Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Lose Some Luster in Game 5

Episode Date: April 28, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee kick it off with the Leafs' loss last night, a trend of getting off to bad starts, potential blueline adjustments for Game 6, Samsonov looking shaky, who comes out for Bunting and how the Leafs overcome the curse and closeout. Doug MacLean joins the conversation (47:22), and shares why the Leafs are lucky to hold the series lead, their issues moving the puck, how much Keefe should tinker with the lineup for Game 6 and the forechecking failure against a diminished Tampa blueline. They are joined by Lightning Hockey analyst Brian Bradley, who gives some insight on Vasilevskiy starting to rally, Jon Cooper's mind games and the positives and negatives of abundant, recent playoff success (1:07:09). The guys close with a conversation about Rick Bowness' comments after his Jets got eliminated and answer listener questions.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.

This is Real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Well that was one hell of a 24-hour period for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Real Kipper and Bourne show. You know, I enjoyed yesterday's energy so much on our show. Like, why can't we just have nice things things why can't we just feel like that every day and no we've done a lot of shows in the last two years i thought yesterday's show was perfect because you know outside of this show too we've been around long enough to go through ebbs and flows of the toronto maple leafs in the first round. But I thought we captured a vibe in the city that couldn't compare to what probably the last four, five, six first rounds were. It was legit.

We had Joe Bowen on. We were watching people walk crossing the street outside our window in Leafs jersey. We had a vibe. No vibe today. Watching people walk crossing the street outside our window in Leafs jersey. We had a vibe. No vibe today. I'll tell you where the vibe has really changed in the last 24 hours. I know it's called the real Kipper and Bourne show. Yeah.

And there's no Sammy in the title. Yeah. And there's no Sammy in the title. Yeah. But I'll give the guy a little bit of credit for helping set that vibe up for us. It's something we need is the Leaf fan energy. So let's go just jog back 24 hours ago and listen to our Sammy. I want to talk to Leaf fans. Oh, yes. Oh, my God. Talk to them. No, don't do this. Talk to them. Don't go all sappy on me. Everybody want to talk to Leaf fans. Oh, yes. Oh, my God. Talk to them. No, don't do this. Talk to them.

Don't go all sappy on me. No. Everybody's walking on goddamn eggshells. Stop it. Just believe in this group. Leaf fans, it's been 19 years. Tonight's the night. Since we've seen

your team in the second round. Does it happen tonight? To quote the top song from April 20th, 2004. Yeah. And if they lose, we'll see you on Monday. We're not coming in. I'm not coming in. He came in, folks.

We came in. He came in. Now, Sammy's new vibe. Let's have a listen. Boys, this is all my fault like this is all my fault i have so much confidence i tried to be mister this is not this is different i screwed it all up it's all i know i agree it's my fault pm like yeah back to groveling, boys. Back to panic. Ah!

You know, you want to know how I knew we were in trouble? It was, I think, on the way home from yesterday's show. And I don't really, like, go and look a whole heck of a lot on social media. Yeah. But I will give this guy a ton of credit. It's Dr. Philosopher. Okay? And he says

Leafs don't win when we get feel-good Sammy. That's what he says. Leafs only win when we get pessimistic Sammymy yeah and he's right boys this is all my fault 100 accurate oh it's your fault it's a new day samwise gamgee how are you today my man

listen i don't know what to say. I am feeling it big time today. I took a shot yesterday. I took a shot. I went against my best beliefs. I went against whatever I thought I should do. I woke up in the morning and I said, today is the day. I'm taking a risk.

This is a different group. Sheldon and Keith, we're different. Everyone, we're different. It's different. All I hear is goddamn different. Different, different, different. And I went and I sat on my couch last night like all of Leafs Nation and I watched the same damn hockey game I've watched in every elimination game.

It's happening again here. There you go. It's the exact same game I've watched in every elimination game. It's all happening again here. There you go. It's just the exact same game I've watched for 11 straight. It's the exact same game. He reminds me of Sheldon on All or Nothing in Montreal. Yes. This is exactly right. You went early.

You went too early, Sammy. You went all in too early. And you've got nothing left for game six or game seven i'm tapped out you're tapped out i believe i believed so hard in this group you know what i'm talking about the big speech yeah you know make history and now's your chance or whatever i the one thing i've come to know about sammy and he is an open-minded guy he will hear other arguments but he prefers things to be simple like he it's a good goal it's a bad goal it's a good play it's a bad play you would prefer

you're in you're out you don't sit on the fence very often this leafs team makes that really hard because they're good but they lose once they're bad but they win dash okay yes i think we're in a not a we're not in a marathon but we are we are in the 1 000 to 5 000 uh meter run here it's some sort of chess game i can't even tell who's winning not a marathon but it's a heck of a lot more than what sammy wants sammy wants the cup now i don't want the cup now i want them to win one elimination game it's not that much to ask and the stats they get worse they're atrocious i did like i put i put them in the lineup yesterday or whatever being like ah i'd be fine so now they're 0 and 11 in elimination potential series clinching games 0 and 11 now 0 and 11 23 goals for they added to

that last night. Three more win-ins. There are 44 goals against. Two unsuccessful power plays. So now two for 24. And their penalty kill went up a little bit because they had two successful penalty kills. What? Like, it's all happening again here. The other team's goalie's slightly better.

You give up one you don't like. You can't quite finish on your chances. Well, listen, we got pretty much two hours here to dive into it. Off the rails Friday. Sammy drove it right off as early as yesterday. We got Doug McClain in about 45 minutes. And then we go to Brian Bradley, ex-Tampa Bay Lightning. Yeah. He'll give us a scene setter down there.

Does a terrific job on Lightning TV. It's going to be great to catch up with him as well. And let's start with our vibe was legitimate, as we said earlier. Yes. Why can't the current players have picked up on that vibe or the vibe that they started when they finished game four? What's stopping them from a good start? They had a good start, Kipper.

I didn't like the start. The goal that went in. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not talking about going up 1-0. I'm talking about the first three or four minutes. Has it won an opening faceoff? I think they're 0-5. Tampa took it to them in the first three or four minutes.

They had the first three out of four shots. I thought a couple of them were legit. And, yeah, they got the 1-0 lead. But I didn't like their start, JB. No. I don't know. I don't know exactly on that. Like, you know, the one thing we talked about yesterday was the other team gets a vote.

Like, you knew Tampa was not going to go quietly into the night. And it was going to be a grinded out sort of game but yeah seeing the same sort of the same way of like getting these chances they're not going to kneel and or has that one in front of the net that sticks under vasilevsky's pad a bunch of scrambles in the crease they can't find that one and vasilevsky's just good enough happening again enough of this enough it was you know and it did feel it did feel a little bit like we had seen the one thing i think that's most commonly talked about today is the leaves d and leaves d pairs which i know we'll get into but i don't know what did you think what was your yeah i i just think that uh they they have they have trouble and i think Austin Matthews said it that for whatever reason

we didn't get off to a great start and I'm like what else do you need? You're closing out failed attempts. Why can't you guys capture that emotion? Did you think they looked nervous again? It's the second time in this series where

it looked like the same thing. I don't know. Call it nerves. I don't know what it is. But it's just not them going for it. They just looked like they weren't ready to close this thing out. Yeah. I agree. You know, in game two of this series, they seemed to come out.

And instead of dumping, they'd hang on to it. They started to play like themselves a little bit and i thought they looked more like themselves of old my biggest complaint is just their inability to get out of their end and through the neutral zone and to me the d are killing them they're killing them by being stationary you talk about like the stretch passes how much you hate that they're trying to stretch it into traffic and getting nothing. So they got a couple guys in the press box who can skate it. Well, okay, we'll go there because the focus is on Justin Hall and Mark Giordano.

And I think it speaks volumes to what you're saying is when you don't move your feet and you are looking for that stretch pass, I think it's easy for the D to step up and take that all away. Yeah, and to be honest, unless you skate, the first four checker doesn't have to come to you. He can just sag back,

and then you're playing into a trap. They got five guys to your four. Like, you have to make, you have to draw someone to you by moving your feet and you know i do have an article up on that today holland giordano but it is it is all the d that need to get moving up the rink a little bit well we talked to sheldon a little bit shall we all right let's get an overview from sheldon keif on our first kippers clipper well it's a tight hockey game. Score first

in the game, then they come right back. So that was tough. You have a chance to build some momentum and give that goal up. It's obviously a very tight hockey game all the way through. Not a lot of offense going either way.

Less for us. They play hard in terms of the territorial advantage. Like we've been talking about, one team's got to get on top of the other, and they've been able to get on top of us pretty consistently. We've got to find our way through that. Territorial advantage has been dominated by Tampa Bay. It has, yeah.

In this series. Yeah. And in many ways, Tampa, we'll see how this thing finishes out, but their biggest regret might be that not being up 3-2 right now. Yeah. You know, the thing about the games and the territorial advantage is that every game, the last three,

have started to tilt in the Leafs' favor when they trail and get aggressive. Like, it can't be lost on people that the second they start pushing for goals and taking chances, all of a sudden they play in Tampa Bay's end a lot more. And so this passive don't make a mistake hockey is what's killing them they're inviting tampa out they're giving them

the puck back i mean you talk about you're gonna have to go take a game and whether that's what your star player is going out there and saying tonight's our night it's my night which hasn't happened or the goaltender turning in, you know, having a one-off unbelievable game. You know, just to your point about a different mindset when you're pushing like that, do they not have like four goals when the goalie's pulled? Yeah, like dying minutes goals. There's still two more games.

Right. And then they've got four goals on a six on five. Like push. It's unbelievable. That's got to be some sort of record in a series. I don't know what it is, but it's really, they have taken it to Tampa in third periods when they've been chasing the game.

Justin Hall, Mark Giordano, minus three last night. One change or two changes? Yeah, that's a good question. It was a hard minus three, too. Yeah. When you lose the game, they basically lost the game three, too. It sticks out. I said this right from the get-go on Mark Giordano.

Smart hockey player, and he's been a great addition for so many ways and so many reasons but to now ask him to come in and almost play like a top four at 40 years of age with foot speed being an issue this is what i was worried about all along yeah no you've been fully validated there i mean they're definitely the third pair right now right i mean shannon riley have been wonderful and mccabe and brody you know fine but it is interesting so you know they have timothy lilligren they do have eric gustafson justin hall is publicly on the hook. You know, he misses the Hagel hit in the neutral zone going for the big hit. He turns the wrong way on Asimov, who, you know,

Samsonov should stop that one every single time, but still wrong pivot. So people are killing him. I think Gio, who we're talking about here, has had more struggles in the series otherwise. Hall on the PK, a lot of shot blocks. Even Stamkos hasn't got a lick from that side. I know it's a lot harder to take out Geo. And I know that the handedness gets messed up if you do.

So, I don't know, Kip. Like, people are saying 11 and 7 in my mentions. I don't think you want to go drastic like that. I don't know. Let's go to Sheldon Keefe on Justin Hall. Hi, Sheldon. Justin Hall has been on the ice for approximately 73% of the Lightning's goals this series.

What's behind the decision to keep going back to him, especially with a guy like Timothy Lilligren watching in the press box? Well, I guess my first response would be whether he's been on the ice by himself in those situations. But I think the answer is no. He's not out there by himself in those situations when he's getting scored on. But, you know, I think we need those guys to be better.

You know, we need those guys to be better. They were involved in the goals here tonight um so i guess that's really all i would say but at the same time they've also done a good job for us at different times in this series you know i don't love the way that some of it's been portrayed because yeah he's been on for 14 of 21 goals which is 67 percent uh but there's also five power play goals there and he's been wonderful in the pk uh for them so i'm gonna take those five off of his record and say he's been on for nine of 16 against which not great but he also starts in the d zone more than anyone else

25 times in five games and he plays top lines so it's not as lopsided as the numbers look i i think he's just right now he's lost his confidence too for sure and that is a really important thing for some players more so than others i i find him emotionally emotional not that his play shows emotion but i i get a sense that he cares so much he's one of those quiet guys that may not be very easy to read like others yeah and it's more kind of he keeps it really close and really tight his career's on the hook he's a ufa he's 29 i do see him right now having this battle of of of believing that he can do things out there yeah and like like the miss on hagel yeah right that's a bad miss it's only recently though kip

that he started trying to throw those big hits don't you agree like since the deadline he started looking for them and then they've asked him to you know that they've called him in and said, you're a big guy. Yeah. Start playing big. Yeah. For sure. It has been an issue. And so the question is then, do you think, so Hall definitely would deserve to come out, but do you think you're going to get better from Lilligren

than Hall who has been playing 20 minutes a night in these situations? Are you going to get better from Lilligren than Hall? Because that's the only question, right? I do make the switch yeah i do too right i i need a little bit of uh instilled energy and geo stay in gustafson is below average defender i'll sooner take but he breaks it take Mark Giordano being in the right place to block a shot.

And I'll take Mark Giordano's shuffling on the ice. Like, he shuffles. He's not a skater. Not at this point. So I'd sooner still have his IQ out there

for at least being on the right side of the puck than taking my chances on Gustafsson. And I get it. He can skate a puck out. But when he doesn't skate a puck out, I don't trust him defensively. How can it be worse? They've been the rankings of the d pairings in the playoffs yeah i can pull that up here they are they get sammy they're i know

i'm getting blown out okay they're they are they're getting blown out no not on the scorecard and that matters okay don't tell me for one second there wasn't uh uh positive sammy there when they when austin scored and it was like no come on they were still a shot away i know from going into overtime yeah geo shoots the one that kerfoot tips in an ot the game prior like he's not like i don't like their chances if keep pulling the goalie and coming back and last night it caught caught up to them bit him in the ass but it's not like it's six two yeah you know i've heard from all these people saying 11 and seven like for one like bunting's going back in full stop you know i don't need to he's already he acknowledged okay great so keith your

bunting's going in so you're already taking out one of aston reaser lafferty and if you go 11 and 7 they're both coming out you know which is a pretty substantial change and all of a sudden it feels like you're getting desperate here and not you know you're up 3-2 in the series here you're in a pretty good spot going into their building just to finish off uh our discussion on the defense uh did we do keeps uh in the d's inability to come come out of the their own puck out not yet i want to hear this they're four checking hard they're on top of our guys really well you know i don't think it's necessarily a lack of uh ability from our players. They're gapped up real tight.

Their D are very mobile, and they're holding the red line. It makes it a real challenge. Anytime that we've been able to get anything sustained on their half of the ice, we've broke out with ease pretty much. And anytime they've got time on our half, they're breaking out with ease. That's the way the series has gone you know so uh you know we've got to be able to take advantage of our opportunities when we do have those exits yeah it's an issue big time big time issue and so that's the only reason i have some thoughts of gustafson is like i feel like the running the intimidation and set the tone part of the series is over.

And they have such an advantage over Tampa Bay in that they have two NHL defensemen sitting in the press box. Like, Gustafson played 60 games at 22 minutes a night for Washington. You know, the next best guy in Tampa is Hayden Fleury. You can drop two NHL D in and say, this one pair is struggling. We'll give them an extra night off. But it is a big change so is there any uh residual effect off the maroon hit on giordano as well and uh rocked he got rocked you know you could and listen sell that too if you're trying to sell the scratching Giordano. I thought two-minute penalty was generous by the official. Well, he didn't get a penalty for the hit, Kepra.

He got a penalty for the rough. You didn't think he deserved one? Not at that point. They're all kind of – I thought it was a hard playoff hit. Oh, you mean at the buzzer in the numbers? Yeah. Driving his face into the glass? I thought a pretty clear boarding call to me. He's a vulnerable player.

I saw more shoulder on it. Oh, Kipper, come on. I'll show you pictures. Oh, yeah. But anyways, they could play off that... You know, he may need some time off on that as well. Yeah.

Let's play off hockey right now, Sammy. That's what that is, buddy. For sure. And he should have got a two-minute penalty for boarding. Yeah. And he got a two-minute penalty for roughing. I do think the refs kind of had some regret over the non-call, and that's why they pulled the one.

Yeah, absolutely. And enough with the talk with let's charge everybody with five minutes and then we can look at it and go down to two. It's like, no, how about you do your job and make the great call right away? It is a bit of a cop-out to be just handing out fives. It's horrible. I said in the group when I first saw it, like real speed, I was like, oh, my God, that's a five.

And then I watched again and it wasn't a five, but I thought it was a two for boarding. And they got two for roughing, so it ended up being five. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Yeah, it doesn't matter. One thing that kind of bothered me a little bit, and we'll get into Samsonov and the goals that he let in.

But again, if there's one beef I have with Sheldon Keefe a little bit, it's just making adjustments and when he does them and sticking with sticking with uh tavaris with marner up until i don't know six and a half minutes left with at a three one score sheldonon, too late. Too late. It was just that game they went to it, right? That's the first game they've been together? Yes.

You're talking about Marner? Tavares and Marner, yeah. They finished, they made the adjustment. End of game four. End of game four, and they stuck with it, yeah. I don't know. I hear complaints, Kip, very common. People call him over-tinkerer, too quick to tinker. From you, it's not quick to tinker enough. Yeah. You can't please everyone when you don't know. I hear complaints, Kip, very common. People call him over-tinkerer, too quick to tinker. For me, it's not quick to tinker enough.

Yeah. You can't please everyone when you don't win. You had Vasilevsky going hard. You got to load up. Yeah. The only threat out there, pure threat as a line, is Marner and Matthews. That's it. Everything else is spread out.

Kip, they have 20-some goals this year. He's the most of any team in the playoffs. Tavares is struggling. You know why Marner's with Tavares? He's struggling. To cover him up. Right. Yes.

The job isn't to get Marner points. Marner's a great player who can make Tavares better. Get goals. Win the game. They have a ton of points and have won games. I think Tavares looked good last night because he has Marner's support. See, they weren't a threat to me. Matthews wasn't a threat to me until he tapped in and emptied that goal.

Matthews was terrible. Terrible. He did nothing for me last night. That's why you load up it's you know i you're robbing peter to pay paul and to me it gives you two lines two one jb you're not robbing anything you're trying to get a goal it's not six one kip now if you every time you go down a goal you're changing lines i mean it's a too aggressive you gotta make adjustments you gotta read the tea leaves those

guys did go out uh Matthews Marner and Nylander a couple of times in the game like they they tried to take some shots of that kind of stuff but yeah I mean listen you didn't have many guys going last night good players for me I don't have my book in front of me exactly but McCabe was really good big hits big hits skated the puck riley is the best player on the toronto maple leafs uh in this round and then up front it tough to find anyone who's particularly good ryan o'reilly's good and listen it's so easy for me now to just keep listening to everybody go okay matthews and marner got it it's like listen this time of year and it's not like kucherov and point or killing you but last night's a prime example nick paul again yeah depth score you

gotta have good lines down the lineup you know and then having that nice achari roar line is nice. I like that one. So outside of Flex Seal scoring the overtime goal, if you were to ask me just on merit alone, the guy that deserves to be out of the lineup for bunting for me is Kerfoot. Yeah. No, I got no problem with Kerfoot. Nothing. You didn't get a thing out of him he's standing around on key goals and i don't know what that flip in the crowd was but he did zero but he's a popular

guy and they love him and he's someone who can have some speed and keep them up through the neutral zone the yarn croc's been worse than Kerfoot. To your point there, Kipper, though, on that play, when they score the first goal after Hall tries to blow up Hagel, Kerfoot never even looked over his shoulder. Oh, he's on the hook there.

He's on the hook for sure. He just stared right down at his feet. You know how I feel about Yarncroft. He has no business being on the front line other than maybe spot duty, but he kills penalties. Yeah. I mean, Kerfoot does too.

And now you got Aston Reese who hammers Headman, and that reaction of following him to the bench was like gold to television to watch him in pain and grab the trainer and bring him over. He must just be hurting so bad. Sammy thinks he's a phony. He must be hurting so bad.

He's playing 35 minutes a night. He's their best player. God, he's just so hurt. Buddy, you can't act like that. You can't act it. I'm sorry. But that guy defies logic. You know who i liked last night i like neilander but you gotta finish him off just let me finish on headman yeah you gotta finish him off i thought

the same thing no one else after that who else is going in next and at least aston reese has the ability to hit people still now which i give him full credit because he's doing it. This is a very important decision for Sheldon to get the right guy out of the lineup. And I'm not sure it's as simple as Aston Reese coming out. Yeah, you know how they feel about Alex Kerfoot. He's a versatile guy that can do anything, kill, play 15 minutes skate

the puck up whatever aston reese is playing eight minutes and runs into some people but i don't think they'll take her foot out you know looking at the lines for next game interesting to think about where bunting would go if you would put them back with matthews or if you keep yarn croc there and then have like a Bunting, Ryan O'Reilly, Achari line. I like that. I like that line too. And then put Nyes in the top six. Maybe Tavares, Bunting and... Achari, Bunting and Ryan O'Reilly as a third line for you.

Yeah. And that leaves you with... I'm closer to Tavares on the left side with Ryan O'Reilly. I just load up too. And shorten the bench. Well, they load up in game one. they got beat by a thousand you know last night's an example though that like you know marner and matthew should be double shifting triple shifting they should be last night they should have played like there's some nights he's they're flirting with 28 29 minutes that should have been a night

that they they closed on those type of numbers i actually think that if you did do 11 and 7 you take out aston recent lafferty buntings in and then you are you're loaded like of the 11 guys you're looking at it's yarn crook matthews kneelander nize tavarez marner o'reilly bunting achari camp like anyone on the ice, you love it. And it's the easiest conversation to have as opposed to pulling out a guy that you absolutely love in G.O. or Hall who they clearly have a very tight relationship with. They were just going to add Lilligren. Yeah. So, I don't know. Okay, Sammy. Let's get to your favorite part.

Oh, God. John Cooper. God, do we have to? We do. Ugh. Let's go to the first one on Cooper on his big win. I said this in the beginning of the series. Don't bet against the guys.

Not that group. And I'm not saying this is going to, we've won this series. We've won one game. And we still have so far to go. But to come into this environment, and it was a phenomenal environment uh and to play the way we did you know we just as i said a couple of days ago you know what we're going back we're going back to the rink, and that's exciting for us. But they dug their heels in tonight, and I think who really dug his heels in tonight was the goalie. And his name's come up a lot for various reasons over the last couple days,

and I think he proved he can handle the high shots sammy oh mr smug a lug oh my you ain't hear this show if they beat tampa and just let sammy unload on coop listen he's not... Vasilevsky, we can have this conversation. Sure, he made some more saves than he had in the other games. It would be hard to make less saves than he did in the other games. But the Leafs had their chances to tie this game. They hit the post. They drifted a couple just wide.

Matthews missed from this. They had tons of chances. For me, the defining moment in the game was Marner-Basilewski one-on-one. Yeah, and it was not a good attempt. And not Mitch-like moves at all. Mitch got that great deke. The one where he stops hard on the forehand and brings it back. And he just, he feels like he kind of rushed it a little bit.

But I think that was how the deception is that he meant like the, you know, the quick pitch, if you will. Yeah. I think that's the idea there. Yeah. That was a statement yeah moment he stops to you know people talking about vasilevsky's blocker he makes a blocker save there he makes one on tavara's out of the traffic neilander had a sneaky one at the end of regulation through the legs that vasilevsky got a piece of so you know he did make some save sure

was but like he wasn't that wasn't an other worldly performance that people are like everyone in the media is like oh is he back it's like it's not like it was an other worldly performance he was tracking he was fine he was tracking everyone wants him to like all the media like i see everybody down there tweeting oh god he's on he's locked in everybody wants it so bad for him to be this story that turns around they're putting it out there cooper's talking about it sure he was fine he made four or five more scenes he's up to an 877 good for him yeah good for him like oh you heard all this is all based on the fact that this man has done this before. Yeah, sure. Right? Yeah. Didn't he go through maybe a month ago where he went 4-0

and gave up like one goal or something? Don't you remember that stretch? I don't know. A month ago he also gave up. He lost six in a row or something. I know, but it's the fact that he's been there before and done it. Yeah, of course. That's the scary part.

Yeah, it's not like anyone's talking like that if it's Grubauer or whatever. Now, did Cooper leave the ice with one finger in the air walking off? Is this if he was saying like... That's one? That's one? I don't know. I didn't see that. Somebody at the rink said that to me. I didn't see it myself, but...

This guy. Does it sound like John Cooper? I didn't realize we had another page of clips here. We got so much stuff. Okay, let's go. Let's go right into getting the Leafs in that spot where

Tampa Bay's crawling between the ears and Sammy's ears too. Let's have a listen. John, you still trail in the series, but do you think you and your team are now in their heads? Steve, I don't know because I'm not in their locker room, but we've had this experience, our most recent playoff series,

very similar circumstances. We went into Colorado in an unbelievable environment with the Stanley Cup on the line, not just a first round. And we found a way to win, but we didn't find a way to win the next one. And you have to learn from those moments and how to not look at game seven. Like, I don't, game seven is irrelevant. Game six is all that matters. And it's about just winning one game.

And we would be, shame on us if we think we're going to go home. And that's going to be the difference for us. It's urgency and effort. That'll be the difference. And we need to bring that to game six. What a question by Steve Simmons. Are you in their head? Love it.

I did get confirmation that he did leave the ice with one finger. Give it to the fans like that's one that's one good for you John give him credit he's entered the kitchen again boys he's got a great sense of how to do that it is a unique art

where else do you want to go well we got a number of things here it depends if we want to stay on Cooper or not. I am curious just, Keith, on their lineup changes because I haven't heard that clip. It's a pretty important conversation, I think, before Saturday night, isn't it? Yeah, that's from today.

He spoke after they had a meeting today. Let's hear that one. We're looking at everything here today, Steve. We've got a couple things happening with some of our players in terms of injuries and such that will play itself out throughout the day today and probably part of tomorrow. But, yeah, we're looking at what all our options might be to give us the best opportunity to get going tomorrow.

Ooh, I heard Gio there. Yes, of course. A good friend of the show, Brent Gunning, just texted me. He said, can confirm Cooper walked off like he was Joe Namath after winning the Super Bowl last night. It did rub people off the wrong way, for sure. Yeah, he's a hero.

He does that every day with you, so I don't know what the big deal is. He's a hero. Get it. With Morgan going the way he's going, less of a need for Gustafson. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, that's a good point. It does devalue the need. It's not power place, like, struggling.

Honestly, every time there's a loose puck, you know, I'm rooting for the Leafs here. Like, openly rooting for the Leafs for the good of our show and our fan base. And every time there's a loose puck, I just hope it's 44 who shows up in the screen right now, which is very different from how it felt in season. He has been unbelievable, fellas. Unbelievable. Every time he touches it, he makes the right play right now.

You know what? His skating, too, has made a big difference. We've said that. Yeah. You just know when he's skating, and he can control the pace of play just with his feet alone and his timing's better he has confidence he can get that puck through a couple times the puck gets behind him with the goalie pulled and he you know

he outraces a couple guys with body position like he just he's been really good the problem is is that there's one of them yeah there's really just the one standout for going to another level right now i think mccabe has been there too i mean you know more recently maybe not the whole series but i think he's finding it a little bit last game i thought he he really skated the puck well and who do you crumpled uh asimo no haggle and point and point caught point yeah yeah what do you think of uh their play so far their top players well i mean silent right like that's actually a concern you know how you get to this point you're up three two it's like brayden point stamkos he hasn't shot the puck in the net yet only time i I saw Kucherov, he tipped one. Yeah, he kicked it. Oh, yeah. Went off his body.

I saw Kucherov once last game when Hall took him into the boards, kind of in a rough play. But, you know, other than that, he was quiet too. So, you know, the one thing that is standing out to me, though, more and more is that experienced fourth line of Tampa Bays, they're still a problem. And the fourth line of the Leafs, as much as they're giving them something that they have lacked in years past yeah they can't they're not doing what that fourth line's doing and anthony sorelli like he's gamer

right yeah gamer and no austin's got to be better than him he's's their version of... Oh, my God, the guy from Montreal. Deneau. Deneau, thank you. Philip Deneau. Yeah, with more skill, more scoring ability. He's a great player. Clutch. Okay.

Where are you before we get going here, Samsonov? Listen, it's... Crazy we haven't talked about him yet. Yeah, I know, but we are right now. This time of year, It's he crazy. We haven't talked about him yet. Yeah, I know, but we are right now. This time of year, you don't remember the saves you make. You remember the ones that you let in.

Well said. That's all you need to know about Samson off in this series. Cause I had his number written down the way I take my notes. 35 up arrow for like big saves. Good save. Good save. Good save. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Two of them are so bad. written down the way i take my notes 35 up arrow for like big saves good save good save good save doesn't matter it doesn't matter two of them are so bad so atrocious that it's just deflating what's the kid's name who scored his first goal error asimo asimo yeah when i saw that go in i'm like jack campbell game seven brendan gallagher is it new and Icon Laleem worst worst goal I've ever

let in my whole career here's what Mike McKenna said Samson I've got caught between post integrations his instinct was telling him to go RVH but his brain went into override mode he also subconsciously was loading up on his right leg to advance of Asimov going cross crease which never happened so he's thinking like he's caught between all these things in his head and just kind of gets his legs tangled up. Mike McKenna also said, who is a trusted friend of the show,

not kidding when I say this, the Leafs need Wall. They may still get past the Tampa Bay Lightning without him between the pipes, but he's the best option they've got. I want to get into that too, because this is now you're flirting into that area where you have no safety net at all behind Samson off.

And if in fact the Leafs lose game six and he lets a couple of goals in like he did in game five. Yeah. You can't start wall and you can't go to wall you can't you know it's too late and it's too much of a gamble and yet he could still maybe find a way to win game seven just based on new energy but it's too it's too much of a risk so you would consider wall game six and samson game seven if need be no i would flip it i would give samson off one more chance tomorrow night and if he dumps you'd give wall no no no no no no i'm saying you

can't do that okay okay but what i'm my point is is they've left himself vulnerable in this area sure that that that should be that's been a theme of this show for a contending team that should have had two goalies that you have confidence in to win one hockey game it's no longer there and even if samsonov goes in there and and then looks worse than he did in game five you you've left yourself no choice but to go to Samsonov one more time. To fix it. That third goal, the Paul goal, like he actively shimmies his way out of the net. I hated that goal more than I hated the second goal. If he does nothing, it might hit him.

He had to actively remove himself from the shooting lane. He actually gets himself tangled with his own D. It was freaking out. It's a bit of a confusing game, though, because after he lets in that terrible softy, the second one, he's really good for a long stretch of the game. He made a ton of great saves, a ton, but Kipper's making that exact point,

that sometimes your goaltender needs to be great all the way through and win you a hockey game. Yeah, 100%, and he was not that. If we go back to the 10 clinching games that they've lost. And I'm talking about this group. 11 now, yeah. But this group. Okay.

Oh, yeah, yeah. 10. Right? Yep, yep, yep. This group's lost 10. Gotcha. In those 10 games, if you could have just made one switch in the position and took their opponent's goalie and put it in the leaf net?

Yeah, they went like eight of them. How many? Honestly, close to seven or eight, probably. For sure. They've had the worst goalie in every elimination game. All these games are the goddamn same. And not even close. Like not even like by wide margins.

Yeah. Right? Like bad goals that you'll remember yeah yeah 100 and it is you just can't play the game assuming you're going to need the goalie to take it so you need maybe you need to outplay them by 10 and not one percent which is one one of those clinching games where the leafs have the first star be their goalie. That's it. I mean, yeah, not the clinching games. They had one this series. No, no, clinching games.

Yes, I know. First star. Yeah. Which is often the case for teams that advance. Yeah, they certainly weren't the better team. Okay, Sammy. All right, so it's time for playoff picks presented by bet 365 visit the app for the latest odds and this is one where i have

completely looked at the panic mode side of things um if you are interested in another happiness hedge your price for the bolts to win this series has gone way down it's now at plus 325 heading into the game yesterday was at plus 900 so you've lost a little bit of value there but still a good happiness hedge available and i had to look at this because i hate myself basically but um tampa now is 40 to 1 to win stanley cup so if they happen to find a way to come back and rally in this and you look at the way the eastern conference is and how boston you could make worse bets than that so just put that out there kraken pretty sizable home dog tonight uh if you think they're close uh if they close out the banged up abs getting a pretty good price at plus 135 and they're on home ice abs have been bad so

i don't know how you guys lean in that one but i don't think the abs have another punch i got some thoughts on these the idea that tampa's 40 to 1 to win the stanley cup i don't know how you guys lean in that one, but I don't think the Avs have another punch. I got some thoughts on these. The idea that Tampa's 40-1 to win the Stanley Cup, I don't think this Tampa team's very good, guys. Okay. I don't think they've got it to go four rounds in them. Like, I just, the Leafs need to beat this team because I don't think they're playing a very fast team.

I don't think they're playing a team with a great defense. I don't think they got any excuses. They're beatable. They're beatable. This is a beatable hockey club. I agree with club with that if the leafs lose this series they will have beaten themselves 100 and i like the home dog in seattle at plus 135 the other one tonight carolina's plus money on that 365 they're plus 100 speaking of dog i'm going with that dog that sits at the top of the stairs. The Corgi. Oh, my God. And he bounces the ball into two baskets. Yes. And he's got Tampa winning game six.

He's, he, the Corgi, whatever that dog's name is, God bless him, has nailed every game so far. Yes, he hits like a beach ball into a Tampa or a Toronto basket. He hits seven balls. He is five for five and calling it. He has Tampa winning game six and the Leafs in game seven. I'd rather take his advice than yours that's right advanced corgi metrics here last one quickly before we go

bruins tonight with a chance to close it out if you think they're going to do it um bruins with a pasternak goal and a taylor hall point pays plus 375 and tempting all right and that's been playoff picks presented by bet 365 visit the app for the latest odds, fellas. Former NHL president, GM, and head coach Doug McClain. It is off the rails Friday. No better guy to drive it off the cliff for us. Doug McClain. And if you give us a thumbs up on the show, we love it.

Love bringing you guys this show daily. Give us a rating and review also if you get a chance back after these words with doug mclean big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the leafs jays raptors and the nfl the jd bunkin podcast subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. I am kind of nervous a little bit on our next guest on this Friday because I don't know where he's going to go. I'm sure he greatly supports the Leafs effort so far and believes they'll

succeed tonight. Tomorrow. All right, let's bring them in. Doug McClain from pickleball to the Leafs with a game last night, Mac, where everybody just felt the vibes that this one was different and they got a whole lot of the same is that the way you saw it?

yeah it really was now I got an echo in my ear can you tell the intern to call me back? yeah we will we will ask him if it's better give us a break.

Yeah. Is that good now? Great. All right. So, listen, did the game come in the way of a nice dinner and a bottle of wine last night, or were you really focused? You know what? I had a depressing night.

As you know, I picked the Leafs to win and uh as you know george glance a great friend of mine lifelong friend he's in a bit of a pickle too well between flipping back and forth the two games it could it became i started to drink as the night went on came on bearable but i mean listen, I look at the Leafs. I mean, seriously, guys, you guys have to be really nice and positive. That's your gig there, and that's your stick. But this team has been awful the last three games. They played five minutes three games ago and won, luckily.

They played eight minutes the game before and came back from a 4-1. Credit to them. Credit to them. Credit to them. But, I mean, to think they played a solid playoff game in the last three games is not accurate. They're lucky. They're lucky they're in this series, let alone leading the series, because of the way they've ineffectively moved the puck out of their own end,

the way they haven't really forechecked the defense that's beaten up and is not a great blue line after you go by Shugachev and the big boy, Hedman. I mean, if they had Chernak playing, if he was healthy, this might be a totally different series right now, boys, and Hedman healthy. So I'm nervous that it's going to be Vasilevsky and Samsonov in a two out of three. And Vasilevsky has not been very good,

and Samsonov's been good and average. So this is going to be – this is frightening. And I mean, the Leafs still should win the series with the way the back end is on Tampa. That is not a Stanley Cup back end. And they don't forecheck them. They don't pressure that blue line. I don't get it.

Anyway. And so where does the, I guess, where does the fault lie or where can they be better? Is this like a, hey, they need more out of their stars situation or is this a, they need more out of their stars situation? Or is this a, they need more out of Hall and Giordano and the guys that people think of as a little bit less important? Well, you know, you hate to see a pair go minus three in a game and everybody's ripping Hall.

I mean, it's not just Hall. I mean, yeah, he's the guy that got beat. He's the guy that got beat. He's the guy that was minus three. Giordano looks slow at 40 years of age. He should be slow at 40, but he still thinks the game. But, I mean, I'm not excited about the way the McCabe has moved the puck. I'm not excited about the way any of them have moved the puck out of their own.

Morgan Riley's played his tail off, and he's created offense. He's done a good job scoring. But this team has not moved the puck out of their own. Morgan Riley's played his tail off and he's created offense and done a good job scoring. But this team has not moved the puck out of their own. Their forwards on the breakouts have been abysmal. I mean, they're cheating coming out of their own end. When you cheat coming out of your own end, you cheat all the way down the ice. And yeah, they need more. John Tavares, like, oh, I mean, yeah. I don't get this. more. John Tavares, like, oh, I mean, yeah. Anyway, I don't get this.

Marner with Tavares. So you protect Tavares? You need Marner to protect $11 million guy? Are you kidding me? Put him with Matthews where they excel. You've got a 3-1 series lead and you put him with Tavares? Because you're scared Tavares because you're scared Tavares can't play five on five?

I don't know. Am I wrong? Am I wrong or what? Well, it depends if you want him to cover up for the guy makes $11 million, but you watch the games, Doug. He's not been great. Yeah. Okay. Well,

put a checker with him then to help them don't put your best player and and affect your best player by putting them with them put a checker with them to do that job mac you went to a stanley cup final how hard was it over that stretch of of wanting to change your lineup or you know were there times when you were really upset at players for not performing? Like, what do you do? Do you pat them on the back and encourage them? Or do you rip them? Like, what's Sheldon doing right now?

Well, you know what? You're up 3-2. So, you're certainly not ripping them. But you make subtle changes in your lineup. I mean, you've got to address the defense situation, what you're going to do there, and he's got a couple of options that he's going to probably have to do. But then you're putting a guy in that hasn't played.

That's the downside there. But up front, you subtly, continually throughout the playoffs make line changes and subtle line changes. But I don't, I mean, I think you typically tinker with the bottom of your lineup. If you get into this situation where you're tinkering with your top lines, I don't think it's healthy. And I think it shows a weakness with your group if you have to do that. So, you know, I mean, you've had an unbelievable year with the way you've played your team.

I think you've got to stick to the formula and not make panic moves. So does Bunting go back in the lineup? I mean, surely the Gotti's learned a lesson. Maybe not, but you've got to go with the most experienced lineup you can go with going into these next two games because you're playing a stanley cup finalist stanley cup champion who feel pretty good about their games the last three games they don't feel good just about last night they feel good about the last three games the way they played

overall throughout 60 minutes so does that mean you wouldn't put in lilligran or gustafson and instead give hall and geo another shot as the experienced guys? I think you've got to consider the little grin and you've got to look at the five-on-five play and say, okay, five-on-five play, who's going to be better for you? Lilligrand or Hall? Who's going to be the better player five-on-five? Because that's got to be your number one focus. And then you make your decision.

I mean, they know them a lot better than me. But, you know, I think something's got to give their gustus. And, I mean, I didn't like him all year in Chicago or in Washington. I don't know what they saw of this guy. I liked him a couple of years ago, but I sure didn't like him this year. So I don't know what he brings to the table. Has he even been around? I mean, I thought he went home or something.

We're talking to Doug McLean, former nhl president gm and head coach mac justin brought this up uh uh yesterday or no actually two days ago about the bunting decision i thought it was a no-brainer that he the leafs are rolling it-1, and he's not going in. And it ended up being a much deeper conversation with a lot of people split on him putting him back in the lineup or not. And I'm just wondering where you sat on that decision. Hindsight, of course, is 20-20, and maybe they could have used his 50 points in the lineup last night. But is this going to be one of those defining moments in this series if it doesn't turn out well,

where that could end up looking like a really bad decision? No, I didn't have a problem with him coming out of the lineup last game. I mean, he had problems late in the season, didn't seem to learn his lesson, although maybe the most positive thing is he knocked one of their best defensemen out of the series. Dirty that it was, he knocked a guy out that really is hurting their back end.

Because as I said, this is not a Stanley Cup back end, in my opinion. So, you know, that's the positive. But I think here's the bottom line. The kid just was suspended. He sat out. To me, if you think he's in your top 12 he should play if you think he's in your top 12 players of what you have in your bench right now or in your

dressing room if he's one of the top 12 then he should play in the next game because this is keith and the leafs biggest game that they played in the last five years, this game on Saturday night. Forget all the rest of them that they lost. This is a monumental game in Tampa Bay where they can end the series. So they've got to go with the best lineup they can possibly go with. What is the deal, Doug, with this team's inability to get it done 11 times now going back to 2013, call it 10 times going back the past six years in these elimination games.

Like, is it a mental thing? Do you think they struggle with pressure for some reason? You know, that's really hard to say because look at who has turned the games around for them when they didn't play very well in games three and four. You know, I mean, they were horrible in Tampa. They were horrible in Toronto, down 4-1, down late in the other game, and their stars came through and won it for them. Whether it's Morgan Riley, whether it's Matthews, whether it's Marner,

whether it's, you know, making big plays, Ryan O'Reilly making big plays, their stars really did come through for them. So it doesn't appear to be pressure, but it, I don't know. I mean, I am blown away that with that defense, that Tampa's playing right now with Radice, Puglic, Bogosian, and Cole as your four of your six, that is not a good enough blue line to be able to handle the firepower of the Leafs. I don't like the fact that the Leafs have not forechecked this group ferociously, but they're not really a forechecking team. Maybe that's why you need Bunting in there.

You need some guys that are going to really take the forechecking level to another level and go hard after this back end. And they haven't done it. They've let them off the hook as far as I'm concerned. They've scored four or five goals from the point, guys. That's just luck. That's just shooting the puck and getting some luck because this defense can't move people away from the front of the net those were lucky goals i

thought so we'll see what happens mac i want to talk to you about one final thing one final thing you look at the way the leafs play with their skill and you look at the way the New Jersey Devils play with their skill. I see a team that is fast in New Jersey. I see a team that shuts down the neutral zone, not allowing the Rangers at any speed because of the way they're playing the neutral zone, a trapping-style system. And I see a back end of Marino, Siggins-Howler, Hamilton, and Graves who move the puck like crazy

out of their own end. And yet they're both similar skill. The big blue line too back there for New Jersey. I want to ask you about John Cooper. I don't think I've ever, even when I played,

maybe Keenan up here one year that we played against St. Louis. But I've never recalled a coach that loved probably coming into this market and holding court with the media. And he's good. I mean, we break down what he says, how he says it, and the message, the underlining theme, or whatever the case is. Mack, does it play at all into this series?

Or is it just noise? No, I think the way he handles himself is something he's been since he coached in the North American League and through the USHL. It's his confidence that's given him an NHL career. And I think he spreads an air of confidence among his group. Do they like everything he says in the dressing room? No, like every other coach. Do they like everything he says in the media?

No. But they like the air of confidence. They like the fact that he says, hey, I wouldn't bet against this group going into last night's game. I would not bet against this group. And, oh, yeah, Vasilevsky, the genius on Sportsnet there that said he can't stop shots in the point and high shots, all of a sudden he can catch a puck.

Isn't that amazing? I love how he played that. I mean, Stevie Y and Cooper and Tampa must be so excited with those comments coming out of the desk in Sportsnet. Like, oh, my God. I've never seen a head coach do that in my life. Anyway, crazy. What are your thoughts, Doug, on –

I even forget his name. What's his name? Derek Lalonde. Oh, yeah, Derek Lalonde. And Derek's a good guy. He's a nice guy, but come on. You want to be an analyst or you want to be a coach? Like, seriously.

What are your thoughts on what's at stake for the current coach of the Leafs and the general manager here? I thought he was getting a $5 million deal in Pittsburgh. I thought it was already done. That's what I thought. I don't know. This is the new NHL.

Everybody has a job now before they're fired. You used to get fired and have to look for a job. Now you get jobs when you're still playing. That's kind of weird. I'm not sure that's the case there. Oh, well, we'll see. You know what? The State, hey, look, they've done a good job.

They've got a good team. They've played really hard. They cannot lose this series, boys. They cannot lose this series. They can't. They've got to win this series. And whether they survive or not, I don't care whether they survive or not

I keep I mean I I think the leagues deserve to win and it'll be a sin if they don't win this series with a 3-1 lead against a beat up this isn't the Tampa Bay Lightning who have beaten them before this is the beat up thinned out Tampa Bay Lightning team this isn't comparable to the team that beat them last year not even close Mac just one more thought maybe on Sheldon I mentioned to JB I'm not sure he's buying into the fact that I thought you know the in-game adjustments that coaches make this time of year and the importance of it and the timing of it can turn, you know, it can turn a game around. Am I overplaying this?

I think, I think in-game adjustments, I don't know about that as much as pre-game adjustments. I mean, how are you going to defend the neutral zone? How are you going to break the puck out of your own zone? What are you going to adjust to make your breakouts clean and quick and get your rush on and get some speed through the neutral zone? I think those are the adjustments that have to be critical. And line adjustments are always critical. In-game line adjustments, reading who's going, who's not

going, and making some flips. And he's done that pretty effectively at times this year. I think that's what you're talking about. Line adjustments. That's, you're not going to, you know, you tweak a system, but you don't change a system in a game for the most part.

Are we going seven in this series? I think it'll go seven. I think it'll probably go seven. I hope I'm wrong on that, but I think it'll go seven. Sammy ain't going to make it. Our Sammy's not going to make it. He's a nervous Nelly. He should get into another business.

He panics when I got echoes in my earplugs. I've never seen a guy so... I guess Elliot used to be devastated when one of his sources would get fired. Sammy, with the Leafs playing the way

they are. Born when the Islanders lose. People take things to heart. But Sammy's got to grow up, grow some, grow some. All right. You're good now. You got anything else? You talked Rangers, anything else? Tickling your fancy out there.

Oh yeah. I love, I, I, I'm reading today that the ottawa senators who lose i don't know do they lose 20 million a year i know anthony of long would never tell me what they're losing because he used to tell me the arizona were making money when he would we used to interview them they're worth a billion dollars like how are they worth a billion dollars like what somebody explain that to me they don't make money they got 400 they got 400 plus million in debt and they it's they need a new building and they're worth a billion dollars didn't seattle go for 650 in a major city with a beautiful building and i don't i don't get how this gary is the best multiplier in the history of multipliers i got no comment jb a billion dollars

you got any loose change over there jb no i think you know a couple of people that might have a few bucks no commander's deal doesn't go through. You might know someone who can spare a bill. Put a group together at Boca Vista there. I couldn't put a group together to buy the Western Capitals in Summerside. All right. Listen, always a pleasure, pal.

Look, go Leafs and tell your producer just to relax, relax and grow some. See you later. Thanks, Mac. See you, bud. All right. Doug McClain, former NHL president, Stanley Cup finalist with the Florida Panthers. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. Okay. Take a quick break. Brian Bradley, ex-NHLer,

does a terrific job down in Florida covering the Panthers. We'll get his thoughts and the growing confidence of the Lightning. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, back after these words. Insight, analysis, and opinions on all things Blue Jays. Blair and Barker.

Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van. All right, let's welcome in Brian Bradley, ex-NHLer. Does a terrific job down in Tampa Bay covering the Lightning. Brad, how are you, pal? Good, good. Who's this, Nick or Justin? This is Kipper, and I'm with Justin Bourne.

Kipper? Yo, what's up, guys? How are you doing today? Yeah, you know, I just got back into Tampa this afternoon. You know, I wasn't with the team, but we were with some, you know, on a Learjet flying back down. And that was a good game last night for the Lightning. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you know, it's great as an ex-player, man.

You've seen both sides of this town, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have. You know what? I mean, you know know what the you know the leafs have a really good team it just you know like i said it's tough the lightning no they're a tough team you know they're a tough team to put away because you know they've had to go through their ups and downs and um you know they've had some great moments and not great moments and you know i mean i think they learned a lot when they lost in 20 uh you know when they lost they lost to columbus four straight after having that super great moments and not great moments. And, you know, I mean, I think they learned a lot when they lost in 20, you know, when they lost their lot to Columbus four straight after having that super

great record. And, you know, it just, it, that just changed the team somehow and they learned how to win and, and that's what it takes, you know, Kipper. I mean, you played with the Rangers, you know, your star players, your, you know, your messages and leeches, they got to step up when the big games count, you know, that's, that's when it all boils down to in playoff hockey. Brian, how are the Lightning surviving, not just surviving, but thriving with a decor that's missing Eric Chernak?

And, you know, Victor Hedman seems a little banged up. How are they hanging in there so well? Yeah, you know what, it's a big loss. I mean, when you talk about Chernak I mean he was kind of like the Ryan McDonough I mean we had to let Ryan McDonough go to Nashville for that reason and you know Ryan McDonough is a great shot blocker you know Sergeyev and Chernak have learned so much from him I mean you know what uh but you know we definitely miss a guy like that not having both those guys in the lineup and you know Hedman's at 50 percent probably I mean we all know he's

injured a bit and I mean you can tell on the bench some of the know, Hedman's at 50% probably. I mean, we all know he's injured a bit and, I mean, you can tell on the bench some of the shifts he's had, he's in pain and stuff, but, you know, Victor Hedman at 50% is better than most guys at 100. He's kind of like the Ray Bork or the Brian Leach or whoever you want to call it. He makes the team go. And, you know, I mean, just to have him in the lineup, you know,

the guys look up to him and, you know, you can't replace a Victor Hedman or, you know, like Kale McCars in the NHL. They're just too good of players. You know, you mentioned star players this time of year. And it's not that Kucherov and Point have been horrible here, but their numbers don't reflect what other top players are doing, including Mitch Marner at 11 points. Yet, I mean, this time of year, it's about third and fourth liners as well, but should Leaf fans be a little nervous

about these big guns, like, getting it going here? You know, you know what, Nick? You know, I think they played pretty good. You know, I mean, you know, like Stan Close has been not as good, and I think Kutrop and Point have been well. I mean, I don't know what's Point after that hit from, you know, Ryan or, you know. Yep, Morgan Riley.

Yeah, Morgan Riley. I mean, you know, he kind of hasn't been the same, if you ask me. I mean, it's part of the game. He's probably playing injured. No one knows what it is. But, I mean, when he went in the boards i thought he was dead i mean i thought he broke his shoulder broke his collarbone he's gone and then to see him back on the ice is like is that him out there right now and uh but you know guys have injuries at the end of the day and you know i mean you know i think you know mitch marger and matthews have played good in my

books i thought they played better last year i mean you know i Mitch Marner and Matthews have played good in my books. I thought they played better last year. I mean, you know, I know the numbers show they're doing well, but a lot of times it's second assists. And, I mean, I look at the whole game and really playing good. You know, Ryan O'Reilly, to me, has been outstanding for the Leafs as a pickup. And, you know, Samsonov's played well. I mean, you know, they, you know, but at the end of the day, I mean, the Leafs had a good opportunity to put us away last night,

and they didn't. And, you know, it's going to be tough to knock Tampa out at home, especially after losing two straight. I mean, their home record's been outstanding. And when you look at it realistically, guys, five out of six periods in Tampa, we really dominated the game. I mean, we lost both games. It's just, you know, the really dominated the game. I mean, we lost both games. It's just, you know,

the guy behind the thing... Is that me or... Is he... I didn't even get a... I didn't get a boink. You want to try him again, Sammy? Alright, we're going to try to... to the gentleman i hope we do get him back because he he knows his stuff yes yes yeah well listen uh well i got a chance to play against him in junior yeah with london knights and then uh you know he had a good career too as well. And a couple of years here in Toronto.

But a good portion of that start in Tampa Bay had Brian Bradley's fingerprints all over it. Yeah. And obviously been covering the team for some time now and has a pretty good sense for what makes him tick. And he gets to ride on Lear Jets. That's nice. That's a nice perk for sure. It's interesting though, having been able to see the team from the collapse against Columbus

through the Stanley Cups and all that. It's crazy to me that the Leafs haven't taken that moment from their own disappointments. You know, the whole, okay, what we did in the past didn't work. We need to be different. It's amazing that that hurdle

hasn't been cleared. All right, let's welcome in Brian Bradley. Yeah, sorry, guys. No, no problem at all. For some reason, the phone dropped on me back here in Tampa. But like I said, you know, I mean, I think, you know, when you look at everything, I mean, the guy who's played just okay. And, you know, I agree with everybody.

Vasilevsky probably played his best game in the playoffs last night. He's been okay for us, you know, I agree with everybody is that's a less, he probably played his best game in the playoffs last night. He's been okay for us. You guys like Nick, you know, I mean, you know, you had Richter and net and different goals you played in the NHL, but that he was so good for the last three years. And, you know, you know, I was at all the games, one, two, three, four. I mean, he played okay in all the games, not good at all. You know, last night he made a huge save on Marner, made some big saves to keep us in the game,

and that's what Vazzy does. But, I mean, he hasn't been as good, but you know what? He had a big game last night. Hopefully, you know, he keeps going from there. You got a follow-up on Vazzy? No, go ahead. Okay. In terms of Brad Vasilevsky and the impact he has,

and I'm talking about on and off the ice here listen we've played we've played with some great goalies uh both of us and there are the goalies that you absolutely just leave alone and they for the most part leave you alone they just go and do their job and that's enough and then there's other ones that are more vocal and are more involved. And where does Vasilevsky sit for you? And I factor in his intensity, his passion, and, you know, his willingness to get involved in that room. Yeah, you know what?

I don't think he's a vocal guy, Nick. You know what I mean? He's not one of those guys that's going to stand up. He's a workhorse. He's one of those goalies that never wants to get off the ice. Like, you literally have John Cooper has to tell him to get off the ice. You know, you just did 150 shots in practice, and he wants more. I mean, he just loves the game.

He loves to compete. He loves to work. He's not a vocal guy. He's very quiet, if you ask me. You know what? I talked to him a few times. He doesn't say a lot, but, you know, it doesn't mean he's not quiet if you ask me um you know what i talked to him a few times he doesn't say a lot but you know it doesn't mean he's not intense and ready to play um but at the end of the day you know like i said you know when you talk about you know goaltending that you know

we played against in the day and i mean he's not he's not there yet but his numbers that you know at some point will be like i mean you know playing against patrick wad dominic hasik or marty verdure you know you had to have your a game because because anytime you had, you scored two or three goals, you know, in a game, and you had to score three against those guys, you weren't winning. Hard to put a puck in the net against those guys, so, you know, he's in that same kind of aura as those guys, but, I mean, he's still got a long time left in his career, but, you know, Vaz, he is such a good goalie, but, you know, he's still got a long time left in his career, but, you know, Vaz, he is such a good goalie. But, you know, maybe sometimes in everybody's career,

they go through a little ups and downs, and this year's been really kind of an up-and-down year. There's been times Vaz, he's been, oh, my God, look at him. He looks amazing. There's other times it's like, what is – like, I just don't understand. I don't see it. You know what I mean? Yep.

So, you know, and that's – go ahead. Go ahead. I'll just, you know and that's go ahead go ahead I'll just you know go ahead if you have more on Vasilevsky I was going to ask you about Cooper yeah yeah no Cooper let you he mentioned some stuff on Vasilevsky and how um you know he he looked great he's trying to kind of pump him up in the media and the quotes that we hear in toronto you know how much is cooper calculated in terms of what he says how much does he seem to thrive in the playoffs where he gets to kind of set the tone for his team yeah you know john's a great coach i mean his record speaks for itself whether it's in you know the ushl where he's played in green bay won championships in american hockey league where they won 28 straight games one season in the playoffs to win the championship,

which to me is ridiculous to win 28 straight playoff games or whatever the number was. But the code players love him. They love playing for him. He drives up his game plan. They execute it. He's not one of those coaches that yells and screams and says stuff. If you make a mistake and you do it three times in a row, he's going to come and see you.

But at the end of the day, he's one of those coaches that the players just love playing for. And you know what? He's good in the media. He was a lawyer, so he knows what to say and not to. I mean, to me, he's probably the best coach in the NHL. And at the end of the day, it's how he's never is probably the best coach in the NHL. And, you know, at the end of the day, it's how he's never won coach of the year in the NHL is just beyond me.

Really? It looks like he's owed one. Coach of the year. Wow. Wow. Yeah, maybe at some time. But he's never won coach of the year. So, I mean, I don't know. With some of the records and some of the things we've won over the last,

what, three years or since 2015 going to the Stanley Cup, you know, what, four times? But, you know, he's a really good coach, and he knows how to execute, and he's won at every level. So, you know what, it's not like he's just been to the NHL. He won a junior, won the American Hockey League, and he's won in the NHL. Hey, Brad, I mean, listen, they're still experienced. They're still champions in many ways, and their fight, again, is surfacing. But has there been anything that's stood out to you with their inconsistencies since January?

And at times, for sure, the struggles of Vasilevsky. Is there one thing that stood out for you in the back of the season that says maybe it could creep up in the next game or two? Well, you know what I mean? I think we've been dealing with this all year, guys, like Nick and Justin. I mean, we played a lot

of hockey over the last three years. I mean, you know what? I've been to the Stanley Cup finals three years in a row, won twice. I mean, last year, if we don't lose points, I think we win three in a row. He's just that good won twice. I mean, last year, if we don't lose points, I think we win three in a row. He's just that good a player. I mean, you know, Colorado beat us 4-2, but without, you know, it's like taking Mitch Marner out of your lineup in the Stanley Cup finals.

It's hard to win. But at the end of the day, you know, the guys have been banged up all year, and you know what, you know, and they're finding a way to win. But I think, like I said, they've just played so much hockey over the last three years. up all year and you know what uh and you know and they're finding a way to win but i i think like i said they've just played so much hockey over the last three years it's i think it could be coming to a head with them but they just keep finding a way to win and they're hard to put out at the end of the day because they know what they need to do and they don't make mistakes they keep it simple they keep it they don't like the other team you know they don't let the other team you know they

let them make mistakes and they capitalize them because they're not going to make that mistake. And, you know, it's like guys, like you look at plot point for New Jersey, he's got a couple of key goals for New Jersey. He was a big part of the team here in Tampa. But I mean, you know what, like I said, you know, Toronto's a really good team. I mean, you know, can they get it done? Maybe. But at the end of the day, they're not going to be easy.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will not go down without a fight. I've got a feeling we're going to Game 7 because I would be shocked if they can beat us three games at home here on Saturday night. Hey, Brad, great stuff, man. Really appreciate you making time for us. Enjoy Game 6 Saturday night, and we'll see what comes of it. Thanks for doing this, pal.

You betcha. You betcha, Kipper and Borny. Have a great we'll see what comes of it. Thanks for doing this, pal. You betcha. You betcha, Kipper and Borny. Have a great day and see what happens and go from there. We'll probably be back in Toronto on Monday. All right. Interesting. Thanks a lot. Former National Hockey Leaguer. Almost 700 games and like I said, a real talented player, Brian

Bradley. I think he closed by saying we'll probably be back in Toronto for game seven. Did he give you, Sammy, a little bit of hope with we've played a lot of hockey here and it could catch up to us? Nah. Nah. I'm tapped. Boys, let's talk about something else.

Let's talk about the Jets. Let's talk about their misery. I can't. Yeah. I need to see one more hockey game before I give more Leafs takes. It's just a, it's so hard to picture. He's right. It is so hard for me to picture them going down there,

winning three games in that building. Well, Cooper did have some comments about winning three in Toronto and what an accomplishment it would be for Tampa Bay to win this series by doing it that way. Yeah. Toronto has the option to do it too. What did we say the road team is like they're five or six games over 500 league wide like it's it's strange

it has been really strange and now the rangers can't win at home they can't win on the road they're running out of places to play i think that's right i think that's a hairy neil line if i that's a really good line if i yeah their lines are in the blender for the rangers uh yeah gerald galant's got a lot of pressure on him right now to win two hockey games i feel like he's had a couple of short stints. Like, if that doesn't go well, is this year three, two, three? Yeah. I can't.

Joe Gallant, future coach of the Leafs? There might be a price to pay if he does not find a way to. Pressure changed quick in New York, hey? Listen, they couldn't. Everybody was calling four games. We had our buddy Valley on who covers the Rangers for MSG. And he's like,

everybody had like Jersey foreign out. Now they switched to Keirish Mead and they've been very, very good. First team out, is the Winnipeg Jets. Canada's own. What did you make of their showing,

their first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights? I had Winnipeg imploding 12 months ago. Yeah. You could just see where the contracts were headed. And I had heard all that crap over Patrick Laine, like well before he got traded out of Winnipeg, on how it was just never a comfortable fit with him and some of his teammates.

It just seemed like this team was always off a little bit yeah and now it's gonna come to a head these big contracts including shifley's hellebucks a wheeler pierre luc de bois right all with a year left and who's's staying? Nobody, really. They're not good enough to say, ah, they just need to build around this core or whatever. Like, their star players have been flawed, and they seem frustrated. The whole thing's tense.

If you didn't hear yesterday, Rick Bonus, after they got eliminated from the series, took to the microphone and was very disappointed in his superstars. Listen, I've been at this a little longer than you guys. I can't ever recall hearing a coach like this

when a series is over. You're not motivating anyone. Ripping on his top players like this. Overall thoughts, I'm so disappointed and disgusted right now. That's my thoughts. Where does the disgust come from?

No pushback. But it's the same crap we saw in February. It was. That's why we... As soon as we were challenging for first place and teams were coming after us, we had no pushback. This series, we had no pushback. Their better players are so much better than ours,

it's not even close. What is it about this team's leadership core that the top end players? We've talked all... We've got to push back. There's got to be a pushback. There's got to be pride. You've got to be able to push back when things aren't going your way. We had no pushback. Their better players are so much better than ours tonight. They deserve to

win. They were the better team in the regular season. They were the better team in this series. Anything else? Good. Thanks. Oh! Yes. Hot. Coming in hot.

That is burning a bridge. It's almost as if if you had one more game, that might not be a bad way to go. Right. No games to go. But when you're out, it serves really no purpose i don't think you've had you have what you just heard if you haven't had it out with those guys already if you haven't reached the conclusion they can't be reached cannot play with them

cannot win with 100 percent cannot coach with them you can't do it can't do it i want winners i want people that want to win. Is he done? That's long. Okay. Let the public come to that conclusion themselves. I don't understand, you know. I don't know.

Who's he protecting? It's not even a protecting. It's like, what's the point? That's all. People want to know what happened here. They want to know what went wrong from a team that was near first in 2023 in the West. Yeah, you can do that over time a little bit here. I just don't, I don't know.

Maybe I'm making too big of a deal out of it. You're right from being a professional. And, you know, maybe it's, maybe he just is so mad at them he doesn't care that it's unprofessional 100 you know like i think it's just it just goes to show the relationship and that like he had gotten through to them right i think it's a rotten core like they hate they obviously don't perform well like they've that's two coaches that have been exasperated. Paul Maurice left. He was like, yeah, I'm done.

Can't win with them. Can't win with them. Can't do it. You know? So that's as scorched earth as ever. Like, he can't coach them again. No, that's the point I think that's big here is how does Shifley and Wheeler put on the jersey and bonus coaches the team after this

those guys both have a year left on their contract right bonus just signed i assumed it wasn't a one-year coaching contract you can't bring them back so then what wow you that's what the draft's for. You go there and you shop. And you can eat some money and you can find places for these guys. Both those guys have no trade clauses. Could there be incentive? Could part of this be like, you want those guys to want to be somewhere else?

To accept a trade? They know they're not re-signing there no so they don't they don't they don't need a they don't need a push they've already got one foot out the door i see yeah yeah they want next year's both of their last year they want a new contract they want a new start. They want fresh. Obviously, with those clauses, they can be selective. But, you know, they're not part of the future. No. And Hellebuck, to me, will be very interesting because he's a year away. Well, you think he's going to want to play for a team that's not trying to win immediately?

No, I don't. I think he wants going to want to play for a team that's not trying to win immediately? No, I don't. I think he wants to win the Stanley Cup. I would think that there'd be a lot of teams interested in... He might be the next guy to get a real number as a goalie. It's so dangerous. And listen, they just... How many games did he end up playing this year? 65?

A lot. With the playoffs? That's a lot. Yeah. He played 64 regular seasons, so 69 on the year. That's nice. A lot of hockey, right? Yes.

A lot of hockey. They wore him down. Yeah. But tell me that there wouldn't be some teams maybe like Ottawa. Leafs can't afford them. I got news for you. When they send Samson off packing, maybe. This guy might be worth $8 million a year.

What's he got? One year, it's $6 million roughly. Wow. Get $6 million. Am I wrong there? No, $4.5 million. Maybe Prindam can find a way to sneak him in for one year before the cap jumps. True.

You're not going Samsonov on a new deal. We lost in the first round. Here's William Nylander. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Relax. It might be a little tricky with matt murray for one more year right yeah great move that was what does he know but what's he have left on his deal for one

more season 4.125 or something four seven four point one i thought but it could be four seven i think you're right actually i think it's closer to yeah i think you're right that might be a little bit tricky but there'd be a lot of teams. Well, not a lot of teams. There'd be selective teams for Hellebuck. Yeah, he's only 29 years old. One more year on that deal. I think he's getting a big ticket. I know, but how big anymore?

Five times eight. No! How is he not? Yeah, he's in the ballpark. He's making six. He's up for the Vesna. He's won a Vesna already, is he not? He's a finalist every other year. JB's in the ballpark. He's making six. He's up for the Vesna. He's won a Vesna already. Is he not?

He's a finalist every other year. He's in the ballpark. I think it's. He's only 29. I think it's. He's one of like five starters on earth. Yeah. I think he's an eight.

Oh, man. But. Bob got 10 a zillion years ago, didn't he? You need to avoid the 10. Yeah. Big time. Right. Although.

Although. Term stinks. Although goalie Bob wins a couple more games in a row pay that 10 mil all day yeah yeah starting tonight what else we got we got uh colorado and seattle yeah we also have questions right sammy so we got texts and tweets do we not sammy yeah we got some what do they call in i don't call in i don't not taking calls text 595 90 or respond to my tweet is the part of hosting this show i don't

really give a crap about like uh it's a message yeah we we got questions i this this is just tons of questions the perfect question that is on a response to Borny's tweet from Aaron McCartney. I only have one question, and it's more directed at Leaf players than anything else. Why? That is all. Why do we get goalied on big games?

Why do we let goals in at the worst possible times? Why does our goalie think his name is Elia Hasek sometimes? Just why? Why, why, why, why? What is the term again? Outgoalied? Yes. If that's not what Leaf Nation is feeling today.

We touched on that, though. Yeah. It's just, it is just one switch. Just be a better goalie than the guy across from you. One game. You know, it's funny. Like, the Leafs have got three wins in this series. It's not like Samsonov's been terrible.

But, yeah, you're just now, when you get to this point, you just want the one game to happen. But there's just no way to will that. That's luck. I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. If anyone, if i did boy would i be paid a lot of money by the least you'd be rich yeah rich yeah i have the answer what's

it worth to you uh happy friday guys marie's from caledon now that vegas is rolling do you think they can roll all the way to the cup i'll say this i actually think vegas has a good chance this year because the next team they're going to play is you know out of edmonton la either way really good series right like they can play defensively i mark stone's playing well for him that's an understatement oh god how good's he oh my god yeah he is so good he's like ryan o'reilly with more offense he uh i don't know he batted the puck and then he he gloved it and then all within almost one motion he goes high glove and then he lost his marbles like he always does when he scores like he scored for the first time in his career yeah which i love he has the passion even though he doesn't

play for the passion team how about this this one from AJ in Richmond Hill? This is a guy that wants some gossip, looking for some tea. Hello, guys. Does anyone know where Shanahan is these days? He's never shown with Dubas, Spezza, or Pitta. Wow. What's going on? That's the second person that asked me that question today.

Yeah. He's nowhere to be found. He's not in a press box's he's not in a press box not in the press box he's going full money ball he's watching it from the gallows of the arena he's not being seen on the lat pull down machine somewhere just can't watch it is a little you know there's been some rumored you know with spezza beside k yeah last night they were side by side okay pridham's there now can i make a small suggestion yes kyle if you're listening grab some security when you go to tampa tomorrow night you cannot have that happen again just

somebody beside you that could jump in and and drop the F-bombs for you. It's like when you show people who are picking on you that something in particular got to you and then you know what you're going to hear over and over and over. I feel like now that the fans know that Dubas can be had, he's going to hear it. So, yeah, he needs some help. That's the thing.

It's like when you go to a baseball game and you sit in the outfield and there's some bozo that's screaming at a guy and the outfielder reacts, that's the worst possible thing that can happen for you. Because then the whole game, it's like, ah, you're just saying dumb crap the whole time. For sure. Well, for the record, though, Brendan Shanahan has not sat with Kyle all year.

I know at times during the bubble that we saw them together, but it hasn't happened all year um which is noteworthy i have anything to do with anything else well i don't know like do gm sit with the president very contract negotiations yeah i'd say yeah it's i'd say it's worth uh mentioning yes okay it's a mention this is a text. It's from a nameless guy. I hate when they... This group is 0-10 in closeout games. Correct.

Wrong. 0-11. Well, this group, 0-10. Oh, yeah. That's right. That's a losing... That's a losing culture if there ever was one. But the law of averages is on their side.

Two more tries ahead. Oh, how positive and uplifting. H hockey is a dumb game and anything can happen couldn't it happen randomly at one time you're gonna win one of these like something off the ref's head goes in the net and that's if they lose both of these games they will set the all-time record for most losses with a chance to eliminate in a row in a row okay let's just get something straight from here on then okay whatever happens no one's going to the demons under the bed or witchcraft or this team's cursed. Okay. Don't go there.

Oh, I'm going there. No, you're not. The demons are currently present. We're going on why they weren't good enough. Yeah. Okay. That's all. That's all I'm telling you.

And if you want to go down to right down to the core of character flaws in their lineup, I will go there. But to tell me that it's this demons, bull crap, I don't have time for it. I don't have time for ghosts and cursed franchise. I do have time for people being mentally weak. You know, like that there are people who don't have the intestinal fortitude. Character flaw. Yes. But it ain't ghosts.

This is from my boy Jeremy in Meaford. There's an answer to all this Leaf-related question. It's simple. They are cursed. Cursed team. There is no other answer. It can't be explained. We just simple. They are cursed. Cursed team. There is no other answer. It can't be explained. He just said no.

Cursed. Like Spock says, once you eliminate all other possibilities, what is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Cursed team. From my boy Jeremy and Meiford.

You're not reading those anymore. Okay. Okay. I like that he tried to use a hyper-logical view of complete illogic thought. You just snuck one in on us. That's all.

There's a lot of comments on the Twitter machine today. This is a weird question, but I'm going to throw it to you guys. Love the show, boys. Very random question. When I say overrated, who's the first player that comes to mind? On the Leafs or just in general? This guy says, for me, it's Dion Phaneuf. Wow.

Oh, we're talking like historically? Anytime. An all-time player who's not as good as people think? Yeah, it's... Got anyone for me? Friday. Come on. I'm going to go through my mental Rolodex of perceptions of all players.

Let me see. It's got to be someone based in Toronto, probably. Probably Matt Sundin. Oh, my God. Relax. I was trying to get the most anger I could out of people. Oh, my God. Relax.

I'm kidding. If Austin scores another 40 next year. I'll take Marner. Oh. Why don't they both play well tomorrow night? That would be real nice. We'll come in here and we'll hug it out. That's a great answer.

All right. What else we got there? Boy, we're getting a lot of... Why do you have to find a scapegoat when the team loses? There are 20 guys on the ice. So why do you have to find a scapegoat when the team loses? There are 20 guys on the ice, John and Hamilton. It's called Sports Talk Radio, pal.

5% of the blame for everyone. It's called Sports Talk Radio. John's an ex-generation What do you call the kids? Past millennials? Gen Z Participation trophies

Don't point to anything Boys, something tells me John in Hamilton isn't a Gen Z Fair enough You know, I bet It's interesting to be did you watch janice uh his little spiel can you find that no can't so no okay explain it to explain it yeah he's the best player mvp of the league a couple times uh on the box they've won a championship they're the number one seed they lose to the eighth seed in the first round he's asked if it's a failure and he says listen michael jordan lost more championships than he won

were those other seasons failures know their steps towards successes not a failure but a learning lesson whatever you're the one seed you lose to an eight listen i love the answer and i love the depth of the honest and the thoughtfulness and whatever but he's wrong it's a failure of a season the season's a failure if you're one It's a massive failure. The season's a failure. If you're one seed, you lose two and eight. So sometimes some people get the blame. So this guy, Trevor from Oshawa, I need to hear positive Sammy again. Let's hear about the eggshells again.

We need to have faith. This is a good team. This is like my daughter before bed. She's like, tell me the story again. It's like, make me feel good. You know, when we left out the door, the first thing you said to me was what? That I don't believe. Yeah.

And then you said, I'm going to. Yeah. I'm going to look like a real idiot when they lose tonight. Yeah. And what did I tell you? They're not going to lose tonight. No, I told you, you don't need the Leafs to lose to look like an idiot. That's a good point.

That's a good point. So, should we spend four minutes talking about what the hell is going to happen tomorrow night? Well, yeah. I'm going with the dog in the video. Oh, love that.

You're going Corey wins and Leafs win it in game seven. You know, when is that game seven scheduled? Monday night. You know, when Washington finally got through and won the cup, they had to slay the Penguins dragon first. That was part of their journey. The Leafs may have to slay the game seven dragon first.

And then they have to slay the other dragon, the Boston Bruins. You know, you may have to go through. They're just going to be slaying dragons all the way. The best way out is always through. It's going to be looking like a Game of Thrones episode by the time they get to the finals. Yeah. All right.

So we're okay. We'll be calm even if they lose Saturday night. Yeah, speak for yourself. I am calling the Leafs to win on Saturday. I think they'll get it done. Okay. But. Good.

You know. Good. I really. You don't. Can I tell you something right now? Yeah. They're blowing it. The whole thing.

Yeah. He just. You can't just throw that in at 452. The roller coaster. You can't handle the that in at 452. The roller coaster. You can't handle the swings, kid. Sit in the pocket. Relax. They're blowing it.

Last night was the night for them to prove it's different, and they played the exact same game they've played for seven years. It's happening, boys. Get ready for next Tuesday's show. Gonna be a fun one. Oh, my God. Our Tuesday show after a game seven loss. I don't even know. I wouldn't even... boys listen get ready for next tuesday show gonna be a fun one oh my god our tuesday show after a game seven loss i don't even know i wouldn't even what all the the people that like

love pulling over on the highway to see the the wreck yeah we'll come out we would have the same number of viewers as ever but it would be totally different people just people there for vindictive evil pleasures so here we are saying like we're not going down the witchcraft route and i see on our poll on youtube are the leafs cursed and it's a yes no answer or ask me on tuesday what one of my best buddies is a diehard leaf fan my boy dave he's like i got got movie tickets for Saturday night and maybe Monday. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. That's the most insane thing I've ever heard.

How do you live and die with a team for seven months and then bail? He's going to be that guy in the movie theater where his phone lights up like a Christmas tree to check the scores. That was my pen that was $3,000. Yeah, I was going to say that's like an anvil hitting the desk there. You really believe that he's not watching? Yeah. My boy Dave showed up. Listen, fellas, we'll see what happens.

We'll talk Monday. Saturday night. Marner, Hattrick, Saturday night. That's my call. They win 3-0. Could be a good night. Yeah, it could have been a good night last night, too. No, you need to save it for Saturday night.

Sportsnet wants that Saturday night. Gear up for seven, fellas. Chat on Monday. All right. Our thanks to Doug McClain, former NHL president, leader of Off the Rails Friday, and Brian Bradley. Enjoy the weekend, everybody. Stay safe.

And like I said, you got a chance to give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Give us one more thumbs up towards your great weekend. We're out of here. Back on Monday. We'll see you next time.