Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Woll & Chief vs. Blues

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look at the decision to slot Joseph Woll in for his season debut against the St. Louis Blues and Craig Berube facing his former Stanley Cup-winning team. Then, Blues reporter Andy Strickland (30:39) joins Nick and Justin to chat about the 2024-25 version of the roster, the personal stakes for the Chief, the lead-up and fallout of the franchise moving on from their former head coach, Philip Broberg's and Dylan Holloway's additions to the team, and Jordan Binnington's performance to start in net. 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.

right back at you on game night for the toronto maple leafs nick capriles justin bourne sammy mckee derrick brandeo jake the snake schultz with you for the next two hours we are live on sportsnet 590 the fan sportsnet 360 and sportsnet plus toronto maple leafs craig bruby former team in town the st louis blues a little redemption not only for getting fired but a horrible loss earlier this week for his current team. Now, is he going to be at the Kentucky Derby with you, or is Bob Baffert going with you? Okay. Do you feel like my blazer reflects someone about to watch a horse race? It looks like a man, an old-timey, like, colonial-era gentleman.

I love it, for the record. You do? I absolutely love that coat. I would wear that inera gentleman. I love it, for the record. You do? I absolutely love that coat. I would wear that in a heartbeat. You look great, bud. Yeah. You want a match tonight, aren't you? Another blue industry special right here.

Your wife must be kicking you out of the house more than ever lately. Hey, she's here on every game. Well, listen, they may need my help tonight. Okay. I don't know. All right. You think, Sammy, they could use my help tonight okay i don't know all right you think sammy they could use some help or is it just a hiccup the other night against columbus and we'll see more of what we saw at the beginning of the week versus the tampa bay lightning time will tell time will tell that's

actually a phrase that you know what that is not for our show you know what that was you know what time was telling nervous yeah i haven't got a clue. And I'm scared. Here's what I'll say. That's what he's saying. Can't we just sports talk radio and go, we'll see. I'm scared to say so because I'm scared to embarrass myself. Here's what I'll say.

If they are the same old Leafs, they'll win tonight, resoundingly. So will they convince you they're not going to lose it? So if they lose, maybe they're the new Leafs? I'm really twisted. You should have left it at time, we'll tell. I will say. That would take time to break. Tuesday really twisted my brain into a knot.

Did not see that one coming. It was confounding. It's going to be really interesting to see tonight. Where are you? Time will tell. Because we had yesterday's show, and I think we're all in agreement that the loss to Columbus wasn't necessarily an indication of what we saw earlier being this facade. But how important is it that it's a good show tonight?

And if they don't get on track tonight, is that put more emphasis on something still fundamentally wrong here? Well, no, yeah, well, it does. But to me, you have the chance to isolate Columbus and call it a one-off and say, yeah, outside that game, we've been this, or we've changed this. You can see we're different.

We had that one night, but, but if you're bad tonight, it's like this was a crucial night for Craig Berube, right? It's important to him. It's a crucial night to show that you were different. If they're bad tonight in what seems to be a very obvious, we need a night moment. Then I think we can start drawing out some bigger things from it, which would be concern.

Well, if it's so important, why are they starting the backup goalie? Oh. You did it. Joseph, whoa. The backup goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs getting a nod with 10% of the season behind us almost. Do you want to go to Craig Bruby first or comment first? Let's go to Craig Bruby.

Let's hear what he has to say. On Joseph Wall. He's been obviously progressing in the right direction for some time now and we kind of had this date picked out that he would get this start. It's just basically making sure he's ready, comfortable,

everybody's on board with him, ready to go, and this is where we picked. They picked. What does that mean? Isn't it like you just rehab so you're ready and then you play? It means they've got a master plan. That's what it means. I hate that.

That sounds very overcooked. So you know where I stood. It's the plan. And I had a different plan than you, Craig. And you heard mine yesterday. I would have gone right back to Stolarz. And barring a Hildeby kind of meltdown, I had him starting Saturday night versus the Boston Bruins.

So where are you on Joseph Wall? I am that of the camp that if he's ready to go and he was supposed to be 1A, he's the younger guy, he's got more years in his contract for more dollars. Get him in as soon as you can. Let's get started. Let's figure out what he's got. See if he's ready. Guys, he didn't tear his groin. He had tightness.

I have no problem with that, except I've watched Stollers get shot out of a cannon. I know. Okay, what were your stats on his goals? He's given up one, two, two, one. his goals he's giving up one two two one no he's giving up one in the first game and two and every other start okay yeah like you're gonna win a lot of games you're taking the whole career you're taking the hottest goaltender out of 32 teams

and putting them on the shelf yeah Yeah. Preach it, buddy. Couldn't agree more. Yeah. He sold me. It's bad sports radio, but agree. Oh, gosh. Yeah. You know, there are over the past three or four years.

Sorry, go ahead. Go ahead. No, you go ahead. Over the past three or four years, he's right there in goals saved with Hellebuck, Shesterkin, and one other guy. Cook's glorious. Per game, he's been one of the best goalies. I know we don't know how many he can play,

but he's been good. The other thing that bothers me as well is that I'm thinking the game versus Columbus where you had ample reason to pull Hildeby, Beast, because you're protecting Stolarz for Thursday night. Didn't happen. Didn't happen. I'm like, if you had this master plan all along

and you knew Joseph Wall was going to start Thursday, why don't you halfway through at three nothing get that kid out and still give your team a chance to win in columbus you're absolutely right because this totally changes the perspective of that game not one of us came in the next day and said how didn't you get hill to be out of there yeah he was clearly off clearly not ready he was bad from the jump at two nothing but at least three nothing for sure you could have gone okay we need we need to get some stability in that and put stelars in but the idea and all of us agreed was that he was going to play the next game and you just didn't want to overtax so maybe brube didn't know that what was

playing on thursday i don't think they knew like Like, I mean. No, no, no, no, no, no. Go listen to the clip. Well, he says they picked out the date. But they didn't know he was going to be ready by the date. Yeah. I mean, if you're Craig Brube, you're coming in here, it's kind of hard to depend on the fact he's Craig. He's healthy and he's cleared and he's practiced with the team.

You knew you were going to him Thursday. We kind of had this date picked out. We kind of had this date picked out. In that case, I am now retroactively upset about the Columbus non-pull. Right? Hildeby was bad. He was bad. And, like, obviously not on for that night.

You know what really grinds my gears? He was shaking. He was shaking. He was shaking. Clearly, they are probably really appreciative of what Stolarz has done so far, but they're not willing now to let him roll with it because that would probably change the feel or the the plan and you don't want to deviate from the plan they're in it for between wall and stolars they're in it for the long game yeah right but results should change your plan that's more information to update your plan with

and when you have a guy who's been as good as stolars it's okay to change the plan say sorry joseph wall in sports sometimes isn't their expression getting wally pipped have a guy who's been as good as Stolarz, it's okay to change the plan. Say sorry Joseph Wall. In sports sometimes, isn't there an expression getting Wally pipped? Isn't this like an old I don't know what the meaning is, but it's a saying. Well, it's like a guy for the Yankees. He was hurt and someone else came in. I don't know. Was it the Knicks? I feel like it might have been the Knicks.

Sure. I don't know. Whoever came in was better than old Wally and Wally didn't get his job back. Yeah, he's got Tom Brady, Drew Bledsoe in my ear. Okay, let's follow it up with Craig Berube's thoughts on how Wally's been throughout this process of not starting the season. He's been fine.

I mean, listen, injuries happen. You can't control them. You know, it's disappointing disappointing he was disappointed for sure and he had a good camp and was ready to go and disappointing on his part and ours i mean but that's part of the game and you got to deal with it and he's dealt with it in the right right way i think we need that uh brooby listen uh, paired with the Cooper listen drop. Elliot says it a lot too. We could probably have a whole segment just called listen,

where we give a solid opinion. Like we're not listening. We've asked you the question. Wally Pip was the first Yankee to lead the American league in home runs due to his famous replacement by Lou Gehrig. Players began to say they were Wally Pipped when replaced in a lineup, especially if it was due to a minor injury. I heard that. Led the league in, sorry,

led the team in home runs? Yeah. First Yankee to ever lead the American League in home runs. And then his replacement was Lou Gehrig. Decent player. Good career. Anyways. So let's play some scenarios out. Okay. Here's the first scenario.

That Joseph Wall goes in. Shut up. No, no, I wasn't going there first. Doesn't play well at all. Three goals against and six shots. I'm just saying, though, there is a bit of an educated guess here for

Craig Berube to go to Joseph Wall and that is that I am taking out a very hot goaltender for the one that I believed prior to the season starting was my number one goalie

and if that doesn't happen now that's a tough one for Craig Berube to wear going into Boston is it not that that he he took a chance on Joseph Wall who probably hasn't had much more than one or two practices full practices to come back off this injury? You think that's it? Yeah, pretty limited? Yeah. I don't think there's been a ton.

Okay, I don't know what the number is, but I'm saying that you could have squeezed in another good practice for him on Friday, even if you thought about him on Saturday night, but you chose to go to St. Louis. Now, correct me if I'm wrong. Is he from St. Louis? So is there an emotional attachment to this as well? Make the guy happy? Maybe.

Probably. That's probably a portion of it. I do think that if you're Stolarz, you are comfortable sitting for longer stretches and staying hot, right? He's been a career backup last year. He didn't play a ton with behind Bobrovsky, is the word I was trying to say like if there's a guy that's going to be able to not cool off after missing well i guess he'll go monday to saturday with starts without missing

six days you got some experience with it i don't i don't see it that way no not as not from a uh a competitive athlete look. We do not agree. I'm like, I get the dream start out of the gate in this market, and you don't give me a chance to run with it? Like, I'd be pissed. But I think we've – Interesting. I agree.

Listen, I think he probably should have started tonight, but, I mean, to play devil's advocate, no goalie is – I mean, is i mean there's shisterkin plays 55 or like no goalie plays that much like it's not the old days of luongo playing 65 games a year burdur playing 70 games a year it's just kind of the way it goes but when it's early i agree like you're kind of pressing here you're riding the hot hand it's going to fall off eventually but i think you know wall's going to get his starts so to play devil's advocate it is funny like when i do agree his expectations would have changed for still ours because he knew going into the year it was a split him situation that was the plan yeah so you know

has he played enough and well enough to think that they should completely override the plan by game eight yeah and to your point sammy there there's a lot of hockey here. Oh, yeah. Right? Is this four and six? It's been a lot. Yeah. So Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday coming up. Yeah. Monday. It will be four and six.

Yeah. And then you're at five and eight. So, yeah, I get it. But I think it does speak to, I don't know if pressure is the right word, but you got to get wall in there. This is a guy that has never been proven to be a stable NHL-er and didn't end well last year when he disappeared. Broke my little heart into a million pieces.

Broke your heart for game seven. The last thing he's done on the ice is get scored on with four seconds left in game seven. And you did give him 11 sheets. Yeah. Which is a ton of money for a guy who has never played 40 games in the NHL. You know, I think there is a fair question to be made

that like even 100% healthy, are you sure he's better than Stolarz? And I'm not saying this about Stolarz so much. It's not like Wall has this sample size of games where you know he's a 9-10 guy in the league. He has a lot of games where he's been very good and he probably is, but he's pretty young and hasn't had a track record yet.

So get him in, let him start building the track record. Let's make the decision on merit at some point. So then the flip side, he goes in and he's outstanding tonight. Leafs win 4-1. He's out. He makes 35 stops.

I mean, 50 safe shutout. It's still ours. Yeah. Saturday night. Okay. Right. Yep. You heard the coach.

They kind of got a plan here. They've written some dates in. You shouldn't have a plan. Three goalies. I think based on Wall going in tonight, they'll probably go to Stolarz Saturday night. You'd have to think. He's certainly earned that.

No question. Alright, so Berube playing his former team. We got some clips from him on the idea of going back. Do you want to do the cup ring one or do you want to actually do a proper full? Well, we could end with the cup ring one.

All right. Let's start just with what he had to say on facing the Blues. Clip three. You know, I mean, obviously, you know, there's a lot of emotions, but once the puck drops, it's over. We're just playing. We need a good response here tonight with our team. That's what I'm focused on.

Does that sound like a guy that's not feeling the emotions a little bit? Yeah, that's the first thing. He sounds a little rattled there. First time I've heard him talk where it hasn't been like direct, decisive, knows exactly what he's going to say. And then you go to a party and you're like, oh, my ex-girlfriend's here. That's fine. It doesn't bother me.

I'm totally good with it. I'm totally good with it. Hey, Kathy. Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know Jordana Kairu was going to be here tonight. Once the puck drops, it's over. Kathy, break your heart? You know,

maybe. The Kairu thing is funny. I did think that it probably matters more to Kairu. You know, like he was a guy who is still there and almost won the sort of standoff that him and Ruby had. I'm sure he has great interest in having a night tonight. Big time.

Yeah, I think... I know Kairou came out, was pretty emotional, and had to backtrack a little bit. And I think it's just part of a growth for Kyrie. He probably just a little immature still with not only the comments that he made about Berube leaving, but also probably the way he handled Berube challenging him. What did he say again? I can't quite remember what he said, but he was pretty critical pretty critical of him yeah i don't remember exactly what he said either it was just a reference that he's no longer

here now but i don't know and what someone asked about their relationship or something yeah he didn't answer the question listen those coaches they they challenge guys yeah and sometimes some handle it better than others and i know we've got a clip of Brad Marchand as a veteran and a guy that's been in the league a long time. And he talks about Montgomery as well, challenging him. And we'll get into that probably. No, let's leave it. We'll talk about it a little later in our national show.

But that's what those type of coaches do. I wrote an article today for the toronto star and i kind of referenced that barubi has had a great influence early in changing the culture and so and i kind of compared it to pratt burns coming in in the early 90s that led to two conference finals these guys that's what they do better than most when it comes to, you know, getting results early. And sometimes you got to frighten some guys. Some guys handle it well.

Some guys don't handle it well. It's not for everybody. But I think Kyrou, young still, now making $8 million a year. The comment, just to clarify, was when he got asked about it, he said, I've got no comment. He's not my coach anymore. Berube had done a lot for St. Louis at that point. And he got, remember the game after he got booed?

He was crying after. It was actually a tough scene there to end it. It was. But, you know, Braden Shen made some comments recently. I forget who interviewed him, but said something to the effect of, Berube was hard on guys in direct, but the next day, day it was like it never happened he asked you how you're doing whatever you you know and that when you're a kid when you're young it's tough you've always been great for kairu to take that criticism and just move on maybe and i think it is sort of a veteran

thing and hopefully for the leafs they're older now their core is older and they can handle it in a mature way and you know it's coming first it's a long season you don't think we're gonna hear a Willie criticism clip from Ruby in the next two weeks you know well next month we'll call it it's happening and this team like you know Blues are off to a decent start. Eight points from seven games, four and three. But I do think, you know, remember how hard Nick Robertson played against Sheldon Keefe in the second game of the season? Where he was buzzing all over the place in that first period and was just, like, the best he's been all year?

This is a good team that probably has some feelings about Perube and how they want to beat him and show him. I'm sure there's a bit of cash on the board tonight in the St. Louis room. Probably some in the Leafs room too. So, you know, I think it has a potential to be a much more intense Thursday out-of-conference game than you would usually be used to, I think.

In 15 minutes, we've got Andy Strickland, co-host of Cam and Strick podcast, to talk about Berube, his days in St. Louis, and what we'll see tonight. Top of the hour, we got Adam Oates as well. And Adam's been on the show before breaking down a ton of stuff. Is he on video? Yeah. Thank God, because I never know when he's done talking.

Seeing him will help and get his cadence dialed in. Power plays. We'll get into Stamkos' Nashville slow start. So looking forward to that as well. We do have another Ruby clip on Facing the Blues. Do you want to hear that, Blues, too? Yeah, let's do it. Let's do that clip for her, please.

Well, it was great. And, you know, just got a lot of memories there for sure. Been there a long time. Worked with a lot of people for a long time. And I have a lot of real good feelings for these people and, and all that. But in the end, it's like,

we need two points. Like I, I can't stress that enough. Like it's just about, it's just about us. You know, you said the other day, you didn't love some of the comments from the team after the loss.

I love these comments from Berube, who's really not making it about himself and he's making it about where the team is at on their schedule, which is really nice. He's a guy that's played with, correct me if I'm wrong, half a dozen teams. At a certain point you're like, yeah, okay. But you have experience playing former teammates before and there's something extra, something.

Yeah, absolutely. No, he's going to feel it tonight for sure. It's not like he's going into st louis tonight but at the same time you look across and you want to beat the you want to beat the team beside you that uh that at the end of the day thought you weren't good enough to stick around right that's what you remember the most and they got this game against the blues and then next saturday is in st louis so two within two weeks, he's got to deal with this one. So there you go.

Now, who asked him about where's his Stanley Cup ring? Like today he was going to wear it? Really? Honestly, awesome. I think it was maybe Kevin McGran that asked him. I'm not sure. I recognize all the different voices, but I think it may be McGran. Do you want to hear the clip?

Sure. We have clip five, please, Derek. Where's his cup ring? I don't know, at home somewhere. Yeah, it's at home. Like, I don't know exactly, but it's there. Well, it's probably, it's not on display. It's probably somewhere at home.

My wife's probably got it. Maybe she sold it. I don't know. I haven't seen it in a long time it. I don't know. I haven't seen it in a long time, so I'm not sure exactly where it's at. I don't think he needs the money. Well, I was going to say, you have to

be in a certain financial situation to not be aware of it. If you ask me where my daughter is, me being like, I don't know. That's like Stanley Cup ring. When I got traded to New York, I did ask Mark eventually, Messier, you got six of these. How come I haven't seen you wear one?

Yeah. And he says, like, where's yours? And I'm like, I don't know if he's busting on me or what, but I'm like, yeah, I don't have one. He goes, I'll make you a deal. When you win one this year and I wear one, we'll wear them together next season. That's amazing.

And I'm like, oh, my God, we're going to win the cup. I'm going to get a ring. One of my favorite cup ring stories. So Bree's dad, Clark Gillies, lost two cup rings over his life. They both found their way back eventually. One of them, he was driving a snowmobile. Wearing the cup ring in the gloves, snowmobile flips in like a creek in vermont or something oh my god a bit of a crisis they're pulling people out cup rings gone they don't realize it till like you know days later

that it wasn't on his hand anymore in the spring the plow had that shoveled the snow up in the banks on the side of the road the snow melted and they came across this like shiny object and they found the covering oh my god the next spring when the melt came what are the odds is that not crazy oh my god that is crazy i know that's crazy there's gotta be a mill like i've misplaced mine have you number occasions yes that seems like something that's either on your finger or in some protective it's okay for the first hour but if you go two or three days you're in a full panic do you know the other time he lost his islanders are driving uh the bus back you know a long bus ride and they're not long but on the east coast they

used to bus to a lot of the places and they had to pull the bus over to throw all the beer cans into the woods off the bus and he's throwing the beer cans into the woods off the bus. And he's throwing the beer cans into the woods off the Islanders bus. He throws his ring. It's dark outside. He says, hey, I threw my cup ring. They can't find it. The team is off the bus with the few flashlights they have

trying to find the cup ring. Did they find it? They did. Oh, my God. I guess it's like an hour-long thing, he says. They're looking for the ring. I mean, they'll look for it for Clark Gillies, but, you know, it's the seventh defenseman. thing he says. They're looking for the ring. I mean, they'll look for Clark Gillies, but, you know,

the seventh defenseman does it. Then it's hard to look. Yeah, a little different maybe. Anyway. That's awesome. It is remarkable, though. Like, so many people have never seen one before. That's the other thing.

Every once in a while when I put it on, it's like, I've never seen one before. And mine, like, it's okay's okay no yours is great yours is at the start of good ring it's it's wearable i shouldn't even say the islanders you look at them today now it's like what do you clean this through the car wash yeah yeah it's crazy no they're absolute they're like coffee table pieces the islanders had good ones but i don't know that before that they were great the islanders were pretty a pretty good side. All right, do we get an update on Fraser Minton? Yeah, he had been mentioned,

and I hadn't really heard anything much about him, but he did mention him today for a brew base, if you want to hear that clip, clip six. So obviously it was hard on him because, you know, getting hurt in a rookie game and that early in camp and not be able to participate in the main camp and things like that was difficult for him like you know the first year pro and ready to go um but again like injuries happen and it's hard and nobody's happy about it but you got to deal with

it and he's done it in the right way he's got a he's got a real good head on his shoulders this guy there you go. Glowing review. Just down to the Marlies. He's eligible now for the Marlies, right? Yeah. So he's got maybe an overage year, but he's not going back to junior. That's good. That's where he should be.

Go have a great year. That Refai, Marshall Refai, he's off to a good start by everything I've heard down there. They needed a D-man. Where's the lineup to uh campus back in yeah they didn't say they didn't say well they're gonna have some tougher decisions still in the next week or so when patch ready was his day today so they would probably um so he'll go in yeah we won't see patch ready then tonight probably no okay should we take a quick break yeah let's hit a break all right after after the break we'll welcome in andy strickland we'll get a thought on the st louis blues including broberg and did the edmonton oilers make a huge mistake that more

when we return to real kipper and born hey it's al's Ailish Forafar. And I'm Justin Cuthbert. Join us as we discuss the most important sports stories of the day and tee up the biggest games of the night. It's the Fan Pre-Game, 6 p.m. weekdays on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, The Fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Kiprios. Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee.

Toronto Maple Leafs. St. Louis Blues. Book Drops 7. Yep. Is it the only game again? No, there's lots of games tonight. Thank God. There's 48 games tonight.

Nine. That's good. That's a good number. That's a good number. I think Nick Robertson's going to score again tonight. Oh, yeah. That's good. That's a good number. I think Nick Robertson's going to score again tonight. Oh yeah, that's good. He's getting 20. Well, let's hope that it will help influence the game.

Yeah, who's up for in that situation? Too cynical. Our next guest, I don't think he's here yet, but if you'll remember correctly, the last time we had Andy Strickland on was before our show ended last year when berube got hired it was hot during our show yeah where was he at costco and i know i tracked him out it started i think cost is the right maybe cabo and he was like at a resort that's right he was on vacation i just remember him in

a car you know he was i think he was like at like a pool. Oh, was he in a pool? Yeah, and he came on our show. Not in a car, too. No, he was in the car. No, there was one where he was in the car, for sure. Okay. But there was one where he was. Oh, where's he going to be now?

We're about to find out, boys. I don't know. TTC? Is he in town? He follows the team, right? Yeah, I'm not sure if he's in the town or not, but we'll find out. Anyways. I just wanted to mention that.

Is Timothy Lilligren ever going to play for the Leafs again? I don't think so. You think? No. He signed with $3 million this summer. He's played one game. Maybe. Game eight.

Maybe, just to keep him fresh. But he is clearly on the outside looking in. I think that says a lot about what they think of Timmons. Listen, Timmons, to me, has been a lot more forceful, a lot more noticeable. Did you see him? He has more tools. No doubt he has more tools.

I don't know who it was in the Columbus game, but he tried to hammer somebody. He came flying through. I don't know who he had with his head down. That's great to hear. I was like, oh, my God, that's allowed from you? So it's nice to see. Yeah.

I mean, he's a large body. And at the end how many how many chances did little green get to take it and run with it so many so many you can't can't say that he was denied opportunity it's just you can say that since they gave him six million dollars worth of contract he has had no opportunity i will continue to say why is timothy lilligren not a member of the Utah Hockey Club yet? Yeah, for Utah's purposes. It just makes so much sense.

It is hard, though, for a team that was striving to get depth on the blue line to just give away the right-handed shot. I can see why Utah would want him, but I don't think the Leafs should trade him. Not yet. No. There's really no sense. And if somebody goes down

and you gave up a fourth for him or a fifth round pick or whatever some guy you never heard of doesn't help you it's not really helping you so that's what you think you're gonna get back from somebody you never heard of I don't know okay let's welcome Andy Strickland, and maybe we'll talk about Lilligren's value. Oh, he's coming in hot. Looking good. Andy Strickland, ladies and gentlemen. How are you, Andy? I'm good, fellas.

How about you? We just got, we had like many of our dumb conversations. Like, where were you the last time you were on our show? Were you in a car or were you on the beach? Cabo. On the beach. Yes. Okay, so Sammy's smarter than us.

Makes sense. And I may have had a few too many. Remember, you had to cut me off. I wouldn't shut up. I wouldn't stop talking. I just kept talking. But, you know, you caught me when I was having some margaritas when Chief signed. If we ask you about this year's version of the St. Louis Blues, is it enough for you to go on and on and on, or where are you on them?

I can be pretty quick. Listen, I think they're good enough to hang around. You hope when the calendar turns to April that they're still in position to have a chance. They're playing meaningful games come April. But they need a lot of things to go right. Number one, the power play hasn't been very good at all. They need the power play to be better.

That's going to be a challenge now without Robert Thomas because he's the guy who pretty much drives it. They've been having issues with their entries in the power play. You talk to different players like Bucinavich or Cairo, guys who are integral part of the power play, and they say that's the issue. Well, Robert Thomas is the guy to get the puck into the zone and help set things up. kairu guys who are integral part of the power play and uh they say that's the issue well uh robert thomas is the guy to get the puck into the zone and help set things up they've tried justin

up top um i felt like that was a improvement versus tory krug who had been that guy the last couple of years of course they had petrangelo before that falk had been a very productive power play guy during his time in Carolina. Really hadn't gotten much opportunity to be that guy here in St. Louis. The power play wasn't very good last year until Bannister took over. I think they were close to being dead last. Maybe 31st in the NHL when Chief got fired. Then it got better.

And as a result, they won a lot of games down the stretch. And as a result of that, lot of games down the stretch and as a result of that Drew Bannister got the job but they're going to need some spread out scoring certainly more scoring than what they're getting right now they just had four straight games at home they had a four-game homestand no goals scored by Bucinavich or Cairo or Robert Thomas in those four games of course Thomas went down in the third period last game. Andy, what are the personal stakes tonight for the St. Louis Blues and Craig Berube? You know, where were the relationships left and who do you think this matters to most? Well, listen, and I think you guys can chime in on this too.

You certainly know what it means to a guy to go up against your former team. And this is certainly a big game for Craig Berube. I think he'll help make that clear to his coaching staff. If not, you know, guys like Mark Savard and Mike Van Ryan will let the guys know, hey, listen, this is a big game for Chief. Probably not as big of a game as it will be coming up on November 2nd when the team returns to St. Louis and they play at home. I was with a couple of his close friends today.

Listen, I know this is a big game for Craig Berube, but it's a big game for the Leafs too. You know, coming off of that loss against Columbus, they've lost, what, two or three now. They want to get their game back on track. But you can never lose sight of what it means from a personal standpoint. Whenever you won a championship with a team and then got fired by that team, the first time you face them, it's got to be meaningful. He knows pretty much everybody on the other side, although there's a lot of new faces.

I think seven or eight new players in the Blues this season. But he knows a lot of guys, and they certainly know him too. So they better be up. They better be ready to go when they face Toronto tonight. Andy, we just spoke about trying to remember the situation between kairu and berube that led to uh what was rather strange uh breakup you know when he when he left and sam reminded us that it was a comment like he's not my coach anymore and then they kind of took a life on its own where they actually booed kairu at home and it's very seldom you see the fans take the position of a head coach that got fired over a current

player and just looking back now andy i ask you this was it was it was it ever really that bad between barubi and kairu listen i think think Berube will coach certain players very, very hard, especially offensive players, when he wants to get those guys to play the right way. You know, understanding time and score, when to live for another day. You know, we saw Jim Montgomery the other day jump Brad Marchand. You know, Monty worked under chief here. That's kind of the way they are.

You know what I mean? It doesn't matter if you're the best player or if you're a 20-year-old rookie. If you don't play the right way, they're going to get in your face. And some guys take to hard coaching better than others, you know. And I think it wore on guys like Jordan Cairo, probably Robert Thomas as well. I think they were looking forward to a little bit of a change. Probably went both ways. You know, I think Craig Berube was looking forward to a change of scenery as well. I think they were looking forward to a little bit of a change. Probably went both ways. You know, I think Craig Berube was looking forward to a change of scenery as well.

Sometimes, you know, I just talked to Paul Maurice about this a few weeks ago when he was in Winnipeg, right? He knew he had gotten the most out of that team. It was time to step away. And you weren't going to go any further with that team with the Winnipeg Jets. And obviously, he goes to Florida. It's a better situation for him. I think Chief was, you know, kind of gotten to that point,

although maybe he was a little bit surprised the night that he got fired, and it was not a popular at all decision by Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues. I mean, Craig Berube, one of the most popular coaches or athletes to come through St. Louis over the course of the last 20 years. The team had never won a Stanley Cup. He brings the first Stanley Cup here. He kind of represents the fan and the people who live here in St. Louis, how they go about their day-to-day, kind of that blue-collar guy.

And they love Chief. And so when Jordan Cairo answered a relatively meaningless question with, I'm not going to talk about chief. He's not my coach anymore. That didn't go over very well, not only with the fans, but with the organization either. And I was doing the interview with Jordan Cairo, the game after he got booed. I mean, it was so upsetting for him. He got super emotional in the, in the scrum.

I went in the dressing room with a camera to actually talk to him about that. He got very emotional. And I said to some people after that, that this guy will come out and have a great game the next game, and the fans are going to give him a standing ovation. And he came out and he had a hat trick the following game. Ended up being the leading scorer for Drew Bannister after he took over, led the team in power play goals, led the team in scoring down the stretch. So I think he had to get through that. It was a learning experience for him. I asked Doug Armstrong about that again this offseason.

You know, he came on our podcast with Cam Jansen and me, and I asked him about it. He said it was a stupid comment. So the organization did not like it, and I think it was a learning experience for him and a lot of other people too. That's crazy to hear them weigh in on sort of a player's interview. You know, and obviously he, as you mentioned,

he resonated a lot with St. Louis. You know, the offer sheets that St. Louis made this season, I don't know if those two players would fall under the blue-collar St. Louis mentality type guys, but they're two pretty speedy, talented hockey players. How have they fit in with the Blues so far? I'm talking about Phillip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. Well, Broberg's been really good.

I mean, he had points in the first six games of the season. He was on pace for 82 games, Kipper. He had points, six points in six games to start the season. I didn't think anybody noticed in Edmonton. He didn't get a point in his last game, but his speed jumped. You'll see that here tonight when you watch him play. You watch him skate, and obviously you guys watched him in the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. This guy can really get up and down the ice.

Nick Letty went down with an injury, and that allowed Broberg to maybe get a little more comfortable, get some more ice time. He's been over 20 minutes in each of the last four games. And certainly playing with a lot of confidence right now. He's good with the puck too, you know, not getting a whole lot of power play time, but, you know, it's the little things that he does, you know, he can recover quickly. He can turn with the best skaters in the league.

He can, you know, get up ice and carry the puck too when he's got some time and space and kind of be that one man breakout too. And, you know, he's competitive. And I think Holloway, similar situation. I think they tried to play Holloway a little further up the lineup when the season got going than probably he was used to or maybe where he's capable of playing at this stage of his career. He's going to play center tonight,

which I don't know if he's played center since the American League or even college going back to his day. Play hockey. So, you know, we'll see how that goes for him and how long they stick with him in the middle. But, you know, he scored his first goal as a member of the Blues a couple of games ago on the recent homestand. And, you know, he can make plays.

His speed stands out. But he can get in on the forecheck. He's a little more of a north and south guy. I think he fits in with the way that they want to play. So both players have fit in nicely. I think it's been a great fit for both of them, and I think they knew at the time they would get a greater

opportunity here in St. Louis to have a bigger role, and both certainly have so far. Jordan Bennington's got a Stanley Cup, just like Craig Berube, a ring from the Toronto area, born in Richmond Hill.

Where is he in all of this moving forward? There's a Team Canada team to be made. Everybody talks about Bennington. I'm sure a good showing tonight in this market would go a long way to solidify his spot on Team Canada. How has his start been? It's been, listen, even when the team isn't performing well in front of him, he still makes, you know, one or two grade A saves a game.

And he probably is the best option to represent Canada in the four nations. But I'll give you another name too, Joel Hofer, who the Blues backup is. This guy should be on the radar for hockey canada as well you know he won a gold medal in the world juniors a few years back he's three and oh to start the season this guy has number one goalie potential down the road like he's really really good but uh but bennington you know the team hasn't played their best when he's been in between the pipes um but we all know that he can calm things down very, very quickly. He's an elite goaltender when he's on his game.

I truly believe he's a top 10 goaltender in the NHL when he's on his game. And, you know, I don't think he's played his best up to this point. I think he certainly has given the team a chance to win and he's played good enough to win. You know, you look at the game the other night against Winnipeg, probably should have fared better in that game. The team is not scoring for him, you know, which is interesting because, you know, Toronto's not scoring a ton right now either in comparison to where they were a year ago. So we'll see what kind of game we get here tonight, but he could certainly use more

offense and give this guy a lead. I think they have, what, maybe two, maybe three goals scored in the first period so far this season among the seven games. So, again, no real breathing room for, you know, Jordan Bennington. But I've seen him be better. He knows he can be better. He hasn't played bad, but there's another level for Jordan Bennington to get to and probably another level for him that he needs to get to for this team to truly put up the necessary points to get the playoffs. Last one for me, just want to get a thought on,

I look at the team's lineup, you know, before the night before they play the Leafs and the first pair interests me a lot. Colton Pareko, how has he been? And Ryan Suter? Yeah. Ryan Suter's playing first pair? He is right now.

I think he averaged around 19 minutes a game last year or something like that. And Nick Letty has gone down with an injury, which has opened the door for Suter to slide up and now play with Colton Pareko. So I don't think that was the design coming into the season. But this guy doesn't overextend himself.

He doesn't put himself as situations, you know, he's approaching 1500 career games. So he knows how to play the game. These are amazing contracts with zero risk. And you have one over there, Max, you're ready in Toronto. I mean, these veteran guys, I know he's coming off an injury. Maybe you needed to see him in training camp to see where he's at.

But when you pay these guys under a million bucks for their experience, they know how to play the game. And you throw in some bonuses there with their age, and they don't eat up much of the cap at all. I mean, this guy's making $750,000, and he's playing over 20 minutes a game right now. And I think he's settled down on Colton Pareko. Watch Ryan Suter play tonight. He never puts himself in a bad spot, makes the easy play, keeps things super simple.

And I think it's been a good fit for Colton Pareko so far. Now come and see me again as we get into game 50, 55 of the season. We'll see where it's at. He's 39 years of age. He's the oldest skater in the NHL. Marc-Andre Fleury is the oldest player. But, you know, I just saw a couple of them go toe-to-toe a couple of games ago. Ryan Suter versus Brent Burns. These guys keep themselves in great shape. They know how to play the game.

They know where they're at with their game at this stage of their career. It's always interesting, man. I mean, you see a lot of guys who are 24, 25, making $3 million a year that don't know how to play, to be honest with you. This guy's 39. He knows how to play in the NHL. He's been a little bit of a surprise. I don't want to say a big surprise.

You kind of knew what you were getting in him, but I think there's always a question mark when you get a guy who's 39. Can he still play at a high level? I think he's answered those questions early, and we'll if that can continue and he's just one quick one here before we let you go um i know tory krug's uh on ir uh but like i was a huge fan i really like this guy coming out of boston i thought it was a good signing for st louis like what's happened with this guy i think it's a great question listen Listen, he never had great, you know, foot speed. The power play was a little bit different here in St. Louis versus, you know, what he was accustomed to

in Boston. I'm not going to sit here and act like he didn't have some great moments here with the Blues either. And he didn't play some good hockey for stretches. There were times that he certainly did. You know, he got paid a big contract. I think people look at the 6.5 million dollar cap hit and um you know he's just not a guy that i think i think it's a stretch to ask him to defend against the other team's top players night in and night out now can he quarterback a power play he absolutely can is Is he really, really competitive? Yes, he is. Is he a great teammate? Yes. Did the guys like him? Yes. Did he produce at the level that you would want from him? Probably not. Is he undersized? Yes. And couldn't really stay healthy either, you know, but this has been a lingering issue. They got it fixed.

We'll see what the future holds for Torrey Krug. Really, really good guy. And I'm with you. Maybe he was insulated a little bit when he was surrounded by some of those other defensemen that he had in Boston. You know, they lost Alex Petrangelo. And the immediate reaction was to sign Torrey Krug. So the people, you know, around here kind of evaluated him as Alex Petrangrangelo's replacement which is probably a little bit unfair petrangelo a world-class defender who could also chip in offensively and put up some points he's not alex petrangelo but he had some good moments but it's tough you guys know i mean to

play defense at that size uh with how big the are nowadays, how fast they are, it can be a challenge. And especially around the blue paint, I think that's where he struggled the most. It wasn't even the speed defending speed. It was more so boxing out and just being able to get body position in front of the net. That was a little bit of a challenge for him. So defensively just okay. But he had some good moments too. I'm not going to act like he didn't.

Andy, great stuff, man. Enjoy the game tonight. Thanks for doing this. Always a pleasure, guys. Take care. Thanks, Rick. Appreciate it. Andy Strickland, co-host of the Cam and Strick podcast. See, I checked all the same boxes as Torrey Krug. I'm a good guy. I got along well. I didn't produce.

We're exactly the same. I didn't get six million. You make 40 shmill now. You get six. A couple of St. Louis Blues stats that might go well for the Leafs tonight. They're 27th on the penalty kill, killing about 70% of the penalties. 32nd in the league in short-handed inner slot shots against. 31st in the league in zone denial. Like, their PK's bad.

That could be good news for the Leafs power play tonight. Leafs power play could use some help. Not sure if you're familiar with that. Really help. Yeah. They're 26th in the league whereas the Blues are 25th on the power play. So St. Louis special teams stink right now.

And the Leafs could use a little help. No Thomas tonight. They're number one guy up front. And I'd say that would help the Leafs. But there's a lot of guys out of Columbus, too. Yeah, they had no Boone, Jenner, Goodbranson. Or someone else. Yeah.

Someone else who's a player. Any vibes tonight? Excited. I don't, like I said, time will tell. Don't really know how to read in this game tonight. You got to think they're going to come out with a lot of gumption. The Leafs are going to pump them. Yeah.

I mean, I don't know that the score will be huge, but that was aggressive. I do think that the Leafs win by a couple goals tonight. Okay. Yeah. So we're heading to our national hour. We'll talk about this off the top of the national hour, but some breaking news that the Vegas Golden Knights have locked up one of their long-term,

one of their guys for long-term, Shea Theodore, on a long-term contract. Really? Yeah, we can be disgusted by the AAV and the other side of the break. Six? Save it. Yeah, I will.

Save it. Come back after the break, and we'll talk about it. All right. Okay. We still have 60 seconds. All right, then let's talk about it. I right. Okay. We still have 60 seconds. All right. Then let's talk about it. I heard the music.

I heard the music too. Leave the teasing to me. I heard the music. I got excited. Horrible timing. I'm sorry, dude. I got... Listen.

Oh, there's music. Listen. Listen. Sorry. So how many guys can get away with listen? Coop can get away with listen. Sammy, not so much. Strick dropped a couple of listens.

He did, yeah. I've been known to say listen. Berube saying listen. Nobody says it like John Cooper. Cooper's like, listen. Start the tease. Shea Theodore. Shea Theodore.

We'll find out what the A.V. is. $16 million per year? And the term. And Adam Oates. Yeah. There's a guy that can start a sentence with, listen. Adam Oates, Hall of Famer. After the break, when we return to Real Kipper and Board. We'll see you next time.