Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Playing the Pushing Penguins

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a look ahead at tonight's Leafs' game against the surging Penguins and how Pittsburgh has been able to pull themselves back into the playoff picture. Then, on the Leafs' 4-2 win over the Habs on Saturday and Keefe's brand-new set of lines. Are the Leafs running out of time to solidify line pairings before playoffs? Later, Penguins radio analyst Phil Bourque (32:11) on Pittsburgh's late-season climb, Bunting's impact, Karlsson rising at the right time and Nedeljkovic playing his way out of Pittsburgh's price range.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

welcome into the real kipper and born show early jay's home opener edition of our show 2 p.m yeah but not thrilled with this sammy yeah i. I don't even know who the voice in my ears was. Was that Derek? Like, I don't even know what's going on. We're all of the sorts. Okay, it is Derek. Okay, good. All right.

Derek Brandeo. Good. And for David Siss-Boomba is our good man, Jimmy Wilson. Jimmy Willie. Jimmy Willie in the building. Nick Kiprios. Justin Bourne with you for the next two hours. We're getting getting going here

we're getting ever so close to the eclipse handful of games what is with the eclipse here like I walked in not that I'm totally oblivious but I'm like are we in the witness protection program

all the shades down and it's like that's for the eclipse like it's that dangerous but I'm like, are we in the witness protection program? All the shades drawn on the building, yeah. And it's like, that's for the eclipse? Like, it's that dangerous that every blind in the building has to be pulled down? To prevent people like you from doing the Donald Trump where you're like looking through your fingers at it. Just, yeah, we need to keep everyone from,

save everyone from themselves. So, it's cloudy. Are people actually going to see it here? No, it's going to suck. It's such a disappointment. But you brought glasses. I did. I'm going to run out of break.

I love this stuff. It sucks, but you brought glasses. Well, you never know. I didn't know it would suck. The plan was for there to be an opening at some point to get to see this phenomenon. You know, this is a very exciting time. People chase this stuff all over the globe

to get to see you know to be in the path of totality it's a big day who are these people chasing borny i would i but this is going to make me a chaser being in here doing a hockey show while it's out there is going to make me a chase so it is serious if you look it could blind you and yet you put your uh your trust in like 27 cents glasses yes piece of film that is gonna save me who made them from where these glasses are god only knows but you're gonna trust these things i yeah i'm gonna man i i believe i believe in this thing you know so let me get this we're gonna let you go. Sammy and I will carry on. You go out there. I'll take you out on that. Absolutely.

But I will say, like, why does the world need to stop? Because the sun's covered for two minutes? Well, to be in the path of totality, wherever it is you live, it won't happen again until like 2180 or something for it to actually. So it's super rare. Okay. And it's just a remarkable thing to be reminded of your place in the cosmos, to see the actual moon, which is 400 times smaller than the sun, but it's 400 times closer than us, so it's able to cover it up perfectly.

I mean, animals don't know how to react. It's going to be unbelievable. So I got on the subway. I came in earlier because my whole routine, like I'm like a starting pitcher, boys. I got my routine. I got everything. Everything's thrown off. We're starting at 2.

I got on the subway at like 9.30 this morning. Empty. Dystopian. Oh, yeah. The kids didn't go to school today. No, it's like dystopian out there. There's no one in the building. All the suits are at home with their glasses on.

It's crazy, boys. Just writing emails with their glasses on. It's crazy. Just came through a pandemic that shut the world down. Now we need this to shut it down every day? Well, if they shut it down every 175 years, we're going to live. Well, the Jays aren't shutting it down. Ah, let's go.

I got it. The Leafs aren't shutting down. I've been in big trouble with the Jays' Twitter this weekend. Have you been following Sam on Twitter? Holy crap. I know he's not happy with Vladdy. No, but he's making everyone mad. You know why?

Because he's calling it making everyone mad you know why because he's calling it like he sees it well ricky romero who is by all accounts one of the nicest guys in the world ratioed me on the weekend because you crapped all over vladdy yeah because he struck out a huge spot yet again horrible at bat three pitches and he smiles like he's prime and strikes him prime sandy kofax striking him out on three of the best pitches he couldn't hit a pitch with a bow door you know it's a very hockey sensibility to see a guy in a big moment make light of it and and then you got to be reminded it's baseball they play a hundred million games every day i'm a fan i know but

you can't drag the hockey mentality into the baseball world this is what these guys do and then I got and then I was you know Damien Cox was getting after me

about my Reeves fight video I was just getting killed on the internet there was another one I don't know somebody else was making fun of Mike and Bob

he was mad at me because I put up a video of my wife's video of Reeves fighting and he was pissed off about the fights just like god I'm a controversial figure He's mad at me because I put up a video of my wife's video of Reeves fighting, and he was pissed off about the fights. Just like, God, I'm a controversial figure.

I didn't know I was so provocateur. I'm a provocateur. Anything of the things you said that you said in most company, people are like, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Anyways. Leafs. I can't say anything on Twitter anymore i don't have become like sam

no no no sammy's like just lead us sammy yeah i don't i got no take all the punches for us we're fine with that kip the pittsburgh penguins right in a game that has huge playoff implications for the pittsburgh penguins who were dead and buried a month ago and now like the paddles clear clear dr dubas i mean bringing them back from the the depth sure yeah it doesn't have anything to do with the uh flyers and capitals losing a combined 13 games in a row but it's it's it's the worst thing i've ever seen we're just nobody wants it oh man nobody wants it well pittsburgh is implying they want it the islanders have won a few in a row you know boys well listen someone's got to get in and the islanders are winning penguins are winning too so we should should talk about Saturday night a little bit.

We will. We will. Okay. For sure. Which kind of coincides with what I'm about to kind of say to you guys is that with the Pittsburgh Penguins come in much like the Florida Panthers came in last year where they're life and death.

So they already have that mentality, that playoff win and fight another day, lose and out mentality. This is a huge advantage psychologically tonight for the Pittsburgh Penguins coming in already in that mode. And the Leafs are sitting there. And the Leafs have won like they did Saturday night but if you ask me did we see any intensity over 60 minutes no did we see a solid 60 minutes out of them in the last few games no just enough to get by. Just enough to win.

Just enough to say that the other team's goalie was dog crap. I think that's a harsh rebuke or review of how the Leafs have been playing. I'm not convinced in the last week that they played 60 solid minutes of hockey. Well, I guess that Panthers third period, they took their foot off the gas in the third period so that's fair yeah i don't know the canadians do you want them to do more than they did i'm just saying though i'm seeing pittsburgh i'm seeing other teams have a real strong sense of hey tonight we're ready we're ready and i'm just, is that an advantage? Yeah. I can see it. I do think the Leafs have this sort of unsettled roster

and personnel decisions on the back end that has made games feel important. Like guys are still being evaluated and the lines are still being evaluated. You know, and they're winning some games. They're experimental games. Yeah, they're not the same as like do or die. They're not. Yeah, you're not coming in with games. Yeah. They're not the same as like do or die. They're not.

Yeah. You're not coming in with like. Yeah. Now, is that going to be. Who needs tonight more? It's Pittsburgh. Yeah. It's the understatement of the century right there.

They, they need. So I could see that. This was, you know, we've all had our thoughts on Dubas. I would say Kipper and I and Bunkus more so than you, I would say. I think he's a good GM. This is a very high stakes game for a lot of people's stakes. Yeah. Because, you know, I thought a lot of people buried the Penguins,

and rightfully so, because they were done. And they got hot, and other teams crapped the bed ahead of them. Yeah. And I find myself having a hard time rooting against them, as much as I should want to root against them, and I'll root against them tonight, clearly. But this Sid story and this Nadalkovich story and this, you know, Malkin and Letang,

it's all vintage of them pulling them back into it. This is the ideal scenario for, like, the league. To have this team getting in there red hot, maybe give the first- team like it's a great storyline but god i hope they scrub some of my takes like it's a lot of bad things about dubas you could have two wild card teams of tampa bay and pittsburgh who have been red hot you know late march through april taking on the rangers the Bruins, which those are pretty close series to me. Pittsburgh has beat the Lightning, the Capitals, the Devils,

the Rangers in their last four games. Before that, had beat Columbus and Carolina. Yeah, they're on a roll here. Big picture, though, is you don't particularly like their team. They're not getting any younger this summer or next October. Oh, they intend to. Whether they do, you know, I don't know how, but they intend to. Listen, you can do anything you want.

As long as you still think that Malkin, Letang, and Crosby are your horses moving forward and they have to carry the bulk of it, it's not a winning formula but yeah today it's it's enough to get them back into a playoffs race yeah that's what we call it and i will say the underlying numbers have said that pittsburgh has been unlucky a lot of the year two teams create more expected goals than them in the league colorado and edmonton um they're pretty average defensively but it's not a terrible team all together so yes the penguins are an interesting foe for the leafs tonight so oh go ahead you know you go ahead i was just gonna ask you guys what you thought of the new look lines on saturday night yeah yeah okay so we'll get into the leafs as well and

uh certainly enough to beat the montreal canadians and enough to beat the Montreal Canadians and enough to... Swept them this year. Move forward. Love that. They're not the only team, are they? No. That swept Montreal? Yeah. No.

Hey, how was being a LaCentra Belle? Oh, yeah. Great experience. Hippie was at the game. I was at the game. Kind enough to have Scotiabank, Fly Myself, Curtis Joseph, and Doug Gilmore out with about 35 clients.

I was babysitting. I called them 35 Sammies because they all love the Leafs and diehards. And it was a great 24 hours. So unfortunately that Montreal is sitting where they're sitting because we love a Montreal Canadian playoff team that can bring that history into a Stanley Cup scenario. It hasn't happened for them lately, but it still didn't take away a pretty good vibe Saturday night. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I can't imagine it's a bad experience in that building against the Leafs any night, but, you know, unfortunately there wasn't a whole ton of pushback from the Habs. But enough out of them. I thought there's no question. Deeper team, better team, bigger stars. All of it came through. Just seemed like, again, maybe where they are

and what they want to go through and the fact that he's not pushing on Marner to play 22 minutes. I think he ended up with 17. Austin probably over 20. Maybe that might have been too much. Maybe 21. Maybe that was below 20. Was it below 20 for Austin as well?

So outside of that, it just seemed like, okay, what are the lines are going to look like here moving forward and And the spread out. Is this legit? We've seen him call out lines before owning it ever get to them to having small windows where they stay together and then always fall back on the old reliable. Is this what he's going to cruise into by game one. Well, you know, first off, I think it's good that he didn't just revert back immediately to having Marner on the line with Matthews. The interesting point, too, is like, they didn't score in the first period

and didn't have much going, and he didn't just, like, panic revert. He kind of gave him a little time to stick with it. Yeah, easy to do against the Canadians on a Saturday night in a meaningless game, but game two against the panthers when you're down a game and down a few goals might be a different story but you're right yeah i think playoffs it's you're justified to the quick button push for sure let's not let something play out too

long percent but no i i think i was pleasantly surprised by how good mcmahon looked with tavaris and marner and i think marner and mcmahon to me is actually a good mix just with the speed of mcmahon and his ability to get to the middle of the ice and his passing from marner like that pass he makes yeah like to mcmahon on that on that goal i just i like something there yeah let's talk with someone about how you know great players who really make something out of their line mates tavarez peak tavarez on long island was wonderful for you know pageau and oposo and molson and all these wingers bailey that he really elevated um you know marner is a guy who's done that he's done that for

tavarez when he got to toronto done it for matthews you know a guy like mcmahon would really benefit from getting an extra couple looks a game for mitch marner it's like to me you you know a guy like mcmahon would really benefit from getting an extra couple looks a game for mitch marner it's like to me you can create a guy with mitch marner turn 20 goal scoring bobby mcmahon or whatever into a 30 goal guy so i like that line quite a bit and tavarez mcmahon as a pair have good underlying numbers every time they've played together they've done really well so could be a fit oh yeah i don. I'm not a huge fan of it. Of that line. They can win me over for sure,

but I don't have a great vibe for that line in the second hole. What don't you like? I just, I like McMahon, but for me, a very straight line guy. For sure. Which means that Mitch has got to hit him at the right time um we'll see if he tries to add more of a puck handling dimension to his game they're a puck possession mitch is a puck possession guy i'm not sure where tavaris sits on that to me tavaris either is six feet into the blue paint or he's taking a 40 foot wrist

shot from outside he's taking a lot of those this year so who do you want Mitch to play with who works for Mitch I think ultimately I I would lean towards Domi Matthews and Marner in the Stanley Cup playoffs and I'm not sure um I'm not sure if that's going to happen and I could be wrong and they could be great. But I think you need two dynamic guys on a number one line and

you know can Max hold himself with Matthews? That to me will dictate everything else. I don't know how many games it's been now with Domi there in that spot, but he's really, to me, he's like a different player than he was in November. You know, you guys listen to me come in and complain about him turning pucks over and not being on the D side of pucks.

He doesn't do that anymore. He's brought an easier element to his game. He's not forcing anything. He's brought an easier element to his game. He's not forcing anything. He's assessing situations better. Even playing on the right side of the puck most of the time. I know it's not his natural whatever, but he's really taken to it. When the chips are down, though, will they be able to hold their own inside their own zone?

I don't know. To your point, though, will they be able to hold their own inside their own zone? I don't know. Yeah. But, I mean, that's, to your point, though, I think that's why you would put him with Matthews and Marner because you know that they can hold their own in their own zone. And you can do excellent defensively. Two guys who are really solid defensively, and then you have Max Domi on their side that could be with them.

But, yeah. It changes your options, the look of your lines so much if okay so marner's back with matthews yeah you you know and all of a sudden you've got you're back to two lines essentially in a bottom six where you don't trust necessarily nize holmberg mcmahon or something like that as a as a line so it's it depends how you want to go about it, I suppose. All right, let's kick in Sheldon Keefe for our first Kippers Clipper on the new look lines. I thought they worked well. I mean, it's good to see each of them get on the board.

You know, so that was good. Our game didn't have much flow to it here tonight at all. I don't think I knew the lines. It's just, you know, Montreal played us well tonight. They played hard. They put a lot of pressure on our defense. It was a real struggle to get out of our zone in periods one and three. So we didn't have a lot of flow to our game there.

When we did have flow in that second period, there was lots to like. And I thought we defended well when we needed to once we got the lead. I know we gave up two, but now the two goals come off of, you know, whatever, ten seconds into a penalty kill and one bad shift in that second period. But the third period, a little bit too much time maybe on our half of the ice, but didn't give them very much at all. So I like that, and, you know, you get out of there with a pretty clean win. Yeah, I didn't get much of a sense there how he felt about it.

I felt like he gave them the lip service of... Yeah. I hope Pittsburgh can challenge tonight. Yeah. And to give Sheldon a better chance to see playoff intensity or the real feel like now my

lines are getting pushed here. You know, the Leafs will have that. They got a back-to-back. New Jersey. Is New Jersey still pretending they're in it? I don't know. Yes, they are. They're pretending.

They are? Okay. What is it, five? Points out? Yeah. Yeah, they're five points out. It doesn't look like crazy. Yeah, four games left.

They're cooked. I mean, but yeah, they can lie to themselves and say we get eight points we're you know we're what was that making 70 or 87 now you're done they're done the other they are completely done the other concern for uh uh keith is that you know on that third line of nize homberg and Nylander. Is Willie buying in? Is he really buying in? It's tough, right? This is my line.

These are the guys I'm going to go into the Stanley Cup playoffs with. Holmberg and Nyes. This guy has been either with Tavares or Matthews his whole career. Now he's told he just signed a $92 million contract. We need to have a hunt. You still need to look like a hundred point man, but we're putting you with Holmberg and knives. I'm not buying this. That one kept,

you know, like, have you ever seen him pout? Has he ever been the guy who's been upset about what, what he's, you don't have to pout, but you gotta, you gotta believe and buy into it.

Yeah, that's all. I'm not suggesting that he's gonna pout or take his net and go home but does he buy in that he could be an a lister on this team and play with those two guys yeah yeah no it's it's a fair question they played one game and i didn't think he was great but he played the most on the team among forwards. He was at 20 minutes and 34 seconds, way more minutes than he usually plays. Nyes has seemed to thrive to me out of the Matthews position

where he's against lesser competition, like he can clean up some garbage, you know, that we know Nylander can drive it through, kind of whoever he's with. Holmberg will remain a question mark. Like, you know, he had the one blunder on the second Montreal goalie chases behind.

Yeah. Two guys chasing. Yeah. So, you know, we'll see how that pans out. But I don't know. I guess I'm trying to push for all this because I really think it makes sense for them to have three lines. I think there is something to not losing Willie, but not like in these

games coming up here. I think you'll try it a little bit. But I think there is something to what Kipper's saying. I've lived it, man. He's carried this team offensively at some points this year. They see themselves a certain way. And again, I'm not sitting to tell you that he's going to pout or he's not going to buy in or anything like that.

I'm just saying these are the challenges when you're talking about your front-line guys. Yeah. You know know i think it's a lot easier sell and i get that i know it's a real thing i just think you know willie historically has handled this handled this sort of thing better to me than mitch then austin then tavara's like you don't see any body language change just kind of the same guy was he got bench? I don't know what it was a couple of weeks ago. And he came out the start of the second period. Just like, tell me when it's my turn.

You know, the 92 million, he's going to have a hundred point season. I think it's, you know, I hope that his thinking would be, maybe this isn't ideal for me, but it's the best thing for us.

That's the job of leadership of Keith, whatever of, of selling that to him. Yep. Well said. Where do you want to go? You want to go Martin or you want to go Samsonov? Yeah, let's go Martin.

All right. It's a good clip on Martin. Let's get Sheldon Keefe's thoughts on Mitch Martin returning to the lineup. It was great having him back. There's a few really high-end plays out there that only Mitch can make. So, yeah, it's good to see him. It's good the way the game went, too. You know, we didn't have to tax him too badly,

and we were able to kind of sort of ease him in and reintroduce him to the group and to have a day to, you know, coming off an injury to get through the game is really his main priority, to get through it healthy and feeling good, and just continue to build up his game from here. Have we seen that lines will be the same tonight yep okay yeah listen hindsight the injury the time off

at times we've seen him in playoffs previous playoffs where you go okay that can all recall him flipping the puck over the wall standing still? Remember that one? And not even just over the wall, just into the neutral zone at times. Not looking like himself. Not himself. Right? Not himself. Long season.

Played a lot. Played a lot. Recall 24, 25, 26 minutes some nights in the past. Like none of that is creeping in here with a handful of games left. He should be as fresh as anybody in the past like none of that is is creeping in here with a handful of games left he should be as fresh as anybody in the league and you know whatever you think about uh morgan riley's suspension or injury or whatever not the worst thing that he's had some time to sort of i know he's you know the last couple were due to injury but watch some games in march and maybe let a few things heal and rest up.

Like, the hope is that things are coming together for, you know, these guys with injury. Why don't we listen? Because Jarnkrok and Lilligren, Keefe talked about the possibility of getting those two guys back, which is also working out timing-wise. It's a possibility. It's not rolled out.

There's a chance. Probably it would just be those last two games. That would be a consideration, but it's a chance. Probably it would just be those last two games. That would be in consideration, but it's a possibility. That's the 16th and 17th. The young crook is really... It was a bad one. But he exploded. Yeah, he fell face first hard into the boards.

Do you know what it is, though? No. Did he break something? I don't know, but it didn't look good it was a weird fall was it also his hand was that not an early it was just throwing things at the wall here i don't know i don't know what it is but tough to have a long injury absence come back was it his first game back or second you know and then so it's i don't expect you to get the best of cali iron crock and which is too bad because you had been really coming around on him and liking his game he really uh yeah he

he uh earned more respect out of me for sure and it was well noted on my part yeah i saw a different guy than i saw earlier in his leaf career i just don't know just thought he got his nose a little dirtier he got in there just more attitude less wait till tomorrow's game yeah well hopefully that's the version of him you get back i will just because you moved off of mitch there i just quickly went yeah it's really good you know he's been gone for a while and it's not like i forgot what he brings but like you understand why the power play stunk without him understand why the penalty kill was worse you like the transition plays puck on a stick absence yeah something grow fonder absolutely yeah no it's just something like that well just to just

re-engage people to how important this guy is. Well, they have the puck way more when he's out there, right? Yeah. And if you look, so he's hurt, but let's say he's not. He could be a top 15 scorer in the league or something had he stayed healthy, top 10 even. Top five. Oh, yeah?

Last four years. What's that? Top five total. Total years. Top five guy. Yeah. He's almost been a 100-. Total years. Top five guy. Yeah. He's almost been a 100-point guy. You know, like he probably would have been close again this year.

It's had no other team in the league can roll out what they have when they have Nylander, Matthews, Marner, at least in the Eastern Conference. Like no other team's top end is anywhere near what the Leafs can do. So when he's back, it's a reminder of how much firepower they have. That's nice having him on three separate lines. It is. Nobody can do that.

No. Not even the Panthers. The love Panthers. Tampa, Point, Kucherov, Stamkos. Yeah, Stamkos is, well, how many points has he got? 70? He's not 100. Yeah, and I don't know points numbers.

I know he's got 42 goals, but I don't know what it is. But that to me is the closest comparable. For sure. For sure. I mean, points is unbelievable. I'm not trying to take away from those guys. He has 43 goals this year. Who's that? 43 for Braden Point. Yeah, 85 points. Minus 14. Still bizarre. Where else? Okay,

Samsonov, because it was noted that Montreal got a late goal. They had a little energy going into the third, and I thought the Leafs did a good job, but Samsonov locked it down, which I think is a good sign. Again, it's Montreal. I mean, Montembal was no good.

No. Just no good. No. Just no good. No good. Yeah, it's a tough spot for the Leafs because every time they beat these teams, we're like, ah, Ben, you know, but you're right. It's tough to judge how they played. Why don't we listen to Sheldon because I think at this point we have our game one starter for the playoffs if he's healthy. Yeah, I thought he saw it.

I didn't think we gave up very much at all here tonight. The quality chances were pretty low, generally speaking, and the guys did a pretty good job in front of him that way. But, yeah, I thought he keeps them at two when they get momentum going and all that. I don't think we gave up a ton after, but, you know, you still got to do your job and make sure nothing gets by you, and I thought he did that well for us.

Good enough. He's just one of those guys where if he's feeling good, he looks in control. He looks confident. He's not swimming. And that's the hope you look can carry in the next month or hopefully two. Yeah. And he gets to start tonight. He gets to start tonight.

He does. Before we go to break and get to Phil Bork, why don't we listen to Keith on the pens, on his thoughts. Sam, there's two pens. Is there one you prefer? Let's go with number seven. Derek. You know, each time we've, you know,

been preparing to play Pittsburgh throughout the season, you look at it and see that, you know, they're doing a lot of really good things as a team and it hasn't always, you know, fallen into place for them. But not surprised that they've had a push here with the leadership that they have, you know, on the ice and the culture that they have over there, you know, and it makes a lot of that they have over there, you know,

and it makes a lot of sense. You look at their team and you look at their players, the guys who drive the bus for them, and, you know, it's good to see them making a push and making things very interesting. And, you know, it's a good challenge for us here tonight, but obviously we want to do our part to make it hard on them. Culture. Yeah.

I think if the Leafs can stop them in their tracks tonight, I think it's a statement game for the Leafs. I do, man. I do. I really do. I think it's a psychological thing for them to say, you know what, sorry, Sid, sorry, Kyle. This is the biggest game of the year. This is the biggest game of the year.

We're going to... How is... This is the biggest game of the year. How is... It is. How is... They played a million meaningless games. I'm not going to fall off on you.

I'm not sure if there is one left to go. Yeah. This is the only one that matters. It's just an ego thing. That's all. You're speaking of ego right now. Like, Shani and Dubas are heavily invested into... I don't mind it.

I don't mind it. To me, it to me if i am sheldon keith like i i'm putting money on the board for this one like i want this one because you'll be your old boss your buddy put them out of the playoffs shanahan's put money on the board they're both put money on the board trees put money on the board something needs to be said this okay matters this matters And the way it ended with Kyle last year and him coming here, they got a chance to make the playoffs. He's not wrong. Either Sheldon

or Brendan is in that room at some point today and saying, this guy bailed on us. We're sitting here tomorrow and it's 5-0 Pittsburgh tonight. Problem. Sour. You're getting sour Sammy tomorrow if that's the case. There's a bit of an issue.

But I'm... Brendan or Kyle got to go. This guy bailed on us. And he quit on us. Yes. Yes. There's been no more meaningful regular season game on this one tonight. You need to put $100 on the pens tonight to save yourself here. I mean, they might be dogs.

Maybe I should. A little happiness hedge? I think this is one between the ears going into the playoffs, that we can rise to the occasion, we can go in there, and we can stuff them. It would be, I think a lot of Leafs fans would love it, which is why it just never happens because it's the Leafs. But anyway.

Okay. Quick break. Come on, do it. Quick break. Come on, do it. Quick break. All right, quick break. When we return, Phil Bork covers the Pittsburgh Penguins, two-time Stanley Cup champion and a guy who also speaks from the heart. All right.

Borky next. When we return, a real Kipper and Bourne. The best Blue Jays show out there, period. Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show out there, period. Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Kiprios. Justin Bourne as he prepares for the eclipse.

Put those back on. I can't. They're black as night. They're 100 times stronger, I think. You can almost just keep those daily. You like this? Yes. This is my poker playing card.

Really good look. Okay. As we stated earlier, big game tonight at scotia bank arena where it's a must win they're all must win from here on in for the pittsburgh penguins let's welcome in phil bork teammate of mine now doing a terrific job covering the pittsburgh penguins as they race to make the playoffs borky what, what's going on, pal? Hi, Kipper. I'm doing well.

I have a quick question for Justin. You know, he's got one of those last names that isn't real, you know, heavy on the nickname come hockey time. You know, Bork, Borky, Kiprios, Kipper. I'm just wondering, where's your role with the nickname? You know, my dad was always Borny a lot, so I was Borno. I got a lot of Borno when I played. Borno.

Yeah. But, you know, JB is most common post-career, I find. So you go in there, you call me Jason like everyone else, and I just move on. That's too boring. That's too boring because Jason, justin justin jason man

you get me all screwed up so i'm gonna go with jb i like jb i'll roll with that what's a boring supremacy yeah matt damon did did some damage to people knowing my actual name but that's so what kind of damage porky what kind of damage has the Penguins been doing lately here? And, you know, I told these guys what, a week and a half, two weeks ago, you just, you cannot write off Sidney Crosby. Okay, that, any time that guy's on a team, you just, you don't write him off. Well said, Nicky. Well said.

You know, when you're around the game long enough, you know, there's a lot of great players. But there's a certain 1% of the 1%. And you know who I'm talking about, Wayne and Mario and Meth and Sid. There's just certain guys when the, you know, the hurdle is hurdle just looks too high, right? You're thinking, no way. No way with these guys. But they have Sid.

But they have Mario. But they have Gretz. And that's the thing. It's interesting because I've been asked quite a bit here, Nicky, of like when do this turn for the Penguins? I have an easy answer for you. Just through my eyes. You ask somebody else at the Penguins? I have an easy answer for you. Just through my eyes. You ask somebody else at the Penguins, they might give you

a different answer. But through my eyes, it was a game in Colorado against his good buddy, Nate McKinnon. It came out in that game, and I was like, holy, you know what I want to say. He wears his heart outside his uniform, as you know. And the whole thing going down with Jake Gansel, the trade deadline,

it affected him. There's no way around it. It affected Sid like he's maybe never been affected before when it comes to a trade deadline and losing a player. With all that being said, he pulled up his bootstraps, and that game that afternoon in Denver, he just completely dominated. Now, the Penguins, you know, they stumbled and bumbled their way into losing that game after being up 4-0, and they lost it in overtime.

But with all that being said, they come back two nights later, and Jake Gentles is in town, and they play a hell of a hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, with that being said, they got a back-to-back, home-and-home with the Columbus Blue Jackets. They win the game at home against Columbus, which they were just okay, and then they lose in a shootout to Columbus, and you're thinking, oh, boy, okay, there it is.

You're one step forward, two steps back. No, Nicky. They go into New York. They go into New Jersey. And they just get on an absolute heater and you just never know. Right. We've all been there before. You get on a heater. You don't necessarily know why it's happening, but when it happens, you take your arms and legs and you wrap around it and you hang on for dear life. And that's what they're doing right now.

Well, one of the guys who's actually been decent and probably contributing to that, uh, Michael Bunting, he's a part of this whole gensel situation uh 13 points in 16 games since joining the team how has he fit in and uh helped push this thing forward seamless yeah he has been a perfect fit his very first shift as a penguin he had a clear cup breakaway in boston and you're thinking, holy moly. Now, Linus Olmark made a ridiculous glove save on him on that breakaway. But still, it's almost like he hasn't looked back since. This is what I'll say about Buntz, a couple things.

Number one, we haven't had a player like him since Patrick Hornquist, since Chris Kunitz. And you know what I'm talking about. It's a player that maybe isn't the biggest, maybe isn't the strongest, but the fearless. He goes to front of the net and he stays there. And he's got just good enough hands to get you some greasy goals. That's the first part of the equation. The second part is he has taken number 71 in black and gold, Evgeny Malkin, and hitched his wagon to Geno and said,

you know this East-West crap you've been doing that hasn't been working? Uh-uh, we're not going to do it anymore. We're going north. I know a lot of people want to talk about north-south, and I get that because the south part is the defensive part of the game, and they've been doing that better too. But the part that's jumped out to me is Bunce goes north. Bunce goes to the net, and he's dragging Geno with him.

And Ricard Raquel is kind of the third train, the caboose, if you will, on that line. He's getting pulled to the front of the net too. But the guy that's the lead pony that's pulling those other two guys is number eight in black and gold. Michael Bunting. He's been great. That hurts Sammy

to hear. Sorry. Listen, you know, his year in Toronto know unfortunately he priced himself out like many in the past but he he he proved it he proved that he can go to the net and he can he can pull defense uh pairings apart and create lanes for for other players uh it was a good pickup i mean if if you Gensel was going out, obviously the connection between Dubas and Bunting

was there for it to come in. And hey, he's a poor man's Gensel right now, but it's good enough right now to push this team moving forward. How about the blue line, Forky, just in terms of where are they now? Even Carlson. We know Carlson is one of the greatest offensive defensemen

in the history of the game. The Norrises, we get all of that, but sometimes lost in his own zone. Where has that been lately? He's playing his best hockey at the most important time. He's on a three-game point streak. He's got a goal on five points. But he's only got two goals in the most important time. He's on a three-game point streak. He's got a goal on five points. But he's only got two goals in the last 38 games. So let's leave that last part alone because it doesn't matter right now

because now you're down to short strokes, right, five games left. It doesn't matter what you did in the past. He's playing his best hockey right now. He's less of a liability defensively. He's tightening up just a couple notches. And that's enough because he's giving you more offensively. Why is he giving you more offensively? He's more selective on when he jumps up on the play.

He's more selective on when he pinches down the wall. And he's getting pucks to the net, making things happen with that great shot that he has. So many of his shots, in fact, up to a few games ago, he was knocking on 50% of the shots being blocked. Now, you can talk about all the shots and analytics. You know what you can do with your analytics, Nicky? You can stick them up your new watch.

Because they don't matter right now. Right now, the only thing that matters is the analytics. And the analytics tell me that he is playing some of his best hockey at the most important time of the season. That's all I care about right now. And that's very reasonable. And speaking of best hockey of the season right now, getting some goaltending. Nedeljkovic in his last, what, eight games, I think he's 6-0-2, he's like a 9-17.

He's looked better. How much has he been a factor in the turnaround here? And is he the man right now? Yeah. Yeah. look better how much has he been a factor in the turnaround here and is he the man right now yeah yeah well the in-demand part we'll touch on at the very end but if you're gonna come back from nine points down with 11 games to go you need certain things to happen it almost needs to be a perfect storm right you need your top players to be the best they can possibly be right off the charts good and Sid and Gino Tanger and Carlson have all been that. And let's throw Brian Rust in there, too, because he's been really good.

You need an injection of youth. We could talk about that a little bit, too. We've had that. But really, the number one thing, you need the goalies, right? You need the goaltender that is just playing his butt off. And that's the thing about Ellison Belkovich. Is he the biggest? No.

Is he most flexible? Or does Is he the biggest? No. Is he most flexible or does he do anything exceptional? No. He's very good at playing the puck, which definitely helps the Penguins defenseman this time of year, but he just competes. He competes his ass off. And if you're a player on that Penguins bench,

you know, it goes back and forth, right? As a player, you want to throw your face in front of a shot and block it for him because this guy's competing so damn hard, it goes back and forth, right? As a player, you want to throw your face in front of a shot and block it for him because this guy is competing so damn hard and it goes vice versa. And that's what you're seeing right now. There's this certain energy. And we've all been there, right? If you played the game and you go on a little bit of a heater,

you know that feeling. You know that I know that I know that you know that we're in it right now. We are absolutely in it. It's an energy. It's a belief. The hope is alive for the Pittsburgh Penguins because now, guys, they own their own destiny. Because we played Detroit and because we played the New York Islanders

in two of our last five games, we hold our own destiny in our own hands. We went out. We are in. That is unbelievable. To see where we came, this roller coaster of a ride of a season, and you've got a guy like Allison Delkovich who said, get the HE double hockey sticks out of the way. I want to be the guy.

I want the net. Give me the crease. I will get us there. Borgen, where do you think general manager, not general manager, general manager, president, I don't know what he named himself, Kyle Dubas is. General emperor. He's Mr.

Pedal down. He is Mr. Everything. Where do you think he is emotionally coming into this game? I get the two points. I get the must win. I get the playoff. I get all of that. But on top of that, the history that he's had here, here the way he left where do you think his head's at tonight i think he's at peace he's already had the game here okay he spanked

us real good okay it's over it's done with um i just think he's at peace where he's at trade deadline's gone he made the ginseng move um he's done everything he possibly can do to put this team in a position to get to the playoffs. I think, I mean, I look him in the eye. He just seems he's at peace where he's at right now. He knows there's a lot that needs to be done here in the offseason. That'll take care of itself in the offseason. In the meantime, he has set this team up to get to the playoffs. And that, I think think brings peace to kyle

so whether we're playing here or playing in you know regina saskatchewan i don't think it matters for kyle right now i think he's at peace with his hockey team is happy with his team the way they have embraced the race here uh and they're making a sprint to try to get to the playoffs because as we move forward here, after each win, the bullseye gets closer and closer and closer. And when it gets closer, it gets clearer. I think whether it's for Kyle, whether it's for Mike Sullivan, or the players, they all feel like we can do this.

And we're going to do it together. And there's something galvanizing about going through a crap of a season like we've gone through, an absolute rollercoaster ride. We're up. We're down. We're up. We're down. We're beating Vegas.

We're beating Colorado. We're losing to Ottawa. We're losing to Columbus and Chicago. I mean, it's been one of the craziest seasons, 20 years as a broadcaster, 10 years as a Penguin with this organization. This might be, considering this lineup, one of the craziest seasons ever, but I think at the end of the day, to answer your question, Nicky, Kyle Dubas is at peace.

I don't think he gives that much of a crap that we're going into a building and an environment where a lot of people don't like him. I think he almost is enjoying that, to be honest with you. Because the more you don't like me, I always think the more you fear me. It's kind of like why people used to boo Jaromir Jagr in Pittsburgh. It's not because we didn't like you. It's because we kind of feared you. And I think there's a little healthy fear of Kyle Dubas has a hell of a team here.

And maybe they've screwed the pooch over the last little while here. But it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, they're playing some kind of hockey. And I think Kyle's at peace. Love him. Hate him. I don't think he gives a crap anymore of what people think about him here in Toronto, to put it mildly. Hey, he's sleeping on a

bed. He's okay. Great stuff. Yeah, great stuff. The rest of the schedule for the Pens, they have zero teams who are not in playoffs. You have five games. It's Toronto, Detroit, Boston, Nashville, the Islanders. If they get through this gauntlet, if they get in, if they pull off this remarkable comeback,

could they be a threat in playoffs? We were talking before you came on about, you know, the way that Florida built towards the playoffs last year. Could that be the Penguins? Yeah, JB, I'll be quite frank with you. The list of teams that you mentioned, Detroit at home after we played the Leafs here tonight. Then you got Boston at home. And then you got the Islanders last game.

And you got Nashville coming in, too, before the Islanders game, the last road game. That's all a good thing for the Penguins. I'm not going to mention his name, but one of the Penguins players, I mentioned that. Do you think you're guilty of playing up to your opponent as well as down to your opponent? He goes, absolutely. Absolutely we are. We are guilty that we play the Chicago's and the Ottawa's and the Columbus's and teams like that. At times we think we can throw our sticks out in the ice, and it's not good enough.

As you know, there's such a fine line between winning and losing. Anybody can beat anybody in this league nowadays. But also, they get fired up for the other team's lineup. And so that's why I know they'll be fired up. They know how good Matthews has been. They know Marner and Tavares. They know the slew of guys that can hurt them. And I think it gets their attention, heightens their senses.

So they play some of their best hockey against some of the best teams in the league. As I mentioned, they beat Vegas. They've shut out Vegas and Colorado and home ice. They've played some of their best hockey against the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins. So expect the best from the Penguins here tonight. This game, let's get it all out here. This game means a lot more to the Penguins than it does to Toronto Maple Leafs and where you're going in the standings.

That's really what it comes down to. But the Penguins, they does to Toronto Maple Leafs and where you're going in the standings. That's really what it comes down to. But the Penguins, they bring their best against the best teams, and the way they're playing right now, you'll see their best. I think it's a blessing in disguise that they're not playing the Chicago's or the San Jose's or the Ottawa's or the Buffalo's down

the stretch here. Because all of those the last five games are all tough opponents, and that's a good thing for the penguins looking forward to puck drop man let's let's do it now let's let's go you got us got us all uh uh ready for the game tonight borky great stuff as always man love the passion um have a great call tonight okay kipper jb i enjoyed our time together Thanks Borky, appreciate you That is two-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Bork

Love someone who loves it Love someone who loves it The fear thing's real, he's right Yes, that's a great piece of analysis He's right, I fear it, I fear it tonight I do, I do I've just talked a lot of crap man if i this is a personal fear i need my leafies more than i need it oh sydney's got o'connor

and rust on his wings great it's what you play for yeah and i i do believe that it's it's a test like we listen basically Bill Bork just represented 20 guys, the general manager, the coach. They're coming in here and they're coming to win. They're coming in to take something. Like, where are the Leafs now on this? Can they pick up that vibe? Where are they?

Are they going to play hard? Are they ready? Are they going to match it? I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait. I cannot wait. Emile Bemstrom, Yessie Puglia-Yarvey, Jack St. Ivany, Ryan Shea. Like, they got a bunch of guys who are like, sorry.

And listen, I don't buy, like, I love, and who else? I don't buy that he's at peace right now. I don't buy that he's at peace. I buy that he's trying to look like a calm duck on the upside, and he's paddling like hell. 100%. And he wants this game so badly. I got to tell you, that competitive desperation,

and I saw it in the minors with him. He has it, and it's very real. I don't know if there's a dollar amount that turns that off, where you're just like, I no longer care. No, but this is what the level is supposed to be. You're at the National Hockey League level. This is the way you're supposed to compete. Yeah.

Right? Paddle like hell. Yeah. Under the water. Yeah. And we're all there. Kyle, us, Tree Living, Shanahan with his championships, Hall of Fame career. Everybody's paddling like hell, including us on the Real Keeper and Board Show.

There you go. Need you tight, Leafies. Okay. Take a quick break. We're back next hour. Jason Greger, host of the Jason Greger Show on Sports 1440 in Edmonton. We'll tee up the Oilers, everything out west.

Don't go away. We're just still getting started here.