Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Road Trip Resumes in Alberta

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

Nick Kpreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look ahead to the Leafs' matchup against the Calgary Flames tonight as their Western Conference road trip rolls on. They discuss Joseph Woll getting the nod as the team awaits Anthony Stolarz's return, Mitch Marner's status, Max Domi getting a look on the first line, Morgan Rielly's return to PP1 and much more. Then, they evaluate John Tavares' steady season and what it means for his future in Toronto. Later, Sportsnet Flames columnist Eric Francis (32:38) weighs in on what's spurred Calgary's unexpected season, early returns from Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, Jonathan Huberdeau's bounce back and whether the team's deadline direction of not selling is the right call for their future.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.

the game. We'll be right back. The real Kipper and born show. There are 14 games on top tonight. We're not going to on top tonight. We are hacking them in, including Sammy's Toronto Maple Leafs against the Calgary Flames. I'm Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Jen Rolnick. Today with you for the next two hours we are live on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet Plus. Toronto Maple Leafs looking to go back to back in the province of Alberta. Not the state of Alberta. Not yet. Alberta.

Want to start the show getting booed. No, we're not getting booed. No, no. Start the show getting booed. Oh, I get in booed. Oh no other One anthem night tonight boys should be clear in the clear I wonder if they'll stop having the US anthem in Canada for a while or vice versa No, the other country's anthem. No, do we need it? No, we got a 30-day window to decide that Don't be in such a rush. That's right. Okay. There's still good good decisions to be made. But it's safe, at least for tonight, as you said, Toronto and Calgary. Joseph Wall scheduled to start with Stollarts being a possibility for Thursday against Seattle before everything shuts down Saturday night for the Leafs against

Vancouver. So you're okay with going right back at it for Joseph Wall? Gosh, it's a lot. You know, it's not like the flames are a high flying offense. Maybe just an extra couple of days for Stolarz. Don't want to rush him back. Seattle doesn't score either. So I guess you can't really go wrong. All have to say is did you guys watch any of that game last night boy am I excited for 14 games tonight that was tough Ottawa in Nashville tough that was the only option you can't flick back and forth when it's on I caught the highlights yeah I watched it uh Ottawa two points behind the league yeah things have gotten really interesting in the

Eastern Conference. We will get into that. But I see, like, Sens fans are so excited about this regular season success, finally. Red Wings fans are so excited about the regular season success. And to them I say, great, good for you. Like, Leaf fans, like we do this a lot. We get excited about regular seasons and then you know what happens. So like. I don't think they care.

Good. They need. They're in the honeymoon phase of regular season success. Let them have the regular season success. That's great for them. They just need to get in. And they can compare themselves to the Leafs who haven't looked great and like

60% of their games this year. It's like let them just be excited. They're right behind the Leafs good for them big brother There's letting them back into it. Let them let them Know they got They don't they have a tough schedule too because they got Tampa Bay Nothing we're gonna derail our leaf hour here but yeah Ottawa's got tonight yeah in Florida now two against Tampa and one against Florida oh wow I'm sure they'll just keep on winning all the way to the top I'm sure the ride will never end okay more importantly control what you can control if you're the Toronto Maple Leafs. Don't worry about Ottawa. Don't worry about anything else other than the fact that you got to

beat the Calgary Flames tonight and the question is are you gonna do it with or without Mitch Marner? You gonna do it with or without Oliver Ekman Larson? Two 20-minute guys. Yeah well Mitch is more than a 20-minute guy. He is at least 20 minutes. Yeah I mean I just mean you than a 20 minute guy. He is at least 20 minutes. Yeah. I mean, I just mean, you know, Oliver Ekman Larsen, with all due respect to OEL, his 20 are not quite as valuable as Mitch's 20. That's a pretty big 20 you're taking. I think that that as soon as he stepped out, it puts so much tax on that blue line. It had a big part to do with Edmonton Oilers Saturday night

coming on so strong. I think so. Yeah I totally agree with that. I thought that it was kind of a wake-up call for I think we've been back and forth on all of Reckman Larson's contributions to the Leafs this year. Hot start, bit of a dip, kind of trending back in the right direction and I think after he went out it kind of showed the importance of him. I mean, you're playing with five guys, I understand you're trying to patch it over, but he is solid. Whatever you think of his play, Sam, it's like whatever replaces him is so unsolid, he becomes very essential.

And that's the way I look at Morgan Reilly too, is we can sit there and say, oh my God, he's having a horrible season, but take him out of the lineup and try to plug in those 20 minutes plus yeah, and You're in big trouble. I like how Marshall refi does it when you know Morgan's not in so that is important So I gather we're not gonna get a whole lot out of Craig Brewery So do we still attempt to get a clip out of him? Okay, Mitch Marner. If we were if we were worried about

the vagueness with Matthews, get ready for a vague buddy get ready to learn. Record. Clip one Mitch Marner update please. Game time decision. What happened? I don't know. Something happened in the game, I guess. Just not feeling right in a certain area so we're trying to work on it. Try to get them ready. He's not ready, he does so many things for you guys. How difficult will it be to fill that void? Well I mean it's like anybody that goes out, it's hard to fill them voids. It's just guys getting a different opportunity for some guys and

people stepping up and doing the job. We've done it all year and just he can't go. Then we've got to continue to do it. Pretty much said that. Can we just get to start that again, please, Derek? For Mitch. Game time decision. What happens? I don't know. Okay, good. Something threw his keys out.

In certain areas, so we're trying to work on it. Okay. Trying to get him. See, he gave it away. Something happened in certain areas, so he tweaked something. Got some general soreness in some general area. And he's this close to either coming back or giving it a night off yeah excuse me you didn't answer me you just I'll go ahead and say if Mitch

Marner has soreness and he's this close take the night off agreed take the night off there's 82 of them the Leafs are gonna be somewhere around the top at the very end that's you know you got a few guys that you can't mess with. Mitch is one of them for the Leafs. Right? Yes. And I don't know who, Willie, I don't know if there's anyone else really outside of-

Oh, it's Austin. It's Willie. Well, Austin, you still found a way to win without him this year, you know, in certain stretches. I'm not saying that you want that in April But I'm just saying that when you fact it close rest when you factor in that multiple times when he was hurt like the shorthanded situation the defensive zone face-offs when you factor in everything it's like This is the one guy that is truly irreplaceable right now and outside of your goalie

And we said the man never the game Matthews was a game time decision Against Buffalo and all of us said why are you doing this? Why is this a game time decision against Buffalo and he goes out there and he gets cross-checked in the back and where he missed Five or six games after that right? This is it's a cautionary tale here for one of your, you know, like you said, outside of goalies, maybe your most important guy, it's really just be careful pushing them into these games three days before you're about to go on a big break. He's not, I understand he's going to the four nations face off, but just be careful with these games. That's all

I would say So I've been calling it for a while now max Domi With Austin, hmm, if there's an opportunity here and Mitch doesn't play we'll get really a Very good look at what? Also led to the thought of resigning max to a very lengthy contract was that he could in a pinch go up there and have success with the Austin Matthews. Well, okay, let's see it.

Yeah, we don't have this in the quote from a Berube, but he was talking about Domi and here's what he says about him. I like Max's game right now. I think he's more aggressive, shooting more, attacking better better skating better. He's got to continue to do that. He's got abilities He's got a real good shot. He's a very good playmaker. He's a strong skater He's fast and he needs to use the speed real quote from Ruby on Maybe let's let's play the the max Domi moving up clip 3. Maybe that's what he said that I don't think that's what he said. Let's hear it. Yeah. Well, max is, you know, a lot going to back to last year, played a handful of

games or more with Austin and you know, they had some pretty good chemistry going. So he's, he's a passer. We need a passer on that line with Matthew's a nice, so he's a guy that can make plays and like I said, it's all about Max. It's all about his skating. He needs to move. He needs to attack and have that mindset for me. Okay, so that was from today. Maybe that was from yesterday at practice. He didn't mention anything about shooting, right? Passing. Yeah.

He's already leading him towards get the puck to 34. But he's a passer, right? They said he needed a passer, they put a passer on the line, yeah. You know, I don't think it's any grand conspiracy that they're like, get it to the guy who shoots it in. You know, that's good coaching. But also, you know, it's kind of mixed messaging

that they're giving him. You know, like, he's like, I need him to shoot more. No, not tonight. And then it's like, tonight, you pass. We need to pass, you need to pass. You're the passer. tonight. And it's like tonight. Yeah, you pass. We need to pass. You need to pass. You're the pass. I mean, it's really the only way to get it out of a Max is

even go back to the last five years. His pace is not that of a 30 goal score 25 goal score even a 20 goal score. Yeah, you know, he's at 15 10 to 15 maybe not 10 like he needs to set guys up. He needs primary assist. so he's got the opportunity with some finishers here to rack some of those up. You also like the clip on Morgan going back in

if Mitch isn't on the power play? I thought it was funny. Well play it. I wouldn't exactly say his most glowing endorsement. Let's just play it. Well, it's just um he's been there right for i don't know how long here but he's played in that situation uh and he he's to me he's the guy that goes there that's really what it boils down to right now with mitch's out

it's like when you're uh that's what i know you're yelling to your kid and they ask you why you just say because yeah because I said so. That's why. I have no good reason. Why is Morgan there? That's the end of story. That's it. That's what it's worth.

That's just the choice we've made and yeah, don't need to do something. I looked at contracts. And his seven and a half million wins. That's where he goes. Yeah. Really not that complicated So whatever I think it's good for Morgan to get a chance back there. Well, they've been putting Literally anyone else they could on that instead of him like they had they put when there was Marner

They put that man. They put patcher ready They put all these different guys and I guess none of them are top of the point players But I think you know Marner goes out you gotta throw this guy a bone Yeah, it's been taking a bit of a beat Let him get a couple of cookies the puck where you know he gets into this mode where he won't shoot it And he's just looking to the flanks. I would expect him to shoot the puck a little bit. Did you? Watch last night Jake Sanders since pull the puck off the wall, take it to the middle and completely, I think it was no-check, he just completely faked out of blocking a shot

and then drifted under the net for a goal. Like the footwork off Jake Sandersons on that goal was spectacular. It was Quinn Hughes like, it was Kale McCarr like. You want Morgan? No, I'm not. I'm just reiterating, Morgan can't do that. He cannot physically do that. But what a gift to have a guy that can do that.

And Mitch is not a defenseman, but he is the closest thing they have to the footwork that I'm speaking of, of taking a puck off a wall and getting it to the middle of the ice. That's going to be missed. Yeah. You know, it's funny, Kip, because like, as you look around the league, guys like that, like they were, they almost didn't exist for a long time. Very few people could do what you're talking about. And now you look around the league and you go,

Hughes can, McCarr can, Wurzinski does it pretty well. Houghton can, Houghton does it, or Hudson. Hudson, sorry. Adam Fox does it, Evan Bouchard can, Owen Pat, you know, Yossi, all of a sudden it's like, oh, like 20 teams have a guy who can do that. You're right. That's why they paid more. $ million dollars last year for the ghost of John Klingberg And that's they thought he might be able to that's a must have seen was here for a minute being like can you do it?

Yeah, right, and that's where it's like some of these guys are like five ten and a hundred and sixty pounds, but they can shimmy a skitter with the best of them. And one guy, you just need one guy back there, preferably an offensive defenseman that can bring it, but right now that's missing. So do you think that they need that? Is that something you should try? Every team would love that.

But like more than another defender-defender? They look like, they look like right now they've, they need one bad. It's funny watching the aisles scoop up. Tony D who goes in and shoots one in in overtime the other night. That Boquist, you know, he's a bit of a puck mover. Same with the other guy they got from St. Louis. Oh yeah. What the heck was his name? I forget his, but I know you're talking about yeah, he was a hobie Baker winning 5 foot 10 D man

You know like these guys are you can get them those guys are flawed D. I don't want them necessarily the only thing you can do is Keep keep Mitch back there. Sorry. Yeah Keep, keep Mitch back there. Sorry. Yeah. But the only thing you can do right now, if you're not going to find one at the trade deadline, it's because they don't exist or they're too expensive. But Mitch has to be that guy on the power play.

Bring the puck to the middle of the ice up high. Yeah. And the biggest thing is that he can, his deception can create lanes. He can fake and move and slip and do all those things that these D we're talking about can do. So he probably ends up staying there. Yeah. In about 20 minutes, we'll welcome in Eric Francis, senior columnist analyst with Sportset

based out of Calgary. We'll talk about the flames, but this will be a tough challenge for the Leafs again. Just like Edmonton, I don't know if they can count on a great start and a three nothing lead, but this is a team that won't go away. Let's get Craig Bruby's thoughts on the Calgary Flames, clip four, Derek. Yeah, they're a hard-working team. They've been for a while, years. They're going to compete and they're going to work. Added two new players to their roster.

You know, they look to me like they're playing pretty good. I saw Frost and Fairby in Philly for a while. So they're good players. You know, we're going to get challenged, I'll tell you that. It's not going to be easy and we don't expect it. We're going to have to earn everything and their goal ten has been lights out. I think the the most notable Calgary Flames trait is forecheck. The work ethic on the forecheck. They turn pucks over and they keep coming and they send waves

and they I mean I've had to cover them a number of times doing games at night and it's like none of them are stars but God they just press so hard. So that's gonna be pressure on Yes, Morgan and Ben one Myers or whoever's in Ben. Why do we know who's in for D tonight? Well, I think it's on it's I think it has to do with all of Regman Larson if he's gonna play or not tonight But yesterday at practice they were skating Riley Myers McCabe 10 have been one Timmons Yeah, so I'm assuming that if All of recman Larson's good to go

You probably just take out Myers and put him in with Riley again like they did the other night So so those guys are gonna be under heavy pressure So curious to see if they go for flips or how they want to relieve that pressure, but it's not to your point It's not like you know, Jonathan Hubert. Oh, actually leads the team in scoring low Cadres right behind them, but they're in their mid 30s of points 37 and 36 respectively It's not like anyone's lighting it up up there No, Blake Coleman's their third leading by four with 12 goals There be and frost were like necessary ads for a team that hopes to make playoffs

I mean what's Hubert Oh have the the top dude 20 goals 20 goals on pace for 31 32 and 35 points or something like that and he makes ten and a half million your boy Mitch is 70 points You know like double Hubert Oh's points to try to get to some of the top guys on other teams It's they are lacking top- end talent, but every line works. And the one thing you can say about them also is the fact that they get a lot of nice when their goalie looks like Joseph Hall. Right. It could be a lower scoring affair if both those guys are on their games. No, I actually am really looking forward to this.

I think it's a completely different animal than what you saw on Saturday night in terms of just like high octane skill wave after wave. You're just going to get a grittier effort probably like a just a completely different looking thing. So I'll be interesting to see how the end you know stories do Skinner but they'll probably get going against a better goalie tonight in Dustin Wolfe Who's been one of the great stories in the NHL confirmed starter for tonight? And you know one of the cult the favorites for the Calder so really excited to watch him play too

He's maybe one of the most fun goalies to watch the league, you know at his size Jumping around in that crease. He's awesome Yeah, so got a different kind of test release tonight And you know flames are fighting for their playoff lives. They're gonna get two teams here on this trip They're playing against Calgary tonight who is right on the bubble and then you go in on Saturday night against a whole new Whole new team basically in Vancouver's to go and they're fighting for that same spot. So it's gonna be tough couple games I'm gonna just gonna leave the squids out of that which is the one they'll probably lose But anyways, it's just some tough tests coming up for him here. Yeah the good news also for the Toronto Maple Leafs is

John Tavares came back Saturday night. I think it was all but six games that he missed which at the time of the injury during practice it was Hit or miss whether or not he's gonna sneak any games in before the four nations break Your assessment of of John Saturday night and we'll get Craig Brewie's thoughts follow I'm gonna be completely honest. I Hadn't notice him much didn't didn't that's not a yeah I mean he wasn't bad, but there was no moment where I was like he's back baby

You know I think it was his play off the wall that got the puck to Willie for his goal. Okay, other than that I think it was actually I Mean a good sign of maybe his focus or his dedication to get back early Especially when the Leafs were coming off that three-game to get back early, especially when the Leafs were coming off that three game losing streak. The amulet has healing powers. You think? Is that what it is? I do.

For yours for what? The cost of what? How much? Luckily I wear this magical amulet. 150 bucks? That's 250. 250? Yeah.

Leafs go to the cup final boys. I'm rocking the amulet every day. Oh buddy. In on the amulet. Is that Canadian or American? If it was Canadian or American. If it was American it would be a thousand painted. Alright let's get Greg

Bruby's thoughts on his former captain of the Toronto Bay Police. I thought he looked fine. You know I think I probably used a little bit too much than I wanted to. Down the stretch maybe got a little bit gassed but he looked fine to me I thought he

had a good game for us you know for the most part. So he ended up playing 1954 on Saturday pretty good plus one he had an assist like you said he made the play off the wall to willie he had good puck touches and 23 shifts I you know a lot has been said about Tavares and we have said a lot of it and you know the the contract and him going forward But you know he has 43 points and 45 games so far that's your boys. He scored 20 goals already I mean he's he's still doing what he's done his whole career He is still John Tavares like he is like you go to his hockey DB page Yeah, and this is the same season John Tavares has every year he always gets to these numbers and when he went out

You really felt it you really really felt not having that presence on the second line Ability on the power play to put one home like just the board work all the stuff that you get from him And I think it's a complicated relationship with leaf fans in terms of going forward because Yeah, are we all sure that it's the best thing to let them go No, but are do we all want to back? I don't know either like I really am kind of stuck in the middle on this taveras because we've talked a lot about this uh spike in the salary cap

And maybe no person is more adversely affected than the perception of taveras like had the cap last five years Adversely affected than the perception of Tavara's like had the cap plus five years From the start of the pandemic. It was eighty one five eighty one five eighty one five eighty two five eighty three five So I'm two million in five years. What a jump Yeah, had it just gone up its few million a year His number would have started to look better some people would have made more money But yeah, the perception has always been you have to produce like the top top guys And maybe that's hurt his reputation because you certainly will miss it. But on if it's gone on the flip side of that cap conversation, Borny, like if if he does resign here for I don't know what's the numbers that have been thrown out there.

We have five, six, seven, whatever it is. If I mean going next year, it's like, OK, that's already not that much. You go the next year. That's like okay. That's already not that much you go the next year That's even less you go the next I disagree with you. I sort of cut you off cut me off all day We don't know what's too little or too much Until you find out what you need for Mitch Marner. And like, if you make a mistake signing Tavares today at say six or seven.

But I'm not talking about doing it today. He's the type of guy that in the off season. But I'm just saying though. You can do it. But you can do it in the off season after you know what the heck's going on at the top of your pyramid. For sure, no question.

So he is, you gotta make him wait, is my point. And I think everyone agrees with that. Him too, I'm sure. If Mitch leaves and now you think that you've gotta go after Rantanen, if he's still out there, you don't know if the numbers 12, 13 or 14. You don't be locked in Tavares.

So you cannot give Tavares an extra million or two if you need it at the back end to go and replace Mitch Marner. So John doesn't want to go anywhere. He came here from the Islanders. He took all those crap sandwiches from the fans. Still takes them. Still takes them because he wanted to come here try to win a Stanley Cup for his hometown and retire a Maple Leaf. He will be there at the end. And I assure you, he'll take really whatever completely doesn't embarrass him to stay. That's a good point. Okay, so then. So then if that's the case, you know, I think you want to want him to stay around. If it's going to be a small number with the cap jumping and what you get from him in the production and his. Oh but I've done this though Sam, if you don't win it doesn't work.

But even if you diminish his role a little bit, like you still know what you're going to get. I don't know if it's going to cost a number that is low enough but that doesn't embarrass him. I don't know. Now you're talking Spetsa on the fourth line. No, I guess you're right. You know, yeah.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I guess you're right. You know, yeah JB well the thing is is though like after 15 years or 16 years whatever he's in the league now like You're gonna invent a new role for him with this new contract and Whether or not he's willing to embrace it whether or not he'll even be good at it. We're not sure but he's willing to embrace it, whether or not he'll even be good at it, we're not sure. But you cannot, if it doesn't end very well this year for the Leafs, you cannot tell him we'd like you back and we'd like you to be the second line centerman and continue with your point of game pace because we've been so successful in the past.

Right. It is interesting. It's useless even if he even if you signed him as a second-line centerman at 80 points We have proven in seven seasons. It doesn't work It will be interesting. You know you talk about the random thing like if he doesn't resign with Carolina He's up up right like he this is he'll decide this summer with Carolina. He's up up, right? Like he this is he'll decide this summer. Let's say things were to go extremely average in the playoffs. They lose in the second round and Marner's a point per game and plays pretty well. You know, I'd be curious to know if they would talk to Ranton and be like, would you do this? Before they went back to match like I absolutely you have to keep all your options open like there

It's almost it's almost as if everybody have forgotten that like People were screaming at you to break up the these four guys, right Willie Marner Matthews worst thing that can happen is an unclear answer in playoffs Do you know what I mean? And the most they play okay? And they don't get that far, but they're okay? And it wasn't because of the recent signings, it wasn't going to be Matthews, it wasn't going to be Nylander. You had to get rid of Marner or in the summer. It was like-

We talked to a lot of Tavares too, but that never happened either. No, no, no. We had thought for a while they might lean on JT and be like, hey, sorry. They could have easily, easily chose to treat Tavares like St. Louis just treated Brendan Saad where we're going to figure it out. But you know, it's not working anymore. So here's the choices. He's still good.

But that's why he's still here. That's why they didn't do that. Because they need him. Yeah. Like he's still part of the plan here for this year at least. And then you see what happens next year. Whatever the reason was, they just chose not to go down that path to change the feel or the look. But rest assured, you got to change a look.

Maybe it's, hey, we love Mitch Marner and we love what you did for us this year. It's still not enough. The chemistry is not right. We're not getting rid of Matthews. We're not getting rid of Nylander. It's time for you to go. Let's go visit Rantana now.

I just, I can't see any free agent coming to Canada. It's really hard to see, you know? Like, it's just the way things are going. I mean, it's. You're right. There's a lot of things going against. I mean, it's... You're right. There's a lot of things going against the Toronto Maple Leafs and half a million dollars to a million dollars worth of endorsements ain't getting it done.

Can we call the Canadian Tire guy? Get him in the room. Dave Tire. It's just, it's not enough. Hello, Dave. But for the time being, I don't think John needs to worry about it unless he's worried about it. Right.

But everything is on the line. I guess it depends if you plan on owing the government 8 million in back taxes or not or whatever the CRA is chasing them down. We've gone full city news 680 on this show in the last couple days. We're just touching on everything. We're worldly folk. Wow, that's crazy. So no, but I think you gotta give some kudos

to the season that Jon Tavares has had this year when a lot of people couldn't read. That's the right answer. No, you're right. A lot of people, myself included, did not see that. I think it was kinda written off and they were talking about getting rid of him. Everyone said the last year was gonna be ugly.

I mean, they stripped the sea off this guy in like a weird ceremony where they're both on stage and they're like, ugh. And he goes out there and he's having another great year. I did have some people write me, like, did you have to make him show up, be a part of that? But I think he probably wanted to know his coolness. I'm cool. This doesn't bother me at all.

If you knew back then you're just going to get a point of game out of Tavares, would you ever have thought to sign him at eleven million dollars seven years ago? If I had thought the cap was gonna keep going up probably but not not Knowing that it just didn't at all point of game guys aren't top five paid players in the league No, but when you get them for nothing for no assets, there's a premium on that and We're looking for the thing that was gonna push him over the top. I hate to admit how high on my excited about the Leafs rankings that What sorry Derek was just talking in my ear as I was talking there. Sorry. I hate to say how excited

I was how high it ranks on of Excitement of when they signed him like in terms of all my least moments of my life. That day, all the stuff coming out, that tweet, that was one of the most exciting days in Leaf's history. And it's just nothing really has happened. When you factor in the upside at the time for Matthews and Marner, I really thought

that there was a possibility that John could go from this 80 point guy to a hundred and twenty point guy Yeah Yeah, what's crazy is if you look at his early Islanders days? He made his wingers so much better Matt Molson did nothing all the sudden Matt Molson I shouldn't say nothing he was a very good player But he went through the roof and Pied Prento and Josh Bailey and all these guys Okay, but the 30 goal scores 35 goal scores. Yeah, not 50 and Pierre Peranto and Peugeot and Bailey and all these guys had the best seasons with them.

But the 30 goal scores, 35 goal scores? Not 50. They weren't 30-35 goal guys till they played with JT. He made guys better there. And it didn't carry over here necessarily. I don't know if that's where he was in his career. Or what? But watching those Islanders teams like whoever got to play with him But it it wasn't said turn turning Kunits into a team Canada member no Johnny and said never has right. Uh, we should go. Okay Let's take a quick break. We return we'll bring in Eric Francis tee up the Toronto Maple Leafs Calgary Flames big game tonight. More to

come on Real Kipper and Bourne. Everything you need to know about the Raptors and the biggest stories around the NBA, Smith and Jones, subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back into the studio. Nick Caprio's Justin Bourne's Sammy McKee. Did you make dinner a lot at home? No, but we were just... My wife, when she went away, I went to Costco and I bought three ribeyes. That was the whole meal. Like Uncle Rico and Napoleon Dynamite. Like just that.

Buddy, you're just right back into the cave, eh? Yeah. Like I might as well use my hands. I don't know. You do it upright, eh? Well, yeah, I do. I like the kitchen. You got the skills in the kitchen? I do, yeah. Wow. Yeah, not bad. All right. You're Greek.

All right. Let's bring in Eric Francis. We'll talk about his skills on another day. How are you, pal? He's ashamed by me, I think. Senior columnist. Cook or handy, because I'm neither. Are you the first person in the media buffet in line? Is that the type of guy you are for dinners? Oh yeah, definitely.

And usually the third and fifth guy in line. Without a doubt. How are you? Things are well out west, right? We're waiting for like Calgary to kind of fall off and it's just not happening, Eric. off and it's just not happening. Eric, you know, it's minus 25 right now. So it's not perfect out here right now, but, but it's a, no, it's, it's what an incredible season in terms of positive storylines. Like boys, when we spoke three, four months ago, I'm not, I'm not sure that we would have been thinking it was all going to be sunshine and lollipops here in Alberta. You know, I think a lot of people thought they were going to be continued growing pains.

And hey, they still may not make the playoffs. And if they fall just short, they will have also cost themselves a pretty good draft pick that people were expecting this year. But either way, tons of positive storylines right now. And Dustin Wolf's probably at the top of that. I mean, I would like to think that around the league, you know, there's a recognition that this guy's got to be the front runner for the Calder. And that's not to take anything away from Lane Hudson or Celebrini. But when you talk about the impact that a rookie is having on his team,

you can't even compare him to Lane Hudson or Celebrena. Those guys have not had anywhere near the impact. Dustin Wolfe is the reason the Calgary Flames are in a playoff spot right now, period, end of stop. That's gotta get you some Calder love. Yeah, I would say that puts him pretty near the top of the list. You know, we're gonna touch on a whole bunch of flame stuff,

but the first thing I wanna know is, how's it going with Frost and Fairby so far? That's so far so good. You know, Frost got a goal the other night, a pretty nice goal. Nice shot. He stepped in over the blue line, yeah. We've seen some pretty soft hands from him, and that was kind of part of the bill of golds,

goods that we were sold on. You know, they're both hard workers. I think they'll both fit in, in terms of the work ethic required to be a Calgary Flame these days. I know they're versatile. Listen, I thought it was a great trade the moment it happened. Like a pretty big windfall for a team that's been looking for a centre for exactly one year since they traded Elias Lindholm. Is he Lindholm? No. But the package they brought back here right now in exchange for basically a second round draft pick,

to me is pretty significant. And this GM, not only has he kind of been trying to find a center all year long, but he also recognized the need to reward these guys for an incredible, for pretty incredible first half, compared to what they were expected to do. So he, he conquered those two things. And the third thing is he, these guys are here for several years.

They've got team control on, on Frost for at least another year and Farabee for three. So I think he hit it out of the park with this one. So we're less than a week away from shutting the league down but the moment it starts back up it's it's a sprint 30 games here and it I'm sure Calgary flame fans are all in now on on a playoff race and In your opinion, is it just a two-team race right now with the Vancouver Canucks?

LA's still in the mix here on teetering. How do you see this thing playing out in 30 short games? Yeah, it sure looks that way, doesn't it? Two horse race. Yeah, I know LA's right there. Actually, Colorado's not too far ahead either. But, you know, and if you're a Calgary hockey fan right now you're pretty excited about the circus that's happening

on the other side of the mountains here. That's really been hurting that franchise, obviously, in Vancouver. You know, time will tell here pretty quickly if they traded the right guy or if they still need to make more moves. The Quinn Hughes injury, it looks like he's not going to play tonight. That's significant. A lot of reasons to believe that the flames of the team with the momentum out of the two. St. Louis, you know, the only reason they're even close is because Calgary got swept by them on a recent trip to St. Louis that brought them right back in the mix, but they've since fallen back. So yeah, two horse race, two biggest rivals. They hate each other,

probably the most of any team in the league. So's that sets up for a delicious little 30 days sprint here Eric No one's ever going to say that like the flames won the the Matthew Kachuk trade I don't think but things are not as bad as maybe it was originally painted Weger has been a hell of a player for them and Hubert Oh is having a good season Yeah, you know wigger, you know, Wiger, you know, I guess I could throw my two spits in it since, yeah, I think he should get the spot ahead of Doughty because there's still too many questions about Doughty.

I know he's played three games, he's played a ton of minutes, but you know, you're taking a bit of a chance by putting Doughty in against the world's best players after having all that time off. Wiger can do anything for you, can play either side, can play power play, block shots, he hits guys like he's your Swiss Army knife for Team Canada if you need him as your seventh guy. So there's the end of that little pitch. But Hubert O to me is such an impressive transformation. He had an off season chat with Ryan Huskin basically said,

how can I be more effective? Help me, for two years I've been swimming, I don't know what to do better. And they worked out that he would be more of a defensive-minded player. They started using him on the penalty kill, and they were trying to teach him the defensive side of the game. Look, the Flames win games two, one, three, two.

So if you're gonna be an important part of this team, you gotta play a 200-foot game. And that the Flames win games 2-1, 3-2. So if you're going to be an important part of this team, you got to play 200 foot game. And that's what he's become right now. He turned himself into a 200 foot player and he's on pace for his best season ever for goals, which is absolutely amazing considering where he's come from. He's on pace for 31 and almost all those goals are greasy right outside the paint. So he's kind of transformed his game and become a bit of a different player. I got to give him a ton of credit for doing it at that age with that many eyes on him. So when you factor in that he could have the most goals he's ever had, it's still going

to be a far cry from the 115 points he had in Florida. And he still makes $10.5 million till probably 20 and 30. Is the cap going up the best friend he could have because now people can start getting off that, you know, we can't win with a guy making 10.5 million and scoring 55 points a year? Yeah, well, the cap going up, sure. Also the fact the Calgary Flames have almost $20 million

in cap space right now. So he could be making $20 million and what's the difference? It really doesn't matter anymore. So that pressure is kind of off as well. And then, you know, as you talk about the rising tide floats all boats, like if Rasmus Anderson, I'm sure you're gonna ask me about him in a bit here too, because he's a big topic here.

But if Rasmus Anderson is able to be resigned and stay in Calgary and buck this trend of all these veterans leaving, like what does a number one defenseman cost you in the NHL now as a UFA? Like, is he a $12 million player? He's definitely more than 10 and a half million on the open market in two years time. So, and I'm not saying that he's worth it, but as the cap goes up, that's gonna be the price

for a guy, you know, of his standing. So, and that will help dwarf the 10 and a half million dollar number So yeah a lot of reasons why people aren't talking as much anymore about that being an albatross So how do you feel about the flames decision to hang on to kadri hang on to? You know everyone at this point is that long term for the franchise the right decision? I think it is and i'll tell you why because kadri And I wasn't sure that I'd ever say

this but I wholeheartedly believe you know he had a choice you know when they jettisoned all those guys last year or they left he had a choice like do I I didn't sign up for this I came here to help try and put this team over the top and now I'm in the midst of a bit of a rebuild and I didn't think he'd want to stay I think the hockey world didn't think he'd want to stay but you know what he's didn't think he'd want to stay. But you know what? He's taken his time as a challenge. And for one of the first times in his career, he's considered the man here, right? Like in every other city, he was, oh, he's a good second line center, but he can't be a top center. I think he's really taken that and said, screw you, hockey world.

I can show you I can be a top center. He's been there most consistent forward all year long this year. He plays with a ton of heart and soul. And when this team talks about culture, and if you tank, you lose that culture. You lose that winning culture and all that. You've got to rebuild it. This leadership group, and he's right there with the captain, Michael Backlund, Jonathan Hubertl, Weger, Anderson, these guys have set a standard here.

They say, you follow us and you live up to our standard or else you're not gonna play here. And he's one of the guys leading by example. So I think he's an integral part of this team this year and moving forward. And I give him a ton of credit for that because I don't think many people thought he had it in him. You guys saw him in Toronto.

Attitude is a bit of an issue sometimes, not now. You're watching and listening to Eric Francis, senior columnist, analyst with Sportsnet out of Calgary. So in saying that, Craig Conroy and his management team probably had a vision, long-term vision on when this team could compete again for Stanley Cup. To Justin's point and to yours just most recently made, has this season crossed a threshold for you

where you can say that the painful years of rebuild can now be avoided and we can compete for a Stanley Cup maybe quicker than we thought? I think that's fair. I mean, we could sit here and debate whether a smaller market team in a cold climate in the middle of the West can ever really compete for a Stanley Cup. Like, that's a different debate. But, you know, all things being equal right now, I definitely think that the most painful part is kind of behind them. They may have some missteps next year and fall back. But I think they're doing a good job proving that you can do like the Dallas Stars and not go all the way to the

bottom. If you can just hit with some of your lottery tickets, your draft picks, and get lucky with a few players development-wise, I think you can turn it around a whole lot quicker than everybody seems to think is the only way to do it, which is the way Chicago did it and go to the bottom and then come right back up to the top. The way Toronto kind of did it, go down to the bottom and get Matthews, Edmonton. For every team like that that's won a cup, Flames ownership group will point to you to three or four franchises like Detroit, Buffalo, Edmonton for 15, 20 years that have just been stuck in the middle of the woods with no winning culture

and no turnaround. Well, the others have finally done it, but look where Buffalo is, look where Detroit still is. Look, you know, so my point is, I think that they're moving in the right direction and they're proving to people that their plan of doing what I call a high build a hybrid rebuild is something that is viable.

Who do you credit with the, the, I guess the culture of hard work there, like they got so many guys are just dogs on a bone and just like watching their games, not a ton of like top end scoring, but man, every line just goes goes goes. Yeah, I think it's that leadership group I talked about there's six guys. More than Husker? Five. Well, here's the thing, Husker credits the leadership

group, the leadership groups credits Husker. And that is to point out that it's a it's a blend, right? It's the respect that the coaches garnered by listening to these guys. And, and, and, and, and, you know, they, they respect him. He respects them. It's, it's, it's a real nice relationship. And there's a standard that's been set in this city. And with so many young, impressionable guys getting called up constantly from the AHL over the last year and a half.

It's so important that they come in and see that and see, wow, if you're gonna play in the big leagues and you're gonna play for this team, there's only one way to play and that's falls to the wall. So I think it's both the coach and the leadership group have created this great culture that has been around for a while. It's a very tight knit dressing room, more so than most teams in the league, I would dare say.

All right, looking forward to the hockey game tonight. Half the building Leaf fans are like, kind of standard, eh, right across the West. We've seen that for a hundred years here and that won't change. You know what I am happy about? Only one anthem tonight, so we don't have to get into the garbage

of booing the anthem. That's fine, we booed it to open our show. Hey, hey, hey, hold on for a second that booing got us 30 more days. That's right. We are not. I love that. Did it. I thought it was our leader. I'm not getting political. No way. No way. Smart. Not on this show. Eric, great job, buddy. Thanks for coming on enjoy the hockey game tonight There's boys always great to talk to you Eric Francis senior columnist sportsnet.ca

Does a great job covering the Calgary Flames. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean sounds like he's pretty in on the direction they've taken You know you worry about them becoming the Minnesota Wild You can't Be in there all season long, maybe make the playoffs or maybe just fall short and then next year kind of drop off again, right? That's what you kind of worry about because to his point now all all of a sudden, everybody's in play again, Cadry's in play for them. Not a guy that you got to go, he's going to miss the next wave of contention for us. Like he could be in it now. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. The thing that stands out to me is if you look at the cap pages,

only two teams in the NHL have a lower payroll this year than the flames Hmm, are they then going to spend this offseason? Does they want to get in on some new names and add that way? Because you can't be like yeah, we're we're on our way up But we don't want to pay to be a contender Only Anaheim and Columbus and tenen caps would they ever? Considering going that big I mean what on the flames for sure? I don't think me cause gonna say yes, probably yeah, I say that cuz we're not on in Calgary yet, but I Don't necessarily like like he said

Himself with the you know, it's a small town and I'll like a small city in Alberta Yeah, minus 25 there today if Miko could be like hey you want to sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning or go somewhere like, you know warm Probably I'd ideal I saw someone saying like do you think Hawaii regrets not signing again in Toronto? And then they played here the other day and they walked in it was minus 20. What a great choice by I'm fine I'm fine. I want a championship. I've won two championships I'm the richest guy ever I live at home in the warmth wine and dine was a nice effort, but I can afford the $80 sandwiches In LA, I'll be okay

No, it should be interesting one tonight, but maybe another Leafs player heads to Alberta It's not the cut to Edmonton to Calgary Mitch signs there in the offseason. I Don't see that. But if Mitch is leaving Toronto, if Mitch is leaving Toronto, he's leaving Canada. Where would he go you think? Chicago? Cooper loves him. Oh my God. Wait, wait till Cooper gets him in Team Canada.

Oh my God. Sorry? Love that idea. Listen. Don't you do that. Did I just make you cringe right now? No. I love that idea. That would be so good for our show. It would be really bad for our show.

For a couple days and then we'd be in trouble. Alright, still plenty of time left to debate that one. Till July 1st. No debate. That till July 1st. There's no debate. There's no debate. That just sucks. All right.

Our thanks to Eric Francis for coming on and teeing up Toronto Maple Leaf's Calgary Flames. Next hour we go national. Steve Valakett back for his Tuesday segment. Plenty to get into including JT Miller's return to New York. Allmark ready to start for the Ottawa Senators? Plenty more when we return.