Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: The Focus in Game Four

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start by sharing some memories of the late Bob Cole. Then, they look ahead at tomorrow's Game 4 between the Leafs and Bruins with Nylander potentially getting in the lineup after dealing with migraines. Has Willy's status been handled correctly? Later, they go through the lineup at practice with Brodie filling in for Lyubushkin on paternal leave and consider possible powerplay adjustments. Finally, Craig Simpson (31:00) shares some of his takeaways from the series thus far, the trend of the Leafs' production dipping in the postseason, power-play problems and Marner's struggles.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 giddy up the real kipper and born show this is the off the rails edition playoff edition how fun how fun nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee derrick brandeo david sis boom bah so wherever you are watching listening sports at Sportsnet 590, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet Plus from 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern, glad you're along for the ride. And of note, it is Friday, Texas, Texas at 590, 590. Yeah. More so on today than any other day because we do run out of gas. Yeah.

We really need your help. If you got any questions, thoughts, whatever, happy to have them. Plenty to get into, including the next two hours. Doug McLean off the top of the hour will join us, of course, on Friday. And we'll tee up in our Leaf edition, the Toronto Maple Leafs, getting ready for tomorrow night's critical game four at Scotiabank Arena. But before we do that, it's important for us at Real Kipper and Bourne to send our condolences to Bob Cole's family.

The loss of a legend and an icon for all of us. Yesterday, news trickled in after we went off the air about the loss of Bob Cole. And since then, I have to tell you that every chance I've got watching Sportsnet last night, through the great work of David Amber telling stories, Tim McAuliffe, the whole Sportsnet crew, covering the legacy of Bob cole from those early starts newfoundland and labrador right up to every iconic nhl big goal the last what 50 years i just couldn't stop watching no every chance i got to listen to someone sharing a clip saying this is my favorite

bob cole moment i listened to um it kind of reminded me of when norm mcdonald passed and everyone was sharing these things and he's like you couldn't miss every minute of like a legend's career um yeah and and really the soundtrack the true soundtrack to the backdrop of all of us who grew up in hockey to our lives you know it's it was it's been really cool elliot friedman had a neat anecdote off the top of a written article that's on sportsnet.ca that you can check out and just yeah really uh appreciative of of all that he gave to us everything is happening was one of my all-time favorites i was a great i think of you know all the massive leaf games in my youth like when i was in high high school, through that era of them being really good in the early 2000s, and he's just the soundtrack

to all those moments, and Sundin tying it late against Carolina, and just the way he matched the energy. He's the absolute man, my favorite, everyone's favorite. I saw this portion of stats put out, the NHL players covered by Bob

Gold during his broadcasting career. Gordie Howe, born 1928. Yes, Barry Kakenyemi, born 2000. That's a really cool range. You know, it's just he's been around for so long and called so many incredible players. Yeah, who doesn't love him? Amazing guy, all-time Canadian icon.

So, turning pro, being in the NHL for me had a couple of checkmark moments for me. One of them was sign an autograph. One of them was getting on a hockey card. And one of them was listening to Bob Cole say your name in a hockey game on Hockey Night in Canada. Very cool. So I cracked with the Washington Capitals. We went to the conference final for the first time in Capitals history. And, of course, the regionals pick up the first two rounds,

but then you get to the conference final, and now Hockey Night in Canada comes down to Washington and covers the last two series. Of course, the Stanley Cup final as well. So it was just a must. I scored one playoff goal and it was in the conference final against the Boston Bruins. And the next day I had my family like mail me down a VCR of Bob Cole's call. Yeah.

And that was like, that was it for me. Yeah. That's incredible. That is really cool. There's not many, you know, many personalities anywhere that everyone sort of agrees that this guy was,

you know, that I love this guy. And I thought sports, they did a really nice job, really nice tribute last night. And man, all the stars weighed in on that. The,

the, the one that, you know, I wish there were more goals of mine. But the other one was, hold it. Fear got nailed by Nick Kipriels. And it's going to draw a crowd. Okay. I wasn't going to bring it up because I know you don't love it. I was like, was he on the call when you buried him?

He just, you know, I even in reading Elliot's article, him talking about how, you know, telling other broadcasters to let it breathe, to don't talk now, don't talk over this, to, you know, stay out of the way, which is such an underrated tool that broadcasters have. And he was just such a master of knowing when we needed to hear his voice and when it was time for the action to breathe oh baby oh baby is right okay uh oh baby saturday night going back to boston tie two two or down three one looking for a prediction not yet setting the stage not yet but uh at least there is some good news somebody found willie on the ttc is that right he's playing oh is he for sure come on

how can he not play he's playing how can he not play because i was told that he might play for three straight days and he hasn't no but this is the first time he's done the whole shtick okay so the interview is lying russians he's on the power play this this is taken on another life story willie nylander in the 23 24 stanley cup because Elliot Friedman reported migraines. And listen, it is what it is. I mean, there's some people rolling their eyes going, are you kidding me? To, no, this is a serious problem.

There's a billion people on this planet that are suffering from migraines. And it's a serious thing i personally have had them in the past but never to the extreme that i know other people have had them yeah it's it's not to be taken lightly for some people that have really suffered and i'm not i'm not i'm not saying one thing or another about willie i'm just saying that it's... Migraines suck. They do suck. Yeah.

Have you ever had them? No, I have never had them. I have a family member who deals with them, but... I know for sure Sammy's never had them. Well, here we go. Because he's one of the guys... I've been dying for this part of the show. He's one of the guys that rolls his eyes and goes, migraines in the playoffs.

Give me a break. I said to both you meanies that I wasn't going to do this. And I don't know why you're doing it. I abstained. I said yesterday, abstain from Willie conversations. I am out. So I don't listen. It represents a perspective that exists.

The perspective that exists. I like to say that this right here is a great barometer. This is a great barometer of how people are feeling about things. I have a lot of different people from a lot of different walks of life that come to me to talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs. I don't know why they do that. It's not like I'm on a radio show about it. What's the perspective?

People are wondering here why he hasn't played and it's you know i got friends from more northern parts of the of this the the province that maybe have different views and maybe some people would in toronto maybe it's a political thing we don't need to get into that but there's some questions being asked about why he hasn't played. And I'm not here to question Elias' report or anything, but I do believe that there's been a gray area, which includes the Toronto Maple Leafs, which could include their medical staff, where they're not really sure what the hell it is. Meaning maybe it's migraines, maybe it's's not maybe it's whiplash including the medical

staff yes what does that mean it means i don't know if he's been properly properly diagnosed as of yesterday i don't know what they've concluded there is i'm told there was a there's a queen street lab here in toronto that tests forraines. It's the only one in the world. I only know this because Gord Martineau from City TV fame is behind a company that tests migraines. I don't know if Willie went there or not. He knows. What's that? Well, I'm saying Willie tests for migraines.

He'd say, I got migraines. I can't. My head. No, I'm saying test for migraines. He'd say, I got migraines. I can't, my head. No, I don't think that's the case because it's not that simple. He got rocked in Florida. See, I think that is dangerous speculation to tie into that. I'm not tying into anything.

I'm saying that he got hit, which could cause something that could trigger something, whether it is concussion-like symptoms or a migraine or if it's connected or not connected. A lot can be, a lot happened and a lot can be connected. And I don't know whether or not the Leafs know for sure what has really been his issue.

I mean, we got two different sides of this where, to me, this is like really complicating things that it's, you know, he's hiding things from them or someone's not being up front with someone else. I don't think there's any hiding. There's nothing hiding. And on this side, you think he's just got headaches and this should play. I'm not saying they're hiding anything. I'm saying they might not know.

It just might not know, really, what has stemmed from that. Because then he's not telling them or something. To me... I got a headache. Is it a concussion? Is it migraines? Is it a whiplash?

Is it stemmed from your back, your shoulders? I'm not sure they've got it figured out. Okay. That's interesting. Okay. And then, so he just feels better? No.

What changed? Yeah, he feels better. He's just good enough to play. They come to the rink. How do you feel? How do you follow my fingers? I don't know but it if they don't know what exactly they're dealing with how can you really come out publicly and say well you

know um willie's not playing tonight because yeah we don't know so i mean obviously you know more than i do about that and that's that sounds very possible it's very possible i'm just saying this is the playoffs and every team is currently doing this you know like we're going to get to reports later in the day with thatcher demko where he's been reported out for playoffs and the coach is saying well maybe he's not you know we're just not going to say if they know what's going on they're going to say the same thing i don't know i will say the way this is covered now versus the way it would have been covered 10 or 15 years ago are two extremely different things. I want to know why you're smiling.

Because the last few days I've been accused of being the guy with excuses for the star players. That's why. That's why I'm giggling. I can hear everybody right now going, oh my God, the guy that's supposed to be really tough on these guys. No one's ever accused you of being a knee-length defender. That's never come up.

Yeah, I just, I do think that this is covered and the way it's been covered and the way it's been talked about, at least in the public eye, versus the way it's talked about off the air and amongst your buddies. If this was 10 years ago, the buddy conversations would be on the air.

Which are? He should be in the game. He should be playing. Would Bradshart Marchand miss a game with a headache? Would Nathan McKinnon miss a game with a headache? Right. Right? These are the conversations that I'm getting asked, that I'm having with my friends.

I think headache is the type of verbal edge. We're not too far away from a conversation a while ago saying, would a guy leave and go across the country because his kid's being born to miss a playoff game? Right. Yeah, now it's see you later. Now it's, no, times have changed. Yeah. Would you like to hear Willie?

We have three separate Willie clips that will combine for probably close to 25 seconds. So let's play the first one on what's kept him out, okay? So clip one there, Derek. William, what can you tell us about what's kept you out of the series so far? Look, that's just personal, so I'm not going to get into that. But yeah, anything else you guys want to discuss? None of your business.

Willie Nylander, is he playing? Clip two. If I'm playing? I don't know. We'll see. Okay. And Nylander, clip three. What's the biggest challenge getting back in?

You barely missed time. What would be the biggest challenge jumping back in when you do? Nothing. Sorry? Nothing. Why not? Why not? Because I've been skating and everything.

I'm like, I'm fine. You're fine. Yeah. I mean, I... That's a very funny answer. I would not have gone that path myself if I was a Willie. Yeah. Or if I was a part of the team, I would have worked with him a little bit more on what

you're going to say and how you're going to say it. What should have been said. I didn't like it what what should have been said was that at this point stop with the coy we'll see okay listen it's been very frustrating for the toronto maple leaf fans you're highly paid you don't come out and say we'll see you're practicing you said you're fine you come out and you say i'm playing at this point on a friday 24 hours away you come out and you say i feel better i couldn't play before but i'm ready now and end it i don't the implication there is that toronto maple fans or you or me or sam are owed that versus other markets when there's no advantage to revealing it. I'm not big on revealing anything, but this one is really strange.

This one's different. The guy gets hurt. The guy's out. Hey, when he's ready, he's ready. I get that. I don't disagree with you. This one is like, this one was strange because he finished two games in Florida. There was no issues.

And then he disappears for three games. And nobody has any answers on anything. And I get the frustration from leaf fans i just the only point i'm trying to make it all this is that there are very there's a there's like very basic answers where it could be just that elliot portia's migraines he's had migraines it's been dry you know you can't whatever go out and play they feel better now he's ready to play like i we're really laying a lot of layers on this for me, and maybe there are more layers, but I don't know.

It's possible that it's not as complicated as we're making it. What did you make of his comments, Sammy? I hate it. I hate this whole thing. It's just turning me into the Joker. Like, if you're, okay. Okay, here we go. If you're well enough to be having outside on the sunniest day of the year,

outside perusing around, going to have an ice cream, skating around, talking to the media, you're good enough to play in a hockey game. You're following him to the ice cream parlor? Is he doing that? I got multiple DMs from multiple people about him in Yorkville yesterday, and I see him out on BlogTO. He's out and about.

If you're outside, you're in the sun, you're out and about, got your arms out, tarp off, showing off for everybody, you're okay to play in a hockey game. And he's going to about. Like, if you're outside, you're in the sun, you're out and about, got your arms out, tarp off, showing off for everybody, you're okay to play in a hockey game. And he's going to play. Good. You know, like, once he's okay, should he stay in to keep you happy? No.

Well, not just me. Like, you know, he's a human. People don't know what athletes do between games. They're people. I know. They exist on Earth. But if you're so... If you're debilitating...

Like, you've had migraines? I have not had migraines. You had a migraine? I've dealt with a couple here and there. Did you decide to go on a bright sunny day and hang out on a patio? Do you know we had one yesterday? I don't know.

You sure don't. Maybe they should have played yesterday. It would have been better. I don't know. Better than Wednesday. The one thing to Sammy's point about all of this, like not liking any of this, is that if, in fact fact they go away quietly,

this stuff comes back to really bite you in the ass. How does it bite you in the ass if you have migraines? Where do you want to start? They never said anything. They never said anything. So this doesn't come back to bite Willie. It comes back to bite the PR staff for not telling us? Who does it bite?

Like, just the whole thing about is he hurt, is he not hurt? Like, I'm not saying that you have to reveal anything, but you have to lead a little bit better just to calm the waters down because then you get guys like this following him around Yorkville. That's all. I didn't follow. I got two separate DMs that I did nothing with because, like, there's no way. Why would they be sending me this?

And then it's like he's out perusing around. They were right. They were right. My Yorkville sources were bang on. And then it's going to cause even more. When did you get hurt? Where did you get? Like, are people not going to go back to like okay

like we spent the last three or four weeks talking about okay who's gonna rest and who's gonna those meaningless games in florida and why did he play and why didn't he play were you chasing a hundred points right or were you hurt before, but you wanted to get your 100? That's why you played? And then in the time that you needed to be there the most, you're gone? That's a good answer. That definitely can come back and bite you in that way because that's a conversation.

That to me, though, that conversation is. That's what I'm talking about. That conversation, who it bites, the answer is the staff to me. You know, whether that be Sheldon or above. I'm not just pointing this at Willie. I'm saying, like, the whole thing. Yeah. So, I mean, he obviously, he plays every game.

He's played every game his whole career. Which makes the implication that he's fine and she's going to play insane. He's obviously hurt. So, I just, it's just tough optics for the first week of this playoffs. It's been really tough optics. I'm sure he's miserable.

Well, I mean, he's talking about he's watching the games, and he seems happy. Has he ever been miserable his whole life? I just don't think he really worries about anything. No, he doesn't. And they're like, well, what's going to be a challenge? He's like, nothing. I'm good at this.

Can you picture him miserable anywhere? No. No. I picture him with cornrows in St. Lucia, like making TikTok videos. Anyways. Good long 20-minute conversation where he's figured nothing St. Lucia. Like, you know, making TikTok videos. Anyways. Good long 20-minute conversation where he figured nothing out.

Pretty chill. Are we going to figure anything out on the blue line? Like I said earlier, Labushkin takes off for a day and a half. I think his wife had a baby girl. No, no. I'm not sure what the sex of the baby, but I know they did.

Well, I had a 50-50 chance. All right. I'm not sure with the sex of the baby, but I know they did. Well, I had a 50-50 chance. All right. Congratulations to the Labushkin family, but will he be back in time to play? Today at practice, Labushkin was absent, obviously. He's on his way back, apparently. Lilligren has the asterisk on David Alter's tweet about being being a placeholder for labushkin and brody is on

the last pair so if labushkin's good to go tomorrow it looks like tj brody draws back into the lineup and timothy lilligren comes out a good thing for the penalty kill can i can we well rested you know older guy who'd be well rested who led the leafs in uh penalty killing ice time so he's like 200 minutes next guy's at 150 which is mccabe no one else is at 100 he killed the most by a mile against the top units good results in those minutes why don't we listen to sheldon kieff tell us what his message has been to tj brody in clip four and i had talked to him you know even while the regular season was going on that that it's important for him to to stay ready and and uh you know that it was looking like

he was going to be on the outside and um but he's got lots of experience and uh you know we wanted to have a a look going into playoffs, and one that we've liked. But it's important for him to stay ready as not just him, but Tim and Stradano, just the same. Things can change really quickly come playoff time. But in Brody's case, he played so much in the regular season. He's got so much experience in the league and in the playoffs. It's important that he keeps his mindset right.

But, you know, it's tough for a guy like him, for sure, that's used to playing every day. There you go. I mean, right answer, staying the right things, I guess. I kind of thought maybe they'd do it in game two. They didn't. They win. It worked out.

They won. And then I think as the series progresses, now it's like now your window gets smaller to make the right decision or at least change it up. Yeah. I feel like if you didn't get him in at this point, it gets real hard, right? Like Guy all of a sudden,

I don't know how many games or days it'd be since he played last, but if it's not now, it starts to get pretty distanced between games games and it just felt like time for me the pk has been struggling um if he's got fresh legs he can and edmondson brody pair like how much do you trust that i just he's he's less for maybe he's not as quick as fleet of foot or whatever but he's less prone to the big mistake yeah and lilligren hasn't been good in any of the games even in the game they won and i think like you mentioned there, if you're not putting Michael Bunting in,

you're not going to probably put Brody in for Lilligren after you win a game. But I didn't think he was very good in game two either. And the other game he was not great either. I mean, he's supposed to be able to transport the puck and he's got no shots on net through three games. He's on for two goals against last game. You feel for him

because they made a concerted effort after the deadline to build them up and say we've always brought in his replacement and we're not gonna like this is gonna be one of the right hand shot guys and you can look at that as potentially a mistake by brad for living in the front office leaning too much into him in terms of being one of the right hand shot options but it just hasn't gone well for three games and they're pivoting so curious to see how that affects contract talks this summer absolutely in about 10 minutes we're going to also welcome in craig simpson former nhl or does a terrific job this time of year him and uh chris cuthbert man do they speaking of guys that put in their time like bob cole has over the last few years.

These guys do a terrific job. So looking forward to Craig Simpson joining us. And again, top of the hour, Doug McClain. You worked for Sheldon. You did video for him as a member of the Toronto Marlies. What would the last two days have been like for a struggling power play on Sheldon Keefe Hockey Club? It's funny because he's pretty good about leaving it

to whoever's in charge during the season. That would be Guy Boucher. But then it gets to a point where it gets cold, where it's very tense in the coach's office. And the longer it goes without goals, where it gets to some snippiness at times, and I imagine now he's running the power play meetings and walking through this all.

I imagine it's just a whole bunch of reviewing when it's worked. You know, go back to the parts of the season and say when we were scoring a lot, February, they're the best team in the NHL. They're just about 50%, if not 50%. The best month for a power play in the history of the NHL. Right. 50%.

That's three months ago. Not even three months ago. So I imagine it's a lot of reviewing that and going, how do we get back to that? What was different then? Yeah. Again, it's, you watch this time of year, and who wouldn't love to have a guy that could just hammer a puck

from the back end, right? Like we watched. Makar's the very best. Quinn. You were saying this yesterday, I think, off the air. Bouchard hammered the puck. The Leafs don't have that in Morgan Riley. But every time he tries to shoot it, I'm like,

okay, let's go back to passing it. But they've also got some guys that can shoot the puck. You hope that Willie can come back there and be that guy, Austin. You mentioned yesterday on the show, you want Marner down low with more flexibility. Yes. He's the only one. They don't move a lot in the offensive zone but mitch does he can right he can circle around find spots create some holes with movement and

i think that's one way to get it done that's if he that's that's if he can handle the puck sometimes if it goes back up to morgan it's to austin and then he hammers the puck no they've had 11 power plays in the series and austin has three shots over three games on those power plays which you know he's not shot attempts though i don't know i bet you they'd be a lot higher i'm sure but i do think that right now it's just there's no other option so they know where it is and so yeah they need to find some other way if it's austin handling the puck more so it can open it up on the other side. There's just times this... I've watched it last little while

where it just seems so forced. But boys, they know. Now it's me with a six-foot putt for par. If you're missed the first three... Do you expect to make six-footers? Oh, yeah. But it's in your head. You've missed the first two in hole one, hole two.

And now everybody in your group's like, boy, he's been missing these a ton. Yeah, yeah. And they're like, everybody in this city is talking about how this is killing us constantly at this time of the year. Yeah, yeah, we're working on it. And they just go out there and they're yipping. These boys got the yips and the power play. They have all the talent in the world.

They can pass. They can shoot. They can do whatever. It just feels like the yips, boys the kitchen no doubt about that usually this time of year you you're here in dressing rooms all the time take take the goalies uh eyes away like that's wayman right now it it seems like traffic or no traffic. Like his numbers, the last six games, I think, against the Leafs. Yeah, they're ridiculous. Like, what does he got?

Like a 998 save percentage? What is it? I don't have it in front of me. I had it on yesterday's line. It's crazy. Mike Kelly shared yesterday screenshots against from this playoff season. Swayman has had 10 screenshots against, no goals against. So that's very different last year

than when they played Vasilevsky in the first round who struggled on screenshots from distance and that's where they made a lot of their, hey, you remember Riley's OT winner? I have it here. I have it here now. He's 6-0-0. That's pretty good.

Goals against average, 131. Save percentage, 959. 959. So we think 430 save games. I don't know. We got no clues. I haven't got a clue what Montgomery's thinking. I think he's taking a tremendous chance going to Allmark.

Yeah. But I think there's a possibility that he could do it. So Flutish and Zawa is a Bruins writer, and he wrote about when Montgomery was in college, they were the only true tandem where they actually alternated back and forth as University of Maine team. They alternated with a Garth Snow and Mike Dunham. And when it went to the frozen, like all the way through the tournament, they stuck to the alternating goalies to a national championship.

Mike Dunham got the final game, not Garth Snow, but that was their rotation. Montgomery did that? Montgomery was on the team when that happened. Oh, okay. I was like, oh my God, how long has he been coaching? No, no, no. He was on that team when it happened.

So he's seen it have success is my point. Oh, that's, I mean, it's a good angle, but they win. They did. They did. Yeah, they did. They won and they stuck with it with Allmark this year. Was he Korea's teammate or something? Was there something with Korea?

I'm an idiot. I mean, he was at Maine, so very possible. Do you want to hear Montgomery talk about Swayman owning the Leafs? Of course I do. There's a clip here. Yes, we do. So, clip from yesterday in Toronto. Montgomery and Keefe on Swayman.

Swayman's had success against the Leafs. Do you buy into the idea sometimes a player just has a team's number, gives them more confidence, or is that just an aberration issue that he's 5-0 against? Yeah, sometimes I don't think that, but, you know, when Domi goes off the bench and bumps him on purpose, makes me think that maybe he's in their head a little bit. It's playoff hockey and things are happening all over the ice.

You know, with that logic, you would say every time they bump into one of our guys, maybe we're in their heads. I don't think that has anything to do with anything. Coaches in the media and playoffs. That's how these guys have a scrap. This game is so goofy for me because I know I can sit here and say with great confidence that if Max would have bumped him and he would have let in the next three or four shots, Max would have been a hero.

Oh, yeah. Knocked him off his spot at 21. A hero. Oh, my God. They would have built statues for him. Absolutely. He'd be going down the young street. Just a slow-mo image of him with his shoulder into swimming.

We should go to break in the summer. But it doesn't. Nope. And now it's like in the... I don't think it's one extreme or the other. Max does that to everyone. But I don't like the fact that he risks taking a 10-minute misconduct. Right.

Or taking a two-minute minor. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. As we said, we'll welcome in Hockey Night in Canada's Craig Simpson, maybe a quick thought on Bob Cole, and of course, the all-important game for tomorrow night at the Scotiabank Arena. More of real Kipper and Bourne after these words. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day.

The Jeff Merrick Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts welcome back to the real kipper and born show this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 all right let's not waste any time. Let's welcome him in. He's a busy man on Hockey Night in Canada. Let's welcome in Craig Simpson. Simmer, how are you? How are things going? How's the start?

Well, it's been good. It's always weird having the two days off in between games, but I think the timing for this one was probably okay for both teams to get a little breath, reset, and get ready for a heck of a Saturday night. Have you been surprised so far at all by the Leafs series in terms of outcomes, how the play has looked, or has it kind of gone the way you thought it would heading into the series? Well, I think it was going to be a pretty even series coming in.

I didn't think Game 3 was all that entertaining a game for most of it. That kind of surprised me more than anything. I thought given the split back in Boston and the opportunity for Leafs on, you know, home ice coming back with home ice advantage, I thought there would have been more of a, you know, let's get this series started and let's get some free wheel, let's get some offense going. So I think I said it on the broadcast. It was really a tough game to do early as not a whole lot was happening. And quite frankly, the way the Boston team is put together

and when you go on the road after losing game two on home ice, I thought that played well into the way that the Bruins played. But, you know, I think it's the first time, guys, that you see, and you see it always in playoffs, the dreaded quick goal. You know, sometimes it's quick goals in succession for a team that take over a game. But, you know, you remember when Sheldon Keefe called out John Tavares and said he didn't have a good game.

At that time, I think I was on your show then, and I said to Kipper, I think, that that was kind of in looking at the games that they let those leads go away, and the two quick goals against Carolina to tie the game, and then Ajo scores late. The Euler game, up 5-0, you give up three quick wins. You know, that's kind of the thing that kills you come playoff time,

and I thought that was an alarm bell sent by Keefe. And, you know, really in game three, the Marchand goal, 28 seconds after you come all the way back and tie it, is the kind of thing that can change a series and lose you one. And so there's the first savvy into that, which you always see in a playoff series. Speaking of that goal, Simmer, a lot has been made out of the fact that the Austin Matthews line

had almost 40 seconds of a shift before going back to center ice and Sheldon didn't change them over. Is that being played too much? Not enough? Is it important, you know, that the mindset of the next line or their line make sure that that momentum just gained doesn't get lost instantly? Yeah, I mean, that's something you talk about as a team all the time.

But you look at your lineup and look at the lines that are successful and go if that had been say the homebird line that scored a big goal to tie your game up and you left them on i'd be questioning it more you know it's it's your top line it's a line that you trust it's a line that you trust. It's a line that you feel, okay, they've got a little momentum. You know, maybe they're going to come right back out and grab another one. So it's like whenever those decisions happen, guys, you know, you get second guess when it goes against you. But it is your best line, and it's the line that you hope maybe can change the game in your favor. And to all three of them, you know, I heard Domi saying,

that's a goal you just can't give up. And that's a battle that they lost down in the corner. And of all guys, you know, like he does so often, it's Marchand who comes up with, quite frankly, there's not a lot of the guys on that team. Maybe Pasternak would have been the other one that could score the goal that he scored. I mean, that shot was a thing of beauty, cross-body, quick release,

and in about a four-and-a-half-inch area that he was able to place the puck. Simmer, what's interesting in this series to me is we're so used to the Leafs talking about goaltending and defense, but they've defended pretty well. Actually, I'm going to say they've defended very well compared to their regular season,

but they can't score. Like, this team was second in the NHL in goals. What is so different or what's changed at this point? Well, unfortunately, Justin, it hasn't changed. I mean, that's been their Achilles heel. With this core group, each and every year, I said last year coming into the Tampa series, you know, it hasn't been that they've been blown away and all of a sudden this team can't play playoff defense.

At that time, you know, having lost six in a row in first rounds and scoring, I believe, four goals in the five game sevens or five goals in the four or something like that, you know, it's been the goal scoring. So that is the most difficult transition from regular season to postseason, is generating the same kind of offense that you do. I really do believe no matter how good of an offensive team you are, come playoff time, you have to find a way to generate it differently.

I mean, it's not like you have to change yourself as a player, but you have to know that the offense isn't going to come by a lot of sloppy plays where you get transition from an offensive blue line turnover that you get a bunch of two-on-ones, two-out-ones. Well, that happens in regular season. That happens when you're playing four games and seven nights and you know teams aren't that sharp uh you look at their worst goals for uh during the regular season and playoff this year is the worst from 3.63 to 2 in 2020 they were 3.4 to 2 uh in 19 they were 3.4 to 2.4. So it's a common theme. And I said before, game two was the first time in now 10 games of their last playoff games that they've scored three goals.

And you guys know it's a three-goal lead. You've got a chance to win when you get three. You've got a heck of a good chance when you score four. But, man, if you're getting one and two uh that's the recipe for disaster and what they have to find is their ability i think they've played pretty well five on five against this bruin team it's been an even keel there uh five goals each but you know when your power play isn't going and it's been the story of the series that's what puts you behind the eight ball when when you're not scoring at the pace that you do

during regular season on five-on-five. We're talking a two-time Stanley Cup champion in Hockey Night in Canada, analyst Craig Simpson. So, Simmer, you scored a lot of goals, played a lot of power plays here. There's got to be a part of you that looks at this Toronto Maple Leaf power play and maybe maybe has some sympathy on on what it feels like to to know that you've got a ton of talent but you can't put the puck

in the net at a critical time but what do you see here simmer sometimes i see forced plays that aren't there almost as if they've been over coached on the x's and O's. Maybe they're undercoached. You tell me, buddy, what you see. Well, I think when you see a power play that's playing well, and I think you guys mentioned before they had the best February power play in league history for a month. And I would say if you went to them then, it wasn't about Guy Boucher putting a structure in place and having set plays.

It was guys in the middle of 13-game scoring streaks, 10-game scoring streaks, having great offensive runs where they're just wheeling and they're playing. You watch the Edmonton Oilers power play. You're telling me that they're sitting on a chalkboard and figuring out, okay, I'm going to move here and we're going to do that. It's the top players who are reading the D and being creative. And it's McDavid going from side to side and puck going from deep in the corner, back to the point to the opposite side and creating passing lanes and some chaos. And I just think right now I've lived it as a player,

lived it, watching it as a coach and working with power plays that guys can get really stagnant, where they get predictable, where the intensity and the confidence level, you can just see. If I'm a penalty killer, I'm forcing like crazy because I can see it in their eyes that they're not snapping it around with free will and they're not just reading off of where the pressure's coming. They're trying to react to where the pressure's coming. And that's the worst thing that can happen for a power play. And unfortunately, it's gone cold at the worst time.

You know, I heard Montgomery was saying today that him splitting up a power play that was terrible the last 12 games of the year for them, splitting into two groups, put a lot of competition between those two groups and it it snapped some of the guys minds out of oh i gotta find a way to get the puck to pasternak here or i gotta get it over to marshawn here and i think you see a little bit that there how am i going to get it to austin on that right flank or how am i going to get that cross scene pass across

the devars in the slot and i do think there is something about that of just flipping the mental switch a bit and getting guys first and foremost you got to outwork the penalty kill and that hasn't always been the case and I would say there's been three instances on on three power play goals by the by the Bruins that quite frankly they just won the puck battle for the loose puck they won the positional battle to get to the net, and they won the battle on the rebounds. And, you know, Jake DeBrusque was the recipient of two of those three. So, you know, going the other way, or sorry,

still going the way of trying to score goals, the Boston Bruins are going to have Mason Lowry, Parker Witherspoon, and Kevin Shattenkirk in their lineup, which, you know, not exactly the best D in the league, so they're going to rely on their goaltending. Are they going to go back to Swayman, stick with Allmark? Where do you stand on this idea of sticking with what you've done all season versus going with the hot hand?

Well, I think if I'm reading the tea leaves, I don't think there was any question that the plan going in was no matter what the result, Swayman was going to play game one, Allmark was going to play game two, and then rotate back. I think the fact that Swayman, you know, Allmark started the first game of the regular season. Allmark's a little bit more of the veteran, but Swayman has been, you know, really this year, the better goaltender. And I think that the statement made by him starting game one was that almost to prop him a little up a bit that, hey, we believe in you, but we're going to continue on our routine that we've done all year. But I just look at, hey, man, you still got to be a coach that realizes what's your best lineup to put in.

And right now, the Leafs haven't beat them with a shot. I mean, Camp's goal in game one was off the back boards, a rebound in front, and he had half the net to pop at home. You've got a tap-in cross crease that Marner made to Nye. So, you know, that's a play you can't let happen defensively if you're Boston. And then the Bertuzzi one is a shot pass from riley going wide off the skate off this off the leg of the defender and in you mentioned the screenshots that he hasn't been beat by like the the leafs have not beat him one-on-one and put a

puck in and so for me i think it would be crazy not to start him in game four so we're gonna ask you about uh this return of Willie Nylander or at least the potential of him. We all believe. We hope so. Yeah, we really hope so. But, you know, you were a similar player to Willie. You needed to come in and put the puck in the net.

He's coming off of a stretch prior to this mysterious injury where he was not playing his best hockey. He's not there for the first three games how realistic is it that this guy can come in tomorrow night and be a bit of a savior here for the leafs well i guess it all hinges on like what is really wrong is it a is it a head thing is it a concussion thing is it a migraine is it a body i i don't know so that's the first and foremost what is your physical state if you're physically able to go and skate the way you usually do and you know he's probably uh one of the well

he's top two on their team anyways that carrying the puck and looting traffic and creating plays with his feet and so that's a big part of his game and has to be if he's going to be successful so if you're looking and saying okay he's back to 100 that way i i don't think it'll be a problem nick i think the snap for him will be you guys know watching the difference between a regular season game and a playoff game especially game four where guys got a real sense of what their opponent feels like how they play that'll be the biggest biggest challenge is gearing up your competitive level to that next height. But you know what?

He's a real good, talented player that I'd hate to bet against him in the terms of saying if he's back and the reason he's back in is because he's 100% healthy, I think he'll make a huge impact. And if you're the least, you hope some of that will transfer to the power play because if you're the least, you hope some of that will transfer to the power play because if you continue on this special teams trend that it's been, this is going to be a short series. Simron, what are your thoughts on how Mitch Marner's been used?

Not so much his play, but how he's been used. They're throwing him in once in a while on the matthews line in lieu of domey like is that good for him or for that line he's killing two and a half minutes of penalties a night where you know they had had some success with him out with the doer in camp there just sort of a different look for him how have you felt about the way he's been deployed well i i personally think you're just trying to manage him and the abilities that he has right now because there's no question for me he's not skating like Mitch Marner skates at his best. And I said on radio yesterday, I spent the second and third period watching him in a very different lens. You know, first period power play, wasn't able to turn the puck over three or four times

where you'd look and say that usually doesn't happen then then watch and said you know one of his best assets is his his turns his edges his ability to glide and you know open up his feet to shuffle and keep speed up even the pass that he made on the nice goal typically a mitch marner at full uh skating capacity shuffles a couple of strides and creates that separation around the stick of the defender a lot quicker than he had to. He almost had to reach his arms around as opposed to using his legs to get there. So no question it's not the same guy. And I think Sheldon kind of sees that and understands that. So, Justin, that's where, you know, penalty killing,

you don't have to do as much. And he's a good penalty killer for you, and you need that group to be better. But I think, overall, it affects your play. But at the end of the day, as Nick will attest to, every player's going through bits of that. So you're never at 100%, and you have to find a way that now if he can't do the things that he normally did with his feet and cut and use his edges to create the open

ice and the passing lanes then that's the adjustment of being a playoff hockey player when you're not 100 what else can i do to be effective you know he did it on on the goal and the knives uh on the knives play and that's going to be the challenge now that can be frustrating for a player and i think at times you look at maybe the deployment from the coach is sort of working around that as well but that's playoff hockey and at the end of the day you know you've got to find a way to try to be productive and get your team back into a chance to get back in the series so i know we only got a quick minute here, but I got to ask you, you know,

your thoughts on those years that you spent so much time on the road, the flights, the cabs with Bob Cole, and just maybe the emotion of yesterday for you personally. Yeah, you know what I thought of it, Nick? I just read something Dave Hodge said, of yesterday for you personally? Yeah, you know what? I thought of it, Nick. I just read something Dave Hodge said, and it really, really stuck with me. And Hodge, he said, you know,

we're in a business where you can be the best, and some people still think you're the absolute worst. And he said, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say, I don't like listening to Bob Cole. And I thought that you know Dave's such a great sportsman himself and what a great broadcaster he was but I thought that just hit the nail on the head you know me as a kid in my bedroom with a little black and white tv with rabbit ears most of your listeners won't know what the heck that is but trying to stay up late on a Saturday night to watch a game before I had to go to bed.

And Bob Cole was the sound that you heard. And he was really the storyteller of hockey for me growing up. And then, you know, you get to the NHL and you're on Saturday night as a player. And the two Stanley Cups, I was fortunate enough to be with the Oilers, 88 and 90. It was Bob Cole, you know, in the booth and telling the story and talking about you winning the Stanley Cup and what it means. And I just think that it's such a privilege to be in that role. And he carried it with such, you know, an amazing fashion throughout his career. And the one thing, I know he's accomplished so much in other things,

as Ron was talking about in his life, but when people think of Bob Cole, it's the tone of his voice at the most amazing time and in the greatest moments and the most difficult ones. And that's what really makes the job such a special one. And he did it better than anyone. Very well said, Simmer. And have a great call tomorrow night as will be anticipated from all of us watching you and Chris. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, guys. Alright, just like that, we're out of here. You think one day we'll hit that Bob Cole moment where they

always just like hearing from us? No chance. No chance. No chance. Oh my God. Not definitely in the next hour. Don't go away off the rails with Doug McClain. Coming up next. We'll be right back.