league separates people it's unbelievable despite the two eight and one record right now in edmonton zach hyman one of the best in the league. He is a puck hunter for sure. All right, Klingberg, is he back on? Is he still off the power play? Where is he? I mean, I guess we'll find out tonight, but we do have a key clip on that,

on why he was taken off the top unit last game. So let's go to that next. Just as we've gone through it, we've done that a couple times right now, and he looks at it. We've got different looks of the left-hander and the right-hander, and it's less about the individual and more about some of the different looks that come from a lefty and a righty based on what we want to accomplish

on the power play. We made a change in game the other night too, and Klingberg was back with that group later in the game for the same reason. We just wanted to get a righty with a different look we were trying to exploit. So those are more of the discussions we're having is what's the better fit that way. I can dig that, right? Like, it's not like you're playing bad get-off. It's that we haven't scored in a couple power plays.

Why don't we run it off the other flank a bit more with a different handed guy and when you don't like how someone's playing you can say it's about handedness yeah it's a nice cover yeah i just uh he's better than riley on the power play and like he is theoretically for sure well he just practiced he hasn't been no he hasn't been scoring but he just distributes it way better at the top. I get stuck on the blocked shots, though. I know, and they happen a lot, but at least he does try it once in a while, right?

Yeah, at least there's a shot coming from up there. There's a threat of that happening. And to me, it's, I don't know, it's an unnecessary thing to just take, just leave him there. Let him have a run with it. If you're not going to do that there, and you're lefty and righty and like you said it's more of an excuse just to that's our reasoning yeah just leave him he's not doing that then why is he on the team well

that's a good point too you're gonna make you he's going to have value he's averaging 21 minutes a game and last time i checked uh they weren't on all the power play so 21 well how do you how do you how do you fix what's ailing him outside of the power play he does not seem to like you hear the quotes from him we had the other day seems like he's terrified of contact to me really yeah like it just like when he's going into the corner it just feels like he knows he's gonna get blown up he doesn't like it that goal that the bruins scored or Pasternak comes down he just kind of like doesn't go shoulder shoulder with him falls down Pasternak runs him over puck goes out in front of the net he's swimming around like he just doesn't seem decisive at all the problem

for me is on the touches though go ahead I was just gonna say if watching Lilligren get hit like a pinata to start the season probably doesn't help him either well there's a theme though and you mentioned this on this very show is that if all your d are getting put through the end boards it's on your forwards you need someone to hold some guys up and slow them down through the neutral zone and do their jobs too but klingberg the issue for me is on the touches every time he touches the puck he wants to make the cooler play like instead of just the first one that's simplify yeah the first one that's there and it's tough to sell to a guy who's trying to earn a $64 million contract.

That ship sailed, buddy. I know it has. But he seems to be trying to earn it with every play he makes. Like, can I put it through someone's tuck? Like, through their holder. You know, instead of just passing it tape to tape. He's always trying to do something too fancy. I don't know. Can Sheldon get that

out of his game by christmas the new year wouldn't you love him the way he's not try it did anaheim not try it did minnesota but it's tough to sell when the team isn't good you know and like anaheim and minnesota they didn't if you can show him you're gonna play a lot lot here, you're going to get your opportunity, you don't have to do too much. I don't know. You need a good game out of him to point to and say, do that. That's what we need. Just one of those.

Speaking of the blue line, let's run a quick clip on Sheldon talking about Simone Benoit. Sure. Yeah, he was really good. What I liked, big guy that got in the way, closed space quickly. You know, he's got good mobility and can, I say, close that space, and then he does it physically. You know, he comes in, he finishes the play, finishes the check.

You know, he had very simple puck movement, just got it on and off his stick, got it out of our zone, moved it up. Played a pretty simple game, but did it effectively. Gave us really good minutes and ended up helping on the penalty kill too, giving us minutes there. For a guy that hasn't played a lot

and missed a lot of camp, being a new guy here, I thought he did a really nice job. Both he and Lackeson here now have given us lots. Yeah, I agree with Sheldon because the Benoit I watched in training camp. No, I was concerned about him getting into games. Completely agree. Last night, on Monday, he's 15 minutes, three hits, two shots, plus one. Thanks, pal.

Who was the pro scout that was like, try LeJoy over Benoit first? I don't know. That was weird. That was strange, wasn't it? Yeah, it's like, you know, LeJoy is a serviceable AHL guy, and he's been around, but it's like, maybe you should have just gone to the guy who played in the NHL for 70 games last year.

I had had someone tell me that LeJoy is basically, like, very similar style of player, which to me, maybe they're just trying to do the plug-in play thing, but Lilligren was not the style you want him to be anyway. No. He's a good player in his own right, but you would prefer if he's someone who could put someone through the glass like I assume Benoit can.

Who knows? It would be a great find if this guy can be serviceable and kill penalties. And I like Lagasin too. Yeah, you like him because he tries to crush guys. That's exactly it. And I know a ton of Leaf fans. It's a popular take. They're like, oh, Lagasin.

And all you need to do is hit a guy two times a game, and Dumbo Leaf fans like me are like, this guy's trying out there. I'd still wear a Labushkin jersey if I could. He was like my favorite Leaf since we've been doing this show. A little physicality goes a long way with Leafs Nation, boys. It really does. So I still love the cape. Big challenges the rest of the week.

Leafs Ottawa tonight. Friday, a Calgary team that may feel the best they have since the season started with a win last night. And Vancouver Saturday. So Joseph Wall will go tonight. Yep. Right decision for you guys. night and Vancouver Saturday. So Joseph Wall will go tonight. Right decision for you guys. Obviously with Sammy where he...

Where Samsonov is right now. Pick your poison. Friday or Saturday night. Wall's not playing all three of these games. To me, you gotta go with him against the better team. You have to go Friday night, Got to play. Wall's not playing all three of these games. To me, you got to go with him against the better team. Wall against the better team? Yes.

You have to go Friday night, Samsonov. You can't. I saw him against a good team on Monday night, and it didn't end well. And I'm sure that is still in Sheldon Keefe's head. And to me, you got to go with the, you treat him as the backup right now, and he starts, I guess, the Babs way, was it?

The other way Babs would put the way? Babs would put the starter. Babs would let you get a win. Starter no matter what in the first half of the back-to-back, and you go to the – so maybe he does that, but I would be going with Wall against the Canucks. All right, let's go to Sheldon Keefe on Samsonov, and I think we've asked him this probably a couple of times since the beginning of the season, but how can he help Stamson off?

Putting in the work. It's the only way to get through it is to continue to work the consistency. I mean, we talked about consistency in all areas of the game, but I think at the goaltending position, I don't think there's an area more technical that requires a precision and consistency and a plan is that. So let's just continue to work on that foundation and go back to that. If it kind of stretches out here for another couple of weeks could you contemplate

uh any scenario where samsonov goes down to the marlies for two weeks and jones comes up does he always be conditioning you could put him down there for two weeks conditioning and that's if jones have to re-clear waivers at that point i don't think so if you clear i don't think so i don't know is that the case no just if it's a conditioning stint it's probably different than on emergency basis or whatever yeah yeah and i don't even know what that does for the cap it may not they may not be in a position where they can do it i believe that if he goes down on a conditioning stint, his money stays on the cap. Okay.

So I don't know if they have room to bring up Jones, who makes, I would imagine, the minimum. Something, I think. $750. Is that it? $850. Yeah. But I'm not saying that Samsonov's anywhere near Campbell's situation, but 8.75.

8.75. I don't know if they can add that or not. Yeah, if you have to keep Samsonov, then yeah. But if he needs a bit of a break, it's not a bad idea. I think we and the Leafs and Samsonov and all that are just making too big a deal out of a bit of a rocky start for the guy. Himself included. It's more than a bit, though.

I have it bigger than a bit. It's been six games. He hasn't played that much. JB, you know what, too? I almost agree with you except the way I see him handling it. Right. That's me as a bigger concern. But that's what I'm talking about is like, hey,

it's like telling your wife to relax. It doesn't work. No, exactly. I can confirm. His numbers are bad. Especially when it's followed up with, I know what I'm doing. Yeah, I know. Right?

So, you see him come off. You see the body language. Like, here you are. Slamming a helmet. Slamming the helmet. Even later on in the game, I think the camera panned to him a little bit. And, you know, he's not picking up the vibe that i'll get him next time and let's what a what a great comeback for you know i'm i'm on the same train as you to this comeback

and let's all feel good about it but he he separated himself the moment he came in and slammed his helmet to the bench he separated himself from the rest of the team. Yeah. You know, part of me wonders how much of this would be different if he had signed some longer-term deal, like this whole bet-on-yourself thing. This is actually a bit of a problem culturally with... Fred VanVleet. No, everyone's like, I should bet on myself. And it's like, take the millions.

God, Fred, it really worked for Fred. Yeah, Fred cashed in. And some people cash in. Lots of people like Klingberg don't. And sometimes. So for Samsonov, if he had a four-year deal, would it be this big a deal? I'm not even, I don't even think it was out there.

So it was not even. Well, I'm sure the Leafs would have given him more than one, no? I don't know factually. Well, maybe we'll ask Elliot. Maybe he would have more insight on that. I think it was always set up where the Leafs liked him enough to bring him back, but they didn't like him enough to make the commitment. And right now, it doesn't look like a bad decision. No, and taking him to arbitration looks like a good one too,

saying we're going to squeeze this guy for every nickel we can to make sure you know we're not paying jack campbell salary type of thing so yeah well uh you'll be interesting to watch a it would be dramatic i think though for his confidence too to send him to the marley's conditioning or not it's a big statement publicly right in this market to send him down. Yeah, I don't know what that would do to him. Would it sink him deeper, right? Or would it be a relief for him for at least a little while? You can't tell me, listen, Jack Campbell, of course, cleared waivers today, but you can't tell me there's a part of him that doesn't say,

God, I'm just so happy to be out of that environment for five minutes so i can breathe do the leafs still have that greg hardy on staff the performance you think they'd ever give us a performance coach to talk to and ask them how they manage this stuff not a snowball's chance in hell i'll just text brad and ask maybe r will let us. Yeah. A new era. Maybe Tree will come on himself and break it down. Get Tree. Brendan Shanahan. We haven't heard from him in a while. Yeah.

All right. No chance. Send some texts. Not me. Sammy's the producer. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

I'll text him with my phone. Fair enough. All right. Let's go to Sheldon one more time on facing the Ottawa Senators. First of all, Ottawa teams always bring their best against us, so regardless of what's happening with them, that's what we'd expect.

But in terms of what they've been going through, and not unlike us, trying to find a win and put together a good game, their schedule probably couldn't have lined up any better than it has. And at practice time they haven't played games they're hunkered down at the hotel to avoid you guys here to stay focused and be ready so we're expecting their best no doubt austin matthews 43 points in 29 career

games versus the senators 23 goals in 29 games number Number one. Yeah. And your boy, Mitch Marner, two assists shy of becoming the seventh player in franchise history with 400 career assists of the Leafs. Yeah. That's a lot of assists already. What is he, 25? Yeah, it's absurd. 400 of them. These guys, if they are Leafs their entire career, will have all the records.

Like, there's no question. They're both going to be the all-time leading scorers. Really hot take for me. Just win a few more rounds here we go it's a fair point if they win a championship everyone's going to love those records if they don't they're going to go what could have been let's let's go to break yeah let's hit the break there bud all right all right so i'll let you relish in a great individual performances. Is that okay? Yes.

No. Hey, listen, if we don't care about the regular season, this show is really in trouble. Boys. I T just offered me a new phone. If I can get over there before five.

So I might rip it. No, you're not excused. You don't have a note to leave class. Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. Maybe we'll get you a

note during the break all right uh what do we have brent wallace after the break we're gonna talk more on the battle of ontario stick around the real kipper and born show your daily dose of everything nfl it's the fan Checkdown with Matt Marchese and Donovan Bennett. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back into the Real Kipper and Boren Show. Take a deeper dive into the Battle of Ontario. Let's welcome in Brent Wallace, co-host alongside Jason York,

who we know well here on the show, and Bobby Ryan coming in hot. The Sens podcast. Brent, how are you? Thanks for joining us. Anytime, Kipper. This is different. I'm used to interviewing you.

No, not really. This will be a first. Well, you guys do a terrific job out there, and we're glad you're aboard here. Let's just kind of reset this whole battle of Ontario. It kind of disappeared for a very long time. An Ottawa Senator team that has not made the playoffs in six years coming in tonight with all this this new hyped up talent uh some of them

amongst the best in the league and yet Brent I gotta be honest with you man I'm not feeling it tonight based on I don't know Ottawa being four and six or sitting at the bottom of the east like what is going on here why why is it uh why is it feel so down right now in Ottawa? So, Kipper, I'm listening to your show early on, and it looks like you guys are trying to manufacture some kind of drama in Toronto. And for us, that's called Tuesday in Ottawa. That's the problem. There's always something going on, and it's usually off ice.

And I feel for Michael Anlauer since he's taken over because he got the team late, wasn't able to make changes in the offseason and now we're seeing just drama after drama. Finally, they've made the decision to replace Pierre Dorian. That does have a ripple effect, as you guys know. I know it doesn't immediately impact the room

but it does have just all the outside distraction that comes with it. Shane Pinto, the suspension as well. And they're just not very good defensively. This is no secret. They've been this way since DJ Smith took over. I don't even know why we call it the Battle of Ontario anymore because it's just two games.

It's just a game between two teams. There's really no fire, it feels like, between these two clubs at the moment. Not when you played. So what is the number one, I guess, overhanging drama with the Senators team? Is it the coaching situation? Because, you know, we've talked about, before the show, we were like,

were there rumors that Patrick Waugh was seen in Ottawa yesterday? Like, it always seems like something's happening. Is the coaching thing front and foremost today? Ottawa can't get out of its own way it's amazing to me how much drama there is and they didn't even do anything about it like they nobody caused this just somebody made a rumor i'm not sure yet that patrick waugh was in kanata okay i'm working to to confirm this but there's now a movement afoot to say that wasn't him So hopefully I'll find out by the end of tonight. You know what, Brent, just to confirm,

I've talked to two or three different people. They believe that that wasn't the case either. And somehow, some way this thing grew legs, but no one is really confirmed it with me either. Like, let's just think about this for a second. The team is in massive turmoil and you think you're going to just have Patrick Waugh come in and hang

out at one of the places that most people know in Ottawa to have a lunchtime meal and nobody's going to notice? I mean, let's use our head a little bit. I know the food is good there, but Patrick Waugh is not flying in just to have Nutella pizza.

Nutella pizza? I better go there. Oh, it's so good. Yeah, no, it's, anyway, sidetrack. Yes, no. Okay, so then the coaching thing is obviously one of the dramas here, but it doesn't seem like that would have reached the players necessarily, would it?

Like, I'm trying to make sense of like where ottawa's players are at i know brady kachuk had made his comments about the fans booing and all that but it does feel the kippers point that things are just in disarray that's basically what it is i think it just feels almost rudderless at this point people are just waiting for change we knew that there was likely going to be a change at gm although i don't think they wanted to make it this quick. So now Steve Stahos is the interim GM. He's got to find a GM, but he's also battling a team that's almost out of it. And they just started November. This is a team that has the worst record in the month of November, I think in the last four years. And they're out of it by the time November ends. And so they've got to figure out a way to get on track. On paper, like you mentioned, Kipper,

this is a really good team up front forward wise the problem is they can't defend um so back to your point justin they they need to figure out a coaching decision and i don't mean firing dj smith i think generally dj smith is good at what he does i just don't understand how this many straight years in a row you can be this bad defensively and not do something about it as far as defense is concerned ultimately the best defense is when you have the puck and we look at this lineup and we saw josh josh norris come back scored the two goals and it just seemed like wow now it's like trading for a front-line guy for the Ottawa Senators. There's Stutzel.

There's Batherson. Like, do they not have the puck enough in the last two weeks to kind of curtail some of the defensive woes? No. Because you look at Edmonton. Edmonton outshoots Vancouver, whatever it was, 17-7 or more, and they're down. It's that simple that they need to figure

out a way to get out of their own end and get up the ice. Yes, they can all score, but they don't have the puck enough, and that's the problem. You've got to figure out a way to transition. You've got to figure out a way to get out of your own end. I will give them a slight excuse, and I hate using injuries, but they were down three of their top five D,

and Thomas Chabot's still out. Artem Zub should be back tonight to face the Leafs. Those are huge holes for this group. Well, yeah, and when you're trying to make strides, those are massive losses. You know, what about some bright spots for the Sens team? You know, things started on such a positive note. They get off to what was a three-in-one start,

you know, new ownership, a lot of talent within the lineup. Who or what has really lived up to expectations in the early going? You start at Brady Kachuk. Regardless of whatever his point total is, what he does on the ice and how he runs this team, he's by far always been the best player

and the most important piece on that team. I think Jacob Chikrin has been outstanding. Ridley Gregg, who's a rookie who's now out of the lineup for a couple of weeks at least, he was really good filling in for Josh Norris and then obviously for Shane Pinto. But Shane Pinto, sorry, Josh Norris, since he's come back, has looked really, really good. They can't figure out what to do with Vladimir Tarasenko at the moment. He's currently, if you look at it, on the third line with Dominic Kubelik and Rourke Chartier.

I don't know if that sits well with a 40-goal score, but right now Matthew Joseph has played extremely well. He's now on that second line with Jaru and Stutzla tonight. Up front, they've got some really good pieces, but the Vladimir Tarasenko thing didn't make sense to me when they did it, and it doesn't make sense to me now they don't need a third line guy who can score 40 they need someone who can defend and score 20 we're talking to brent wallace we're talking ottawa senators brady kachuk came out very emotional uh the other day and uh i don't know what the term is i don't want to say that he gave it to the ottawa fans but it was a stern message of

hey cool your jets here and just take a deep breath if if i can paraphrase uh maybe a a moment out of carrie price's career dealing with the uh montreal canadian fans uh is this just the impatience of a of a group of fans right now that have waited six long years. They get their billionaire owner, and it's like that shines off now. Is there entitlement going on with Ottawa fans that they just say, this is an Ottawa team destined for the playoffs this year? So they've been told for basically two years that this was going to be a playoff team, that this,

this is it guys. We've put you through health long enough. Now you're going to have a chance to compete for a playoff spot. Then for, well, two straight years, but basically four straight years, they've been out of it by November.

They made a slight run last year and finished six points out of a playoff spot. But by then, you know what it's like, Nick, at the end of the year, when the points don't really matter to teams who are out of it they start to play easier and they played a little bit better this team and these fans so the fans have been through enough and they they just want a

competitive team they keep being told they're competitive and they're saying they've taken enough of the you're not showing up at games you're not doing this you're not doing well you know what they've done so much and sat through so much nonsense that they deserve a break. And right now they're like, we don't want to go through this again. We don't want to see this team out of it by November. And being four and six and last in the East is not acceptable for this group. Now, I don't think they're booing the players off the ice. This whole thing is a little bit skewed.

I just think they're trying to say, listen, seen enough we want some kind of change just let us see something that we can hold on to here and one of those they're just trying to voice their displeasure about dj smith to be honest or the coaching staff i should say yeah and i get the idea of just like when it's not coming for you and you've been promised that it is, being frustrated and just wanting something to change, how much of this looks better, including DJ Smith and the performance there, if Korpisalo is a 9-15 save percentage instead of a 9-0-2? And it's funny you say that because there are times he looks brilliant and he's kept the team in it.

And then there's other times you're like, oh, I think you should have probably had that one. So I agree with you. Look, you show me a really good team and I'm sure there's a really good goaltender, right? And so look at Edmonton. We don't have to look very far to see how things can go sideways without goaltending. If Ottawa had outstanding goaltending, then some of this might be covered up. But right now, they just don't have enough of that.

So they're thin on the blue line they're thin down the middle of the ice without shane pinto and for a while it was josh norris they need some kind of spark like i i know brady's just trying to say listen we're all in this together the words may not have been perfect and i i think we've probably blown them out of proportion a bit but he just wants everybody. We'll work our ass off. We just want you to help us be supportive at the same time, and we'll get through this. I don't know what they do.

That's the problem. Brent, as far as Jake Sanderson is concerned, there's nobody on this planet that thinks he's not destined to have a great career here. But what are we seeing out of him now that we didn't necessarily see to start the season out of the gate? Well, interesting because he's played so well either with Jacob Chikorin or Artem Zub, mostly with Zub, and then Zub goes down.

Zub goes down, by the way, and the Ottawa Senators are 1-5. I'm not saying he's a team MVP, but he should probably be – someone should buy him a dinner. Because apparently he's that good right now for this club. And so we'll see tonight if they get back together, which they should be, how well Jake Sanderson plays. But I think the patience and the

game that Artem Zub plays allows Jake Sanderson to be more up front, more up the ice, and be able to take a gamble or a risk here and there. Sanderson's been very, very good. But guys, he's only played a year. I think he's played maybe,

I think it's less than 90 games career-wise. He's got to settle in. And they always say D takes a long time to find your way. He's not perfect. As many as 180, 200 games to really understand the position at the NHL level. I did. No, go ahead, Brent. 180, 200 games to really understand the position at the NHL level. No, go ahead, Brent.

I just want to, like, Jake Sanderson just needs a little bit of time to breathe. He's logging a lot of minutes, obviously, because of the injury to Thomas Chabot. But Sanderson, he will be very good. I think he's right now overworked. One guy I did want to ask about, and just the last one for me, is on Dominic Kubelik, who, you know, obviously came over in a trade this year. And, you know, I haven't noticed him when I've watched Sens games.

What's he done so far? I could be flipping and go, do you know his number? Because I'd be the same thing. Honest to God, I don't. I mean, I'm looking. I guess it's 81, but I didn't know that until I look now. And that's kind of sarcastic. But, no, you're right. I get the idea.

He hasn't done much, but I don't know what we're expecting him to do. So, again, I think he would have been perfect if they had left him as a second-line winger for this club instead of brought in Tarasenko. And then you would have people on the bottom six who could defend, who could also score goals in a smaller manner, if you will. But at least they need a good third checking line. Dominic Kubelik isn't that answer with Vladimir Tarasenko and Rourke Chartier.

And so until they can figure that out, I don't know what the point is or what they're expecting from Dominic Kubelik, but at $2.5 million on the third line, it's just not a fit. Hey, Brent, really appreciate your time. Enjoy the game tonight and say hi to our good buddy

uh Yorkie there on your uh your podcast coming in hot thanks guys take care thanks man appreciate it Brent Wallace out of Ottawa so there's always two sides to every story. I liked Brady Kachuk's kind of emotional we're sticking together here. We're not quitting on you message. And at the same time, there's a new owner

in Michael and Lauer gone. Hey, don't mess too much with our season ticket holders here or the people that are paying our freight here because it is kind of sensitive right now. But you know what? Brady Kachuk is a little bit, oh, man, I can't even use the word. It's a little bit like Trump in that.

Oh, no. It's too polarized. Here's what I mean by that. Is that people who like him will accept whatever he is, right? He's brash and he's confident. People are like, I like that. People who like Brady Kachuk, that's not going to make them not like Brady Kachuk. Boys, I leave the studio for ten minutes.

It's an example of people who are who they are unapologetically. And I think people will see that Brady Kachuk is who Brady Kachuk is. And he's not careful. It's an example of people who are who they are unapologetically. And I think people will see that Brady Kachuk is who Brady Kachuk is, and he's not careful. Okay, I don't even know what you said, because I'm seeing Sammy come into the studio with a new cup of coffee. Did you stop and get a coffee? It was sitting outside. Is that the same one?

Yes, it was outside the door. Coming into the meeting 15 minutes late with a Starbucks? You don't know. Somebody could have messed with it. You into the meeting 15 minutes late with a Starbucks. You don't know. Somebody could have messed with it. Well, yeah. You don't take an open beer at a bar. Well, is that the phone you got? Yes.

Did you get another mini phone? No, it's big. I don't think it is. It's bigger. Yeah, no, I started to derail the conversation. I thought I'd sneak in there. No, it's good that you did. I was dying on the vine.

I would have ripped you a new one, man, if you stopped and got a coffee. No. And didn't get us one. I came straight back, and I grabbed my coffee from outside. But judging by the state of the fridges around this place, maybe I should have been more careful. Oh, boy. All right, just to finish up our thought on the Ottawa Senators.

Yes. All I can hear right now from the Ottawa fanwa fan base is tick, tick, tick, tick. And it's like, I don't know what they're expecting in the next little while. DJ Smith is not going anywhere anytime soon. You don't think so? No. Well, then how about this? Maybe they're waiting for a GM to be hired or something.

No, that's not happening either. Buddy, Brent Wallace just used the word rudderless about the team. They're looking for leadership. They're looking for something. Just look at... Brady Kachuk telling you to shut up? Claude Giroux. Look at Jacob Chikrin.

Okay, those are your leaders. And that's really all you have here. So if you're freaking out at four and six, and say they lose tonight, take a look at their next four or five games here. I think they've got Vancouver coming in. I think they've got Calgary coming in. A lot of Canadian content.

Are they going to disappear on Michael Anlauer in the back half of the season if they think they're missing the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year? Here's what I know about this Senators team compared to the old Senators team. I don't think they'd show up. But this is a watchable team, even if they're not. Like, this is an exciting team. You know what? The sense I get is they don't care.

They don't care. Everyone would care, right? It's Kachuk and Norris and Bathurst and Stutzler and Giroux. Then why are they screaming for DJ's head right now? Because they believe they're a contender. And they're so far below expectations. Which is why teams manage expectations. Once they understand they're not a contender,

are they going to be happy enough to say, hey, we got some really good talent. I'm going to still go spend $200 for me and my kid to go watch them. Or are they going to say, you know what? I was sold a bill of goods two years ago. I'm not going. I mean, that's a great question about which one it will be. But I think it's a very different Senators team than the ones that have been promised in the past.

Whether they're going to make the playoffs this year or not, they have the promise of success ahead still, given the age of the talent on the roster. So hopefully that's enough to keep people bought in. I will stick to my preseason prediction of... You had them deep. No. No? Yeah. In the playoffs.

I had them missing playoffs, and that was unpopular. My prediction was that they would, the Leafs would be the number one seed in the Atlantic division, and the Ottawa Senators would be the eighth seed, and they would play in the first round of the playoffs, reigniting the battle of Ontario. Sorry, you think the Leafs are going to win the Atlantic? That was my preseason prediction.

And you're sticking with it? No. Oh, okay. But I would say that, I said a lot of this during the, before the season that, you know, there's a lot of smoke blowing up this course, but for someone, a team that's never made 90 points. And I would like to see them make 90 points. Those were good tweets by you.

People saying how the Sens are better than the Leafs. You're like, yeah, get 90 points and then we'll chit chat. I didn't really go down, though, whether they make the playoffs or not kind of scenario. Howard, you didn't? I don't think I was ever asked. And the key is not to answer, not to volunteer if you're not asked.

That's so true. But I tell you what i did go uh on record with is i did not like corpora sallow yeah you're all over that not a fan nhl contracts like when you want a goalie it's scary because you can't you're not allowed to give anyone 10 million we're told right hellebuck didn't take the big number you can't give anyone term because you just never know i mean mean, who's safe in net? Just Durkin's like the only guy you trust? Demko?

Maybe Sorokin. So what do they got? You know, the 11th game of the season for Ottawa. Nobody dubs anything, must win. But I get the sense there's a really big swing here from going 5-6 or 4-7 tomorrow morning for the Ottawa Senators. What about, well, you're right. You wake up 4-7 after losing in Toronto.

Things are different. I agree with that. The Leafs, it's not a small game for them either, given how dire things were getting prior to their comeback there last game. So this is big. It was rather bleak after the first period of Monday night. It was. Not much talk about another game at home where you're giving up

like four or five goals, you know? W. W. All right. Just like that. Our thanks to Brent Wallace in this hour. When we come back, we go national. And we got PJ Stock. You don't want to miss that.