Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Youth Contributes

Episode Date: December 3, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look back on the Leafs' 4-1 win over the Blackhawks on Monday night. They discuss Auston Matthews notching his first goal in a month, Fraser Minten making an impact, Nikita Grebenkin's physical edge and Phillippe Myers' game. Then, they react to Ryan Reaves's first comments to the media since his suspension. Later, Leafs' radio analyst Jim Ralph (33:13) breaks down Anthony Stolarz's performance last night, the team's effective defensive structure, Connor Bedard's uphill battle in Chicago and more.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right let's fire her up the real kipper and born show i'm nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee derrick brandeo and jen rolnick today for the next two hours. Starting off with our Leaf edition hour. Live on Sportsnet 590. The Fan, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet Plus. Toronto Maple Leafs down the Chicago Blackhawks. 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena. While I enjoyed the salmon.

Not the pork chops. Not the pork chops like Sammy McKee reported in yesterday's program the audacity to imply i got nothing on that all right then moving on moving on um what'd you see what'd you see you were there in person yeah i saw two and a half hours i'll'll never get back. Oh boy. That's what I saw. No kidding. It wasn't. It's one of those games. That's just one of 82 that you have to play and you get it over with. Yeah.

And what else can you take out of it? Besides that, the goaltending continues to look really good for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Outside of that, I got nothing. There was one good team and there was one bad team. Tune in tomorrow. Yeah, and the good team didn't play all that hard or all

that well. Enough. Yeah, they're fine. The bad team was just too bad to win so the good team won. We'll talk about it anyway. We sure will. the show is about nothing sammy no you're up we got things to say i i think that it sucks that a toronto police chicago blackhawks game uh with you know, was supposedly one of the bright young stars in the National Hockey League.

Zero shots. In his second year here. But it's still such a crappy game that no one cares about, right? Like, it's just, I you want that game to matter. You want that game to have some stakes. Like, the Blackhawks used to be really good, and that was a game you look forward to, and it's one of the best franchises in the league in terms of popularity,

all that. And they just come in here, it's just another out of conference boring team who stinks that just it wasn't very good no and i i'm curious that you kind of feel like just another game versus you know should we be being harder on the effort like i thought that's as badly as the leafs have played maybe this season. They were fine in the first period. Good first period. They came out good. Second one.

Second period was ugly. Worst of the year, probably. Right? I think they had seven shot attempts. Okay. You know, third period, not much better. Let's go to Craig Berube on our first Kippers Clipper on his overview, and then we'll follow it up. Good first period.

You know, I thought we started off the way we wanted to and, you know, played our game. Second period, not so much. You know, we just didn't make a play, couldn't win a battle, and, you know, we just couldn't advance the puck well enough. We just got hemmed in our own zone. Then we took penalties. Oh, but our PK was excellent tonight.

That was the difference in the game and our goalie. That's what it boils down to. That's a really positive coach. They've had a really good run right now. Yeah. You get points. You got to pick your spots on when it comes down on them. I kind of tend to agree that that wasn't the spot you do hey yeah

i do i you know i was texting with people during the game and it was like if barubi is the accountability coach i'm surprised that there wasn't some like yeah you know hey let's roll out the bottom two lines over and over here we have have the lead. It can get tiresome over six, seven, eight months, depending how deep you go in the playoffs. And even a guy like that, for it to really be impactful, you can't go to it every time there's a lull or a bad spell in a 60-minute game or game to game so they've been accumulating points yeah so far they they feel good about each other the effort

wasn't exactly great last night the execution wasn't exactly great so i think he bit his lip last night i did too and so i give him credit because there's something political about the way he approached that press conference he didn't feel the need to jump all over the guys a lot of hockey ahead i get that but i do feel like if and in a game like that you sit a couple of guys down say i don't like your effort tonight whatever then when you sit guys down throughout the year it's not a big deal because guys kind of get sat down when they're not going that's normal right now if you never do it by the time you bench a guy it's a big deal it's like oh big deal because guys kind of get sat down when they're not going. That's normal. Right now, if you never do it, by the time you bench a guy, it's a big deal. It's like, oh, man, he hasn't benched anyone all year.

I don't know. It felt like a spot last night where maybe it was like, I don't know, let someone know it wasn't acceptable. I watched the clip from the state-controlled media after the belief or whatever their thing is. It's not called that, is it? It used to be called belief. I forget what it's called anyways.

But they showed the clip of Berube going into the room after and doing like his usual thing. And he just basically praises Stolle. He says penalty kill is good. And then he just said, we know we're way better than that. See you at practice tomorrow. I think that's great. You know, like I'll be honest.

I think it's great. I am surprised, though, knowing who he is going into this year, what I expected. I think it's great to say, I'm not going to make a fuss over that. No, but you've got to practice today, which you've had now 12 hours to kind of absorb the night before. I'm sure some things were said in practice today. And as you go into Wednesday against a team, again,

that's struggling, you should beat in Nashville. Then you carry on, you carry over the feelings that you had that you didn't really address to the point where you're talking about. And you put them on a short leash going into Nashville. I think that's great. So if you don't, if you didn't bench somebody, if you didn't, if you guys didn't miss a rotation, you got the first period against Nashville Wednesday night

to revisit that. I think that's a great point. You know, it's like, you know, it has been good, so we're not going to overreact to a game where it's not perfect but yeah you don't want it to to go on too long you know i've you know there's like a nice drop pass in the neutral zone where you're up a couple a couple goals in the third and it's just like just get it going forward play go forward couldn't win battles had trouble uh exiting their zone just wasn't very pretty not a big deal they win a couple guys had great nights, and we'll talk about them.

But that's the one thing that caught me off guard. Yeah, I think the difference between them in years past losing that game where they've lost that game a lot of times over us doing this show. They've lost that kind of game a lot of times. I think the difference between that is 920

goaltending and 893 goaltending. So true. They've lost that game a million goaltending and 893 goaltending. So true. They've lost that game a million times where one or two bad ones go in. Samsonov, Jeanette last night is 3-3 instead of 3-1. They're chasing the game. They're behind the eight ball, and then you just have league, elite goaltending, and you just win. That's allowed.

Yeah, that is allowed. I'll throw this one to you, JB, and maybe get your thoughts, Sammy, if you want to touch on it. But if you were to, last night, if you were to look down your bench and you would have liked to see someone maybe miss a rotation, tell me who. I guess names that come to mind

would be Nyes and Nylander. Not that either were terrible, but they didn't generate anything as a team and marner has been the guy who has kept your team afloat for you know a month without matthews matthews has played two games so really tough to lean on either of them yeah but just just to let the guys know like it's not okay to play down to the level of a team like the blackhawks who were on the tail end of a back-to-back and outplayed the Leafs in the last two periods of that game.

You agree? Yeah, and I think Willie's ice time was pretty down last night. I think he maybe was in the 18 range, if I'm not mistaken. I think I looked at it after the game when I was doing Leafs talk. Maybe I'm wrong on that, if you could correct me. But I think his ice time was down a little bit. Yeah, I think that's just like you said one of 82 where you're never gonna get 82 consistent efforts and you hope on the night that you don't get the

consistent effort that your goalie bails you out and you end up beating a bad team and that's kind of what happened yeah actually to your point neil andrews at 18 minutes basically even 1803 yeah but he did factor on an austins goal. Yeah, nice play. And a world-class kind of feel to the goal where it's just like that's what you pay big bucks for, for top players to score a goal like that. Yeah. I'm no video coach here like my co-host here is. Eight?

Eight and 42. I was just watching. Donato. Donato stops and then 42 comes way over this and just lets right down. That's how you had the worst record in the league. That was a set breakout from the Leafs. They would have had a set four check in place

to just everyone picks up a guy. How do you not know that the hottest goal score in the last, what, is coming downhill he's coming down the left side of the ice and you don't even glance over he there was no one within two stick lengths of him at any point no it's not pretty but it was good pass nice finish yeah what do you think of matthews last night still not there. You know, he finished a few more checks, a little more competitive on pucks, but still not quite there. You?

Let's go to Craig Berube, and we'll get his thoughts. Top four, please. I mean, he's not up to speed yet for sure. We all know that. I mean, that's a big goal by him, but it's going to take a little time, you know, practice time and um getting some practice and which is going to be difficult with the schedule but you know he's um he's working at it so he'll get there you're got no worries about it he'll get there we're not worried

his best moment last night was going after connor murphy yeah yeah it was a great little crossjack i actually thought it was a penalty on murphy you'd like ran interference and pissed matthews off that's good and he the plane he got hit in the head matthews did yeah yeah i went back and gave him a good shot at least it's more of kind of the things that we've been talking about uh even before he he left for three weeks was that there just seems to be a little bit more of a feeling of staying engaged in certain moments like that. I think outside of that, still to Craig Bruby's point, it's not a dominance.

It's not a head and shoulders above everyone else. And I think it's just, for me, he's just probably looks about 70% engaged. Yeah. Doesn't look like he's all in into it just yet. I had a tinfoil hat thought on him reacting the way he did after he got hit by Murphy. And he goes and he cross-checks him knocks him down reminder of how massive of a dude Austin Matthews is he just knocks that guy down easily but the way he reacted was there's a lot of frustration there and to me it was like

whatever that hit did it hurt what was hurting yeah where he was like he got rocked into the boards and he's talking about his head, but whatever is hurting him that he flew over to get figured out, his immediate reaction was like, I'm pissed off. That hurt so bad. That was my tinfoil hat watching that. You don't see a ton of frustration out of him all the time. I don't think, I didn't get that sense that he re-injured anything. Well, no, not that he re-injured it,

but just that maybe something grabbed at him a bit. Like I said, tinfoil hat. That's what I had crossed my mind. Yeah. In a perfect world, and I know I'm asking a lot from a guy that doesn't usually get engaged in that sort of kind of cat and mouse game with any

individual opponent, but he cross-checked Murphy and then he went right to the official and started complaining like in my perfect austin matthews world i'd like him to go back to murphy again another shot oh what another one or a punch in the head or uh don't mess with me or you're going to get more of this. Just one more, I think, would have helped him out a lot. I mean, I completely agree.

I love seeing him pissed off. At this point, we're over that he needs to score X amount of goals for this to be a successful year like we're past that right yeah like this is not about yeah but i'm hopeful we're also past the idea that he's going to turn into like lindros or something his his best player that he can be is probably barkov where you take barkov gets four pims a year but can control the play and shut guys down and defend and all those sort of things, you know? But to Sammy's point, he's a big, strong guy, and you got to, like,

I'm with Sammy in terms of him feeling like, okay, I just missed three weeks with a bad back. Like, I don't need guys running me or thinking they get a free shot on me. I got to turn around, and I got to cross-check someone back or I got to give them a stick. And if it means a two-minute penalty, so be it. I don't really care at this point, but here I am in the midpoint of my career.

And if I've got some health issues moving forward that I need to protect or look after, I'm going to have to send people messages a lot more than i have in the past yeah sure that's great i mean i'm like like like the penalty i got no problem with it didn't really agree that it was a one-sided play i thought it was interference on got hit pretty hard he did yeah it was a pretty hard hit by murphy so absolutely so more on that no i'm good the uh what was interesting i think when you look around the

rest of the lineup, you know, Solar's still good, but interesting play from Fraser Minton has people talking, you know, what this guy can be, is, will be for them. You know, the team seems really pumped about what they're getting. We had a conversation before he played his first game this year,

and it was like, it's not probable, but I think he's got something that could lend towards him being around and being on the roster i don't think he's gonna like be in their lineup for playoffs still i'm not haven't changed on that yet i don't believe that they, as much as they like him or believe what his ceiling could be one day, I don't think in a year you're contending for the Stanley Cup that you want to put him in a significant role banking on it. So they're going to get a centerman. We've had this discussion before.

They will get a centerman. The question is, is like where is he towards the latter part can he even find himself on a fourth line or next man up in the press box our uh our guy luke fox when he scored last night tweeted out uh his stats which is like what five games two goals four points and then david camp's stats which you know i think no goals 18 games whatever he's smart he is smart you can tell that he's just um a guy that i think has a really good feel for the game yeah there's a there's a maturity level above and beyond any player typically his age.

Do you think the comparison I've seen people making as sort of a best-case scenario for him of Anthony Sorelli is unrealistic? Sorelli never really produced in junior a ton. I don't know if he scored more than 25 goals in a year. Sorelli's got an edge to him, though, too, doesn't he? Yeah. I mean, he's so competitive.

You know, he's one of those guys that's just dog on a bone type of player, which I think is all you need to be in terms of feist. Yeah,

Sorelli wasn't a huge junior scorer. You're right. Scored the Memorial Cup winning goal for the Oshawa Generals though. There you go. Afraid of the big moments.

Yeah. You know, the Minton camp thing like i think leaf station really is moved on from camp but but i also think they misunderstand what he is well that's the thing it's just like well you know playoffs start like look at this bottom six they're playing pretty great and you know they're like this kid looks great he's scoring and excited about our new thing but i gotta tell you like i know david camp isn't perfect clearly but but when he's playing well the bottom yes he's long he can he can he has a role on the team penalty kill

face-offs like there's a reason why you committed 10 million dollars to him yeah oh he was fifth or sixth on uh in ice time for the leafs the last each of the last few years like he plays like the top guys he used the heck out of him he's important for that oh he's the first guy over the boards with mitch marner every penalty kill yeah it's just you know people are so quick to be like they score twice it's like get him in there just he's good in the playoffs he plays a role i don't think the Leafs are ready to see if they can move camps so they can put Minton right into a spot. I don't think that's coming.

If you look at Stanley Cup winning teams over the past 10 years, they have like one or two players under 25. Like there's barely any young guys, you know, special guys in the Avs had Makar, and it might have been even mckinnon was 25 or under that someone wrote this recently but it's it's not common so for to ask minton at 21 yeah to come in and play center in the playoffs against florida and you know carolina and whoever it's a huge ask now i don't want to like you know tamp down the excitement because

they got something here yeah i like the kid a lot. He's changed what my expectation is for him. It's sort of like the pecking order when it comes to prospects because, you know, whenever we talk about a big trade, the first name is Cowan, right? Everyone's like, oh, you wouldn't touch Cowan, you wouldn't touch Cowan. You know, Akhtiomov, right?

The goalie, like all these guys. But Minton, for me, now watching him play in the NHL this year, I'm like, oh, boy, he's maybe better than I thought he was. He plays winning hockey. He does. Totally agree right now. I think no questions asked that whatever trade talk Brad Treel Living's engaged in today or will be engaged tomorrow or next month or the month of March,

that's the first name that I think teams would feel like I can legitimately get him. Right? I don't even think it's Cowan because I think it's, Leafs aren't going there. And Nyes, we know, isn't going anywhere. So if I'm a team right now, the most realistic name I want off your roster today is Minton. And you know who those teams are.

It's teams like Chicago and San Jose and Anaheim and teams looking for someone who's structurally good and young and plays the middle. He's a valuable guy all of a sudden. Not all of a sudden. You could see it last year in training camp, and then they gave him the 10 games, and then he got stronger this year.

And even though he was hurt, he goes to the Marlies right away and raises eyebrows again and i i think they've they've known what they've had with this guy for a while i think that's all hypothetical until you see him do it in the nhl we actually have a second clip um we haven't played either the clips on it do we not play the first one i don't think so by the first one uh clip two on on fraser mitten would you make of Minton's game? Very good. Very good all around.

Do you see him improving as this time goes? Yeah, for sure. He's getting more comfortable, I think, up here in the NHL. Just from his injury and everything, I think he's starting to feel comfortable. I thought the line was really good tonight for us, and he was very good.

Likes him. Likes him. Likes him. Why don't we do the second one there, clip three on Frazerman. Oh, he's excellent. You know, he talks really like a vet on the bench. You know, he's already got that mindset and mentality and knows the game extremely well. He's not a guy you've got to really teach a whole lot to.

I mean, it's just he needs reps because he understands the game. He understands the system very well and, you know, has a very good hockey IQ. Wow. Talks like a vet. Don't have to teach him. We've been around a long time you don't hear too many veteran coaches talk about a young kid like that yeah very seldom yeah i mean rung one off the post a game or two ago like you know his two goals don't feel like he's gotten lucky no the game in

florida was that he hit the post yeah i game, too. Four points in six games. Looks good. Off of Grebenkin past that post, our boy, the Greb Show, Greba, is really making a name for himself. You know? Yeah. A lot to like there, too. Yeah.

End of the period, end of the game. End of the game. What did you think? Is there any point in doing that, or you're fine with? Oh, I love it. Yeah. End of the period, end of the game. End of the game. What did you think? Is there any point in doing that or you're fine with? Oh, I love it. Yeah. I absolutely love it. The Leafs have not had this.

Right. Do you want to know his mentality on that? Do we have it? Oh, we do. Okay. Let's have one from Nikita Grabankin. Last second of the game? Yeah.

And game, don't't done right right i stay ice you stay ice i i play you play uh don't stop don't relax you play nhl you understand i i kill you you kill me it's it's business i kill you you kill me it's business no problem no problem so you're my interpreter that was don't stop i don't know if i got four words out of that don't stop end of game i kill you you kill me it's business no problem no problem no problem with you continuing to kill each other after the whistle yeah which i think is delightful for sure like if i played against him i would want to kill him yeah right like that's that's the difference now is that guys get to go around and run around a little bit like that but you there's not a there's not a feel like he has to drop his gloves

and defend himself. We did. Yeah. We did. And there was like four or five guys that would say, okay, let's go. Come on. It's just not enough.

Yeah. And now there's just nobody. There's just nobody. There's just a green light for these guys. I'm telling you, if I played in today's, this era, probably would have been suspended like nick cousins three or four times i would have just yeah you would have hated yeah because he recognizes what he can do or what he can get away with and he pushes the envelope and

he's saying come on i want to kill you you want to kill me let's go he's no problem yeah he's one of those guys that like if you're on the other team, you're like, why? Like, the game's over. Why are you still like this? But that's great. The Leafs haven't had the why are you still like this guy. The most important thing is that it sends the message,

because we are in the message business, say what you will, about the game. It's always about a message. And the message is, don't sleep on me. I'm coming. And if you want to relax for two seconds, if you want to go with the Justin Bourne, the game is over. Let's all just quietly go away.

I'm not playing that game. Don't stop. Let me get on the bus. Yes. Stop it. No, no. That's your way. That's not my way.

I mean, he got him pretty good, too. Hammered him down. Yeah. It's nice to see. Let's see what the coach has to say in clip seven on Grabenkin. He doesn't take any time off. That guy, he's a hardworking kid. I think he's got a real good future.

I do. You know, I like his grit, his determination that he plays with. Now, there's a lot to learn. He's a young guy and hasn't played a lot of pro over here, obviously. So he's learning on the way, learning on the fly. And he's strong. He's a big guy, strong on the puck. And, you know, like I said, he's just got's a big guy strong on the puck and um you know he like i said he's just gonna learn the game he needs to go and hang out with ryan reeves a little bit if this guy even remotely

learns how to throw them a little bit then he goes to next level stuff i think if he went and played for the marlies for let's say two months or something i'd have him on a fourth line in the playoffs like i talked about not having young guys but like there's no expectation if you're just forechecking hitting being yeah frustrating he's hard he's he's tough to play yeah he's playing i think he's like what like eight minutes a night there's definitely some like the learning thing like he likes to have him out there but he almost scored in his first shift of the game feels like to me he's very noticeable right sort of for the first period and then he kind of fades as the game goes on they stop playing him a little bit more but like he's young i want him to have the puck in the american league for like a couple months i

want him to be the guy because he's really effective uh myers you want a thought on myers did that do anything for you yeah i liked him i him. I actually text Bunk and Sam that he looked like Prime Pronger in the first period. And then, you know, the pizza is not very Pronger. Then he looked like Chris Pronger's brother. Sean Pronger towards the end. Chris Pronger and then Sean Pronger in the second half of the game. Yeah, and a bit of a pizza on the goal against. But I liked him.

I thought he was really good. I don't know. Any thoughts? I've always seen good flashes of him in various spots throughout his career. It's just a matter of holding a spot and being consistent with it. But I think he's always shown wherever he's been,

he can manage. Yeah, it's hard when you don't play. Like, you're going to make some mistakes, and I think their understanding of that, he ripped a lot lot of pucks which his coach asked him to do yeah but like that's your seventh guy or not even you got hock and paw right now the way they practice uh they had benoit myers on the third pair with timmons out so like timmons hock and put you got like 8d refi if you like them they've never had this many D. I don't think I would include Hockenpah in that a ton. I don't know what his status is.

Yeah, he's on the IR. I don't know. I have no real hope for him. What would you say? You do. To play, to matter for the league. I wouldn't hang my hat on it. It would be a bonus if somehow, someway, this guy gets himself ready.

But if he can't string two or three games together, how the heck is he going to do it in the playoffs? So I just think it's, like I said, pie in the sky, cherry on a sundae. Maybe he shows up in April, but I wouldn't count on it. The tough part is i just said how much i like their d and their d depth yeah i don't love it for playoffs necessarily like i liked the idea of a veteran older guy like hawk and paw being your extra i don't love the idea of myers being like you know trying to earn an nhl spot during playoffs. Last, Stollars, quickly.

Stollars, well, we got Jim Ralph coming up after the break, so we can go Stollars there. I found it interesting that you wanted to put a Ryan Reeves clip on, I think, his response, if I'm not correct. Well, I think it's been the first time he's been allowed to talk to the media that he's back. So you have it? I do have it. Okay. Let's finish. So you have it? I do have it. Okay.

Let's finish off this segment on it. You know, when you get caught by somebody, I think you're entitled to your opinion, and that's fine. But I think, you know, my 900 games and however many thousands of hits I have, you know, speaks for itself. You know, I play physical every game, and I've been doing it for 15 years, and, you know, I've only had a couple suspensions. You know, the only truth that he spoke was, you know,

I go out there to inflict pain. You know, that's a fact, and that's not going to stop. But, you know, I'm going to continue to do it legally. But, yeah, I'm going to keep playing hard, if not harder now, and, you know, I'm going to keep bearing, guys. I love that. I also love that. Yeah? Yeah. Inflict pain. He said, yes. I love that. I also love that. Yeah?

Yeah. Inflict pain. Trying to hurt you. Confirmed. That is what I'm here to do. Okay. That's why I make over a million dollars. And that's why a lot of us watch.

Yeah. Because we don't like the other team. And inflict pain. Sure. Like, you know, I don't know about you, but I like to watch boxing and ufc and like some sports are physical combative whatever hockey is supposed to have an element of that intimidation is still a very real part of the game yeah it's not a guy

it's just a poorly executed hit on his part where it just didn't line up and yeah hey crap happens yeah and that's right and we don't want anybody heard and we like darnell nurse but he's back playing and you know he's by all you know it's just the cost of a very physical and sometimes brutal sport it's just the the price of poker reeves also said that, you know, he did take that suspension at the worst possible time, the way the schedule lined up. He's been over like three weeks. It's true.

If he took it today, he'd be back in seven days. Last year, he left for a while. Was it because he was, got hurt early or whatever happened early and then he came back

and he was way better. Yeah. So maybe some time off, he'll come shoot out of a can in there. He had a tough start with the Leafs. Him, Dewar, and Grabankin as your fourth line

has a chance to annoy some other teams. So it'll be interesting to watch those three guys play together. Dewar's fascinating. We've never mentioned his name ever. No one ever mentions him. He's just fine. Hammered Taylor Hall last night. Works hard.

Works so hard. Boy, Taylor Hall. Not looking so hot right now. Well, maybe we'll talk about Chicago after the break. But we got Jimmy Ralph. We'll get into the goaltending and his thoughts as we continue to watch a great one-two punch between Stolarz and Wohl.

All right, Jimmy Ralph. Hey, Ralphie boy. After the break. Dive deep into Toronto sports and the NFL. The JD Bunkers podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Caprio, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee.

The Toronto Maple Leafs down the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 last night at Scotiabank Arena. In a few minutes, we'll welcome in Jim Ralph, Toronto Maple Leaf radio color analyst, to get his thoughts. In the meantime, Stolarz, 8-4-2, 2.23 goals against average, and a very nice 9-2-4 save percentage. That last night, guys, was a game in previous seasons, 100% they would have lost. Yes.

And you know what happens is you don't have to say that stolarz would have given up or a different goal i would have given up four or five just if you give up one early and then you're behind yeah it changes how you play you take more chances you give more up it's just like he kept them in it when they when it wasn't going well um they now have the best goaltending by state percentage in the eastern conference this this goaltending's got me feeling certain things about certain teams all right all right so let's welcome him in another guy that uh we'll see if his uh the hairs on his uh chinny chin chin rise with the goaltending of the toronto maple leafs as are on our Sammy McKee. Ralphie, how are you, pal?

Yeah, I can't stay on long. Don Sweeney might be calling. Listen, we've watched me and you more so because we're older than these guys here, but we've been around long enough to have seen the felix pod vans of the world and then kujo and eddie bell for but you know does this feel different for you watching these two come out of the training camp and then continue right towards what will be towards Christmas? Yeah, and I think the expectations were higher for Wall coming in,

and then he gets injured coming into the regular season. I think Stolarz, the most he ever played in a season, was 27, and he's had injuries that he's battled with. Wall only played 25 last year, so you came into it thinking that you hope one of them establishes himself as the number one guy. And lo and behold, you've got two guys that seem to be feeding off each other. I don't know if we have to go back to the James Reimer-Ben Scrivens duo

to the last time, you know, the league said, you know, two guys that could play. Let's throw heels in there with Cujo as well. You got to chuckle out of me on that one. Yeah. Yeah, that's playing favorites. But yeah, I don't know. You know, again, telling our our rage you might have to go back to bernie broad and jock plumb is the last time they had uh you know a duo that has had this

kind of success early on you know and in watching it it is unique from how we felt about the leafs in past years it's it's also different though ralph because it's not shisterkin or hellebuck or these big names and it's it's hard to believe that they're both just going to be awesome start to finish this year um you know by the time you get to playoffs is it just sort of like we're gonna see like if they're both still good do you try to do a playoff split i guess it's tough to even talk about with so much hockey left to play yeah you know a lot can happen obviously you know whether it's you know again we talk about injuries uh uh if they're both you know going to be the the 40 to 45 game mark uh how are they going to respond is uh are they going to hit

a wall at some point um pardon the pun but the um you know i yeah i think it's think it's a little early to guess. But, you know, I think once you get into the playoffs, it's going to be, you know, keep winning and you're in. But right now, I mean, there really hasn't been a lot of rhyme or reason as to how Craig Brewe base handled the goal. I mean, you know, Joseph Walls won five in a row, but, you know, he's only played, what, one of the last three now. And it always seems to be a bit of a surprise as to what gut feeling Craig Brubay is going with.

But I tell you, most forwards don't know a lot about goaltending, but Craig Brubay seems like he's figured something out early on. And you know a lot about goaltending as well. Once upon a time, I think I had a hat trick against you, but we won't get into that. Speaking of playing hard. So just hand-in-hand their play with the style of play in front of them, Ralphie. And how much does that come into play making their jobs easier

when you can read and react in a positive way where they trust what's happening in front of them with the likes of a Chris Tanov who can be fairly predictable I think for the goaltenders and on when he blocks a shot or or where he's going to stand in certain areas but you know how important has that been to the goaltending well that's huge and and you know other than uh you know they hit that stretch where they lost in Columbus and then lost at home against St. Louis uh there have been some stretches where they've given up a lot of odd man rushes. But for the most part, those are gone.

And, you know, you give the forwards a lot of credit for that. Guys aren't cheating or getting caught deep. You know, for the most part, the defense, all the pinches they've made have been well executed. And kind of the riverboat gambler mode seems to be out of their game. And I still think there's that worry that if you start to lose two or three games in a row, guys will want to go back to that. And I think that's what the test is going to be. But I started to worry the Columbus-St. Louis stretch

where you think you don't know, we're starting to see some of the things that we saw over the last few years and giving up chances. I think it's huge, the way they played defensively in front of them. For the most part, rebounds are cleared. Having said that, the difference was goal-winning the last two wins in Tampa and then the game last night.

But I think for the most part, there's a real trust between the defense and the goaltender and vice versa. Like I said, we're going to see some blips along the way, and it's going to be interesting to see how everybody reacts to it. So one of the reasons they're playing some good defense is they got a pretty good defensive center going right now. Fraser Minton. How excited are you about Fraser Minton?

Because I know this nation feels pretty good about things. Yeah, but I mean, when you start getting guys back from injury and, you know, he doesn't have to clear waivers to get sent back. You know, unless he forces their hand to try to move guys out. You know, the excitement is rather contained on my part.

I think he's given them a lot more than they thought he could. You know, after missing training camp and coming back from an injury, Brad, for a living, said even when he was called up, he said in a perfect world, we want him to have more time down there and be in more situations and grow his game. But you've got to be thrilled. I mean, I know it's a short sample,

but it's, you know, he's, what, isn't he leading the bottom six in scoring in five games? I think probably. Yeah, when you stack them up against everybody. So the points, I think, have been a bonus, but he's been very reliable defensively as well, which I'm sure they love as much as the offense. Ralphie, Austin Matthews scores his first goal since returning from injury yet it just doesn't seem to be all there that quickly for him

in terms of seeing him with his A game what have you seen or not seen so far out of Austin Matthews? I agree with what Craig Brubay said after the game where he just said he's getting close but he's getting close, but he's not quite up to speed yet. And, you know, missed a lot of practice time and everything else. But I thought he was better last night

than he was even in Tampa, where, you know, he seemed, you know, stripping pucks off guys and, you know, stronger on his stick and holding onto the puck. So I think it'll get there. And the other thing is, even though Nylander had the great pass to set him up last night, Mitch Marner's had a lot to do with Austin Massey's success as well.

So I think it's a different dynamic with Nylander, even though Marner's shot the puck more this year. You've got two guys that like to fire it. The line itself I think is a different dynamic when it comes to what we might see production-wise.

How about down the D-Core? Phillip Myers got in last night and I thought played pretty well. Connor Timmons is doing well and Ben Waugh is kind of finding his game. When you're looking at the bottom pair for the Leafs, where do you sit on who's kind of the front runner for, you know, being a playoff guy for them? Well, I mean, a lot of that's going to rely on, you know, Hockenpah

and if he's able to come back and play again. You know, I think there's some legitimate concerns there. But, you know, I think he's got to be thrilled with... I mean, Ben Watt's one of those guys that, you know, he signs for Anaheim last year, and he's supposed to be a depth guy, but with injuries, he gets his chance and plays himself into the lineup. And then at the start of this year,

it looked like he might be the odd man out, gets his chance. And he's, I don't know about you, Kip, but I always thought it was dangerous that if he sat out and came back and played well, then the coach is going to go, oh, that's how we're going to handle him. He's going to sit a lot

because he plays better after we've sat him out. But, you know, for Ben Wyatt, it seems to be almost a motivator for him. Put me back in the lineup, and I'll show you why you shouldn't have taken me out in the first place. I just think you love how physical he is, and he stands up for his teammates, and really is the prototypical 5'6 defense without a team thinking one.

I think it's the perfect scenario when you have not only one or two guys in the stands waiting to take your spot, but even two or three in the American Hockey League that it absolutely keeps everybody on their toes. You don't know whether you're going to be out a week, two weeks weeks or possibly being sent down or traded.

I mean, that's sort of the stuff that I think is true depth when you try to win a Stanley Cup. It's funny though, as long as you keep winning, it takes all those questions out of the mix, doesn't it? Oh yeah. But if you don't it? Oh, yeah.

But if you don't? Oh, yeah. Then you've got depth. You've got to hope you've got depth with that boy. Hey, just one more thought. You know, watching the game last night and watching a guy like Conor Bedard, would love to get your thoughts before we let you go, Ralphie, on what you see or, again,

don't see out of his particular game. Yeah, there's... What they'll do is... I thought Chicago worked hard last night and probably deserved better than they got. But it's difficult. I mean, you know, at least McDavid had Dreisaitl coming up

and had guys around him. And, you know, Matthews mean, you know, at least McDavid had Drysaddle coming up and had guys around him. And, you know, Matthews had, you know, Marner and Nylander coming up at the same time. And Conor Bedard seems like he's sort of on an island. And Paravine, I think the majority of his points came in the first five games. You know, he was brought in to initially be the skilled guy that Bedard could play with.

But right now, it seems like there's no chemistry on the line when he's out there. And that's where you sort of feel for him, that it's difficult to be that guy and not have a supporting cast. And that's not taking away, like I said, I thought Chicago worked hard, but as far as the skill or the playmaking,

I think it shows you how difficult it is to make that jump and be a franchise player when you're essentially the only player in the franchise that is supposed to be the superstar level. It'll be interesting to see over the next couple of years if they can build around him and get him

the right pieces that he needs. Great stuff as always, Ralphie. Thanks for joining us, pal. I'll let you know if I get a call after this. I will. Thanks, Ralphie. Definitely do that for us. Jim Ralph, color analyst. Dunk.

I got to read before we get into the answer. Okay, go. All right. So who wants to win a bunch of cash while doing the best thing this holiday season? We do. Okay. It's Sportsnet 590, the fans. 50-50 fortune supporting food for kids.

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and we'll send the link right to your phone. It's the 50-50 fortune supporting Food for Kids, standard message, and data rates apply, link right to your phone. It's the 50-50 fortune supporting food for kids, standard message, and data rates apply, Ontario only. Good job. Thanks, boys. Okay. So I brought in a Leaf jersey.

I saw. That one was the one they wore last night, which I'm not a fan of black and that beautiful blue. I'm not. My mom loves it. You know what's tough, though? They're playing the Blackhawks last night, beautiful sweater,

and then the Leafs got this new age. Can I say that I am so pleased that Kipper brought up Jersey Talk? Wow, that's usually my corner for you to get pissed off at me about. Kip, do you want me to put it inside out so you can see the Bieber logos? No, no, no.

I did bring up the fact that we're looking for jerseys. Calgary was nice enough to send us one. Yeah. The Leafs sent me that a while ago, so we thank them as well. Still waiting. Other markets, feel free. We'll remind people in the NHL hour because, yeah, we need a good Oilers.

One more thought. Tyler Bertuzzi had a video tribute last night. Did he? Okay. 80 games. DJ Brody, very worthy of a video tribute. More so. Four and a half seasons, right?

Four seasons. I get that. For sure. Bertuzzi's absurd. We're just now so scared we're going to offend somebody. Is that what it is? Is that why you do it to protect your... Is the all-time one not Pierre Engvall?

Engvall got a video tribute. Yeah, but Engvall was in the organization way longer than... I think Engvall might even be more worthy than Bertuzzi. I think Paul Lindholm got one. That's not right. I think it's true. I think he did. If Bertuzzi doesn't get one last last night is he leaving the rink going are you

kidding me this is ridiculous who even who cares they not acknowledge my 21 goal season over 80 games and my zero in the playoffs how do they they not acknowledge? He got one. Did he? Are you sure? Yeah. The bar has got to be higher for the video tribute. Although, was it a video? Or was it just like the board? They do the same thing. Was there highlights?

Did he get a minute? What's the difference? Well, I think there's a difference. If you're saying like, hey, acknowledge this guy. He was here last year. Versus like a 90 second highlight package standing oh you're not finding 90 seconds first of all a few yeah that times 80 or 60 time yeah that's uh i know that's a ken reed no no no let everybody be happy let everybody leave

my bad he did score once let everybody leave happy it's fine i'm okay with it it doesn't bother me you brought it up love doesn't bother me i'm just right love ralphie's uh point about bedard not coming up with anyone by the way like last night you saw i'm trying to beat guys one-on-one god all right we gotta go okay hey next hour steve aliquette he's got some explaining to do internet wants to know know what he said last night. Never be the main character, boys. Hey.