Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: The Season From Hell

Episode Date: March 23, 2026

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a look at today's big sports news in Toronto: the Blue Jays locking up manager John Schneider and GM Ross Atkins, and whether the Leafs would consider looking into similar front office continuity. Then, they reflect on the Leafs' pair of losses to the Hurricanes and Senators over the weekend, Matthew Knies' heavy workload despite not being 100%, Craig Berube demanding more from Joseph Woll, Anthony Stolarz's injury, and Berube and Easton Cowan's back-and-forth through the media. Later, Sam opens up his manifesto to highlight why this year has been 'the season from hell' for the Maple Leafs. 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, right back to normal here. Blaren Barker back in our studio, taking over, making us feel rushed when we start. The best part, though, is Barker immediately saying, good luck following that. Every time we see him. I think he's hilarious. Welcome in. It's the real Kipper and Boren show. Season 5.

Jake the Snake Shilts, Derek Brandeo, upstairs, pushing all the right buttons. Nick Kemprio's Justin Bourne and our very own Sammy McKee. We are live on SportsNet 360. 590, the fan in Toronto. Streaming always on Sportsnet Plus. Also available, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Toronto Maple Leafs. How's the weekend?

The Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, losers of both games, we did the Friday night, Carolina. Unfortunately. We have just one more game to go. But the highest stakes game of the year, We get the ducks, the Goudas revenge game. The revenge game. Something I think our Sammy was looking towards on the weekend against Ottawa as well,

a little revenge over their captain Brady Kachuk taking runs at the Leafs leadership group for not responding. They sure showed them, Sammy. So what did you think? What do you want me to say? They did nothing. They stunk it up as usual. They did not. You made it abundantly clear going into the weekend.

You would have liked to seen some response. Yeah, guess what? I'm an idiot. No, well, you're our idiot. Yeah. They just never get. If there's the thing I've learned that if they're going to, they want, sorry, if I want them to do something and the fan base wants them to do something,

they'll likely do the opposite. Although they did lose twice. So that was good. I wanted to ask you guys a question. Because big news of the day here in Toronto, my beloved Blue Jays extended Ross Atkins and their manager, John Schneider. I think Ross got a five-year contract extension, I believe, a two-year contract extension or a three-year contract extension for the skipper, John Schneider. So I think it's an interesting conversation about perception and PR because if you had have announced this extension for these two gentlemen, literally a year ago today. Actually, yeah, probably even a month into the season.

I can't imagine a more unpopular potential decision that you could make, okay? So I just want you to help me sleep at night and say that there's no thought from potentially Keith Pelley or people that are making decisions for the Leafs where they say, hey, 2024 for the Blue Jays was a down year, they were crappy, they didn't make the playoffs, and you know what they did? They had stability. They had, you know, they kept the same people around. and they bounce back in 2020 or 2025

like they did last year going all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. There's no way where they look at it. They're like, we can be like the J's and be stable and we'll be good again next year, right? Like, is that a thought that would cross their mind? Yes. Sure.

Yeah. No, I'm not saying that for the decision makers and we assume that's Keith Pelley in ownership, you have to run every case scenario. and there has to be a thought of the pros and cons of doing that and you're not doing your job unless you flushed everything out. So you asked me if there's a thought out there.

Yeah. There is a thought and there should be a thought to it. There should be a complete exercise from top to bottom on the pros and cons of either letting them go or keeping them. And I assume that's happening. Yes. I think you want to know how, what are the likelihood that this happens? Yeah, because I think there's something to be said for the stability that the Jays have had over these years

where through thick and thin there's been a lot of calls for a lot of jobs and they haven't done anything. And I think having the president in Shapiro is much like having the president in Brendan Shanahan where you have a face of the top sort of thing. Shapiro's more like a CEO than a president. Well, yeah, but at least there's a, you know, a pecking order that you can see in front of it. as opposed to living and Pally and then whoever else.

The one thing I think that you would point to if you're a J's fan is that from the beginning they have seemed to have a plan. A mandate, a way they like to work. They're fairly analytically driven. They have a process they like and they have wanted the time

to see that plan through. I think it would be harder to say that the current structure for the Leafs has a vision. Agreed. So that might divide the two thoughts. Here's the other thing that they have to consider and everybody has to consider is that as brilliant as Shapiro

and Ross look today, there is that part of the equation that they just got out, they had a chance to like spend their way out of trouble. Totally. And. But you still got to do it right. The Leaf said that.

No, 100%. But it is a big part of the equation, meaning that if even if you were wrong, there's ways to get out of it, there's ways to trade it away. There's bury it in the minors, whatever. Hockey doesn't allow that. Like there's no,

there's no chance that Brad gets the same freedom as, as Shapiro did with taking their salaries up to, I don't know what it is now, 280. It's in the top five in the league. That is coming, though. Yeah, that is. Yeah, it is coming to some extent.

Yeah. To some extent. But it just, it makes it harder. So those, those decisions now allowing Brad to continue, puts way more pressure on him to make sure he can get all of those decisions. Yeah. Right. Instead of just saying, oh, you know what, just stroke that one off.

and get rid of it and we'll go by another guy. And listen, I'm not saying that they didn't make the right to, of course, the J's and they spent wisely, but they, first and foremost, they got to spend. Yeah. Right? And how much room is there for Brad now or anyone else to come in and spend? Well, there's lots of room. There's just no players.

There's no one to sign. UFA is dead. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, I just thought that there was an interesting crossboard parallel with some of the stuff that's happening. You know it never comes up? Jacob Trub is a UFO.

This summer, isn't he? Do I have that wrong? Yeah, it excites you. Well, I mean, you're the Leafs. You got a bunch of money. You know, defensemen and need someone. American. Yeah, he is that.

No, oh, yeah, I love that. Love what you're doing there. You're not sure about Truba as a culture guy. No, I'd love him. Yeah. But I don't think he'd have interest in coming up here. Okay. Well, that changes things for sure.

Yeah. Anyways. No, listen. Big fan. I think he plays the game hard. He's an honest kid. He's, uh, I liked him. I've always liked him, but whether or not going from Winnipeg to New York and then down to the States,

would he come back up here? Yeah. My guess is he won't. Okay. So the weekend. Okay, hold on. Before we get into any specifics. Yeah.

Uh, there seems to be a narrative out there now that, uh, the official switch. for the Battle of Ontario is now completely on the Ottawa Senator's side, and they were kicked in the teeth for a long time, including last year in the playoffs. And it's just, it's nice for Sends fans to look at people like you, Sammy, and your Leaf Nation and give you a little bit back. I was surprised to see that narrative

because I think the senators, for the most part, during the regular season, have played the Lees really well. And I'm not sure what their record would be. I don't have it off the top of my head, but anecdotally, I feel like they've beaten the lease a lot more in the regular season than they... I believe going into last game, they were 7, 7 and 2. 500?

Well, yeah, there was some reason you and I looked up that staff or something. I don't remember. But didn't they sweep them last year? Like, going into the playoffs, there was a talk about they didn't beat them during the regular season. Like, I don't know. I just... Yes. Right?

Yes. So last year, I think, sends... Yeah. But if you just forget about the records for a second, there was always that narrative that the Leafs were the real team. Well, they always will be. Like they can talk about, they can not, like, I mean, what? No, no, the least, it's true.

But the point is that the Leafs have had stars and they've been winning, the Senators have been rebuilt. But they're still the Sends and we're still the Leafs. They can talk about little brother, big brother, whatever, whatever the hell they want to say, whatever keeps them, like, they're always not going to matter as much. But they're not. They're not. But the little brother sometimes grows up and gets bigger than the Big Brother and beats up the Big Brother.

Totally. And that might happen for a while. There's just a lot of talk coming from. 10th place in the conference. Let's just say that. They've been the best team the last month. Yeah, they're not in the playoffs. Really good. So it's not, it's not for sure. And I'll give them credit. They are a good team. They beat the breaks off the

least on Saturday night. There's some, there's some talent in that lineup. No question. But let's just. Sure. Pump the brakes. He wants us to pump the brakes on that. Well, you beat the lease a ton in the regular season anyway. Like, it's nothing I'm not used to. My whole life, the Leafs have given dogs. dominated by the Ottawa in the regular season. Like those years with Heatley, they won every game seven nothing. It's just how it goes.

The weekend to get back to what Sammy was saying was almost very close to great. And then the Leafs rallied against the hurricanes for a point. It just, I mean, it could cost them a really good player. We don't know how it's going to shake out in the standings. But Saturday night, according to plan, I'm fully, as you guys know now, I'm trying to see this team to ship to the bottom five. So for me, I just. much easier ways to go about it for me.

And that's, it just, I'd like to see more Marley's come up. I'd like to see Hildaby get in the lineup and we're going to get into that because Dolores went down on the weekend as well. And I know there's an update on that. He's played 24 minutes and had no shots on goal. Is that Saturday night? Yeah. I mean, he's the guy that's not feeling 100%.

in the loss season. It's such an easy one to, if... No, I think you should play him 25 minutes. That makes more sense. If he's just not feeling right, which he's made it abundantly clear, he's not 100%, which we don't like.

And then you go and play him 24 minutes. You know, could that be a bit of a FU from the coach? Like, I know that's a stupid, insane tinfoil hat thing to say, know if it is or not. If you're healthy, you're in the lineup, get out there. I think you're on to something because it does bold kind of to his earlier comments where it's, he's fine.

It's fine. You're going to play. I don't want to hear it, basically. I don't believe it to be true, but it is bizarre that as soon as Nyes complains, he plays the most minutes he's ever played. There's a lot of stuff that's been happening that kind of points to you. theory. Like, I mean, he's just...

For the record, this theory was constructed seven seconds ago. I mean, it's not a horrible theory. It's just... Do you want to play the clip from Friday night after the game? On Easton Cowan? No, the one on Friday about Joseph Wall. Okay, let's stay with goaltending.

Yeah. So... Oh, go ahead. Played well, but, you know, like tonight in the end, I think, you know, I don't think. I know what we need to save. Like, you know, whether it's the O.T

or it's one of the breakaways, you know, You know, you just need a big save there. You didn't like it? I just find it hilarious like, one of the breakaways we gave up. I mean, Kip, you watch that game as close to anyone. He was good, but I don't disagree with Craig Barubi. Well, yeah, I think it's fine if you have one more save, but it is a penalty shot. It is a breakaway that Keanu Miller has a bunch of whatever.

Yeah. If you don't like the, you don't like the Nikitian one, whatever. No, didn't like going either. That's fine. Yeah. But he made a ton of saves and you got outshot by $6 billion, as you consistently do. Is that where the game was lost?

No, no, they're no good. Yeah. They're just, they're no good. And I don't want to, I don't want to, this is not about pinning it on Joseph Wall. Right. But fair to say. I just, I'd be frustrated too if I was him with the goalies,

with Stolars and Wall. Okay? And it just goes back. And, you know, we're going to get into it with Saturday night and Willie Nealander's high shot that caught him and he left. But, you know, whatever you make of it per se, it really just comes down to can we count on you? Can we, are you dependable?

Are you reliable? And the answer is no. No. For Joseph Wall? It's not no. No. He's proved nothing to be a big time game player up until this point. We know you're talented and we know you can sometimes win games on your own.

But when we need you the most, you haven't shown up. You know what stinks about that is he came in in game six against Boston when they didn't have a guy. I know. Awesome. And he came in against Florida in the series they lost when Samsonoff finally got the hook in was excellent. But you can't finish it. You start it. And then you cannot finish it.

And then I'm watching Stolar's Saturday night. And I'm like, oh, what happened? Where are you? Where'd you go? You're where? At the hospital? Are you, like, are you kidding me right now? But, like, Kip, I don't, I don't really know what to do with the Stolars thing in, like, this type of situation.

Because the implication that he's faking it is insane, right? I don't think he's faking it. I don't. I'm with you. He's never around. He got, obviously he got hurt. Obviously he got scared and went to the trainers or went to the doctor and said, I'm having trouble breathing.

Their job is to cover themselves and make sure that we're not putting anyone's life in danger and they take him to the hospital. Right. And then, I don't know, 40 minutes later, maybe the swelling goes down. You feel better. Hey, see you later. That happened in the playoffs too when they lost a lot. him in round one against Ottawa

or was it, sorry, against Florida. Sam Bennett. He went to the hospital then too. But sometimes these things happened to more people than others, right? Yes. They just happen. They just, and there's a pattern. There's a, there's a pattern.

There's a consistency here. And I mean, enough. Yeah, whatever. Whatever it is, I don't know what it is, but it's something. It's not nothing. There's no doubt that there's something there that just keeps you from seeing something through. And if I'm Craig or somebody else, I'm like, okay, I've seen enough. I've seen enough.

And I sat here well before his extension and I told you guys, I didn't really like the extension. This guy, there's something there that just. constantly he's hurt or he can't see things through and it's like you gave him a four year deal it hasn't even kicked in guys hasn't kicked in we're watching the overhead right catching in the neck and I'm like I don't I don't know what happened there I I so people are all over Willie

because he shot one high which I've shot high in warm up we've all had one thing that kind of got away and I watched it and the own hockey night in Canada our guys gave us one angle there that was quick it wasn't crazy high

it wasn't nuts it was a wrist shot it was out there I don't know what happened did he take his eye off the puck did like I still don't know how that shot

could catch him flush in the neck I have no idea bearing down Is it the equipment? There's something wrong with your mask? But I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know how he got hit in the throat. With today's technology and the ability to cover your face and your neck, I don't know. What are you saying? He's saying that everyone shoots high once in a while. One got away from him a little bit. That Stolar's managed to get hurt out of that

is once again shocking. It's crazy. It's crazy. Like it's, it didn't even hit him in the head. Hit him in the throat. Which is crossbar. You know, Willie, right? Willie said every, you know, I shoot high every warm up.

He says, you know, he's been in the league for however long. We have audio from everybody. Do we have Willie? We do have Willie. Great. I think, oh, maybe I didn't put it in the, on the lineup, but I think I put it in there. Is there a Willie clip in there, Derek? Yeah, obviously it's, you know, really tough to see that happen.

I mean, I always come in and shoot a puck in the glove, and this one just came off a little bit. to the left and hit him in the neck so I mean I was obviously worried for him but I mean I've been texting my time so it seems to be okay Is it the equivalent to

a center field or taking his eye off the ball at the last second and I don't know I don't know it's just like I think if you watch an NHL warm up show me head high wrist or at his throat no I listen I'm 75 feet out

you played hockey your whole life you're gonna come in there you're ripping on the pads you go about you, you flip him in there. He ripped the puck. He didn't rip it. He did. Go look at the shot.

You see that shot a thousand times in warm up. I'm not saying that Stolars isn't, you know. Look, it's a rip out of his head. Oh my God, Sammy, please. That's for my distance. Sammy. Listen, I appreciate you right now, but you've never been in a warm up in your life at the NHL level.

No, but I mean, please. Obviously, I haven't. It's not a rip. Please play it one more time. The bulk of show, go watching an NHL warm up and the amount of shot. It's not like every puck is, you know, wasting down. Guys are trying to work on their shot. You heard him.

He shoots high. He wants him to catch the puck and feel it. Came off a bit left. I mean, it's bizarre. I'm not going to blame Stilar. Here it is. Here it is. Top of the circle.

Top of the circle. It's a wrist shot. It can't be much more than 70 miles an hour, 65 miles an hour. Okay? It's freaky. It's a freak, freak accident. No, I'm with you on this. And I know people are barry and Willie about it, but.

Yeah, and I'm not bearing Willie about it. I'm not. Okay. And I'm not, I don't know, I don't know what happened to Stolar's that he, he's done a thousand of those warmups. And that one, like, were you kind of, I don't know, like a dazeical, was your focus there? I don't know the answer.

I'm asking questions, and I'm not implying anything. Wow, it feels like you're implying something. I'm implying that... Something went drastically wrong. And it keeps happening to you, too. I think two things can be true here, Kipper. There is a trend with Stollars.

There's no question. If that happens to, I don't know, pick a goalie, Vasilesky, and then he goes and he keeps playing. Okay? That's... I think that's true. and I think you're right about that. I also think you shouldn't be shooting at your guy's head and warm up.

That's, I mean, that's... Of course you shouldn't be shooting it. And it's a mistake, but like, I don't know. It just, he also did it to Garrett Sparks at practice in 2019. Like, I just think ripping it high at a goal he's head in practice. Like Kipper said, I've never been in an NHL warm up, so maybe I don't know about these things, but maybe shooting at the pocket of guy's throat and warm up isn't the best course of action. Let's get Craig Bruby today.

Did he comment today on Solars? Let's have a listen. Clip five. Clip five. Yeah, he's, yeah, he's fine. He should be, yeah, he's good to go. Do you have to decide that he's going to search him all over? No, I haven't yet, but it's good that he's okay.

There you go. All right. Stollars, when here is a clip on it? Sure. I don't, yeah. No, I'm fine. It was just, uh, shot that came up high and just kind of stung, you know, and it just kind of lost my win there for a second.

And, you know, there was a little swelling and whatnot. So just more of a precautionary thing. So, you know, their medical stuff felt, it was, you know, just kind of necessary to go through the proper steps. And, you know, like I said, I felt better yesterday. And then obviously, good enough day to practice. All right. I had nothing else on this. See, I tell Stolar's with 10 games to go.

Like, take the rest of the year off. You need some time to heal your team tank now. That's all that is. To your point, yeah. Don't need you to steal any more games for us. Yeah. The year,

it's been a weird year for Stolar's, right? Like his numbers haven't been good. You see there's some games lately where he's looked like himself. And in fact, I thought he had found it a little bit. He's been looking better in his starts, but it always does. Him looking better and good,

never been a problem. Right. Just availability. Right? Just availability. That's it. Either way, so now we've got Barubi, who's called out Joseph Wool for a goaltending in a game where of all the things

to criticize, I didn't think was any worse than, you know, half the games you lose. And then he kind of gave it to Cowan a little bit, right? Cowan had come out after the game and said, once you give up the first goal, you get deflated. Let's just the Cowan. We have Cowan.

Clip one. Yeah, I thought we started off pretty strong. Got on the kill, they scored, and then I feel like it deflated us a bit. Deflated us a bit, and now let's listen to his coach, clip three if we could. I don't know why they would be deflated after we gave up, you know,

as a power play goal. You know, we broke a stick. We're trying to get a stick. I mean, they scored a goal. But big deal. We played a good first period. I mean, I don't know. I don't understand that thought process that you don't follow it up

and be ready to go in a second and know that they're going to make a push. And, you know, we don't respond well enough. So I don't really understand this deflated stuff. to be honest with you. I think it's a cop-off. We do not agree. Like, where has this been from Barubi over his two years here?

From day one, we thought this is the guy you'd get who'd be like the hard nose. Yeah, I know. This is... No BS. For me, this is just, Barubi just either just at the end of his rope kind of feel

right? For the season. And I certainly don't agree with him. shutting down a rookie like Eastern Cowan like that through the media. To me, that can't happen. He's barely 20 years old, rookie. Okay, he said, you know, deflated.

Okay, he's been in the league five minutes. Don't worry about him saying deflated. And don't, don't, listen, all that does for, for Eastern Cowen it makes them scared to say something else now in the media. You know, and to me, what you need to do, first of all, is somehow, and again, this is a PR thing too, right? This is way, like, this is another example of disconnect. This is, somebody's got to tip off Craig Barubi and say,

you might get asked about a comment that E.C. King Howard said about deflated. And to me, it doesn't help Easton. It doesn't help Craig. It doesn't help the team that you're now accusing Easton of a cop-out comment. It's not a building block moment for sure. If this stuff had been happening going back to the start of his tenure here, where it was like, we're not making excuses.

We are the organization that does not make excuses. It's a different vibe. Going into the game, you know that post game you're not going to be able to lean on any crutches, whatever. Now it feels too late. And it feels to me like a guy who's like, I'm done holding my tongue in Barubi. Done holding my tongue.

I feel like I'm on the hot seat here. Saying what I want the rest of the way. He shouldn't be here to be saying these things. But you still have a... The inactivity of the front office has led to this like toxicity now. Where he's calling out his goalie when they get 21 high danger chances against them

and four goals go in the net, calling it his goalie on that night. He's calling it his 18-year-old rookie for an off comment that he makes. It's just,

it's all toxic, he's clearly pissed, the team sucks, and you've just let it get to this point where he just feels the need to have to say these things.

Yeah. It's just gotten, it's just gotten rotten. And it's because you probably didn't let him go soon enough. Frankly, like I know that's tough

to say, but it's just, it's not pretty. It's gotten rotten is actually a really succinct way of summing up this year. It's just everything has a bit of a rot.

Yeah. And like I said, Easton's a 20-year-old kid. And, you know, it's if you had a little bit of heads up or you thought about your comments, you would have said, listen, he's, I don't want him to feel deflated. You shouldn't feel deflated. That's not what we're trying to do here. And, you know, I'll certainly have a talk about him or talk with him

and we'll work on that. But listen, it's a 60-minute game and one goal shouldn't make anybody feel deflated. But there's ways to go about. But you can tell, like, he's really... He's a frustrated time in his coaching career right now. And he is looking better at Cowan. Yeah, he's looking...

He's basically at two points, scored a goal, set up another one beautifully. Like, you don't want to... You don't want to make him feel like I got to really walk on a... eggshells now from here on end. And that's unfortunately how you can feel if your coach is, you know, calling your comments a cop out. So I just seen James Myrtle just tweeted that the Leafs current five wins in 23 game

stretch is about as bad as it gets. They'd only done this four times in the last 30 years that they've had a run like this. 2014, 2015. Yep. 15, 16 as well. 11 and 12 was the 18 Wheeler Cliff year. 1516, they did this? Yeah, that was the tank year.

So it's Horacek and then the tank year. Oh, right, right, right, my bad, by that. Do you want to get his comments on what he's trying to preach down the stretch here? Sure. Clip four. Clip four. Oh, where I think it sounds like we're. We don't have it?

We're in a fight with the audio machine. Did I do something? Clip. What he's trying to preach down the stretch? Yeah, we can't play any clips. Yeah, no, for sure. Communication doesn't change with me. I'm constantly, you know, I'm going to keep communicating the same way,

and I'm going to demand the same as I did all year. I mean, like I said, you know, the lineup is different for sure, and there's guys, young guys coming up from the minors playing, and, you know, we're looking to see what they can do and accomplish. But at the same time, it's all about, you know, playing as a team, being highly competitive and playing hard. I mean, the X's and O's are the X's and O's, but it's about, you know, showing up every night

and competing at a high level. that's what's important for me. Yes, there's mistakes and, you know, things that happen in the game, but where's your compete level? You know, where are you playing for the crest on the front of the jersey? That's what matters to me. I like it. I like it's noteworthy, though, that he always notes,

as I've been preaching all year. You know, he's like, I have not been getting this. I've been saying the same thing to these guys. But he's not getting anything anymore. I mean, they have 14. Well, he's getting something. about a bow grew.

Yeah. But like go call two more of them up. I guarantee you they will be hungry. Like the one thing I can tell you about Bo is he's a 26 year old who's playing like his career is out of a fork in the road. He's playing just like he should. And he is hungry. Okay.

He's hungry. You know. And I need more guys like that right now. I was looked into this this weekend talking to some people. around Marley's who's next. Who should get a shot? Who's whatever?

It's pretty thin, right? Like you look at the years of their prospect rankings. I don't know if you remember. I got a couple of it. There was this pit bull I'm watching in preseason. I mentioned his name that Landon Sim. Do you remember? Yeah, I know.

I know. I played with John. Do you remember? Yeah. Do you remember us doing an exhibition game going, I like that guy? He may not be ready, but I like him. Yeah.

I don't know. got into some injury issues. I think he was sent to the coast for a little while. I think he's back up, but put him in for like five games. I guarantee you he'll piss somebody off. He'll irritate somebody. He'll get into a fight.

He's not the biggest guy in the world. He's the opposite of the biggest guy in the world. He's 5-11. He's 187. I know. But he plays like he's 6-5. Yeah. And he's fighting in the minors.

I would love to do it. I don't want a goon. I don't want a guy who just, you know, drops his. gloves and I just want somebody to go and annoy somebody. Get under their skin. Piss them off. The Leaves have such an incredible chance this week looking at the reverse standings.

This is a massive week. We cannot set that stage. That's what I mean. They play the Rangers and the Blues and you lose those two games. It's back to back. Boston tomorrow night. You're in a good spot. In Boston.

We're the least have had so much success over the years. So it should be fine there. And then. They're definitely winning tomorrow. then back home for the Rangers and then Saturday night against St. Louis Blues, who's also behind you in the San.

If you were like a normal thinking, sort of future forward thinking organization, Act you'm always playing on Wednesday night. You're bringing up Bill and off. You're bringing up Sam. I'm okay with that. But they're not going to do it

because they haven't, there's, we're still going to play as hard as we possibly can. We should play hard. No, play hard. But they're not going to, they don't play. Play hard.

With those guys. Yeah, with those guys. They played two hard games, period. And after the Ducks thing, and now it's, anyways. You know, Marley's got kid Ryan Tverberg. He's in his third year there. He's someone that they could give a little look to. I know that Luke Hames is probably, he's playing really well right now,

but they kind of want to keep him going in the American League. On D, it's pretty thin. You got Thrun. Maybe next year you got Chadwick or the year after, but it's pretty thin. You know, there's not a whole lot of like, hey, Villanova's ready from what I know. So, yeah, get Landon, Sim, bring me to Verberg. You just got to get two games you got to lose this week. You absolutely have to lose them.

Hey, let's check out Tankathon. The Leafs have moved up the spot. We want to do it after the break? I got something else for you after the break. Do you? Oh, yeah? A new manifesto. I got a little something that I got.

Wow. Sammy's manifesto's coming back. This is actually a major feature of the show that we should be, get sponsored. It's not, I wouldn't say it's as passionate as the last one. That's okay. It's more of a... I can't wait to hear it. It's an interesting one.

All right. It's going to steal my will. You want to go to the standings and then break? I'm hitting this. I just hit the Sim lottery for the first time here. San Jose has jumped up into the number one spot. Florida jumps into the second spot. Vancouver, Chicago, New York Rangers, Calgary all the way down to six.

And the eighth pick goes to the Boston Bruins for the Toronto Police. I'll send one. That's what I just hit down. What are you got? Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago. What are you got? You don't have it. I don't know.

No, no, I haven't got it ready. I've forgotten about it. Join to do Sandings? Or you just did it? I just did my tank. Okay. All right, let's take a quick break. When we return, Sammy's manifesto, can't wait.

What was the last time we did this? About a month ago? Six weeks ago? No, it was after the... Which one was it? I was after the weekend. Well, it's included in this. We'll go.

All right. Don't want to miss that when we return. Real Kipper and Born. Hey, it's Matt. And I'm Mike Futa. We're discussing the top stories of the day across the NHL and the hockey world. Weekdays at noon. It's the fan hockey show on SportsNet 590, The Fan, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back to the program. Nick Kippreos, Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee, do we tee up? Have we got this sponsored? Developing story first, before I get into that. The SportsNet YouTube team has changed the music. And do we like the new music? It's very similar to the old music.

It's very... Are we talking on our YouTube channel? Yeah, like our waiting music, like between our breaks. Have we had any positive feedback? Guitar riff. This is, I think, the first day of the new music, so I haven't got any DMs about it, but I'll surely get three to four DMs tonight about the music.

All right, Shirley. Oh, yeah. Okay, so... Pull out the Hill, Roy. So let's just have a recap on. You like to watch the games. You do your Leaf Talk with JD after the games. Yeah.

And you write all this down while you're watching the game. But I used to take game notes, but the last two weeks I can barely watch. So I don't really take. Relatable. I don't take a ton of notes. But this was more just, I was kind of thinking about it when I woke up today and starting to do the prep for the show and all the different stuff that's happened this season. And for example, Bill Simmons has this saying called the season from hell, like when a team

is just supposed to be good and everything goes wrong. and it's like the season from hell rankings or whatever. I think this could be constituted as a season from hell for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I just wrote down a few events that have happened over this season. And I could kind of go through them. Okay. Do you guys want to start on September 20th of 2025? Perfect place to start.

When Leif's PR puts out a tweet that Joseph Wall, parentheses, illness. Day to day. First game, November 15th. So it was a little longer than day to day. But that was a family emergency is how they started it. And then it changed. Yeah. So first game,

his day-to-day illness was November 15th. October 19th, 2025. Stolars calls out the team. And even though we're six games into the season, enough's enough. In this game, Mason Marchman ran him over. And Carlo stood there and stared at it.

Ooh, that would become a theme. Remember that? Yes, I do. That feels like a long time ago. October 29th, 2025. Johnny Tavares reaches the amazing 500 goal plateau. In a 6-1-Loss.

In a 6-3 blowout to the Columbus Blue Jackets where nobody could celebrate it. No one celebrated it. That one was, I felt bad for J-T there. That's stunk. He deserved it. He mobed to the bench up. Poor guy.

There should be some retroactive. It's like having your birthday on Christmas or something. Shout out my buddy Mike Snyder. His birthday's Christmas. That's when you know, you're having a bad year. Yeah, that's tough. All right.

Ready for the next one? Yeah. November 11th, uh, 2025. Stolars allows three goals on 11 shots. He gets lifted. Barube alludes to it not being that serious of an injury after the game.

The next game he would play is January 23rd. Not that, not that serious. You, Sam. Okay. December 22nd. Leifes fire Mark Sivard 3rd. Three days before Christmas, with the power play clicking at 13.3%.

Leading to an eight-game point streak that may cost them a top five pick. Oh, seemed good at the time. Have we had enough? Not even close. There is so much more. We're just getting in the new year here. January 1st, 2026, William Neelander, seen in the press box wearing a tank top. The temperature that day was a high of minus seven.

feels like minus 14. I can't believe the Willie tank got on there. It's actually, but it's kind of poetic, but it's kind of poetic that he wore a tank in Jan. All of a sudden, he was, it's foreshadowing if you were writing the story. Let me just add this one in there.

January 3rd, Matthews becomes the all-time leading score for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a loss to the New York Islanders. January 23, 2020, In the midst of a season-changing losing stream, Craig Brube removes his hat at morning skate to reveal a head wound that sent the gathered media into gasps.

But I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was one of the words. His head almost get taken off? It's unbelievable. And it's like it never happened. I've never seen anyone heal as well as he healed. But it was jarring. And it really didn't help that it was a time when, like,

All eyes were on what's going on with this. That was, if you remember, when that gym accident happened, the morning of, you know what game that was? Mitch Marner's return. Oh, God. A few eyeballs on that game. All right. We still got a few to go here, boys.

January 2025, 2026. During a well-attended game, during the city's worst snowstorm, in the last four of a six-game losing streak, William Neelander looks straight into the camera and for no apparent reason flips the bird We had some talks on that one boys Ready? Find me a positive

Okay, okay, right, hurry, keep going. Okay, February 3rd, Leaves polish off the pre-Olympic break With three wins that somehow convinces the front office That maybe this team doesn't suck. Oh. Six points. Six points.

Out. Devastating road trip. February 18th, oh, we're in the Olympics. Surely we're safe. Mitch Marner scores an Olympic overtime winner that puts the Leaf fans right back into the crossair for driving them out of town. Okay.

February 22nd. Austin Matthews leads Team USA to a gold medal that turns into the most politically charged sporting event in decades. The debate, there's actually a debate if Austin Matthews will miss regular season games because he's shaking hands with Trump, leading to convos about him leaving. Yeah.

That happened. And the final page. That one's still lingering. It's still lingering. March 6th, the trade deadline. Radch Living waits to the 11th hour to trade his Leafs UFA and almost trades their only young star, Matthew Nyes, to the Montreal Canadians.

Didn't happen. Almost. Almost. Well, depending on who you talk to. If it was almost or not. I don't know how we don't, we know they talked. And now we're on March 12th, so we're getting closer. Leaves have lost eight in a row now coming out of the Olympics.

And well on their way to their ninth straight until Radco Gudis, knees Matthew, leading to an international referendum on how soft the leaps are that leads to them getting five points in four games that could also add to a reason that they don't get another top five pick. Yeah. And on Friday, March 20th, Craig Brubay blames. Joseph Wall for a loss to the east leading Cains in which they allowed 21 high danger chances.

And on Saturday, March 21st, Uncle. William Neuander takes a head-high wrister that knocks out Stollars of the game, after which he calls out his rookie for saying that whatever he said. And now we're at March 23rd, boys.

That's one year. Oh, man. We got a lot of losses. Good year to have a radio show. And still 12 games? 11. I mean, I could have done it at the end of the year. Like, we still have no idea what mysteries are waiting on the other side.

But there you go. Wow. Well, thank you for that. That was very thorough. Some things. What's the best thing that's happened? Unavoidable. But a lot of things, self-inflicted wounds.

Yeah. A hard year for them to manage some of those things you're referencing. Yeah, some of them self-inflicted. What's the best thing that's happened this year? Yeah. Nick Woffer, first rounder. I still think you need him. What's that?

If they're going to try to compete next year, I'm not sure. I know you don't want that. I think it's Easton Cowan. It's had a really good rookie year. Yeah. I actually do think that... He looks like he's going to be a player. When you zoom out on this season and you look away from some of the stuff that's happened,

like the 15 things that I just listed there, I think you will be able to say that he's had a good rookie year and has a good future as a really good pro. Like, I thought he was, I mean, they were, awful on Saturday, but he was their only good guy, really. Set up DeVaris's goal, scored one of the goals. I thought he cares, tries hard. It's a good rookie year for him.

Yeah, I have no question. He can play one day on a top six contending team. Will he ever be an all-star, a superstar in the league? I'm not sure, but he is going to be a really good pro. So, I hate myself. I don't think they're, yeah, I don't think they're going to be in a position to be disappointed at any time soon for Easton. Who else has had a good year for the Leafs?

Oliver Ekman-Larsen has. Definitely. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Okay. We agree. No, I'm just saying.

Yeah, and not much else. No. So. Not much else. And I think there's a part of them that. has been disappointed with Matthew Nyes. Yeah. Obviously, Matthew's had a bad year.

Neelander has actually had a good statistical year offensively, one of his better outputs. So what did you, like Matthew Nyes played 24 minutes? And was it you that said didn't record a shot? Didn't record a shot, no. I mean, how does that happen? Right?

I mean, he's your best winger, your best left winger and you have ample opportunities. Maybe you went into the game saying, I'm just going to play this guy no matter what happens tonight. I'm just going to play the heck out of him. He just... Show people I can handle it.

24, 28, minus two, no shots. And he just, I mean, he's going to have 65 points, 60 points this year. And it's like, they're kind of quiet points. Yeah. It hasn't been, you know, if you didn't have

expectations for him, didn't have that contract that he signed this off season. Again, I think a lot of these guys signed their first big ticket contract and they struggle for whatever reason. But if you didn't know any of that, you just watched him play, you'd be like, that's a pretty good player.

Like, that guy's big, he can skate, he's getting points. But he doesn't have that present still. The expectations were on. That you'd want to feel when he's out on the ice consistently. Yeah, I know. I think you're putting words in my mouth. That's how you feel about it.

Yeah, yeah, for me. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. You know, it has been a little short of expectation. So you lose that game to Ottawa. Sammy did the tank watch a little bit here. And the rest of the way, we're kind of talking about some names that are probably not going to be on the Leafs, even if they are call-ups, whether it's Sim or Thurber or where you're just looking for bodies.

It's tough to know what to root for aside from losses right now. And it's hard to know truly what direct. this team goes until you get more clarity out of who's in charge and who's going to be there. Is Brad going to be there here? Does Matthews want to be here? You see an article

in the athletic today. It's what if Matthews wants out? What does this look like? So, okay. So we know that there's going to be a conversation with Austin in the summer. Does Austin need to feel a little better with a new voice? Or could Brad go in there and convince him that there's ample

reason for you to want to stay. Well, then that's an interesting question. Do you think above Brad, do you think maybe Keith Pelly would talk to Austin? Because, like, you know, if Austin's talking to Brad, I don't know. Like, Brad's not going to or Austin's not going to be like, I think you should go.

Tell me what Keith could say to him. I think you just want to get a feel for where he's at. What do you think is going on here? What do you, we want you to be a part of this? You're our captain. What do you see for this organization? You know, an open. That's dangerous. And that's how you become LeBron, like making decisions for the team.

And I don't know. I think that's, I think he's still, at the end of the day, it's still, yeah, still a player. Whatever, he's a captain, like you, go ahead, Kim. Yeah, just whether it's Keith or Brad, you still, I think you need to add. And when it's all said and done, I think majority of the feel is that whether it was Brendan Shanahan or if someone else knew comes in, there has to be. be someone else involved in this one way or the other.

Even if Brad stays. If it's not Brendan, who else is it? That's going to be a face and a figure for the Leafs moving forward. And do you think that there are people vying for that job right now? Do people know that's a thing? Is that? I don't know. I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes in terms of,

prepping a decision, when does that decision get made? Do you do, do they have people in mind already? Could there be a deal done quietly already? It just, it has to happen so early because you have to make decisions on players. Like people talk about, oh, you're going to make big trades at the draft. Well, you need the right people there making those decisions. Remember a caller on Friday that was scared about them bringing in somebody and then going on to have to look around.

Yeah. So you're even seeing like, all right, well, Machelli's gone. Like, are we sure? That's why they get paid the big old bucks to make those hard decisions. Okay. Our thanks to Sammy's. Uplifting Hour. Who just gave us a complete.

Hey, Fraser Minton has two points since the Olympics. How's that? East, thanks. That's a positive. There you go. That trade's not so bad after all. All right, don't go away. Jason Bucola up next.

And Kevin Ziegers. Oh, our Canadian.