Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Striving for 70

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and (returning) Sam McKee start with some Masters takes before diving into the Leafs' 5-6 loss against the Devils last night. They discuss Matthews adding two to his total of 68 goals, whether his chase for 70 has now taken priority over team goals, a scary outing from Samsonov and how the goalies will be deployed in the final 3 games. Later, the voice of the Red Wings for Bally Sports, Ken Daniels (33:50), sets the stage for Detroit's game against Toronto tomorrow night, looks ahead at Patrick Kane's future in Detroit and evaluates Derek Lalonde's season behind the bench. 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.

let's get her going it's a real kipper and born show the kiprios justin born derrick brandeo james wilson wilson wilson is it and let's welcome back in to the program our very own Sammy McKee. Testing. Testing. You good? Sounded okay? Sounded right? You good? Yeah, boys, I'm here. You know, it is something that the last time we saw Sammy,

he was fine. And today, he's fine. But the first day of the Masters, he was very not fine. And for the record. I did the hit with the morning show boys today, and I was like, it's pretty tough for me to say this one. JB thought you were faking.

Yeah, it's fine. Well, the way you know that I wasn't faking is that I canceled a tee time on Wednesday. I was so sick. So that is a, if you're going with the smoking gun, I mean, that is the proof in the pudding. I got through, I don't know what it was, but I was as sick as I've been in 10 years for 48 hours. We're happy to have you back. I'm happy I'm back.

I'm enjoying the Masters. I'm enjoying seeing you two. Didn't enjoy the Leaf game a whole lot last night, but we move on. Wherever you're watching, wherever you're listening, Sportsnet 590, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus from 4 to 6. We're glad you're with us for the listening sports at 590 sports at 360 sports at plus from four to six uh we're glad you're with us for the next two hours on this friday final friday of the regular

season yeah week yeah week to uh today we're teeing up a playoff game we are my god i can't believe we're here we are we are and just remember it's friday, so text us at 590-590, especially on Friday where we typically run out of gas and your texts actually save our show. You got to keep us afloat because otherwise we'll be very distractible today and we will talk golf if you let us. Oh, no, we can't do golf. There's nothing that gets people more bent out of shape than golf. Buddy, this is a hockey audience.

It's got to have a lot of heavy golf overlap, does it not? A little bit. Love for Tiger making the cut for the 24th consecutive time. 24th consecutive time. Is that the record today past Freddie Couples? And, I mean, he looks like he needs a wheelbarrow to get around out there. He's just like, it's like he's in um like a halloween costume or something right where you're like you're not as mobile right he should be yeah he looks like me

in my robot costume yeah exactly and he's getting it around augusta he's hanging in there he is i just like you know i'm a diehard tiger fan all of us are big tiger fans but he's probably my favorite athlete of all time. And I guard against this every year where I'm like, he's done. I don't even like this. I don't even want to watch it. Every tournament I do that because I want to guard against the horrible other side. Okay, but. It's like me being like, they got no chance against the Panthers.

He physically looked so much better yesterday. And then he walks around like he's wearing a Halloween costume. Yes. Like, how is he ever going to once again put four great days together? I don't know that he ever will again. He probably won't, but put up a couple early birdies tomorrow, boys, and let's get nuts. He's only eight back.

How much Aleve are you allowed to ingest? What's the maximum dosage? That guy's physiotherapist is making his money tonight and tomorrow. All right. Well, we got the Toronto Maple Leafs with still three games to go. Last night, losers to the New Jersey Devils, a game that JB and I worked for Sportsnet Ontario. So plenty to dissect.

But at the end of the day, nobody cares because Austin scored two more, closing in on 70. And people like Sammy, that's all they care about now. It's the great scene from The Simpsons with Mark McGuire and it's something like the CIA. And he's like, do you want to know the horrible truth? Or do you want to see me hit dingers? And everyone's like, dingers!

Honestly, perfect. Perfect. It's like, we don't really care what else that meant. Tell us about Austin Matthews. So is that where we're at to close out this regular season that this is Saturday nights about about austin getting 70 or or did we get a few i don't know red flags concerns last night where are you on this i mean honest answer is that i'm not that concerned about this because this team does this when they think it's going to be easy or the game

doesn't matter or whatever we kind of get these nights where they're like i don't know all the stars will go get two points so you're getting these nights a week before game one in the stanley cup playoffs well it's not good thanks brad may i i don't mind them losing before the playoffs but like that the way that looked was not pretty. It was a punt. And that's the thing. I saw that Tampa lost to Ottawa last night in a shootout. I'm sure if we were doing a Tampa show,

we'd be all going crazy about it too. It's the end of the year. You're playing these crappy teams. I thought Sam Snob wasn't very good. I just stunk. I want to say that I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it but it's hard to watch it as a fan and not be like oh there's some most concerned about the samson off thing for sure but you know the penalty kill again three against you know time time to write another

article saying it's fine flying around like chickens with their heads cut off there's just a few things i didn't love yeah so are we starting on the overview of of the leafs or do you want to just put a bow on uh an austin matthews conversation here because i'm i'm the first one to have said that it's it's looking easy and natural and keep them going. It's not like this guy's being pushed or taxed or looks like he's protecting something like in previous years with his wrist here. So everything's hunky-dory.

And now we're going into the weekend. Last game of the regular season, Detroit. You're not pulling them out of saturday night but after saturday night two games in florida what's it look like with you and austin matthews you know what stinks for the leafs is those final two games a back-to-back are the 16th and the 17th they're going to open the 20th, Saturday night. That's not official. That's conjecture. But it's what's going to happen. So they're going to play three days later. You can't, I just, I don't love the idea of him not getting a rest.

So I'm going to be the hater here. If you go back and read my article on Sportsnet, I said I want him to score three or score zero. He scored two. You know, and now the chase is on, and we're talking about the chase and it feels like it's taking priority over the team goals and that's such a hater thing it didn't last week it didn't the last 10 days are you asking me okay no no i'm saying that for me i'm with you yeah

then the last week it didn't feel that way last night it felt that way yeah felt like okay he needs one more let's uh go to the coach i put a clip in there about austin matthews talking about this and we can uh we can go off of that okay yeah well it'd be terrific i mean 70 is a nice round number and everything to aspire to but as i said i think it's what he's doing right now it's it's pretty incredible he's rewriting the record books and you know there's a lot of Leaf fans that in their lifetime haven't seen that many goals in the NHL. So it's pretty remarkable. So wherever this ends up going, who knows?

I wouldn't put any limit on it at this point. But it's just terrific to watch. And like I said, I thought tonight was probably the first time I saw, especially once he got the second one, we started to force it a little bit to him. And I think it started to break down. I'd love to see that because he doesn't need that. He doesn't need to just play the game. He's good enough as it is.

He's going to find his way to his stick. But, yeah, just the way that he himself has just continued to play hard and lead the way for us and embrace his line, his line mates to let that roll while we can work on other things. So what about, yeah, so Keefe agrees with you

that they were forcing it a bit to him. What if you basically said to him, clear his day no waffling you got two games you're not going to play the final game of the season or you're not going to play one of those final two games you know is that a reasonable request of the player i i don't he can't it's a conversation that has to happen after Saturday night. After Detroit. Because the point could be moot if he happens to throw two in the net Saturday night.

I see your point. And you're so right. So you are not having that conversation. We know he's playing Saturday night. Yeah. So the question is, does he get it or does he not get it and that changes the dynamics of the two games in florida but it's already changed the dynamic of saturday night we're watching for nothing else right we are not watching for execution systems

play line chemistry, power play, connection. No, you're right. Distance second. Distance second. We are watching will Austin get 70, and that's too bad. It's too bad for the team who's very good. Boys, the nightmare has been realized.

Yeah. We're in the exact spot where I've been talking about this for, literally I've been asking you about this for three weeks.'s not my nightmare i just it's obviously very good it's a great amazing thing don't make fun of me for saying nightmares a man who's about to score 70 goals in a toronto maple leaf uniform and you're talking about it because he wants the team to win i can't like yeah i love the goals. I want him to get it. I get it. But I don't want him to go into a meaningless game against a team.

They're maybe going to play in the first round who has a bunch of butchers that are going to be going after him. Yeah. Trying to push for him to get 70 goals. They're going to know he wants 70 goals. It'd be all over him. I think that there are the majority of our audience listening to this show is like you.

Absolute haters. This is unbelievable. I love this. This is exciting. I've never seen anything like this. Those haters haven't got a clue how to win a Stanley Cup. That's what I say to them. Not a clue.

That's why I like to be arm and arm with you, pal. I need you to say that because I agree with the logic. Yeah. So I am now at the point where I woke up this morning and I'm not telling Austin anything, but I'm telling myself, you get

your two goals Saturday night or then it completely drops. And in a perfect world he gets his two Saturday night. And I'm not thinking about maybe shutting him down for one Florida game. I may shut him down for two.

My only thought on that, and I get that too. My only thought is that's a long, it's a week. It'd be a week between games. Is that too much hockey to go into game one, you know, not having played in a week? He's going to get it Saturday night. So, I mean, that's the moot point here is that it's... Here's what I am going to bet Saturday.

Two goals. No, plus nine and a half shots. Oh, yeah. He's going two games. Oh, he owns Detroit. He's got 31 points in 23 games against him, 16 goals. Like, he owns Detroit. He'll score against them.

Based on what I saw last night against New Jersey, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to what it means to the rest of the team and that look, that continual look from last night for everybody else. It's now so separated for me. Which, you know. Austin and the 70, and then what you had said before what about this this this power play stinks penalty kill gave up three goaltender awful i mean didn't get they got juice out of tavarez tavarez had a good night um d looked a little suspect brody brody was bad

edmondson had a tough moment you know know, it was not a night of highlights when you lose to the New Jersey Devils. Okay, we're going to get into all of those things that you just checked. But first, let's get the overview of the game last night through Sheldon Keefe's eyes on our first Kippers Clipper. This game's a strange game. We score first shift, first shot,

and we give them a couple of gifts after that. So, yeah, strange game here tonight. Obviously, it's not one that you'll love, but we'll move on. We'll move on. We'll move on. What are you going to do? Yeah, really dismissive of holding anybody accountable last night.

I wonder if that's externally dismissive. I don't know where I'm at in terms of going at them too hard and completely letting them off the hook for last night. There's some things that you need to work on here, including specialty teams, which would be at the top of my list. And just to kind of shrug it off, I'm not on the same page as Sheldon. But I don't think you owe the media that. I'm sure he's aware of those things and wants to address those things or whatever.

I don't think you need to make it a public. Well, you don't need to get into details but you know you can also say that you know last night didn't make me happy i had a couple coaches who over the course of the year it was like a tear you down build you back up sort of thing in the first half of the year really hard really all over you you know and really kind of made you feel like not great about your game at times and then second half of the year it's like nice play and you're like oh i am kind of going you build you back up and by this time of year you kind of stopped hearing negative things and you're feeling like god i'm the best i've ever been i think there's some merit to at this point you're not teaching any new lessons there's no accountability that they didn't have before

i'm okay with sheldon you're right the the whole we'll move on i don't think they're going to move on internally yeah and i think well if you're going to save your big time media bullets maybe week and a half away from uh last night would be the time to do it, as opposed to a meaningless one against the crappy devils. Yeah. Well, and that included Samsonov as well, which, what's the word you used? Stunk? What did you say?

Sure, yeah. I don't know what you said. Pick an adjective around that, a synonym for stunk, and I'll say that was me. Yeah, that to me, last night, Samsonov was as bad as anything we saw prior to being waived. Very similar, just in terms of like on the ice five hole with just the heel of a stick on the ice. So I get it.

You want to protect him too because you don't want to strip any of the building blocks that he's had. So once again, brush it under the carpet, that's fine, but to your point, I think internally, they're like, okay, let's, we

put all our eggs in this basket here. We gotta make sure he's okay here. Do we have a second basket? Do you want to play the clip from the coach about Sam Snuff? All right, let's hear it. Clearly hung him out to dry early in the hockey game,

so we don't give him much of an opportunity to be in this game here today. So, you know, we'll move on as a team, and we need him to move on as well. He's been outstanding for us, and he'll be outstanding next time out. I was looking at at before the game i can't remember the number but i caught my eye the number of regulation losses this guy's had this season it's pretty remarkable the the uh opportunities he's given us to win this season so you know i'll rent this one pretty quick he's all in on samson off he's good at drawing your attention to some favorable stat he's's like, you go Google that.

Well, you know, in the back of his mind, it's like, oh, God. Oh. Fire drill in your brain. Oh, my God. I watched that sixth goal. Was it the sixth? Yeah. Where he just.

Just kept going. Under the crossbar. He got out of the way. Yeah. Like, he just went, like, and made himself smaller, and it went in the top corner right by where he's. Yeah. I just was like

that was Columbus the game that you guys did Sammy. But you know go ahead. No you go. All good goalies the best goalies in the whole league

have nights where they just play badly. And you're just praying that was one of them. That's it. You're just going right. But. Even the best players

have off nights. He didn't practice today but he was on the ice with marley's again with no with uh just him and uh curtis sanford i don't think he's clear at this time of year boys no so i'm sure it was enough for them what they saw last night to go and revisit let's drive those fundamentals yes which says we're not concerned but we're just a tiny little bit concerned enough to say we need you a little one-on-one time with your goaltending coach i think there's reasonable criticism to be made about how they've handled

their goaltenders over the past little bit was that How many starts in a row was that for Samsonov? Three or four? Three or four, and like all year long, it was, is it Wolves, Ned? Before Wolves injuries, Wolves was the guy, undisputed. That's the way I read it. I mean, our show had given him the crease in playoffs. After his injury. Still seemed like his.

Boston, Boston. Here's Boston, Boston. We're going to have Samsonov, whoever it was. That to me was, like looking back, and I know hindsight is 20-20, but looking back to me, that was a questionable decision. Agreed. Coming off a high ankle sprain, throwing him in there against one of your rivals back-to-back times was a wild choice at that point.

And to me it said, whether he does well or doesn't do well, we want to put him in these situations because he's going to be our high leverage guy eventually. And then they just said, the guy who's beaten the worst team, Samsonov, is now the guy. And they gave him all the starts. And Wol hasn't played in,

it's got to be 10 days now or something like that. Three games left. Yeah. Saturday night against a team fighting for their lives. Playoff lives. Huge game for the W. Playoff lives. Huge game for the Wings. Huge game.

We assume Samsonov is going to play two out of three. Samsonov starting on Saturday night. Oh, my God. Is he really? Yes. Yes. So that leaves the two Florida games. You've got to assume. Wall Jones.

You've got to give you want to give – Wall Jones. You've got to give Wall one game here. Well, there's no doubt. So which one do you give him? Well, you know, then you're going to give him Florida. And he's, you know, like – I think you've got to give –

I think you've got to avoid Samsonov against Florida Panthers. For fear he gets lit up. This is like we can't play him in the American League for fear he gets lit up. Do you think he's good or not? I just think you save him. That's the guy that's going to fade. I wouldn't show him. I just wouldn't show him against Florida.

I don't think they will. So that's going to be it. It'll be Samsonov here. It'll be Wohl Tuesday night against Florida. And then Tampa Bay on the final game of the season. Could be Jones. Could be Wohl again. Could be Wohl.

Against Tampa? Sure, he can go back-to-back. He hasn't played in forever. Then you're one game out of three for Samsonov. Yep. You want it to be two? You want Sammy to get a game in there? I don't know.

I think it's his last start before the playoffs on tomorrow. Okay, if by chance he gets lit up again, you want to go. Then he gets another start. You want to go. Maybe that's why he's playing, though. Jersey, lit up. Detroit, lit up.

Game one. No. No. This is what sucks about two goalies, boys. I've been saying it for three weeks yeah because you never know who's the right almost swore i'm rusty much like austin do you get 70 or not get 70 let's see what samsonov does saturday night will dictate does he need one more tune-up to turn things around sorry so wool played in the 5-2 win over the Devils,

and it was a 900 save percentage on the 9th, so just a few days ago. I was off on that. Okay, I want to get into another conversation because this first 20 minutes is just flying by, and that is home ice. We've had conversations on this, but last night has really done a job on making everybody believe that it's Florida and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And in all probability, the series will start in Florida. But let's get Sheldon Keefe on home ice before we get into that conversation. How much do you care about home ice in round one? You play the games. You know, we play the games. You know, we play the games. We're trying to win every single game. And wherever the games end up being played in the end, we'll be ready. We don't care about home ice.

We don't want home ice. It's the right thing to say. We've had this conversation before. It's like, if you believe you can win, then you've got to believe you can win anywhere. Mm-hmm. Saying that, okay, they're down in Florida. Wednesday, Tuesday, Wednesday? Tuesday, Wednesday. Tuesday, Wednesday.

Do you bring them home Wednesday night? Yes. Or do you leave them in Florida? No way. Bring them home. But, you're there you're gonna fly across the country and then fly back because what if they got no one's partying this if they got a hundred sport scientists they're getting them back to toronto like they're gonna be like getting your sleep routine oh but that's why they don't want to not travel you're you're this is the playoffs buddy okay they're gonna not travel. This is the playoffs, buddy.

Okay? They're going to stay down there. This is the playoffs. You know the prep that goes into those first three days prior to game one? This is an insane stretch. Think about this for a second. It's Wednesday night, okay? And I don't know how you feel about the week as is,

but let's say it's a decent feel. You fly them home three and a half hours. Okay, so you get them home 2 o'clock in the morning, 3 o'clock in the morning. You burn that Thursday. You got to give them the day off. No, you're right. They stay. You've got video sessions. You burn that Thursday. You got to give them the day off. No, you're right. They stay.

You've got video sessions. You've got specialty team meetings. You've got a ton of all of that to prep. When are you going to do that? Friday? You got to practice and you got to fly back. There is no time. So it's a long trip. Their playoffs start in a couple

days in a few days here one of my favorite things so i did the video prep for sheldon keith for five playoff series and the way that he works teams through is a really cool session where basically you know you have all the lines put up there each guy has his own section of like notes on what they do their tendencies whatever but it's really cool the way they open it up to the dressing room and say who's played with this guy what can you tell us about him what you know what does he not like is he a guy we want to get in his ear do you want to stay out of his head like it's an like the prep well for video coach in particular there's not much sleep over that time it's a you know yeah that that time frame is crunched i i have listen game one in game two factor in this road trip that walks you to florida prior to that

they're on the road for like 10 days 11 days the only thing this now makes me think playoff game this now makes me wonder will some of these guys not even go to florida tuesday that's why i'm sitting there going austin get your 70 because you might stay home and we'll send you down there for thursday you might you might have to might miss might miss those games yeah uh luke fox our intrepid reporters text me said listening to your convo they are staying in florida they are oh it's already done deal that's what he said oh they announced it well i mean well luke knows so yeah you better be right no he's always right oh listen the other way is just a disaster oh yeah he's ruined oh coming back yeah coming back home i thought you meant he was wrong

no no no no no no i i'm with luke on this that's a long time away from home, boys. I know. It's a long time. I know. But that may be the best thing for them, you know? You know, my dad's Islanders teams, they stayed in the hotel at home. Or home ice advantage would have been the best. I don't think so. They pooped down their leg every game one. Oh, if they had success the end of the year and caught them and got home ice

and we all started talking about how great they were, that's their very worst. Exactly. They'd poop down their leg immediately. Thoughts on Max Domi. We're going to probably take a break in a little while, but we got enough. Five minutes here.

We got some time to get into Max Domi's fight last night and something that we talked about in the intermission is Leaf fans wanting or looking for this type of look for a while now. Did it serve its purpose? I think some liked it. Some didn't like it. Well, my controversial take on this is like, it's just fine. It's good.

You know, like he didn't like it and he stood up for his teammate. Maybe he should have. Maybe he shouldn't have. But he decided he should. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Who am I to say like what you think is over the line for worthy of pumping somebody? I think it sends a message to your team that like, I'll do this. Yeah. Luke. Yeah, who am I to say, like, what you think is over the line for worthy of pumping somebody?

I think it sends a message to your team that, like, I'll do this. Yeah, Luke Fox, again, he tweeted out he's literally fighting to stay on the line. It's true. David Amber made a very good point on our telecast last night. Is that what you want to see in the playoffs? And it's like, no. First of all, he's going to have to have a different approach on it.

Somehow, some way to send that message. What last night does is plant the seed that I am capable of doing this. And sometimes that's enough and willing, and that might be enough on its own. But certainly in a playoff scenario if max went after a player for hitting austin and ended up being shorthanded or sitting in the box for 10 minutes that's a bad look yeah it doesn't work he was in the box for 17 minutes one thing i do

wonder is we're gonna get to an update on Max Domi who is injured in some capacity. And I do wonder if it happened in the fight. You know, like a knuckle when you're grabbing a jersey or something, like something small. Because it doesn't sound like he's hurt-hurt. He's going to play in the playoffs, but it sounds like something happened. Very well could have been during that.

Let's go to Sheldon Keefe on Max Domi's fight. I mean, I love Max. You know, he's all about the team, and he's, you know, he's responding to a situation he felt needed to be addressed, and, you know, you love that about him. But, yeah, it has an impact on the game. Not only do you have to kill a penalty,

but then disrupts the rhythm and the flow of the bench and all of that. But, you know, we'll take it. You know, we've got to be able to manage and handle that, but he was playing so well, especially. It's not an idea to lose him for 17 minutes. Okay, let's follow it up with an update today from Sheldon on Clip 7. Derek.

He has an injury. That's a day-to-day situation, so I just kept him off the ice today and see how he does tomorrow. Is there a chance he plays more than that? Yeah, there's a chance, yeah. Okay, kind of sounds like you might have got hurt in the fight. I think so. Did we see anything else?

Nothing else happened. Something? This is what every non-fighting fan will be like. See? Yeah, I know. You're one of your best players the last two weeks. This fighter is stupid. That's why you're like, crap.

I wish you didn't get hurt in a fight. But at the same time, I thought the reaction, I didn't think it was that egregious of a play. No. The Nemech battle. No, he saw Matthew's mad about something. He was like, if he doesn't like it, then I don't by proxy. I love the response to it or whatever. Just sucks he got hurt.

Because now we can't talk about it as in glowing lights as we would have. Honestly. And we don't even know, though. We don't know if that's when it was. So maybe we still can. The one thing that comes to my mind, again, is you're going to play Florida, one of the most willing teams in the league yes when it

comes to that sort of stuff so the one thing if i was a florida panther today prepping for the leafs the first thing i would say is i'm going after austin yeah because that guy's gonna come he's getting squirrely right wires are crossing wires are crossing you know though i don't think i hope i hope max dials it in dials it in or now understands that uh he's got to be impeccable when it comes to making these type of decisions i think max is pretty smart i think he's pretty mature when it comes to that sort of stuff i don't see him you know off his rocker too often where it seems like it doesn't work for the team but the other thing there is

I don't think anyone in Florida is changing the game plan saying let's be hard on Austin now you know like I think that was the game plan that was when they wrote it up at the top of the pyramid the first thing we do punch him in the Oh, 34. Oh, that's who we should go after. So, yeah, the target's been there. It stays there. You know what it did do, though? It opened up the door for this Nylander-Tavares-Marner thing

that now is going to be a thing and I'm going to be mad about. Shot attempts 14-1 with them on the ice? Yeah, they were awesome. You want to hear from Sheldon on that line? Yes. Clip two. I see lots of potential in it, but want to get them some reps.

You know, I see it as something that I can move to through a game, you know, when it's hard to really get rhythm with three lines. I think it's a way to simplify that a little bit and get those guys out there. Yeah, I thought they were really good tonight actually. It's a way to panic. Yeah. Okay, we're not scoring goals.

Panic time. So we can add another star chasing a milestone Saturday night because it ain't just about Austin getting 70.'s willie who had a hundred locked in the bank a month ago i know he was on pace for 125 i think and he's pressing guys guys. Have you ever seen him shake his head like he did last night? No, that was a complete outburst of emotion for Willie.

Yeah, this, this. That's a lot of emotion for Willie. He never does anything. No. Yeah, he wants it. Right now, there's nine guys in the NHL with 100 points. You know, 100 would be great, and i want him to get it and all that but no one's changing any game plans to get neil it's what you kind of forget is that marner sat on 99 and i think didn't play the last game right i think so. I think that's right.

I don't know. Is Willie in the equation for a night off this week? If Willie needs a night off, they should give him one. How about Tavares? He was good last night. Craig and you mentioned last night on our telecast that it's a good game for him. Skating.

Going hard to the net. He's got energy in those legs. Yeah, it's night and day for him when he has that little bit of pop he pulled the one off the wall to get to the middle you know you don't always see that so yeah you'd like to preserve that for playoffs yeah willie's last goal was march 26th now april 12th wow yeah i also do think that davar is a little inspired by getting willie and mitch on his wings like oh yeah i'll do whatever i can to make this stick yeah all right we got a few minutes no we gotta go we gotta hit a break we'll go to break okay when we come back ken daniels will join us 27 year veteran with the detroit red wings and he's going to help us tee up that all important game saturday night for steveman's Detroit Red Wings. That and more when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne.

Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things Leafs, Raptors, and Blue Jays every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the Fan Morning Show. Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. nick kipper hill's justin bourne sammy mckee all right let's welcome in a familiar voice and face around the neck these neck of the woods here in toronto ken daniels 27 years now as detroit red wings play-by-play man kenny how are you man thanks for joining us my pleasure kipper nice to be with you guys yeah

great so from one biggest game of the year to another uh for the detroit red wings as they get ready to tackle the toronto maple leafs saturday night on hockey night in canada uh it's it's been a grind here ken for the red wings here I think two wins out of nine tries. Not that, you know, the good news is, although they lost last night to Pittsburgh, it wasn't a regulation loss here. But what do you see out of the next, what, three games out of the Detroit Red Wings starting Saturday night?

Well, they're already, you know, destiny wasn't in their hands they needed help so you know to come back from 5-3 down uh last night to get a point was huge against pittsburgh and now pittsburgh is one in front and tied with washington washington loses the buffaloes you're thinking okay that's good red wings fall behind 5-3 give up a shorty tie it you know great night for lucas raymond three goals one assist larkin was terrific to brinkett getting some helpers you tie behind 5-3, give up a shorty, tie it. You know, great night for Lucas Raymond. Three goals, one assist. Larkin was terrific. Debrinkit getting some helpers.

You tie it 5-5. And then just a bad miscue in overtime, and you let Sidney Crosby get near the puck. So two points there would have been huge. As you say, every game seems to be the next must-win game, even though it isn't because you can rely on others. But two points last night would have been huge and you see it going forward you need two against toronto and then you're home and home with montreal monday and tuesday to close the season

and montreal's been pretty good of late so they're playing loose and uh red wings have to run the table and then you hope for some help home and home with montreal really changes how you look at their schedule you look at some of the other teams, the Capitals will have to play Tampa, Boston, you know, like they do have an advantageous finish. So this game against Toronto, what should Leafs fans

expect from the Red Wings? Where are they at? Are they fully healthy? Are they going to see the best version of the Detroit Red Wings? I hope so, and I don't know who's going to be in goal because they needed one more save or two than they got from Alex Lyon, who's been really good, even heading into the game last night. Alex, the wins weren't there.

He was 2-3-2 his past seven games. But his save percentage was around 930. So the Red Wings offense wasn't coming through. And sure enough, you get five, and that's not enough on a night that you just need another save. So I don't know whether it's going to be Alex Lyon going or James Reimer going. And we can talk about the travel day and the win against Toronto

in here in January. But what I think you're going to see is a team that's determined with a lot of veteran leadership. They got some injuries they're dealing with. They played really well against Washington. Should have won the game, but for two miscues, lose it 2-1, although really 2-0 because Kane scored late, and had enough to win again for a few miscues, and they needed saves and could have got two points

last night. So I think if they carry on with the same game, they're a confident group. They just needed all to come together, and it has to for them tomorrow night. We're talking to to ken daniels the voice of the detroit red wings for bally sports so you mentioned veteran presence uh pat kane just his impact so far and then moving forward uh ken in terms of is he a red wing long term here is there a chance that he may sign somewhere else what's the overall feel about patrick kane since he's become a detroit red wing Is he a Red Wing long-term here? Is there a chance that he may sign somewhere else? What's the overall feel about Patrick Kane since he's become a Detroit Red Wing? Well, he's been unbelievable.

I love watching Patrick. I love dealing with Patrick. Everybody does. He's been nothing but wonderful on and off the ice. 44 points in 47 games, I believe. Pretty remarkable. Seven game-winning goals he's played over just half a season and leads the team. I think sometimes they defer to him a little bit much,

but he's looked nothing but healthy. Would I re-sign Patrick Kane? I certainly would, but Patrick's given no indication. But I really, you know, for people who say, well, what about Buffalo? I don't see Patrick Kane in Buffalo. I know he's from Buffalo, but even his dad who likes driving to games,

I just don't see the fit there in Buffalo. He loves it in Detroit. His son, Pat, is very close, although they're very young with Alex DeBrinckit's son, Archie. And you know the closeness that he has with Archie and his partner, Amanda, is very close with Lindsay DeBrinckit. They're all tight. And that's a big reason why.

It was Alex's big part of why Patrick Kane came to Detroit, let's be honest. I know Vegas was dying to get Patrick Kane. But he chose Detroit and played at Honeybaked in the Detroit area, lived at Pat Verbeek's house, knows all about Detroit. So I know he loves it here. He wanted to come here. He loves everything about it. I think where he saw the Red Wings,

were they on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup? No, but he thought he could help them get in the playoffs, and I think he's at least put them on the verge of. Again, it hasn't gone well the last month or so, but overall, if you would have said to Patrick Kane in December with three games left, we'll be within a point of the playoffs, he would have said, I'll take that. So I see no reason why the long answer is that Patrick Kane

wouldn't resign in Detroit. I would think a two-year deal would be fitting for him, but again, I don't know what Steve Eisenman is thinking or what Patrick Kane is thinking at this moment, but I would think Detroit would still be the frontrunner. Tell us about the job Derek Lalonde has done as the head coach. If they were to fall short of playoffs, would it be viewed as a failure or is this, this franchise taking a step and moving in the right direction?

I think it's taking a step. And if you look at it now, if they missed the playoffs, is it a disappointment? Yeah. A hundred percent. It's a disappointment. But again,

the, my earlier point, if you told folks in October and we said all along on our broadcast and everyone was saying it if the Red Wings are playing meaningful games in March at the trade deadline wouldn't that be great well they're playing meaningful games in April with three games left so I think they exceeded expectations really and then it becomes a disappointment so it was the glass half full I guess that's how you want to look at it I personally don't think Derek Malone is in any trouble whatsoever, again, because this team exceeded expectations.

I don't see a change. I believe he has one year left on his deal. I think he does. So, you know, as a GM, why are you making a change now when you didn't think your team, if you hoped they'd be close, but you didn't even think they'd necessarily make the playoffs? You hoped they would. That's why they signed veteran guys as they did. But I don't think Derek Lallone's in any trouble.

Well, if he is, he can always land on Hockey Night in Canada during the playoffs and give away Tampa Bay Lightning secrets. There you go. Isn't he great? I know, and he used we a few times, and I get that. And you know, and Derek's such a personable guy, and he delegates so well, whether it be to Jay Verity or Alex Tangay or Bob Bugner. He's not on the bench hands-on screaming.

He may go out to the refs sometimes, and I love that when Derek loses it on them. But he just delegates very well, and the players, as far as I know, really enjoy playing for him, and he can get the best out of many, and he can be tough when he needs to be. So that's how I view Derek. I think the first two years has been a good learning experience for the group,

and they've come a long way, especially young guys like Sider and Raymond. And Lucas Raymond's going to be a star. And I think they've developed him very well, and they've got some great prospects coming. Ken, I know we discussed the goaltenders, and we're not sure what we'll see out of Detroit Saturday night definitively, but where is Vili Huso in all of this and the disappointment that he didn't get to be the goalie that they envisioned, I think, signing him?

Yeah, for sure, and hurt a lot, and two separate lower body injuries. And I know he's in Grand Rapids and playing this weekend, so it's probably too late to even give him a go. I guess against Montreal they probably could in one of them, but that's part of the reason why the Red Wings signed three. It was to be Alex Lyon, perhaps, in Grand Rapids, and they had Reimer and Huso, and then Alex Lyon didn't start until he got to Sweden

when the Red Wings played, and Toronto was there, what was it, in November, and didn't get a start until then, only because Billy Husso flew over to Sweden, and as soon as he landed, found out his wife was pregnant, and I believe was in Amsterdam on the way back when she had the baby. So Billy Husso went home and gave Alex Lyon a start, and man, outside of Dylan Larkin, he's been the Red Wings MVP this season.

So they carried three goalies all year, figuring maybe somebody needs somebody at the deadline. And then as it turns out with injuries, it came down to Lyon and Reimer. But Lyon has been terrific. And you know, Reimer's been pretty good too when he's had to step in. You can't really complain about his game.

I think his last eight starts, he's six and two. I'm looking at it. 9-24 is the percentage. But if he were to play tomorrow, it would be his first start in seven. So you go back to the game in January when he played so well and helped the Red Wings get a win against Toronto. That was a strange day. There was no time to think that day.

They got in, what, an hour and a half to the arena before the game. It was right before the game and we were talking on the plane and I remember coming off the plane with Rasmussen and talking to Kane and we were just shooting the breeze. I said, these are the games you guys win. And Kane said to me, because you've got no time to think about it. I said, exactly.

They were so distracted with other stuff and playing issues that they went in there and said, what have we got to lose? Nothing but the game. They went in there and played well enough. And Reimer was great. No time to think. Maybe that's what they have to do tomorrow. Stop thinking. Just play.

It hurts the ball club. I heard that in a movie once. Thinking? Thinking. Don't think, mate. It hurts the ball club. Little Bull Durham. And here's what I think.

I think Florida plays at Buffalo tomorrow afternoon at 5 o'clock. So if Florida gets a point against Buffalo, the Leafs have nowhere to move, right? Yeah, they're not going anywhere. Right. Okay, so you rest Matthews. We'll put in a word. Yeah, put it in Florida.

We're going to play against Florida because you're going to play the Panthers in the first round, so you want to set some stage. That's a big game on Tuesday, so play him there. It was funny. We were on the conference call, and we were talking about games that Detroit had to win, whether it was over Buffalo.

And Detroit's had some costly losses here, blowing a 4-0 lead against San Jose at home and losing in overtime. Losing both games you played against Arizona. Losing at home to Anaheim. Those are the points you look back at. You lose 1-0 to Nashville in a game the Red Wings could have won. But, boy, you blow points there.

And we were on a conference call for one of our games. It was maybe, well, when the Leafs had seven games left. And I said, I'm telling you, Red Wings have to win games now because Austin Matthews has seven games left to get seven. And you know, he's going to be shooting for 70 against Detroit. And sure enough, here he is just needing two for 70.

He got 59 and 62 seasons ago. I think it was early in the game against the red wings. He got 59 and 60 against Detroit. And now he's shooting for 70 again. So, you know, talk, talk to Sheldon and just rest them.

If Florida gets the point, they listen to the show. We don't have to tell them. They're big fans. Kenny, great stuff, man. Have a great call with or without Matthews getting 70. That would be fun too, but hopefully the Red Wings are on the right side, at least make Montreal

mean something for the next two. So thanks, guys. All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Best of luck the rest of the way. Ken Daniels, everybody. He just called Crosby's 1,000th career assist. Yep. And called him getting into the top 10 all-time in points. Could call Matthews 70.

It's a good stretch for him. Two back-to-back games. Yeah. Pretty good. Just to kind of put a bow on last night, did you learn anything more or less about the Toronto Maple Leaf blue line? Well, before the game, I said that TJ Brody was in my lineup, game one for playoffs.

He had been better lately, and he was so bad. And that really, I wouldn't say I learned something, but I question my previous stance now. And Edmondson needs some games. He needs to get moving. And all of a sudden, yeah. Boy, he got barbecued by Bratt. Yeah, it's the exact type of guy who's going to sneak by him.

Yeah. Well, that's where you look at the Leafs and the mobility, and you like Benoit and you like Edmondson. But they're great if they got body position on you and they can push you to the side with their comfort zone, but the mobility and the ability to get back to the center of the ice to protect sometimes can be a little challenging. I think I learned last night that Jake jake mccabe's more important to

the leafs blue line than i might have previously thought well said the one thing i will say in edmondson's favor not is that the panthers don't have jesper brad and jack hughes types like it's like chuck and cousins and tarasenko and reinhardt like their wingers are not the little like beep beep guys they're analogy perfect i don't think he could have said it better yeah it's more to his taste i think the way they play more dump trucks as opposed to speedy you know like sports cars exactly yeah two coyotes not two road runners yeah they're they're the same playing speed we'll say hey got a question for you quickly honestly you have a good feel about this stuff how do you think mitch feels without marner oh without matthews like do you think he

watches with dolmy well first of all i thought a boom box outside i thought mitch gave willie ample opportunity to close in on a hundred did he ever yeah i thought that line looked awesome i think i don't think it matters well no well i think when push comes to shove no they'll be together okay and in the meantime still got a couple of games here to spread it out but Mitch is coming off how long was he out? 12 games over a month maybe 6 weeks

close to 6 weeks so that's a long time Edmondson was out what 2 weeks so maybe give him the benefit of the doubt too. So maybe another important week to get these guys going a little bit. I am far more confident in Mitch's ability to go to a different line

and make that line matter than I am Max Domi. You know what I mean? The one thing that I did notice a little bit here too over the last little while is, like, Mitch is so conscientious on the defensive side of it. Third guy high, first guy back. You know, if he loses confidence in some of the guys going to the net, you know, it kind of takes away from his offense a little bit, too. So they got to get a chemistry thing going right now.

Yep. Just playing with the bars and the line which is going to be off of uh matthews might be a good time to kick it in tomorrow night mcmahon's just like let's go all right thanks to ken daniels who just joined us to help ts up the toronto maple leafs ever so closer to a Stanley Cup round with what we believe are the Florida Panthers, but we're going to get into that in the next hour. What are the scenarios? How about the Boston Bruins?

Are they going to finish on top of the Atlantic? Is Florida there? Still plenty to chew on in our next hour as we go national on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Don't go away.