Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Road Trip Turnaround + Woll's Injury

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Gord Stellick — in for Justin Bourne — and Sam McKee look back on the Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes to close out their road trip. They start with Joseph Woll's injury and whether the Leafs need to trade for a goalie in his and Anthony Stolarz's absence. Then, they discuss Troy Stecher's impact, Max Domi and Dakota Joshua's solid stretches after being healthy scratches, and Matthew Knies showing his potential as a star power forward. Afterwards, they revisit Stolarz's recently signed extension and whether the Leafs jumped the gun with a four-year term. Finally, Nick, Gord and Sam hit the Leafs Line to take your calls and questions!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.

All right, let's get her going on this Friday. It's the Real Kippur and Born show. It is the Leaf Hour edition of our program. Derek Brandeo, Jen Rolnick, Nick Kiprio's semi-miki. And in for a Justin Bourne. Live and in color in studio today for the whole two hours. your friend and mine, Mr. Gort Stelich. Thank you, gentlemen.

Put your huns together. What a difference a week makes from when I last came in last Friday. Especially on our Leaf Edition hour where the roof was caving in. Yeah, well, yeah, it really was. But we said they got to figure it out. There's no cavalry.

There's no whatever. Pretty good week. Sammy? Yeah. You got a little smile on your face? You're feeling pretty good? I'm basking in the afterglow of an electric World Cup draw today, which... Give us an update.

Saw Canada draw Qatar, Switzerland, and the winner of a European playoff, which could be Italy. Are we happy about that? I would have preferred Wayne to draw, you know, someone that's not potentially Italy in their last ball. But, yeah, I think it's pretty cool that the Friday, June 12th in Toronto at Bimo Field could potentially be the Italian national soccer team. the Azuri playing against Canada and the Jays and Yankees playing at Roger Saturday that night. But two countries move on, right?

From the division. Yeah, so two teams at the top of the division go on and then I think it's the most points for the other third place teams. But got me thinking about some people around the city that are going to have a lot of interesting decisions to make when it comes to Canada versus Italy. Absolutely.

No thoughts on that? No, I'm good. It'll be fine. City will be great. Traffical flow. awesome we were at the draft in uh 2004 in in in in north carolina and you said we got to go get a greek flag remember that greece was killing it in soccer we were driving with all the sports that guys yeah yeah so all the sudden because it's italy it's no big deal but when it was greek canadian by

yeah i get it and we did not find a green flag in north carolina by the way he's within a half i'm a greek i'm a greek canadian so let's for example say that it's canada versus greece friday june 12th you get a ticket yeah you're wearing and the blue and white? I'm not face, meaning, but I will have a soufflecki probably in my hand. See, I just, I struggle with that. Why?

Why do you struggle with that? Why? Because I think there's going to be a lot of people that are going to be, you know, born in Canada, Canadians that have Italian parents. I'm Canadian, I get it. Yeah. But, like, it's my motherland.

And, you know, you guys can, you guys can win, you know, a lot of soccer games. No, I mean, the thing is, is that, I don't know. We don't need to get totally into it, but I just think it's a little bit. Greek that day, buddy. Yeah, no, no. Really?

No, Sammy, you got to understand. The positive part is, it's been growing, the Canadian soccer movement. For sure. But decades ago, it was non-existent. Like, that was your last tie. Like, I'm half Czech, half Scottish. Yeah.

And I would be intrigued about, then it was Czechoslovakia, and it's still Scotland. Yeah. Whatever. You know, like, plain. That would be my one little tug for my mom and my dad. So, no, I think there's an element

that's kind of neat that you can celebrate your roots. Yes. You know, but it doesn't. mean you're dissing Canada. What do you mean? What do you mean? That's not how I think. You're entitled to your crummy opinion. I just think if you're born here, Canada's playing at B-Movil.

I know. You shouldn't go there and cheer for Italy. That's where I'm at. I just think it's wrong. I think it's wrong. We do not agree. Yeah, we're going to have plenty of time to do this over the next six months, right? All right.

Almost six months. Yeah. To the day. And to be clear, it's not a disapproval. of Canada. Correct, Kippey? Correct. Like, honestly, like, it's in such a sensitive topic over the last year. We want to make sure about that.

See, my first thought is when you ask me who you're going to cheer for, it's like, well, I'm going to ask my mom and dad first. Yeah, but they're bored in Greece. Yes, they are. For sure. So I started to ask them. Yeah, but I mean, like, if you're from Italy and you moved here, of course you could cheer for Italy.

If you're born here, it's a little bit. Oh, wait, now, wait, wait, wait, you should have more, you should be more, more gratitude coming here and cheer and go to 180 because you saw it out coming here. Oh, okay. That's an interesting angle. It's just what I made up. I think if you're born in Italy, you could cheer for Italy. Are we all, you're fine, though, cheering for your Toronto Maple Leafs, who we've said it all

along, just went three in a row, and you're right back in it. Yeah. And that's what happened last night. Well, again, like last Friday when I was here, and you guys talk every day, of course, was it was the part you couldn't believe was they were still in it. They were four points out of it. They played terribly, right? And you're still four points out of a playoff spot.

And so it shows. Now, the big thing is there's a crowd. There's a crowded teams. It's crowded. But in the Eastern Conference, if you win your games, you can make the playoffs. West a little tougher. But if you win your games, like the least should, the kind of team they had last year. And this last week was the first time all season, they showed that.

They showed the depth. They won by big margins. They won on the road. They got excellent goaltending. Four games in a row. You get the first shot, you score a goal. I can't beat that. I mean, that's as wildest stat as you're going to see.

I would be really excited today. I'm not going to lie if it wasn't for the Joseph Wall. Well, listen, it's a big part of our hour, the Joseph Wall situation last night's win came heavy with a price. What's your guess? What's your guess, Kippee? You're good at seeing as an ex-player. Like your gut feel?

what's your gut feel on joseph wall yes yes my gut feel is that will be lucky to see him before christmas okay right okay so it'll be interesting they're they're off today so there's nothing for them to report but like do they dare come out and say that he's day to day what particularly what what world do you live in where goalie pulls his groin and he's day to today. Yeah. So. Particularly a goalie.

So a groin injury for me is much different from a goalie. Mm-hmm. So I would say minimum three weeks. Okay. Yeah, I mean, me and Bunkus on Leaves Talk last night, I asked him, I set the old runner at a half game played before Christmas, and Bunkus wouldn't answer. He didn't want to jump over it, but I thought it would be pretty surprising to see him before then.

I mean, he missed, when he got a high ankle spray, remember two years ago? No, that was a groin. There was one where he missed a bunch of time. Maybe two years ago, not last year, but two years ago where he was out. I think it was a groin when he was scheduled to start the season. Last year. The year before that, it was the high ankle where he, the half wall and he missed like half the season with it as well. He said something every year, right?

He said something, like Fredi did. I think this is a recurring thing, though. The groin seems to be constantly creeping up on him. so you still want to trade one of them let's get you curse you listen everybody thinks i jinxed the goalie situation last night with my Toronto star article that i said just get these guys healthy get stolers back in and and be in a position of strength by the march deadline with these guys that was the whole gist of my article and apparently i i jinks the whole thing because i not only didn't get Stolars back, but I pushed Wall out the door with his groin injury.

Is that what you're insinuating? Of the 100 DMs I got in the last 24 hours, they're talking about it, that's for sure. See, they should have published my article instead of yours about the unappreciated John Tavares playing in a vacuum again. Okay, let's go to Craig Brewy's overview of the game. It's there in the queue somewhere. And we'll pick this up. There's plenty, plenty on the bone here when it comes to Joseph Wall. So let's go to Craig Bruby for his oversights.

Yeah, it's a tough building to come into, I'll tell you that. They put a lot of stress on you with shot volume and things. We blocked some shots and battled and, you know, scored on our chances that we got. There you go. Very exciting stuff from the coach. I know it was debated whether or not Joseph Walsh should have started last night. I'm a big believer of what you were trying to say last night with Hildeby and giving Joseph Wall a break here.

I just had no idea that a guy could be off all summer, take training camp off, come back for 10 or 12 days and pull his groin. Like for me, you want to have that same conversation after two or three weeks, even a month later. I'll listen to it. But 11 days to pull your groin. when you've been off that long to me is just mind-numbing.

He did play a little training camp, I think, whatever maybe. But the point is, you had a start-up. I don't know, Gordon. But anyway, the thing was, you had to start him. Like, you got to ride the hot hand, and then you say, okay, if you didn't, well, then it's a ticking time bomb situation about if it's a recurring groin thing is going to happen at some point. And to me, there was a no-brainer that he had, why did he say he'll be supposed to start?

Yeah, he did. Sorry, I know your credit because he looks good for it. He looks good now. He does. I'm thrilled. I'm right. Great. What a smart guy.

Boy. I wish I was the longest guy ever. Isn't it better, you know, how weak this guy's growing is. Yeah. Early December than in April again? I totally. I mean, here's the thing. As much as, like, you know, you mention it, it's pretty, I'm kind of sick of this stuff.

Where watching these games and not really knowing from period to period from game to game, if you're going to be able to have him there, it's just a tough existence as a fan and I'm sure as a coach. But that is the world of Joe Wall. I know. That's the world of Joe Wall, period, whether he played last night or not.

But the other reality is... It could have happened when you all gore. Like, it could have it on Saturday night, right? But we're talking about a team that got back on track in large part because of Joe Wall. Otherwise, we could be talking about a healthy Joe Wall and a team now that's losing vision of where the playoffs are. So, I mean, moving forward, yeah, it's an issue of the health part.

what he did, much like when he came in against Boston in the playoffs. He had a phenomenal playoff that time. So that's the that's the tough part that the injury every year you've got to consider an injury is probably going to happen. But also, when you really needed him a couple of times, he's really come up big. Let's go to Craig Barrowie on the insurgency in net.

What's it been like handling some of the uncertainty that you've dealt with this year in goal as a coach? Well, I mean, this stuff happens. and, you know, you just handle it. Told Beast he's going in, and he did a great job for us. He loves Beast. He loves saying Beast every time he refers to him. Okay, this stuff does happen, but not like this.

This is, I've never seen anything like this. Well, how does it compare to Freddie in Toronto? I'm just talking. When I say like this, I meant Stolars and Joseph Wall. Oh, okay. I put them under one blanket now. And also one of the best, going by one year, small sample. But the one year last year, one of the greatest goaltending tandem in decades for the Maple Leafs.

There's never really been a tandem like the kind of goaltaining they get last year. So all of a sudden, bang, bang. When you have great tandem, you always think depth is going to work in your favor. And instead, it's two strikes and you're down to your third strike. Yeah, I mean, you mentioned Freddie. His last year was definitely sketchy. But, I mean, he played almost 60-something games for a few years in a row there, which may have had something to do with him missing time in his last one.

But, I mean, this is why they're both make what they make. This is why they both aren't, you know, huge ticket goaltenders because there's uncertainty with them. Because they don't play 40 or 50 games. That's, this is the worry. This is where the value lies where you think you're going to get them for less. And the second that you need to kind of lean on one of them is just gone. Like, I mean, they talked about Stollers. He's still not on the ice.

wall now it's just it's going to be hill to be an actium of in the most important stretch of your season here against a bunch of really hard teams so it's just a tough pill to swallow I'm sure for everybody neither of them have a resume of any kind of resume of being a number one goaltender for a long period of time just all or so you look in the division bobrowski vasselisky even jeremy swayman has more of a okay reputable as being a number one guy for a period of time. The money signed them to four-year deals recently. Well, the money.

The money part. It's a great trade-off. You know what I mean? Like... But it leaves you like this. Well, yeah, but it's not... The money's irrelevant now because they're just not available at all. Whether they're making $6 million or $2.

Well, then you've got to go out and get a better goaltender. They're your best two goaltenders. Is that where we're at right now? They got to go now and go get another goaltender. I had 24 hours ago, I had them all healthy. and potentially trading one. Now they've got to do the complete opposite and go maybe spend an asset and get one.

Rousseau, you saw this week, earlier this week, that he was available for Chicago. They're looking to unload him. And he's got another year on his deal with three. This is last year. This is last year? Yeah. Well, okay, it's kind of like Kevin Lankton and Vancouver, whatever.

It never hurts. You know, it's kind of what they did with Troy Stetcher. You know, you're basically saying, we're not scouting a particular goaltender. we're looking for an NHL body. Okay? And Troy Stetcher, what a great NHL. If they were healthy, they're not looking at him in the slightest. When the waivers go up, they're not claiming him,

but all of a sudden they needed, they had a hole. So, yeah, in the goaltending sense. And again, Stolars, now, did he have a setback or just Carlo? Or what, like, I mean, it seems like it's a while, right? He's not close, correct? We don't even know if he's on the planet right now. It's a mystery. Is Austin Matthews healthy? Does he go to the rink?

Do, does, like, Luke Fox see him at the rink? I could text Luke and ask if you've seen them, but it's just every time they ask them a question, the coach is incredibly dismissive about it and says no update, not on the ice. So that probably tells you all you need to know. A while. So yes, yes, you should look for a body. As we know, we talk, big name goaltenders,

generally don't get traded. You know, you talked about Tristan Jerry to Edmonton or those kind of possibilities and nothing's happened. But bodies, there's that carousel always of goaltenders going on waivers all the time and try to pick them up. So, yeah, if they're going to be out for a while, you've got to do that.

I would say, though, that I do have a bit of belief in Hildeby from what I've seen to start this year. I don't think, like, last year, if this was the situation, you'd be a lot more scared, but wouldn't you both say that he's been a lot better this year than he hasn't last? Like, you can maybe... Well, I think he's by time for sure.

You could paper over a week here, potentially, if he can give you a capable... Like, the last two times we've seen him was against Pittsburgh and last night and the 30 was good. Yeah, I'd have to see him Saturday night against Montreal before I decide whether to give it a week or not. It's fair.

He could seize the opportunity. Oh, yeah. That's what James Reimer did. James Reimer was not, James Reimer was the accidental number one goaltender because he seized the opportunity. I believe the way they're playing right now and what we saw out of even that third period,

and that couldn't have been easy for him to go in last night as well. No. And he showed poise. Agreed. And yeah, give him Saturday. night and see where you're at and see where the team's at and if you got to if it gets lit up can't finish the game then you're in a position i think as early as monday to go start really searching for somebody temporary so we're talking goaltending there's a lot of positives

to talk about yep a lot of positives to talk about depth scotton max domi uh you know the guys the snot guys right being instead of worried about players with It's not players that are kind of good third, fourth line players. You know, them being the difference makers, not just last night. It hasn't been about Austin Matthews or Nylander or, you know, whatever. It's been about what you felt was lacking in the playoffs against the Florida Panthers and what you hope you had addressed. Now, the jury's still out about it, but it's the first good week I've seen that.

I think, I don't think it's a coincidence that the bottom six has looked as good as it has all year and they've won three in a row. Like this was kind of, you know, when Trilliving sat down on the side, and kind of map this out, I'm sure this is what he thought it was going to look like, where you have depth scoring, Joshua starting to look like a player, Waz coming around, McMahon's found a role in that line, Lotton and Lawrence seem to be paired well together. It's a real feeling bottom six, and then you pair that with the stars in the top six.

That's what it's supposed to look like, but yeah, pretty encouraging game. It is, and Craig Barrowby feels the same way. Let's listen to him on the changes from the start of the season to now. Oh, road trip, okay. Yep. Good five. I mean, after a road trip, you come home, you've got a day off, and then we've got to get back at it against the...

Yeah, just, I think when you look at from the start of the trip to now, just the confidence with the puck is in a way better spot, more than anything. Where'd that come from? I mean, just, I think just, you know, we talked about it, puck possession, making some more plays, and, you know, wanting to puck a little bit more, like, working for each other. And I think they've done a good job of grabbing that and going with it. So it's just, you know, showing video and talking about it. And then more so, like, working on it and practice a little bit more than we have. What have you two seen differently?

I'll start with just their own zone. So obviously with the goal tending that that wall kind of provided when he came back, I think gave them a lot more confidence to be a lot more aggressive in their own zone. For me, for whatever reason, those first 20 games where they just, they were a split second late on their checks in their own zone. And that just seemed to buy enough time for your opponent to pretty much have their way, whether it was to rotate it back up to the points or. rotate it back into the corners on a cycle or take it to the net.

Like I'm watching Florida and Carolina last night, not much time. You know, if they were able to get a puck possession, yeah, there's times when it's on the perimeter and they can do a couple of circles, but they're not ever getting into those high danger zones that we saw so early in the season. Yeah, you know, I, because it's funny, we talk about, first of all, the offensive zone doesn't exist if you don't get out of your own zone right so you know you're not going to get chance to and that with the new players i think in a lot of ways when you just don't ever get going how can you ever find your your niche so to kippy's point and i think i mentioned this last week

when i was in that that my as of last week i was looking at the team last year that came first in the division and expecting more of that which we've seen last week we were seen more of those two horrible game five and game seven thumpings by the florida panthers and one of them what I'm at was vivid memories was Chris Tannaf with the puck in his own zone and all of a sudden looking up and then signaling the guys because he's saying guys guys like I can't I can't do another puck they're on me they're on me and it was a playoff game right and and it seemed like that was a lot of how they played early this season about just that thing about let's get it out smartly like we've been doing all year and and and Troy Stetcher's

a guy that's coming just kind of at the right time and it's just sort of maybe the simple little things let's get it out and kippy i agree with you about 100% that that is a subtle little thing that they did really well last year that you think you looked at the d they took on they kept all their d for a very good reason because the d as a unit were showing you know that they came first place last year and that was a big part of it so sammy i think that's number one for me um it's funny stature 24 23 last night led the team in ice yeah and was a second off from leading the team in against who was the one they played before that, against Florida. So that's working right now.

There's no real sense that it will continue. But if he can be somewhere between what we see now and eventually if these guys get healthy and back and he can find a place in the top six, he does provide again something that we haven't seen earlier in the season and that's agility, quickness, make a good first, passed, kill plays. I mean, he's, yeah, it's looking good right now.

What he's, what I mean, for me, what I, what I've seen is that he's made McCabe that much better in terms of playing on his right side, on the, on his correct side of the left. And that's just opened him up a little bit more for me. So maybe it's not so much of what Stetcher's doing for himself, but what he's doing for McCabe, they seem like they have chemistry and all of Reckman Larson and has been really good, say what you will, but Morgan Riley's been good offensively. We all know what's going on with Morgan Riley, but it feels like they have two real pairs now, that's made a big

difference. Kibby, can I ask you a question? Yes, you can, Gordon. Everyone's been asking, said to ask this question. Oh, by the way, I'm in a curling bond spiel. A guy named McBain from Donaldon. John McRane. He coached Tyke Hockey with you? Yeah, he did. Good coach. I'm going to see him later. Not really. No, no. No, no. But you know what? Fun guy.

Okay. Okay. We'll find out. Just kidding, Bader. So the whole thing, because you would have gone through it, Like being a healthy scratch. You know, whether there's Max Domey, whether it's Joshua, whatever may be. So when you, like, like, I have no problem with it. I can see it.

And it's not like Bruvys relishing it. And I actually think if you have extra players, even if you're winning, I like keeping it going a bit. But how do you take it as, because they go, wow, okay, Nick Capriol's will sit in the press box and maybe he'll learn. Well, are you just going to stew and get pissed off? Do you just understand it's part of the game? Does it put more pressure on your later on? Did it make you play better when you came, played a game when you? I thought you shouldn't have bench.

It did. It did. It escalated the sense of urgency for me because, you know, you're a fringe player. You don't know on any given night whether you're going to be in or out. So your focus is ultra high. The intensity is high on that. But, you know, it depends on who you are and what place you are in. And there's so many little factors going.

in there including job security contract security all of this stuff comes into play but here's the bottom line on a healthy scratch for anybody it's how do you feel about the way the coach looks at you because there are certain guys and maybe Joshua felt this that that he at the end of the day the feeling that he had about Barubi and the head coach that he honestly believed that maybe through a conversation

that you need a reset and you're going to be the player that we all know that you can be. And if you have that feeling, then you could use it as a positive and your energy can come back and regroup. But then there's others who are healthy scratches when they just know

the coach hates me, doesn't believe in me and in a perfect world would like to see me traded or disappeared or sent to the minors when you start believing that that coach has no faith in you and that he has no time for you

which coaches often can send that vibe and that energy without telling it to your face then you're done no matter what but are the players generally correct when they sense that vibe or is it like people that come home to work? I think everybody has a pretty good idea

of whether or not the coach really likes you or not or is just, you know, pissed off at you for a short period of time or you're in a situation where, you know, some of your better players in the league are going, hey, you need me a lot more than I need you. So it all depends on where your status is on the team. So Max Domi, did you raise eyebrows when that happened? What did you think? I believe that for Max, he, you know, he knows how talented he is and he is he's a talent out there at the end of the day first round

he can he's a 12th overall pick he can make plays we saw again a beautiful pass to austin last night like i believe that Craig brewby needs max he can't lose them right now because there's no other alternatives there's no other guys that can step up and beat that talent and and play with austin and I'll include Machelli in there I think Max is way better than Machelli he has more to offer totally agree so you know that to me was a reset

well when you describe it's funny because you were describing the two different types of healthy scratches and all I could think of was Joshua and he knows what he can get out of Joshua he knows that he can bring on the bottom half his lineup he's the guy that he wants to wake up and then you hear him talk about Machelli and he's like yeah he was no good out of

we're not changing a winning lineup. So those are the two differences for me when I listen to it. Like the healthy scratch with Joshua has 100% unequivocally worked. Like it has worked. He's been his best three games that he's had right after that. And Domi's been better since it, too. So you've got to give the coach credit for doing that. Well, the other part, you have to get the general manager credit in that.

I don't know how it works here in Toronto. But in general, you know, general managers get very, I would say ego, whatever. But when they make moves, it's kind of like, Kipper, what do you, what do you, what are you scratching for it? It makes me look bad, okay? You know, I got these guys, you know, whatever, and they haven't got going. You got to get them going, okay? Screw, screw embarrassing.

You put them up there. That pisses me off, okay? Now I look bad about when on, and people start, oh, man, look at the money they're making. Their money collectively is what Mitch Mariner got and then all of a sudden a week later we're thinking different. So that is, to me, a good sign of a coach and GM in sync because that doesn't happen everywhere. But that conversation could have happened three weeks ago where

a guy like Brad could turn around and Craig and say, you know, maybe Craig's thinking about scratching Joshua in game 14 or 15 and he's like, no, no, you're going to make me look bad though you go to 17, 18, 20, it hasn't turned.

And then finally you're like, go okay. Yeah. All right. Do it. Like you just you got to be in a a position where like you've tried everything which they did and this is it but you know the onus is on the players too

it's like okay you've come back even Dakota he's come back he's played two or three games okay what's next for the next two or three games do you get your comfort zone back do you get your safety blanket back do you go back to bad habits and we all have bad habits

the questions are that's for sure who who can avoid them the most right yeah and once you get in your comfort zone you don't want those bad habits to come back where you don't worry about finishing a check i'll get it next shift well maybe next period and it's like now you've you've regressed back again so that's that's that's Joshua's biggest challenge here because that was the problem in Vancouver it's like buddy we know how big you are we know how strong you are uh you're a handful when you're completely on your game

but they got tired of waiting every four games to see it. See, because one thing I thought Bruby did really well, again, when you win a Stanley Cup, nothing goes wrong, right? You know, whether it's you, 94 with New York, but when the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup, if you remember, guys like Sammy Blay in that, he had 15 forwards for the 12 forward spots, and he had a knack of just throwing a guy in,

like Sammy Play for two games. Yeah. And then, you know, but he would contribute, you know? He threw in Gunnerson on D, right? You know, when he got an overtime goal or something, right? you know, so I, because probably that was Craig Barubi's role to a bit. He pretty well would dress every game, I would think, because of his toughness. But understanding and I don't like seeing guys. I don't see that I like everyone to see.

And Frankie Corrado never liked the Frankie Corrado treatment by Babcock. It wasn't fun at all. Whatever. So I've liked his feel in the past, you know, about being able to do that. And I think that would be a good thing with the Leafs right now. And we saw a little bit over the last, what, eight or nine days. Yep. I was going to say

Matthew's game last night, scored blocking shots. I think he's coming around a little bit. I thought he looked pretty good last night. Yeah, I think listen, I don't know whether or not we're ever going to see what we've seen in the past

or the team's even built for him to do that. But he draws a lot of attention and you get a guy like Max who can put a pass together and, you know, he's got the ability shoot it in the net.

Nyes was pretty fabulous last night, too. That one play. Well, I think with Austin Matthews right now, for whatever reason, you thought you'd be talking Connor McDavid, Nathan McKin, and Austin Matthews for 10 years. And you're not right now.

And that's not a, okay, still, it doesn't mean if you're not the third best NHL player, that's not being any slouch. I still never know if he's healthy or not. There's always that mystery, but whatever, that's going to carry on. I'm not, we're not going to any clarity. I mean, but he's Austin Matthews still.

When you're scoring 60 and almost 70 goals a season and you've got these stretches of 11 goals and nine games and back-to-back hat tricks and multiple goals scoring games, you know, I mean, it doesn't appear like that that type of stretch is coming anytime soon for Austin, but I don't know, I don't know if the team's built that way anymore for him. And the only one thing with Martiner is that you had that ability every shift to just have your stick on the ice ready for a potential scoring opportunity they seem to be a little far and few right now for for austin and and there's also still the feeling that regular season hey the ship has sailed about nine consecutive years

in the playoffs it's been great it hasn't excuse me it has not worked in the playoffs and when we get there like we don't care about 70 goals in the regular season so much anymore he needs to have a vladdie guerrero type playoff right you know like just has to has to like you know and that that that was a uh a constructive criticism of laddie when you saw i'm getting picked off at second base a few years ago on that to all of a sudden putting the team on its shoulders in the playoffs and that's every every team that wins it's the best players you can talk about the depth that make a difference and that hasn't happened here i was promised no jay's talk go do we uh do we do want to get bruby on um matthew nyes because i don't

I think we've really given his goal enough. Well, he's been really good this whole trip for me. I thought that line was really good tonight. They carried it, you know, in my opinion. I thought they did a great job and not just on a score sheet all around, you know. I think Matthews had six blocks and did a great job, killing penalties. But the whole team contributed, you know, it was a good team win. Okay, that goal was ultra, like, spectacular for obvious reasons.

It's just the brute strength. Like he looked like a running back that was not to be denied, you know, going into an end zone. Yeah. Yeah. And what all these talented players, we haven't added Toronto, was the Gary Roberts, the Darcy Tucker, right? And Nye's has some of that, right? The one guy that can do it that way, the bull and the china shop way.

And it's also showing Kippey, and this is why I said there is no cavalry. You cannot trade any more draft picks. Okay, you cannot trade draft picks for broken down players. And then because Matthew Nives was a great second round pick. I got Easton and you got nobody. You've got to keep those guys coming. And excellent pick taking Matthew Nives, whatever it was.

And so that's, the other part of it because you still have to develop from within. Yeah, I mean, Sebastian Aho tried to make a play on him and he just bounced off of him. Like, you just forget sometimes how much, how strong he is. And, like, I mean, he's over a point of game to start, like, I can't tell you I expected this amount of production from him. I mean, he signed that contract. You expect some production, but I didn't expect him to be this high.

And still, like, a little bit more physicality out of him, but he's been lighting it up. Sammy always wants something more, doesn't he? I do. Yeah. But, I mean, Kippers said it a million times, too. Yeah, listen, he's not Gary. He doesn't have that edge. He doesn't have Darcy's edge or, but he's got 2,025 edge, I guess.

Yeah, well, but the Leafs played a team like Florida that had that. Yeah. And that was a difference. And they know that. Okay, we'll take a quick break, Sammy. You want to... Let's take a break, and we'll come back and we'll do Leafs Line. We got Leaf Line on Friday, and you got to...

$100,000 to give away, don't you too? Way more than that, bud. Way more than that. Ooh, we can't wait. All right. That more when we return to Real Kipper, born and Gord-Sdelic. Diving deep into Leaps, Raptors, Jays, and NFL.

The Jady Bunk is podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. In studio, Real Kippron-Borne. Nick Caprio Sammy McKee and in for Justin Bourne on this very Friday. Gord Stelich.

Before we get to the lease line? Oh, go ahead. No, you go ahead. Before we get to the lease line, who wants to win a bunch of cash for doing the best thing this holiday season? We do. Okay, Sports have $5.90 the fan

is all in of supporting the 50-50 fortune for sick kids. It's a 50-50, so the more money we raise, the more kids we can help, and the more holiday cash you can win. The current take-home prize is over $308,000. Buy your tickets at 50-50 fortune.ca or text the word money to 590-590 and we'll send the link right to your phone.

18 plus, please play responsibly. Standard message and data rates may apply. Lottery license RAF 151-8410. Sammy's gone on record a few times about Frederick Anderson, but I actually felt bad for him last night. I mean, holy He, it seems like Every time the Leafs play, man

He cannot come up I mean, he hasn't come up with the same season this year No, he's having a tough time Having a really bad year Like if Carolina is going to be taken seriously Do they not have to go get a goalie? Well, boy, well, anti-Ranta, all those things

You've always wondered that Kachetkoff That they've never had the Wow Goldie, right? They've never had the Shasturkin You know, or whatever may be. they've got by. I don't know. They've got by. Now, they talk about, Tulski said, they're always looking bold and big,

and you can't do much better than Randen in last year in that vein. So it's just interesting. They seem to be one of those teams that has not put value on a big time number one goaltender. Because I don't think he has a big time number one goaltender. To agree with you, I guess. 3.15 goals against

this year in 875 and 14 games. And they just, re-upped them, I think, for two more years? Was that this year if you did that? I think so. I'm not sure. Let me double check. I think so.

It's not a big number. But anyway, how about that? I'm not, I don't care about the numbers. I don't stop the pot. Right? Stop the pot. You know, even, listen, even here in Toronto with... He signed a one year,

$2.7 million contract extension on May 3rd, 2025. It's like what I said before. If you believe in somebody, you believe in them. You know, and I guess they still believe in Freddie after all these years. Just to go back to the Leaf situation here where Stolars still had a last year on his old deal this year.

I had this conversation with Justin Bourne saying just why race to sign him to a four-year deal? why not just take it to Christmas and just if he's off to a great start and he has a career year and he could look like he's headed towards 50 games and playing healthy, maybe you could justify

then bumping him up to $4 million or $5 million if you had that sample size but without any proof that this guy can play more than $35,000, games. Why do you want to sign them to a four-year deal? Well, again, no, first of all, when I talk about the money, because the money just means if things don't work out, it doesn't screw you on the cap. That's all I mean. I'm kind of looking at the, but first of all, like Anthony Stollars, my reaction, a lot of people said was, wow, I thought he settled for less. You know, you look at his stats last year, and even the

previous year is a backup in Florida. Otherwise, he'd been a career backup. I get it. He'd been a career backup year after year basically but you know his body of work and also he had not had a history of being hurt because mostly he was a backup goaltender so he had a little bit of leverage kippy and you're going to lose him as an unrestricted free agent i i did not have a problem with the i i understand if he here's a question i guess if he's a ufa is he still like how much is he pushing through something how much is he it's a different animal great great point sammy you If he was now in a situation where he didn't have a contract for next year, how quickly would he be racing back to get his net?

No, but wait, wait, so wait, you got, aren't there medical people that make those decisions? I don't know. We don't know anything. We don't know anything. I know that part, but I can't believe the medical people would say, oh, you're a UFA. You can come back three games earlier.

Listen, there are times, Gors. when, you know, it's not definitive for the medical team and then it really comes down to you and how hard you want to play through something and, you know. Understood. Yeah, understood. And I don't know where that is for him.

I'm not suggesting that he's faking or he's in a comfort zone. That's why he's not playing. I'm just saying that we do know that there's a certain line, especially for goaltenders too, where ultimately they are pushing real hard to get back into their net. And if that's the case, then you wait for that green light. But I don't know what's going on here. But also if he's pushing to get back and he's done 100%.

It's not doing the team any favors. Or maybe he's not pushing to come back. Maybe he won't play at 80% or 90%. He needs to feel 100%. I played with goalies like that before I can tell you. Well, that's where I always talk about, and that's where when I talk about the value X players bring, but you still wouldn't know the dressing room

because you've been in a dressing room. And that's where it's real. That's the one and only spot, exactly what you're talking about. Otherwise, I'm just guessing. But you're right. If you have a number of players like that, that's not a good thing. If he was in the last year of his deal right now, what kind of contract would you be thinking about signing him right now?

Not the one he got. Wait, wait a second. You know, first of all, okay, we got to wait for the year to play out. Okay, so obviously, obviously. Okay, so hold on. You just answer the question. You wouldn't sign him right now. You'd wait for the season to play out.

Oh, if he's hurt, yeah, totally. Well, he's just imagined now if he didn't have a four-year contract. Well, what would you be thinking about, you know? I would be thinking I was glad that I didn't sign him and get criticized by Kippy, you know, on the Kippie show for signing him. I'm just playing both sides here. But no, yeah, obviously when someone gets so, but, hey, I have no problem, the commitment, the confidence, schooltending, you know, he was a pleasant surprise last year.

and I'm going to look at that, and he's got a chance, when healthy. What isn't the pleasant surprise, what isn't a surprise is his inability to stay healthy, his whole career. Well, see, because he's been a backup, like, it doesn't jump out at me because he's not been the guy. He's usually been the guy filling in when the starting goaltender gets injured. So, yeah, so right now, you're right, right now as it appears that a big fly in the ointman is two, hypothetically, leaf goaltenders, a great goaltending tandem that one or both

are going to be injured way too much each season. That remains to be seen, but right now that's what you got. Quick leaf line. Let's go to Andrew in Nova Scotia. Andrew in Nova Scotia, sorry. Calling into the Larry Curley and Moe show. You name went Cor do this when he does that.

Are we back, baby? Go, let's go! I'm not saying we're back, but there's lots of people on the lease line say we're back. All right, let's go to Nick and Brampton. Would you guys rather the least get a guy like Alex Tuck as a winger to play on the top line, right-handed shooting winger? Or do you think it would be more beneficial to get a guy like Nazan Cadry to play 3C and then move Latin up in the lineup and kind of create more depth that way? Love the show. Keep it up, boys.

Well, Nazcadry comes as 2C. Yeah. Not 3C. He's moving to the 2C. Right? Good question. Yeah. I like Tuck.

I like Tuck for Austin. Me too. And I think that's a nice wish list right there. First of all, the first caller sounded like Shamp. Okay? So he didn't sound like he sounded like... Are you curly? Yeah.

He said like Shemp. Okay. So this is what I loved about. taking calls is it's the fun list so right now it's like would you rather have a million dollars or 500,000 like what you know you okay yeah you've what having both on your team what's it going to cost cadry just play along go i'm playing along so okay to me right now depth wise to get that center cadry would and also he's got the it factor you don't have yeah talk hasn't played in playoffs you know uh talks a huge talent listen i ask mccabe what talk i like uh

games of relationships. The center ice is 200 feet, right? 200 feet. He's going to be somewhere else. Kind of hang out. The owner in Calgary is kind of saying it, oh, we want to know. You got to make a good business decision.

Of course, he has no trade. The center, no question. Is it a more important position? Let's go to Glenn from Kemptville, Nova Scotia. I keep hearing Kipper and Borne talk about Bennington going to Edmonton. Bennington needs to go to Toronto. Toronto needs a goalie that consistently can be available to play. And Binnington's that guy, and he's got a resume, and perhaps he's what they need.

A nice fiery goalie in the net, setting the tone in the back end. And to me, that's who they need to get. Because, with all due respect to Wall and Stolarsky, those two never seem to be available when you need them. Or when they get hot, one of them goes down. I say bring in Bennington and who cares about Evanton? And if they have to trade Wall to make the deal, because Wall, they'll give you a half a dozen games and then he's gone. That's how I feel.

How do you gentlemen feel? Thank you. Well, more interesting is that Wall's from St. Louis. Yeah. Yeah, and even more interesting, I believe the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs may have won Lord Stanley's up with the Jordan Bennington would you do that trade do a package that would include wall going the other way for Bennington oh geez um well it's hard no no no I wouldn't

answer your question I wouldn't I mean I respect what Jordan Bennington's done the cup and Canada last year how can we not respect but I do it yeah I do it yeah it would be just be based on I'm tired of of goal he's getting hurt I'm tired of their reputations of always being hurt I'd rather take a guy that... But he's healthy on a team that's not going to make the playoffs and he hasn't really given the good goal-tending this particular year. He's a big reason they're not going to... Right now.

And I don't hesitate. I'm not being any way-shaped critical, but just said if you're trying to upgrade your goal to tending in the regular season. I mean, hey, sometimes you've got to change some things, right? You know, sometimes you've got to change some things. So in the sense, and all of a sudden, because it's funny, the one thing, Paul Zing was Stollars was he seemed to have some intensity, but it didn't make sense at his own team.

Yeah. I mean, the year started with him calling on his team and then remember that? It's almost as if that was the point where everything kind of went to hell. Totally went sideways on him. Well, it's kind of like Austin Matthews last year. We had too many passengers at that final game and then stole us like that there's just been sometimes just in a very media frenzy place. What? Say what?

We never did find out who he was talking about. No. No, just sort of. It gets unchallenged, you know? Let's go to Jed from Manitoba. It was last night the first time that the Leafs had the same lineup on back-to-back games. Could be helpful going forward, but no wall, so it won't happen again. Well, Jed, if it wasn't, it sure felt like it.

Yeah, it felt, I just, I think we've been watching a guy, used a blender a ton and it's felt like the blender slowed down the past couple games last week and they've been able to get some chemistry it's led to some results so i think you're right i think it may be the first time feels like the first time didn't austin matthews have five different excuse me 10 different wingers or something like that you know in the first or there are 10 different combinations in the first just leave max with him he wants max i i totally agree that it's not perfect but just do it and i think that's another reason why i think you know things are starting to settle down a little bit when your big boys turn around and say okay i've had enough

then you got to lean on them a little bit you got to trust them that's you have no choice as a head coach you think austin asked for him i do yeah i do i also like seeing whether there's nikwa or just scottes and get a couple goals like all of a sudden these guys that why you got them you could see them fitting now the other thing too is you know we've been We've been involved in the game a long time, Gord, and you as a manager, like, you need some bounces. Over 82 games, you need, the, the bounces right now and just the feel you didn't get in the first 20 games. Okay, what is it now?

How many consecutive games, first goal? Four. Four games. You get a bounce off the glass. Not first goal, first shot on goals. No, no, I know that. And then the second goal last night goes off the glass. You ever get a bounce like that?

It's a, no. No, I don't get those hockey god bounces. He never got one. Never got a hockey god. Yeah, I probably have. In the rink in Peterborough of square corners? You didn't bounce it off the corners there? Yeah, it was like a bathtub that thing in Peterborough.

What did you get 60? 62. Yeah, 62. Yeah, he was a sniper. You got a bouncing through that year, brother. All right. That's leaf line. We go national next, including an update, an Olympic update.

From you? Yes. Oh, my God. Yeah. Stick around.