Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Strive to Square the Series

Episode Date: April 20, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee get set for Leafs' playoff gameday for a pivotal Game 2 vs. the Lightning, Victor Hedman's mysterious injury, Michael Bunting's suspension, what to expect from Matthew Knies in his postseason debut and how much pressure is on him. They are joined by Gord Stellick (20:22), who discusses the Game 1 disappointment, the weight on the Leafs' core four, if Game 2 is a must-win, practicing the principal of patience and his confidence levels in Samsonov. Next up, NHL Network's Brian Boyle (47:41), who shares some playoff memories from his days with the Rangers, Lightning and Leafs, the external pressure of playing in Toronto and the value of Cooper's coaching style. Later, Sportsnet Jets columnist Ken Wiebe breaks down Winnipeg's Game 1 shocker over the Golden Knights, Connor Hellebuyck's invaluable impact and how the team shut down Jack Eichel (1:06:11).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 Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Rios, we welcome back in David Siss-Boombaugh as Frank the Tank leaves us. Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo. Let's get to the major news story of the day. Okay. I lost my blue check mark in twitter oh no and i wouldn't have had a clue but you told you you pointed that out to me oh right me too yeah so okay i don't really follow major news stories unless it affects me personally like a pandemic or the toronto maple what does this mean now for me with

no check uh nothing unless there's although although the door is wide open for a variety of fake kippers now your real kipper is back being the way to tell i went through this about 14 years ago yeah don't worry elon has brought us back 14 years so someone's gonna like put an underscore on my name and make it look exactly the same i bet your sis does it i bet david sis i think so boom bomb yep keep an eye out so i do love that the verification's all gone on twitter now and it's really switched from when you had a checkmark, you were somewhat cool. Like you were like, hey, I'm Mr. Well-known guy. I've got a blue checkmark.

I'm Mr. Popular. And now if you have a blue checkmark, you're like, wow, you are a loser. I'm a dinosaur. How much do they want for me to be cool again with a blue checkmark? I think it is. I'm just looking right now. It's $100 a sword. How much do they want for me to be cool again with the blue checkmark? I think it is. I'm just looking right now. It's a hundred bucks a year. But to Sammy's point, it's not a cool, like now if you're seen paying for it, you're uncool.

It's embarrassing. Yeah, fully embarrassing. Ten bucks a month. Now, if your employer does it, okay. Maybe that's okay. They want their people verified. Okay. But if you go spend your money.

Yeah. Austin Matthews. Austin Matthews. Still verified. Does he get exempt because he hangs out with Justin Bieber? But the Pope got his taken away. Did he really? All the AI Pope playing basketball

like we're in Balenciaga. The Pope has lost his verification, boys. We're losing track of the world. There's new white smoke in the air. There may be some white smoke in the air down at Scotiabank Arena. Now. Okay, boys, let's get her going here.

Because we are near hours away. Oh, God. Are we? And I don't know. Is this the first game two must win in Leaf history? No, it's not a must win. What are you talking about?

You're deranged. Yes. It's not a must win. If they lose tonight, get in the sweat. We do not agree. No. I'm leaning towards Sammy more than you. Listen, don't let anyone think I'm saying it's okay to lose tonight.

It's really, really bad. But Tampa's battered and bruised. You know, I can see a world. Okay. yeah tampa's battered and bruised you know i can see a world okay and again we do not know whether or not uh we'll see victor headman do we honestly believe it's a game time decision do we think they're coy with uh the announcement where are you on victor headman tonight skated today he left no one that i know of can track down the injury like where it may have happened so he's fine he's gonna play the the sense that i got coming out of game one was

there was a knee injury it's suspected knee injury oh yeah and whether or not it's a recurring thing something something he's battled. I think John Cooper went on record and said that it's something new that he's dealing with. Yeah. Which is, you know, I don't trust a word that lawyer says right now. Not an absolute, not a word of any sentence. Yeah.

Yeah. Pass go. Yeah. Do not collect 200. In fact, I'm more likely to believe that this is now the same injury because Koop's just constantly trying to throw you off the scent. If he comes back and he finds a way to play 22 minutes tonight, more of a must win for you now?

Is it based on a depleted blue line that you could still come back going down to nothing and needing to go into Tampa Bay. Yeah, if he's strong tonight and to your point plays 22 looks good. You know is good for them then down to nothing. I'm not as convinced he's going to play. I hope you're right.

Like I that was a tight game himself. It was a tight game us and he was early early. Yeah, right six minutes in that game. How can you pull yourself that early out of game one and then turn around and play 20 minutes 48 hours later? It's a good point, Kip and Sam. You know, like given they know that this is a long-haul play for them,

it's not hard to see a world where they go, hey, we're just going to give it one day. You know, one extra day game off and that buys them four days between games. Three days between games. Yeah, maybe you won't play. I'm saying I think he'll play because the Leafs are cursed. That's basically all.

We got Gord Stelic in about 15 minutes. Leaf Nation pre and post. Former Leaf general manager. Always great getting his insights. Kevin Wiebe in the second hour as well to tee up Winnipeg. We have the game on the station tonight. So Gord and Gunnar will be in the building. Gunnar will be throwing banana peels at the refs as they come onto the ice.

So we'll see if that's okay. And a plug for you after the game as well. Oh, yeah, we're doing Leafs talk. But, I mean, they're going to be in the building tonight, on the station, between the periods with Joe and Jim. It's going to be great for those guys to be down there. So just wanted to make sure we got that in there. Bonesy's excited about the game, eh?

Yeah. He wasn't happy about the suspension, though. Bonesy tweeting today about Hartman only getting one game for his hit on Ehlers and Bunting getting three. He's not happy. Do we want to talk Bunting here, fellas? Probably the biggest story.

Yeah, no, let's. You think it's the biggest story? I don't care. Yeah, of course it's a big one. Three-game suspension. We mulled it over in yesterday's show. I didn't know what the number would be. Well, yeah, you said two or three. I had a strong indication that this one checked a lot of boxes off for the league

on what was wrong with it, which led to more than one. You know, if that same hit happens and it's delivered by David Kampf instead of Michael Bunting, maybe it's delivered by David Kampf instead of Michael Bunting. Maybe it's two. I do believe that the tiebreaker is this guy's been a donkey. It's the donkey tax. We weren't sure if it was two or three. And you're a guy who's given our officials fits. Okay.

Sammy, you go ahead because I want to come back and come back and give jb something to think about that is a little different okay i thought it was really harsh like i i'm not even you know my thoughts on on michael bunting here i'm not like mr defender of him of course but like a guy sure he's a bit of a you know what out there but he's never been suspended before. Like, he plays on the edge, but he doesn't usually do dirty things. He's not egregiously dirty. I just think to suspend a guy for three playoff games, a non-repeat offender. It's just a bad hit, dude.

It is a bad hit. It's so bad. But it is a bad hit. But last night, Thomas Nosek elbows Eric Stahl in the grill away from the puck. He doesn't even get a hearing. It's like way different. Yeah, that one I didn't. I mean, it's an elbow in the mouth,

just like a blindside elbow in the mouth. You know, I don't pertain to see every angle that I saw a couple of times. The Nosek one. Yeah, the Nosek on Stahl. I'm not convinced that he hit him.

The contact is probably not heavy, not forceful. What I saw, and maybe there's another angle out there that either the league had or they're uh the people have seen that i haven't seen what i saw on a couple of replays was not enough video evidence for me to say that that sammy is the same head contact that i watched bunting on Chernak.

To me, Stahl has the puck and gets rid of it instead of his skating towards it. Like he had it at one point. There's not as much force. There's no injury. The other thing I want to give credit to Stahl, Eric Stahl, is that, you know, he didn't fake being hurt. He looked like he had his wits about him. He was angry.

That didn't look like a guy that suffered a lot of head trauma. Right. So, and not saying that one way or another, but I want to give him credit because there are other guys that would have melted a lot worse, I believe. There's integrity and stall there. Well, yeah, but I think there's still an intent to injure from Nosek's perspective. He goes in there, he stares him down, he throws up the elbow and looks like he made contact with the guy's chin.

So, you know like to not even have a hearing and then have bunting get three games immediately like that's to me it's just a little bit inconsistent okay now i want to come back to you and then i'm going to answer you the same question back to me and my donkey tax theory theory we do a role reversal okay and someone from tampa hits morgan riley like that yeah or mark giordano yeah or tj brody you're telling me that three would be too much sammy they probably don't get a hearing stop it oh god it's like arguing with your wife sometimes like they'd be like oh good play by a veteran gritty team nation right now yes if that hit was reversed on a leaf top four defense i can't imagine saying that that hit is not worth

three games it is just you know we talk about ticking talk about ticking the boxes. It's indefensible. It's what they're trying to get out of the game. The guy's injured. He won't play again. I'm guessing you will not see Eric Chernak this series. I'll be shocked if he plays in this round. So, yeah, three games. And as I mentioned, it being bunting makes it a little easier for him.

You guys made an interesting point off air that maybe I would just want to touch base a little easier for him. You guys made an interesting point off air that maybe I would just want to touch base a little bit. And that is that you guys mentioned to me and correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know if I heard you correctly, but Chernak being hurt and out is also a major factor in this. Yes. Well, I heard Elliot talking about it on the,

I think intermission or pre-game last night that the league would know churnak's injury um status and that they would probably know that he's maybe out for an extended period of time anytime you're like re-concussed like that they're gonna say you need a week at least i mean minimum that played into the the factor of course but like i mean yeah i don't i don't it's not about it's not about what about is i'm here but like it is exactly what you're doing no but i know i just injury can add to suspension bones he nailed it you know ryan hartman no i'm sorry agree no yeah that's egregious he gets one regular season he game. Bonesy did not nail it. He did.

I like Bonesy, but he did not nail it, Sammy. Yeah, he did. No. I tell you, buddy. Well, that's really, I'm not saying he shouldn't have got suspended. Two major rules. Hartman broke one. What was Hartman's biggest mistake in getting suspended one game?

Was it timing? Timing, elbowing in the head? No, no. Okay. Interference. What was Bunting's? It's headshot. And interference.

That's the difference. Yeah. And Hartman body checked him on interference. He didn't pick his head. As to cleanness, I mean, he hit that. Bunting got the head like picking a golf ball clean out of the bunker. Just no need to rake that one. I'm just saying there's been a hell of a lot worse than that.

That have gotten less. If we're going to just stay on Bunting for a second here, I wrote my article today in the Toronto Star. You can catch it at Real Kipper on Twitter, minus the blue checkmark. I talked about how we're all on board that it was stupid, but maybe we should see how this thing plays out before we look back on this

and suggest that, you know, maybe bunting ended up taking one for the team. I mean, we're just talking facts is facts. And now it's hockey. Now it's past morals. The Leafs making a churnak

for bunting trade if you offered that pre-series probably making that and you'll say bunting's three churnaks series you're definitely making it so it's not well it's not good but it might not be bad for the toronto maple leafs at large you know it was uh when bunting did that my suspension on grand furor was exactly 27 years ago to the day to the day no way yeah i you did write about it you addressed it directly in your article which i thought was good that was a good uh good tie about how sometimes accidentally on purpose is a thing even if the outcome is not you know what you're aiming for necessarily yeah you know like i don't believe by the way that bunting wanted to concuss chernak on purpose is a thing even if the outcome is not what you're aiming for necessarily. I don't believe by the way that

Bunting wanted to concuss Chernak and knock him out for the series. He wants to give him a lick. Say hey you got me one here's one for you then we go battle again. I don't think that's the idea. It's not trying to injure someone but you just want to give him one. One game too many. Alright that's fair.

Wrong but fair yes i agree i think many people listening would agree with you okay and they're wrong too i want to speak uh on a follow-up on matthew nyes coming in for bunting and what he might be feeling today let's go to our uh first kippers clipper of the Day with Sheldon on Matthew Knives and really kind of making us feel like it's not that big of a deal. Okay. Yeah, I don't know about that. I mean, a guy coming in, I don't think there's any pressure on him.

He's not expected to come out here and save the world. If you want to talk about pressure, he's a top guy playing for a national championship in front of 18,000, 19,000 people there for something that he's grown there and been a part of, and he's the key guy. He's just coming in here to just do his part, and that's really it, to just go out and compete. He had done well in the games he's played for us, but he's played in pressure situations before.

This is not one of them. It's a different situation. It's a challenging situation, but he's got no pressure. No pressure. Speaking of lying. Speaking of lying. We got the dishonesty alarm

out today. We lied to Tech Show. I'm siding with Sheldon on this. No pressure for the highly touted prospect. I'm not saying that he's not feeling this. No pressure for the highly touted prospect. I'm not saying that he's not feeling it or he won't be nervous as hell, but much like sometimes a backup goalie comes in, there's only upside here. There's no downside.

If the Leafs lose tonight, how many storylines will you talk about before you get to Matthew Nyes? Nyes didn't play well. You know what, though? You said this, and Sammy, and I think we all kind of agreed at one point that them not starting him in this spot takes the pressure way off. If they had said he's playing on the second line with tavarez and you know marner or something it would have been like oh their expectations for him are here he needs to be a contributor whatever and then it's like no he's a healthy scratch he gets in because of

suspension anything he gives him as a bonus now he the only thing he needs to focus on is not doing something that really affects the game poorly for the Leafs. I can't play like that though, Kip. I know, but I'm just saying. I'm just telling you what the end result needs to happen is that

it can't be tied to two in the third period and he coughs up pizza up the middle of the ice. If he just does nothing noticeable, it's a win in itself just for the experience for him. Have a TJ Brody game.

Just be out there, be storyline number 304, get back at it the next day. Like I said, Sammy, we we're gonna come in tomorrow and dissect the game like we always do unless he does something egregiously bad we're not gonna blame anything on matthew nyes yeah wow yeah like if he throws a pizza in front of his own net like he did against the the uh rangers no the cats wasn't his first game when he threw a back pass yeah yeah i'm i think it's a really easy thing to say what you just said to him and be like hey man just go out there don't try to you know make

mistakes like but he is a high risk like he's been playing high risk hockey where you're taking chances you're the stud on a team it's hard to coach that out of somebody here's how i would coach him going into this game talk about we'll play with the puck my only ask is you don't try to do anything through anyone if you want to try to beat someone wide i can live with that if you want to try to pass it around someone i can live with that don't try to put it through skates don't try to force it under a stick just keep it simple if something's there for you and you can beat him with speed great otherwise let's you know the best thing that i i like about him in this situation is that he will not be uh physically intimidated in this game. Right. He has shown me that he is already strong enough

to handle some battles along the wall. It's just a matter of maybe making sure he doesn't try too hard or too much. If he plays the percentages on his plays, I think he's going to be fine. He's shown me in a short period that he's fearless yeah physically and that is a good thing here yeah i would mind a little bit of fear with the puck though okay you know i got i think i think i like him being fearless physically

he's a big guy i understand that part of it but just be careful out there yeah you know the tampa d has herbix radish coal and bogosian all of whom are fine but none of them are world beating defensemen he should be able to hang with most of these guys when you're in line when you say that decor i'm like a headman's gonna probably gonna play yeah otherwise i don't even know who their eighth guy would be uh we have some electricity on the line all right as promised we didn't even know who their eighth guy would be. We have some electricity on the line. All right. As promised, we didn't even hesitate. We didn't even usually go to like 20 to 3 here.

We just went right to Gord at 20 after because we got to get his thoughts on. Before we know where we're going, we got to know where we've been cord and uh just wrap us up game one uh on what you saw unexpectedly nerves what happened in game one before we talk about tonight well it's good to talk about because every time i've come on and said let's wait for game 83 i didn't expect to be their 83rd best game of the year. You know, I, and so now in context, I'm saying, okay, have your crappy game, have your clunker, not game seven or not game five, like against Columbus. That is, if you want to call it an upside, that is a possible upside. Your worst game was at a more appropriate time than the deciding game of a playoff series. I was stunned, shocked, disbelief. I could not believe it from the word go. I mean, I'm putting it all in perspective. I still picked them to win

the series. I think they'll show up big tonight. But from the word go, to your point, and I'll tell you something, the day before, I'd seen the, you know, the text come in about the clips that were coming in and the one about Sheldon Keefe, when someone just said, well, you know, the pressure of the fans, and he goes, we should have ended this one question before. Why? Why? This is the reality every year. I'm sorry that everyone's down in Leaf Square and they're sold out in the morning. I'm sorry we pay the highest ticket prices for playoffs going

and you get that kind of rabid support. That's the reality. Stop ducking what happened in the past. So it just gave me something like, you know, you could just give an easy answer. Yeah, we understand that, and we've got to make sure it doesn't happen this year. And that's the way the team came out. And you know what?

When he made that change, that's the only thing I'll say. Like, leave Austin Matthews out there and those guys out there. That's what Babcock did. He had to fly to Arizona to placate Austin Matthews. He cost them a series against the Boston Bruins because he had to do it the Babcock way. And we're doing that again. We've got a building that sold out in Rapid. We're ready to kick ass, and let's put our sixth line on for their fifth line no no let's go all guns are blazing today let's go

one minute of the game let's get the crowd going best on best austin might as well been on a milk carton after that well you know and that's a great place to go next is of all the ways we picked apart this game one of the consensus things that we had on this show was that you know matthew's fine marner okay you know like Matthew's fine. Marner. Okay. You know, like the, neither guy was bad. You wouldn't say they played a poor game, both at a couple of points, whatever, but you know, they expect a lot. Like they have to not just be good.

They have to be great. Don't they? Yeah. Yeah. And that's why when we're talking about Matthew and I, I really enjoy the conversation, but he's irrelevant. You know, he's irrelevant. And if he's out there in a dangerous situation,

he shouldn't be out there. If it's late in the game and it's, you know, or with certain measures and that, and obviously he's going to play with a responsible guy like O'Reilly, but those are the guys. And you're kind of saying that, okay, you know, like playing chess, and, you know, you got a chance to, I don't know, you got a chance, they move the horsey piece,

and you got a chance to move your queen. What's that, the rook or the knight? I don't know. And you got a chance, like, you know, you got your queen, you know, you got a chance to, I don't know, you got a chance. They move the horsey piece, and you got a chance to move your queen. What's that, the rook or the knight? I don't know. And you got a chance, like, you know, you got your queen. You know, king doesn't move much. Queen can go anywhere. You know, you got those guys. Let's go.

Bring it on. Bring it on. And no, you play, we're going to go down to your level. I'm going to move my pawn one up. No. And, you know, and you can't predict Aston Reese is going to make that kind of giveaway. But then, you know, Justin and Kipper and Kipper like wow they were just scrambling they never had the narrative one minute in their favor never did I mean when they did the game was already a lost

cause I mean for a little bit they got the two power play goals but man like your home ice you've kicked ass this year you've had a phenomenal season you're a great team there's other great teams that are out there obviously still the Tampa Bay Lightning that I think you should be better, but of course, they've got that play. I mean, Corey Perry does like the sweet Georgia Brown version hockey style in the pregame warm-up. And the third year in a row, he comes and, oh my, Corey

Perry, Pierre-Edouard Belmar, come on! We're talking to Gord Stelic, Leaf Nation pre and post. You can catch him at Sportsnet 590 tonight, game two. Gord, I'll ask you the same thing I asked these guys on the top of the show here. In terms of a must-win, does it factor whether or not you see Hedman or not? How you feel about the potential of the Leafs going to Tampa down 2-0?

Hey, you know, those that remember 1993, they got killed by Detroit the first two games. Now, granted, that was in Detroit. The Toronto Raptors, you know, lost those two on the road in one series. Again, big difference, Kipper. You're going to jump on me about, yes, this is at home now. You know, but I'll never – there's going to be one team that will bounce back from a 2-0 deficit. I hope we're not talking about that, you know, needing to do that tomorrow.

But I think, Kippy, you know, the manner of game number one really, you know, like last year, they won game number one really decisively. And they had the edge in period one of game number two. Hedman gets that goal with like five seconds left in the period, and then that changes it. So Tampa's back in the series. And I thought the Leafs had a chance kind of to stomp on them then. So I think given game number one, and especially if this is kind of a hard-fought

overtime loss or something, okay, that that's at least a positive. But, yeah, no question it's going to be difficult. I mean, David Amber and others, we know the stats. But still, I'm not going to stop believing in this team based on what I saw in the regular season. But man, man, you got to really see something tonight. I mean, I expect them to win tonight. I'm stunned the way they came out in last game. I got to believe there's no way they can come out like that at all. And I just think they'll have their bleep together. And, you know, from the word go, you know, stop playing this kind of tepid whatever it was

and just, you know, go for it. Kick ass. Go. You know, what's so hard, too, there with that idea is like obviously they're going to have this desperation to go out and win the hockey game right away. But I looked at the way Tampa Bay played in that first 10 minutes scored, and they're all on the right side of the puck.

There is it's tough to get through Tampa. They're a bunch of veteran experienced guys they're a really good team you know i wonder if what this team needs to learn i hear people saying oh they're not intense enough is not a little bit of patience when it doesn't go right sticking with it hanging around and not needing it to go right at the very start of the game yeah and a big thing i thing, and I'm not using the word desperate because I think you're right, that would be counterproductive. I just mean about, you know, that kind of, and part of it to me was that line change. I'm sorry. Part of it was an indication about, you know, letting your big guns kind of get one shift

under their wings. And yeah, and you do have to follow all those principles. And that is part of winning. There's no question. And I just think the thing that really sold me this year, Justin, was the way they played as a team when those 3D were injured, when they lost Brody, Riley, and, of course, Muzzin, who ended up being for the whole season.

I just really, the way they bought into a certain style of hockey, that was necessary, and I thought the internal leadership really, really flexed itself there. I mean, that's why I'm so in disbelief about game number 83, because all those points you just said, I believe, are what they execute on a pretty well game-by-game basis and were non-existent in game number one. So, yeah, I'm not saying about, like, five minutes is not going to decide the game.

And actually, I did like some of the physicality. You know, McCann said, I thought a cherry had some, you know, physicality. I mean, you know, Bunting drew that penalty before he had what, you know, unfortunately happened. And so there were a little bit positives that way, but yeah, yeah. It's not like you're going to win the game, win the game in 10 minutes, but I just think it's more message, you know, that, that we, we got better skill than you do. Okay. You got other things. You got pedigree, you got playoff experience. That stuff really matters. You've got Stanley cups, that stuff really matters. But we, as a team have got better each year and really have checked all the boxes. Like that's the big thing. The trade deadline was the last box checks and they, you know, it wasn't Nick Foligno not being able to

fit in and being hurt. I mean, all those boxes checked. And that's why none of them checked in game number one. And it just was so baffling. You know, even before the first few minutes in which Sheldon pulled off Matthews and Marner for David Camp, the opening faceoff, just watching it and that first icing where Giordano has the puck, he's not moving his feet, they go for a stretch pass. It was a slow blue line for me right from the get-go. And then just getting beat to the net, easy access. Really surprised collectively how much they all struggled, Gord.

Big time. Big time. Like, you pick any defenseman, it looked like they were out there for 40 minutes because the puck was always in the leaf end and they always seemed to be having trouble getting it out. And, you know, we've talked about what are the right pairings and they made a couple of good additions in McCann and Shen and, you know, just all these.

And it just is, you know, but give Tampa Bay credit. They get the one goal and they got them. They know it. They get the two goals, they got them. So they can play that style that Justin was just alluding to because they're up 2-0. They're not playing desperate, but it's kind of like, you know, they're taking educated chances.

They're going full throttle. They know they got a rattled, that was a rattled Leaf team. So they're just going to move more and more in for the kill. It just seemed like, you know, nobody on the Leaf D could get the puck out and do those simple fundamental things, which they're very capable of doing. Where are you at on Ilya Samsonov? Yesterday we had Mike McKenna on, and he mused that perhaps Samsonov is still battling some injury.

You know, are you of the mind that even if he sucks, you keep going back to the guy who's been there all year long? Or is, how do you feel about things with Samsonov right now? Well, you know, I look at the Washington comparable. When they won the cup, and again, you know, they lost their two first games and Philip Grubauer played goal. They moved to Brayton Holtby. You know, we saw Pittsburgh do a lot of things years ago out of necessity.

So, again, if he's hurt, even a little bit, I mean, that's a different animal. He's had a history. He's only been here one year. But his history has been of bouncing back after a bad start. He also has a history of not doing great in the playoffs. So I think tonight will show us which one there is. You could be stuck going with Joe Wall. I mean, that really is what could come down to it hypothetically in game number three. So, you know, I viewed him as a real positive this year. I still do, but there's

no question goaltending wasn't the difference, but it was a factor. And I think the trade deadline's over and they're not going to trade Vasilevsky unfortunately so that's going to be your reality on the other side right so you know you just want your goaltender to give you a good enough chance to win he did not do that in game number one even though there's other reasons they didn't win but uh that's what you hope you at least get tonight from Sam so I've otherwise you you know, Justin, yeah, it's, you know, desperate times call for somewhat desperate measures. And Joe Wall's no longer a guy that you would use the term desperate. It's not what you want to do in the third game.

But that's, you know, he's a guy that's been up there based on merit, how the way he's played in the American Hockey League. But I'd like to think they win tonight, and I'd like to think Samsonov is the guy moving forward. If it's goaltending or specialty teams that will make a difference for the Leafs, which one's more important? Jeez, I always think goaltending because, you know, I mean, like I always think goaltending, although, I mean, like, hey, like game number 83, they never gave up two power play goals

all season long and they give up four okay i mean that just shows that the but but kippy to your point you look these first three nights of hockey special teams are huge because referees are calling penalties now they may be calling too many penalties in people's estimations but the throwing away the whistle stopped a few years ago so they're to me they're both of heightened importance in the playoffs but you're screwed if you don't have goaltending. So it's kind of like, I don't know, which way do you want to be executed, right?

I don't know. You want them both. You want them both. But just terrible goaltending is a tough thing to overcome. Now, it's really tough. We're going through a lot of John Cooper clips and trying to make sense of what he's really trying to say. Is he motivating his team? Is he taking away from the Leafs?

Like, if this were a team that felt they were vulnerable, and surely they do, is there anyone better at sort of presenting a we-secretly-think-we're-hyper-strong-and-people-don't-understand-why front than John Cooper? He's the lawyer, right? He's going to be the modern-day. Kippy, I know, still watches Ben Matlock reruns,

but John Cooper is going to be the modern-day, like, that guy. He's just – and, of course, when you're winning, you can play – I don't even know if you want to call them mind games, but he's just had – and he's been around there so long, you know, Justin, that it's hard to keep your act going with your players, even when you're winning. That's just reality. And he's had a nice way of connecting the odd time.

You know, he can be firm in his punishment and, you know, discipline, if that's what you want to call it. But I know a little thing, for example, and, again, we're on the media side, so I'm being a little bit slanted towards that. But I know somebody that was involved, you know, doing the deep dive, covering the Leaf Tampa series last year, and just said, for example, that John Cooper said,

hey, whatever you want, just go, just, you know, shoot, because they shoot this stuff in case you win the cup, whatever. And then on the Leaf side, it's like always shut down, always top secret, you know, just, and I think that

just that kind of style is good. Hey, you know, let's just go out and have fun and not, you know, not add to the pressure. That's not add to whatever. style is good. Hey, you know, let's just go out and have fun and not add to the pressure. That's not add to whatever. Let's go out and, you know, play the game that we love and why we love it. And the Leaf team for this regular season did that a lot. That's when you're playing your best hockey. You know, you're playing the sport at the level that you love so much

that got you to the NHL. And it's easier to do in Tampa Bay than it is in Toronto. There's no question about it. And then,, and it's easier to do in Tampa Bay than it is in Toronto. There's no question about it. But, and then, you know, he's up one, nothing. So, you know, they, they can have a little bit fun with rattling the cage a little bit or playing mind games are confusing as all. You already at the ring, hanging out in the coat check. Where are you? No, that was that time was at the concessions when they did all the, when the, you know, when they did all the pregame ceremonies started,

and I had a chase in there, and I got good deals on some Damon Stoudemire Raptor knockoffs. I'm just going to head down the game. The press room isn't open, so I'm just going to hang in the press box early. We got wall-to-wall coverage with you guys and everybody else. I'm really thinking good things tonight. I am and I'm not being a, well, I am a Leaf fan. I do have a Leaf bias and I'm not being a homer in that prediction.

I like this team. I really believe in this team and tomorrow, I don't know, tomorrow if you call me, I'm not available. I've got nothing to say. All right. We look forward to your pre and post game, Gord.

Have a great night. Enjoy it. And we'll catch up to you soon. Gord Stelic. Sounds good, gentlemen. Thanks very much. Thanks, Gord. Okay, let's go to Sheldon Keefe on what he expects tonight.

All right. Just our mindset. You know, we weren't ourselves the other night, and obviously need to get back to that. You know, it was surprising in a lot of ways, you know, how we started. We hadn't been playing that way at all. We've been playing really good. To me, we've been playing a brand of hockey that would give us a chance

at success in the playoffs, no matter who we were playing. And that didn't roll into the playoffs. And so we need to get back to that tonight, clearly. They cannot be worse. There's just, it's all upside. They can't. Yeah, I mean, truly, the things that we had talked about was like,

all right, not a penalty-filled affair. A lot of five- of five on five hockey they're the better team five on five goalie has got to be good you know special team's good when you do get there i guess that's the only thing is they had a couple of power play goals but i hate to hear the coach say he was surprised by something yeah i know you mentioned that but i mean listen we watched this team play 82 games gourd watched them every we were all surprised it just felt like the moment was i don't know it's too much well which ain't good we'll see if the leafs can take advantage of a depleted blue line tonight how much is that remains to be seen let's go to john cooper uh derrick on dealing with these injuries. Injuries, I don't know a cup team, whether it was the 60s to today,

that at the end of the final didn't have guys with a laundry list of injuries. So that comes with the territory hence the word sacrifice but to lose guys in game one and two and again not ideal but it happens you so you lose a guy in game seven like we did last year, a really important piece to us. Well, you've got to find a way. And we found a way to get the two games away from a cup. It's just staying the course, and it's hopefully you've built a mental mindset with your team

that it's next man up, just got to do it. And unfortunately, it's happened to us in game one but it's uh it's something we've prepared for and it's uh something we can handle see i thought i heard him say that uh victor headman's not playing tonight really in that clip yeah interesting listen i i kind of you know i don't want to cheer for injuries but i get inherently a little bit more hopeful about the leafs potentially winning tonight when there's no chernak potentially no headman and then i remember that they blew it in game seven without braden point last year it's like this it just it doesn't it's like the opposite effect whoever they put in in their blue

and white they just look good and then if they put someone in in the least blue and white they look terrified and it's it's it's it's laundry it's not players and part of what sammy's saying i factor into you don't play victor headman tonight why you're up one nothing yeah he clearly couldn't get through the hockey game in game one give him tonight's yeah give him the night off tonight the worst case scenario you go back to tampa one one right and he's back with three days rest under his belt or or maybe not four days rest or maybe not maybe one one gives him yeah game three off right and you know that you're right the series may affect it they're down to one maybe he plays they're up to one maybe he continues to rest you know that makes sense i'm convinced he's uh he's not playing tonight now but we do believe someone of not victor headman's skill level but has shown that he can do a lot of different things on the ice tanner

janeau yeah expected to play tonight yeah so ec mon or whatever ace amon is out and tanner janeau and i wish it was switched yeah that's an upgrade for them does he worry you sammy every single thing about this hockey game tonight worries me. But, yeah. I do want to play Cooper on Janot. I know we're out of time right now. No, no, go for it. No, let's stay.

Okay. We're good. Cooper on Janot returning tonight. He's a physical specimen is what he is. He's a guy that can make an impact just physically. He, like all the players that have come to us, whether it was Goudreau, Coleman, just go through the list of guys we traded for,

there was always that feeling out period for eight to ten games, and it seems like every player we've ever acquired, there's that, okay, where do I fit? Even with Hagel and Paul, and then they slowly get comfortable and they figure out you know the new life and where they've moved and all those other things and and their game turns around and that's that was the unfortunate part for tanner was probably the three or four games right before

he got hurt he was outstanding for us and uh and then that injury happened. And I'll be honest, if you asked me he'd be back in this first round, no chance. I'm sure you all saw what happened to him. And so it's pretty impressive. That injury happened April 5th. And John Cooper's right. We all saw it. 15 days ago.

Who would have ever thought watching his leg bend back like a pretzel that he'd be in a position to come back? You know, I think, you know. I said it was Joe Theismann. Like, it was horrible. I think, you know, is 24. I bet you if he's 27 something snaps like you know like he's just got cartilage where there's usually bone young limber man yeah exactly

and he's a specimen he's prairie guy anyways is he he's not tom wilson but. In a few years, maybe. Diet Tom Wilson, yeah. Now, we know that the Leafs got tougher at the trade deadline, but we don't expect anybody to go and challenge this guy physically. No, it's one of those things where if you're spending time on Tanner Janot of all the names in that Tampa Bay lineup, you're missing some pretty important pieces. McCabe might have to have a conversation with him after he lit up Eastmont, though. I don't like that at all, Sammy.

Why? You're getting to who else doesn't? Jake McCabe. But I feel like... Listen, Jake, if you're in the car listening, don't listen to Sammy. You don't need to drop your gloves with this guy. No. Don't do that.

He'll mess you up. Yeah, at least need McCabe too bad for that. Yes. Thank you. Yep. I think it's crazy to think that you want to go and mess with this guy. Listen. Clean body checks.

Get in his way. Yeah. You don't have to look scared. You don't have to run away from him. You can have conversations with him. You can push back. You can F you him in a scrum. And you can say, listen, Tanner, do you want clean hitting in hockey

or do you want it to be a game where we can't hit each other? Just don't look them in the eyes, fellas. That's right. All right. You guys want some playoff picks? Let's do it. All right. It's time for some playoff picks presented by Bet365.

Visit the app for the latest odds. A couple things from the Leafs. So there's a couple bets on there that you can say win tonight and win the series. And the Leafs, if you're interested in that sort of thing, they pay plus 155 to do that. So the value at the start,

they were minus 175 at the start of the series. So if you think they're going to win, if they're going to win the series, they're winning tonight. They have to win tonight to win the series. Or else you've got to win

four to five against Tampa with three of them on the road, which seems like a tall task. So if you're believing in the Leafs, it might be not a bad one for you. Also, if you believe in Kipper's theory that it's going to be 2-2 after four games, you can bet on what it's going to be after four games. Really? Yeah, and that's plus 175.

So if you think it's going to be 2-2, you can bet on that. Would you make that bet, Kip? You're that confident? 2-2, you think? If they win tonight, it be 2-2, you can bet on that. Would you make that bet, Kip? You're that confident? 2-2, you think? If they win tonight, it's 2-2. I am. I got a strong feeling for 2-2. If they win tonight, it's 2-2.

And I'm just keeping an eye on the cons my thoughts every day just because I'm interested and I think it's a funny thing to look at. Two games into a playoff run. Right. But having said that,on dry subtle is 22 to one for the con smith and he has been red hot through two oiler games i think he's got enough he's won an mvp in the regular season he uh you know he can get an obscene amount of points there's enough narrative behind him for him to be able to get that do you guys get a good look at leon last

night he's out of control good right now. He's out of control good. He also he's playing on the edge and you know a slashing penalty that you can question if it's but go back to Mark Messier

and for all of you that are watching and listening if you didn't hear Mark Messier the other day on our show, go back and listen to him. Players that need to play out of their safety or comfort zone, Leon Dryside last night, out of his comfort zone. That guy is pushing the envelope, and you can see it. And listen.

He's playing pissy. He is. For me, that's the challenge to 34 tonight. Austin Matthews. 100%. Get out of your comfort zone, bud. Let's see some hacks. Game one was like you were walking through a November game.

Uh-uh. They, Dreisaitl, they had a stat on our broadcast last night that um fewest games to 60 playoff points fewest games needed to get to 60 playoff points gretzky got there in like 35 games and then it's like is lemieux or messier one of those famous names and then it's dry saddle dry is the third fewest games 39 games and then it was 38 and then he went out and got two more last night so he's at 60 points in 39 games. So what you're telling me is plus 2,200, not a bad bet.

Alright, that was Playoff Picks presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds. Let's go to break. Give me a couple more names here that need to get out of their safety zone. Well, do you think Mitch can or should?

Mitch is the mvp this year yeah he had three points in game one that's not a guy i worry about okay well you should i do performances haven't been very good i don't think he's very good in game one we got brian boyle coming up on the other side of the break okay let's go to brian uh let's go to break brian boyle who knows a thing or two about uh 125 playoff games and a few with the toronto maple leaves he knows the pressure around here sure does okay you're watching and listening to real kipper and born discussing the biggest stories that matter to toronto sports fans the fan morning show with alish forfar and justin cuthbert subscribe and download the show on, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. What's with the new pen? It weighs 400 pounds. I don't know. I've become a pen guy, I guess. I save a lot of money not drinking these days. I told you. I could honk you on the head and knock you out with that pen.

I enjoy it. Like a sledgehammer. It's protective if anyone gets too aggressive. Okay. Let's welcome in Brian Boyle, former NHLer, now working on the NHL Network. Brian, thanks for joining us. I know you would know this time fairly well.

124 playoff games in your career. You had a stretch, I think, between 12 and 16 where you had 95 playoff games and i'm thinking that was probably around the time of your career where you're like oh this is great every year well what's up thanks for having me guys yeah that uh was it was automatic for us fortunately i was on a really good team i had uh you know we were up and coming in new york and then got a chance to play in tampa too so part of that was just being able to be a small part on some big teams but yeah there wasn't a whole lot of time to hone on the golf skills in the offseason we're just trying to recover and then get ready for camp again. But, man, those were fun.

So what did, like, 2016 Brian Boyle know about playing in the playoffs that 2012 Brian Boyle would not have known? Well, I think it was weird. I think, you know what, even so I remember pretty distinctly our first-round matchup against Detroit in 16. And I remember game one, and we were at home. And we had played them the year before, the series that we, you know what, we probably could have easily lost, but Tyler Johnson put us on his back.

And, you know, we went all the way to the cup final that year. But I just remember, like, having gone through that with our team, that 2016 year, it was almost like we were so comfortable in that playoff, like, that game one. I think we lost game one. And I'm looking around during the game, and I'm like, why isn't this as exciting as it usually is, to be honest with you? Like, usually, you know, round one, game one, you can't predict it because it's such a gong show.

Everybody's going nuts trying to run guys through the, you know, the 10th row. And for whatever reason, it was just like that game wasn't our best. We all kind of settled in. Like the emotion almost had to be manufactured just because we had been through so many, you know, wild times where we've had so much excitement. And then we ended up, I think we won the next four because we had been through so many wild times where we've had so much excitement. And then we ended up, I think we won the next four because we kind of clicked in and we're like, okay, that wasn't really how we drew it up.

You know what, we had a number of guys. You understand the amount of pain it's going to be physically. You understand after a loss that those you know the next day and then the day after that leading up to the game seems like forever uh you understand how you're supposed to kind of handle uh after a big win too because it's like every game's a chapter right even the off days every series is like a big book and it's just you can go through all the series as i would like look back and especially this year, and as the playoffs are starting,

just I'm remembering other series that I kind of put on the back burner for whatever reason. So many things happen throughout the course of the two week series, just keeping an even keel, but it's a tough balance. Like don't, don't put yourself to sleep either. You got to kind of manage the emotions. We're talking to former national hockey league player brian boyle who's now doing a terrific job with the nhl network so that stretch that we're talking about uh new york rangers an original six team tampa bay a good

run there as well and then you uh found yourself at tor Maple Leaf playing in the in the first round when you got traded here and I'm just wondering now especially after what we saw out of them in game one lots of talk about pressure you know and Samsonov feeling it or some of the veterans feeling it what do you remember about that first round as a Leaf and how it compared to maybe starting a playoff with an original six team like the Rangers or Tampa Bay? So with the Leafs, I remember game one against Washington, I thought we should have won the game.

And we had a lead, and then you could kind of see whether it was body language or just sort of how we decided to play. Like, that team was built with a ton of firepower, and the drafting, the young guys, yeah, they were young players, but we just had so much depth, I thought. We had three lines. So you had Matthews, you had Bozak, and you had Kadri's line, all played about the same.

We could roll them right over, and I knew we put them on their heels in game one, and then we let them off the hook a little bit. Then we ended up winning game two in Washington. And I just remember for me, for me trying to acclimate myself after the trade deadline, understand what the Cubs wanted me to do. I realized, okay, it's going to be

tough to score many points in my role. That spoke to the depth as well. I got to get these guys' trust to understand I think we can go far because it doesn't matter if we hadn't played. kind of get these guys' trust to understand, like, I think we can do – I think we can go far because, you know, it doesn't matter if we hadn't played. Like, we had the ability to do it.

I thought the team that we were playing against in the first round was kind of ripe for the picking. And, you know, Washington ended up losing the second round that year. But it was just trying to convince everyone, like, you're better than you think. And it is really hard, but you're still, we're still doing things. Like, part of the game in the playoffs that isn't talked about is the time where, like, nothing happens. So you just can't hurt yourself, right? You need to just dump it in or you need to make that check or you need to just hold serve, sort of.

And it can get kind of mundane. And understanding that, like, don't force something to try and make a highlight reel goal. Like, it doesn't matter how we put it in the net. As long as we end the game with more than them, we're moving on. And I thought after leaving Toronto that that was going to be a team that for the next five, six, seven, ten years or whatever was going to learn that lesson and really...

I want to ask you, though, Brian, about the external pressure that some may feel as a Toronto Maple Leaf that may not exist in other markets. And is it real? You know, we go back to this documentary they did a few years ago and assistant coach Paul McLean's talking about demons here in Toronto. Is it overstated? Is there some facts to that? Did you see some teammates kind of feel it more so because of this thing out there? You can't win here. It's too hard.

Kipper, you know, like you played and you understand what it's like to play when you're feeling good and what it's like to play when you have a building that you used to go to and you're like, oh, God, I hate playing in this building. Like when I was with the Rangers, we had that in Montreal for a while. We kind of exercised those demons, I guess, so to speak. I don't know what's going on in that room now. I don't. I understand that they've all heard because whether they listen

to the radio or go on Twitter or watch the – whatever it is, they get asked the questions. So it immediately plants a seed in their mind. The power of your mind is – it's a crazy powerful thing. You need to just – none of these guys would be on that team if they didn't have an incredible amount of mental toughness and drive that have gone there they just need to remind themselves of that and it could it could play a factor but part of the job is not letting it you need to kind of block it out

and everything should just stay in the room like Like, look across the room and try and block all that. Be the first team. Like, you have an opportunity now to be the first team to advance in 19 years. Like, what an awesome opportunity that is. And instead of focusing on, like, first round exit, first round exit, first round exit, you know what I mean? Yeah. Start telling yourself the right things.

For sure. Framing it like that is just so crucial and finding a way to you know use the pressure and the energy in a way that's more positive you know one of the things that i think has been a concern with this team and sheldon keith as the head coach has been that pressure has seemed to lead to drastic changes in series where they're trying things they haven't tried all year long when you had a lot of, when your teams were going to cup finals, between games, did you have the coaches making a lot of major changes or did things pretty much stay standard for those teams that were successful?

Well, how about trade deadline? We get rid of a third of the team and bring in six new guys. Yes, that's significant. I mean, I'm not smart enough to be a GM. I don't know anything. But it's like that could change some things up. And maybe that's the desired effect that they wanted. But you know what?

There would be drastic changes when we were down two games to one, three games to one, or mostly about like an elimination game where we're down big. 3-1 or even 3-2 where we lost a couple in a row. And when that happens, for me anyway, that was when I was like, all right, they're panicking now. The coaching staff's panicking. It's not stick to what we know. It's not stick to what got us here.

It's like, why are we doing that for one game? It just, you know, you try to catch lightning in a bottle, and I get it. Like, sometimes if it's really not working, in those instances, yeah, maybe that's a good play because you've got to shake it up because, you know, you've gone four or five games of this and it's really just getting outmatched. But I don't know.

You sense it as a player i guess if uh if that makes any sense when i played brian i was dumb enough to think sometimes coaches should just open up the door and push all the good players out there and then you get older and you start watching the line matchups and who's out there at the right time. And I'm just wondering now, can John Cooper coaching style make up for a depleted blue line as early as game two tonight? That is, that'll be interesting. You have, I don't know about having, it sounds like he skated and hopefully he's all right.

Cause that's, that solves about half, half a game on the left side anyways, right? That's about a half an hour of game time that you can, you can rely on, but you know what? It's the idea in that room that they're going to win and they'll do it

different ways. Like good example is probably Corey Perry, who is 37 and had one assist or something in the last, maybe almost two months of the season and goes out in game one. And it's, it's playoff time. Now that's, that's kind of,

they get excited about it. That's kind of the, I think the idea, the idea think the idea Toronto should probably adapt. Like try and take advantage of this now. We have the chance to do this against a depleted roster. I don't know. That's what you say. Every year like a different story is written. A different guy comes up and you hadn't really heard much of him during the year.

And we'll see what Coop does. If anyone can do it, it's him. Right? But to go back to your matchup point, like don't you think sometimes up and you hadn't really heard much of him during the year and we'll see what Coop does. If anyone can do it, it's him, right? To go back to your matchup point, don't you think sometimes coaches do that too much and no one's in rhythm when they kind of overmatch and they just

keep throwing guys out and trying to... It's like, let's go out and play. Who on that... Who on the Maple Leafs or even on the other... Who on Tampa doesn't want to play against anyone else on the other team? It's not – when you keep getting pulled off all the time, I don't know, it's just that always kind of bugged me when they did it too much. I understood late periods and power plays and penalty kills, et cetera,

but that bugged me. Yeah, there's no doubt it had a contributing factor to a slow start for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hey, Brian, really appreciate your time. Enjoy covering the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs on the NHL Network, and we will catch up again real soon here. All right, thanks, fellas.

Appreciate you having me. Thanks for your time, man. Appreciate it. Great career. Yeah, great career, great guy. And just that perfect depth guy just hard to play against yes yeah he's i mean all-around guy had good hands big physical just did rotucki a pitcher a playoff player i cannot believe he didn't win a cup he set up

one of the signature goals in this era of lease hockey and i think triple ot or double against against the cap the capitals where he's coming around the net and he reversed back reverse pass to capitan goalie didn't even look back at cap and he shoots it in a wide open net oh future's so bright you had to wear shades times babs was new matthews has just picked things were humming we should have won that series there was multiple overtime games freddie anderson let in a brutal goal by tom wilson from the half boards like a step inside the blue line half boards like he like ducked under it oh boy anyways anyways anything else on uh kippers clippers you want to get to? Do we still?

So momentum is a good one. I'm battling every day here, fellas. We're a Leafs show, and we have to talk about the Leafs and talk about the coach, but I do worry that Leaf fans are the same as me, and every time we play a Cooper clip, it's just complete and utter poison to them. Listen, we got a point.

Okay, then on that note, let's go to Cooper on momentum. Yeah, it's your opponent for a seven-game series. I, we got to. Okay. Then on that note, let's go to Cooper on momentum. Yeah. It's your opponent for a seven game series. I know. I know. Momentum is that it's the pendulum and you just hope when it swings your way, you got to keep it rolling as long as you can because it can change in an instant.

And, you know, even you look at the last game i mean we're up three nothing in in the second period and then a couple penalties and all of a sudden it's three two and you're sitting there going okay well there goes the pendulum the other way and then pointer scores and it comes right back our way and so you just when it's rolling you got to try and keep it rolling as as long as possible because at some point it is going to change uh so and and that's part of our maturity is understanding it is going to change and and then how do you get it back into your favor and so guys have done a pretty good job during the years with that um but do i believe in momentum i sure do and take advantage of it while you can because

um you know it can help you win games so sheldon's listening that's a pep talk you want it first and you run your best players and you jam them down his throat yeah well uh i was listening to that i was looking up selkie trophy votes for matthews and marner both of whom have selkie trophy votes in four seasons multiple votes in many cases like i agree with boyle i liked the idea that sheldon actually we can listen to that too but yeah you don't want to take them off the ice against anyone if they're fresh put them on the ice do not care who is out there put them on the ice they can defend they can score yeah do we not have a clip on and him pulling him off pulling those guys off the ice maybe it was yesterday

and we didn't play it yeah but he basically said on those guys that his job as the coach is to find favorable matchups to give his guys a position to succeed. But I think the point Boyle made and you've made is they're always in a position to succeed based on who they are. Listen, the depth of the Leafs has made good strides, but that was forcing Aston Reese in a situation that you are, it wasn't a natural feel. It was, I've got this new fourth line.

It's like, I got this new toy. I got to use it. Right? Yeah. It actively, you tried to put out a worse line when you had fresh, good players. You said they have the Sorelli line in our end.

I'm going to put out a less good line than their line, you know, which is never really the idea of line matching. I know he thinks those guys can handle it. Yeah. But they did not handle it. So there that is. All right. All right.

We got to go to break, Sammy. Yeah, we should go to break. You want to do? Yeah. Okay. We've got Ken Wiebe coming up. We're're gonna talk a little winnipeg and vegas uh oilers tied the series at one one want to get into a little bit of carolina and the islanders your boys up three two with a little over 10 minutes to go at Had it. Lost it.

High stick in OT. Also. Don't listen to Mike Rupp. It's a high stick. We'll get into Mark-Andre Fleury coming in. Surprise in Dallas. His start. We'll talk about that.

And then the Calgary Flames as well. Lots of talk about players not being happy there. How much? We'll get into that. Eric Francis after the season. We'll chat. After the break. Okay. You are watching and listening to Real Kipper and Born.

And if you get a chance, give us a thumbs up on YouTube. We love that. Breaking down the biggest trends in hockey. The Hockey PDO cast with Dimitri Filipovich. Be sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. All right, let's welcome in Ken Wiebe, who does a terrific job on Sportsnet as a contributor based out of Winnipeg, co-host of the Kenny and Rennie Show.

Hey, Ken, thanks for doing this, man. And just first and foremost, a little surprised. Winnipeg Jets being up 1-0? Kipper, great to be with you and Borny. I would say more surprised by the way the game turned out. I think we know that going into the series, we thought that if the Jets were going to

be an underdog and maybe upset the biggest goal of the night, said Connor Hellbrook would have to be superhuman, and although he made some good stops early and was steady for sure uh he did not have to be superman it was a 17 shot effort against and the Jets dictated most of the terms of play which was surprising considering how well biggest had played both in the season series and during the season uh as a whole as they you know held off held off the avalananche and Oilers for first in the West. So I'm more surprised with how the game turned out,

but I don't want the 5-1 score to fool you. I don't think it was a five-goal cushion. There was an empty netter and a late power play goal in garbage time. The Jets did deserve to win game one. There's no doubt about that. And they dictated the terms of play, which to me was the bigger surprise because of just how well Vegas has played in terms of their which to me was you know the bigger surprise because of just how well vegas has played in terms of their defensive zone play their back pressure all those things

uh the jets kind of neutralized their offensive game in game one so what are the storylines to watch for as the jets try to complete the upset of the vegas golden knights what are some of the subplots here that'll tell us whether things are going well for them or not? Yeah, Borny, I think the biggest story of the game, one, for the Jets, two-fold, purely to block, kind of going into beast mode, very reminiscent for Leafs fans from the 2020 bubble series. I thought he was excellent, not just in sparking the Jets offense

with the assist on the Connor goal and his goal to beat for Swah, but physically imposing. Eight hits in the game. He was in the ear of several players and kind of getting under the skin of the opponent. Can that Jets top line continue to perform and produce? Blake Wheeler had a goal and two assists in the opener. I thought he was very good on that line. And that Adam Lowry line, guys, was fantastic in sort of keeping Jack Eichel and his group under wraps in game one.

And obviously Lowry got the two late goals, which was a bonus for them. But that line was excellent in the game. And the Jets' defense core, they were disrupted a little bit by the Vegas four check, but we expect the Vegas four check to be much more up to speed today. I mean, the other storyline for the Jets' morning is obviously Nikolaj Ehlers and his status. Officially game time decision. I don't expect him to play today, but I did expect him to play game one.

He is physically, in terms of his legs, he's fine, but still feeling some effects on the MRIs or whatever medical reports they're getting after the Hartman hit that resulted in the suspension. So I don't expect them before game three, but if Ehlers can come back, that gives them another dynamic offensive force to go with what they were able to produce in game one.

We're talking to Ken Wiebe, Sportsnet contributor, covering the Winnipeg Jets. Ken, if we were to talk about Winnipeg down the stretch in that turtle race with the Calgary Flames for a playoff spot, and now it appears that things are back on the rails for them.

Who gets the most credit here? Is it the coaching staff? Is it a couple of individual players? How did this come back and save the season? Yeah, I mean, I think Rick Bonas made an important maneuver there, moving Mark Scheife to the wing on that line with Dubois and Kyleyle connor i mean these are guys who you know want to play together

they had the odd time you get the power hour shifts coming out of penalty kills and stuff like that but uh you know shifley had to shoot you know he's a guy who's played center his whole life he had to move to the wing so you know some some unselfishness there for sure uh so the coaching staff you have to give him credit for that but But in terms of the kind of under-the-radar story, Adam Lowry's done a great job, guys. We talked all year about how this team hasn't had a captain after Blake Wheeler was stripped in the offseason. They've had the three-man alternate system with Lowry,

Lowry, Shifley, and Morrissey, and all of them have done their part at times. But I think Adam Lowry went through a tough stretch, Kipper, where he had 35 games without a goal. And as a third-line guy, you're expected to produce some offense, even though your primary job is to check against the opposition's best. But he's been great for them. You know, he had that great fight with Ryan Reeves in game 81.

Just a real heart and soul kind of leader. I thought he's done a nice job there. But I think it's more of the cumulative effort. The Jets came off that road trip. They had a five-game homestandand they knew they had to get things going and you know even though they had the bad loss to the Calgary Flames they responded super well and you know really got the things going but I mean you can't ignore what Connor Hellebuck did down the stretch guys 13 starts in a row he was absolutely fantastic when his team needed him most and without connor hellebuck the jets probably

lose out of the turtle derby to either calgary or nashville but yeah i mean they're feeling good about themselves now can they sustain it i mean that's the big thing i i would always say this the cautionary tale for the jets they don't have to look very far they were very dominant in game one against the vegas school the knights in 2018 of the western conference final i know the score was only four two but they held the control of that game, and they never had a sniff the rest of the series. So I would say the Jets are much better prepared for this time around as they try to obviously move on from the first round, but I don't expect it to be a cakewalk here.

I mean, Vegas has been too good for too long, and they showed over the course of the season that despite injuries and having to use five five different goalies that they are still you know one of the best teams in the nhl and they finished as the best team in the west how jack eichel looking game when his first nhl playoff game dash three uh in 21 minutes or 20 and a half minutes what was his uh his debut like yeah morning it's interesting i mean i was here in vegas on saturday i was in the in the scrum of jack and peppering him with questions about the opener and he kind of joked he's like i've been playing the game for a bit and i know what i'm doing so i was at his best effort no i mean he only had two shots on goal but i mean he had 10 attempts so oh wow what we

know about that is that the stick the puck was on his stick a lot uh a lot of them either disrupted or blocked or you know missed the net kind of thing. I didn't find Jack to look nervous, but I also think that they changed the lines pretty early in the game. I think in the second period where they moved Stone and Stevenson with them, so we know Stone's coming back from the back surgery. I thought Michael was okay. Was it his best game? No. Do I expect him to be much better in game two? Absolutely. And that's why, too, I think it's a critical game for both teams i expect eichel to be much better and

i would expect them to be involved a little bit more involved in the offense their power play didn't look as good and that obviously we know runs through eichel as well again this is a guy who is eager for his first chance he knows how people are viewing him around the league. From all the players that I talked to and the people around Vegas, Jack has been nothing short of being an excellent leader this year, and I would expect him to have an impact here in game two and as the series moves along. Hey, Ken, great stuff, man.

Thanks for keeping us up to date on a real intriguing series out west. Thanks for doing this. My pleasure, Kipper. Thanks for having me. And you guys have a great rest of the day. Hey, a quick one, because I didn't hear it before. What are you expecting from game two of where you guys reside? I know the angst level is rising a little bit.

No, everyone's very comfortable here. No, no, everyone's terrified. Everyone's terrified, but I'm confident the Leafs are going to have a better showing tonight. I got a game to win. Ken, it can't get any worse, bud. Just upside. I watched Matthew Nye's last year when I went to see a game at UND. Chad Lucius, the Jets prospect, was still there last season.

Loved the way he played. I can't wait to see his debut tonight. I expect Ryan O'Reilly to have a big impact in game two in that series, guys. Enjoy it. On that note, we got to let you go. Yeah, absolutely. That's like a curtain call on the Leaf.

The Oracle. Yeah, it's all good. Thanks, Ken. Have a good day, guys. Thanks for having me. Cheers. Okay, I want to touch base a little bit on Jack Eichel. Okay.

He had a horrible... Was he minus three? Yeah. Okay, he's 26 years old. Is that all? He's been in the league for 30 years. I think 26 is getting old. You give me the that's all?

He's 26. That now is peak years. You give me the, that's all? He's 26. That now is peak years. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. This is the prime. Okay. McDavid at 153 this year. So, look at his peer group, including McDavid, right?

Yeah. Franchise players, career years. Like, how long do you wait for jack eichel what's his best year it's it did he get a point a game in buffalo oh 75 80 points yeah he's got an 82 point season is his best in 77 and what's the most goals he scored? 36. 36. Yeah.

Like, he's 26. Adrian Kempe got that blindfolded in LA this year. Between 26 and 28 or 30, are you expecting like one year where you're like, oh, that's how that's as, that's what we thought you'd turn into. Like, how long do you wait for Jack Eichel to be the player that you thought he was drafted?

Great question. You know, he's had some unfortunate luck with sure. Being on bad, really bad team in Buffalo for those years. Obviously the injury is significant. He missed a full season, gets traded. It hasn't been smooth.

This year would have been the year where you'd be like, aha, next year maybe another full one under the belt after surgery. I'm going to give him next year. If it doesn't happen next year, he's a point per game this year. Then he is what he is. Then he is what he is. And he might be what he is. He might be.

Which is a very talented player who just cannot put the whole package together. He is what he is. That's fine. I got no problem with that assessment. I'm saying it. He is what he is. Flash and dash. John DeVars.

Good player. His point per game is John DeVars. That's less of a robot. Oh, he's less of a robot. He's very human. Oh, yeah. He bleeds when you cut him. Oh, yeah.

Is he Willie? Is he Willie? No. That's a good conversation. He wishes he were Willie. I mean, potential for 35, 40 goals. Yeah, I suppose it's there as the upside. What will he play?

82 games, scored 40 times? If you had a choice next year who we would rather have on your team would be willie or eichel yeah you want the center i think but i don't know willie you can willie doesn't care what's happening it's a big advantage in this market he doesn't care yeah i mean he'd rather play well some reasons for that being very rich no yes okay yeah okay uh let's move around a little bit here goaltenders had the losing goaltenders last night had a tough tough night they did all of them hey can i can i have a quick pause and we'll get to your point that sure where do you want to go yesterday mark messier said a really important thing about team and how no one it doesn't matter

if you're not happy willie being on the second power play or you know you're not happy that you know you're ryan o'reilly you're in the third line now or whatever because we're not going anywhere unless we do it as a team as a group and i i don't know i feel like this leafs team needs that talk don't you don't you don't you feel like that's like uh okay you're scaring me right now because this is where a good portion of this group has been together five six years now and if you need that talk but i I think I spend a lot of time convincing you of that on this show. Going, who cares? It's better for the team if this. Leafs got a spare couple mil floating around for Mets to come in tonight

and give a speech. The one thing I still kind of question a little bit is how, and I've had this conversation with you before, but how truly close are they? Sure. I think that's a fair question. Like the one thing, you know what I noticed last night? Okay.

The Boston Bruins got shelled. Oh, and they acted like. No. Minnesota got shelled. And how come they finished the game like you know with fights and misconducts

and they go down and they're kind of together and I just don't get that sense with the Leaf team still and I know they've added players and it's been better but is it where it needs to be to your point yeah like i you know i i didn't play in the nhl but i have won junior championships i you know have had success at other levels and i have been told

by coaches we know this isn't the spot you want to be in the lineup tonight but we need you to be good in that spot for tonight and i understand when you go ah this isn't quite it for me but it you know help drive that goal for the team ego aside did it bother you at all that you watched last night these these teams go down i sent the text to him multiple different groups. With fights and misconducts. And the Leafs in game one. Quiet. No penalties in the third period after you know you've been shelled. Quiet.

They were quiet the whole third period. And I watched that Bruins game last night. I was like, oh, so you are allowed to do dumb things when you're getting shelled in front of a home crowd. Right? Like that's. I want. And there's people who would say, yeah, that's smart, you know. I want them to be mad about losing.

Together be mad. And that's all, at the core of it, that's always one of the main points I've always come back to with this team is how mad you are about losing. How can you show that you're pissed off that people paid $1,500 to be in the lower bowl seats and half of them are gone and you're not going to show the other half that stayed there for some reason that you're sorry and pissed off and upset that this happened there. Like it's your home ice. You can't go out there and throw a little greasy elbow or a slash or a cross check.

I just thought that messier point was so so good about you know it ain't and the other one game thing yeah it's not a one game thing you're not playing for to win that game when you're down seven two you're playing to win the series still and those are still minutes in the series that are relevant. Anyway. Just, again, just someone that lived through it with Mark. Yeah. That guy was in tune with anybody that came close to our room. Yeah.

Coaching staff, trainers, administration. If he sensed that someone came in a little down or their energy wasn't up, he was going to find out why because he felt that that

that energy would ripple into our room from the bottom of our roster to the very top yeah that's being in tune with your team yeah and you know can o'reilly now back in the lineup be that sort of conduit between different parts of the team to have it all become a you know can it happen during playoffs that it feels more united i think it can but it is one thing where it's not about individuals and i said this to you on one of one of our shows too where i was like you know if marner plays with Tavares and they're worse off individually, but the team is better, you know, is there a purpose there? Because none of these guys are going to win in public perception

without the team winning now. Without the team winning. I know sometimes you guys have looked at me like I got three heads. Oh, boy. me like i got three heads oh boy but this leaf team does not move the puck like a championship team okay they don't share the puck and i know you've shaken your head on me on a couple occasions but tavaris and matthews are your two top teams they are not they don't share the puck like i watch point share the puck with kucherov yeah and points a 51 year guy 52 51 or 52 this year goals it doesn't matter. 51. That guy, they move the puck. The power play.

They move the puck. The Leafs still have issues on that. Tavares wants his spot within the six feet. He gets his goals. Matthews likes to shoot the puck. Yeah. And listen, Willie's in that group too. He'd rather shoot right i mean sometimes as they say there's not enough puck for everybody i think sometimes i watch the leafs and it's an issue

yeah it's fine you know i don't think it's unreasonable you know to left field on that they score kip right like the team creates offense like as well as any team in the league not as not as the best it just doesn't look like other teams to me yeah that's all yeah and listen i i get that some of their top guys are not dishers for sure like that's there's only one disher yes austin or uh mitch murder yeah for sure in that group he is he is the guy and that's why it's a fight to have him on the line right because everyone wants the guy who moves the puck so still with that though you know in terms of what's best for the distribution of talent in the lineup to have the team win everyone wants mitch but mitch is the most important guy for all those guys. Maybe they get shut down this time of year because of the predictability that I'm talking about. I think that's a good point.

Yeah, I can see that. You know where... Like all of a sudden Mitch becomes like it closes up on Mitch. Well, guess what? Well, you know what I think of it as... We know Mitch is looking to be the playmaker. Well, and you know what I think of that as is how tough is it for a quarterback to throw completed passes downfield when everyone's covered?

So if everyone knows that these guys are shooting and Mitch doesn't have guys to give the puck to anymore, all of a sudden he's a lot easier to just bum rush and take him off the puck because there's no one to give it to anymore. So, there is an element of that that could you know a little more small area passing and and kucherov may be the best player i've ever seen at disguising what he's going to do no idea and he is the he's got that threat of he's got a bomb too oh. Oh, yeah. Cooch is unique in that regard. But there's even a play early in the first period where Tampa has a rush and a guy gives it into Sorelli.

And Sorelli, instead of one-timing it, pushes it back out to the outside. They end up creating a chance. It's five minutes into the game. They almost score on a rush after the Perry goal. And I was like, God, that's a nice little one touch, you know, cheeky little play. You know, it's, yeah, having deception is key. Maybe that's an offensive element that they need to unlock.

Well, hopefully they share the puck a lot better than they did in game one. That's for sure. Goaltending. You're on goaltending. Goaltending. Yes. Okay. Pick a series and we'll talk about it.

Boston. Boston. Okay. The worst game of the year for old allmark okay and i know we did uh picks yesterday on the sweeping of the boston bruins over florida i told you they're gonna win a game they were close in game one yeah they just but i'm telling you right now florida is in the heads of the boston bruins right now the end of that game where both sides are yapping on the bench and you know they got boston's attention here yes you know got boston's attention and one of the things that everyone said going into the series is like if there's cracks it's that all mark has never played in the playoffs and they shot a bunch through them the the fifth one the second montour goal yeah it just gave me rhymer flashbacks just holding the pose

just small in the net never saw the puck puck goes in puts the glove up like he had a chance on it he looked no good he let a squeaker in by sam bennett i did you see that clip did i send you guys the clip of the between the benches the espn feed i don't know i don't know maybe it wasn't even yeah i think it was espn feed and i don't think ray was uh too liberal with the mute on his microphone oh and these two teams going back and forth it was a effing loser fest like they were just all over each other i like calling someone an effing loser that's great it's it's just that i have used that chirp on the ice probably more than any other it's just it's such a great thing to say it's clever it's just it's clean you know you don't have to worry about it

but yeah it's because we know so many losers oh yeah just a loser just a loser so a couple things from that god i would love an unfiltered feed yeah like if i can if you could pay dollar amount would you put on that for a season of unfiltered microphones a season pass yeah the league would be out of business oh quite. I think some reputations might change. I would agree. And then the second thing is they are, they're really starting to, like that last night was pretty

dominant by the Cats. Like it was an evenly matched game. Two games in Boston, Florida outplayed them twice. Boston looked old last night. Another guy that's in their heads right now is Ly lion. Alex land. Yeah.

He had a good night. He had another good night. He's had a, guess what? Is that a good month? I love, I love these guys. They just have their Hamburglar moment.

Just like grab a random month. He's having a moment. Yeah. Brandon Montour rips two from the point. What a season he's had. So, okay. Uh, Mark Andre Fleury starting game two, Brandon Montour rips two from the point. What a season he's had. Okay. Marc-Andre Fleury starting game two.

Minnesota's decision to not go to Gustafson after 50 saves or 50 shots. Yeah. You know, everyone wants to be a tandem, Kip, then be a tandem. Is this Dean Everson just overthinking this one you know how it is you can do whatever you want as long as it works once it doesn't work all of a sudden we're all like i don't know about this yeah yeah i mean the flower had a tough night yeah but they they collectively had a bad night like the leafs did in game one yeah you know I see the idea of saying we trust our two goalies one of them is very tired so just like we would in the regular season we're going to give our team the best chance to win with a fresh goalie who we trust you know it wasn't clear

whether Gustafson was going to start game one or not it's not like he's been their runaway starter even though he had a wonderful year so they went to flurry and now but he had a hot hand yeah and just i don't know if would you have started yes i would have yeah don't look a gift horse horse in the mouth right and it's playoffs you know oh i'm sorry you're tired so i can argue that side of it too like we're all going to be tired here we need you you're our best guy no no no no you don't get to play the tired card in game two no no not allowed yeah imagine going to the coach's office coach uh my hammies are a little tight today okay what about uh sorokin here because i saw some pretty strange angled shots from slaven on him i shot it from behind the net off his neck okay that guy

what do you do you're the goalie like you have a head i know take it off like it's a great shot i didn't love it it's a great shot banking it off the fast goal at that angle i thought that was just going too fast for him i just thought it as a brilliant play to catch and release that to the far side. Okay. I didn't have problems. He didn't. We know he has to be first or second star for them to win. 100%. As the other world.

Just didn't happen. No. Also, I will note, we came on the show and we're like, the Leafs or, you know, the power plays. The Leafs, meanwhile, had four power plays scored twice. Islanders, zero power plays in that game while carolina had six and they lose in overtime after their defenseman gets high sticked in the mouth scott mayfield scott mayfield okay uh what did you show me mike rupp who's's a great contributor to the Real Kipper and Bourne show, broke it down.

He did. And he said that he lifted his stick into his head. Mayfield lifted the stick of the player into his own head, correct? Was what happened. If I get my stick lifted, am I allowed to just flail it up over my head? You're responsible for controlling your own weapon. I'm with him. With Borny?

Yes. Oh, I thought you were. I did not see that coming. No, I thought it was. You thought it was a good non-call. No, I wanted it to be a penalty. Oh, I'm not with you. Yes, I am not with you.

Yes, we do not agree. A good non-call there. you can't lift you can't lift a stick up and then it's not like he lifted it like this into his face or something he lifted it low and the guy let it just willy-nilly go wherever he's skating away you know well don't hold your stick like this then you meatballball. Without you lifting my stick, it doesn't go near your head. Yeah, well, I did lift your stick and you can't hang on to it. Okay, I'm going to start lifting everybody's stick and then clipping myself. No, listen, we're battling chintzy calls as is.

We are. Yeah. Come on. This is high event hockey here. The highest in the world. Let them play. I just don't understand how you get to discretionarily decide that now we're letting sticks in the face go

because it's not fun to have penalties called. But, and the fact that they had no penalties. That's probably, yeah. The NHL started tracking, this is Joey the nhl started tracking passes joey kenward uh started tracking power play and penalty kill opportunities in 77 78 uh last night was the first time the islanders went an entire game without a single power play it was also the first time in carolina hartford history they went the entire game without a pk so tough bounce for the islanders uh had the game in their control teravine and being out if they win last night

it's 1-1 aisles are heavy favorites to me going home now they're in deep deep trouble okay sammy yeah we got to bring this up because we had a conversation yesterday about leaf nation being up in arms about west mccauley Yeah. It hasn't stopped. They're not letting go here. And like... Let it go. Listen, this is your nation. Okay.

Sammy. Yes. You've got to talk to them. Okay. Talk to them. Right? I believe that you did try on Twitter. Well...

Minus a blue check mark. I never had a blue check mark. Did you try to... You never had a blue check mark? I never had a blue check mark. Did you try to calm down Leaf Nation on Twitter today? Well, there's a lot of twits on Twitter. So what's the latest on another official? Well, Eric Furlatt is officiating the game tonight. I don't even want to, honestly.

I know. You need to say it. Just let me roll my eyes at it and say it. Eric Furlatt is not coaching. That'd be bad. Is reffing the game tonight. And as a lot of Leaf fans remember last year in game seven, there may have been a somewhat notable pick play by Justin Hall

on a goal that John Tavares scored that potentially could have changed. Would have changed his legacy as a Leaf. It literally would have changed everything. But. And now Leaf Nation doesn't want him to ref. So I saw people kind of insinuating the fact oh the guy that is oh he called a pick play.

Good call by the way. Oh my god. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. That only happened 17 times after that in the playoffs and never got called again after that move on just everybody got to grow up there's guess what if you start judging people referees on bad calls against your team there's gonna be no refs left it's the hardest sport in the world to officiate refs make bad calls every single night and some of them are more egregious than the others,

but it's just, it happens. And the ref talk and the excuse-making, the pre-excuse-making is despicable, these nations. It is. It's one game. It's game one. Go into tonight thinking about the stars of your favorite local hockey team

that better show up and play well instead of the guy wearing stripes who may have a bad call. They're going undefeated. Stop it. Enough. That's a good talk. Sorry. He's also the guy that started this mess.

He didn't start the mess. The pick? He still the mess the pick he's he still cries over the pick oh i'm talking about the other mess the pick the pick play pisses me off no doubt and it's one that will always piss me off but guess what but you're not blaming refs make bozo calls all the time that's no that's no nothing different so i saw someone say that whatever their stats may be like there's a website i think it's scouting the refs that does this that furlatt actually calls the fewest penalties on the home team of any of the nhl referees so he's less he doesn't want to piss off the home crowd as much

so maybe you'll get some generous calls tonight yeah oh oh my god is there such a thing oh my god he called a penalty action on uh first power plays or that's good i can imagine all of a sudden dim johnny he is a new ref can we have can we have that would be the easiest to yeah be corrupt on beat the system for sure how about how about a game where it's two penalties each and we play some hockey tonight yeah that usually comes in the conference final you know what i remember getting in the car as a young child with my father i'm like i don't know seven eight years old and i remember saying i like when the referees make it fair so both sides get you know equal number of chance on the power play. And I remember my dad saying, that's not fair.

What's fair is the team who commits the most penalties getting the most penalties. And don't get me wrong. You can whine about the refs, okay? If you can be in your living room, be pissed off or whatever. But it's not the reason they're going to win or lose. Unless... Not the series. Just pump the brakes a little bit, Leafs Nation.

Okay, I'm done. All right. Just pump it a little bit. There you go. So, how many penalties tonight? Please, just four. Two each.

That would be so good. You know why? Because I would love to have 50 minutes of five-on-five hockey to talk about instead of 10 or whatever we had last game. I know there's more, but the third period wasn't even a hockey game. So we had 10 minutes of hockey in game one, in my opinion. Special teams garbage.

Oilers. Oh, yeah. The Oilers get a win. Skinner got the win, but which goal did i see uh velardi's stuff where his skates there that was samson i can watch that thing a hundred times and i still don't know how skinner let that in yeah like get your skate to the post there he's going behind the net there should be no holes when your leg is in there covering it on the other hand i trotted out a corpus allo victory lap for us saying that people should

trade for this guy and he let in a cost in wrister from the top of the circles to lose the game for the king so a one-on-three including yeah it was a good shot though i gotta say i'm wrong a lot it's a good shot it's a good yeah i like i can't i get it like that but like the goalie to get in the way there they gave him a lot of credit on the broadcast for the shot i was like a. Charitable review of a shot that should be stopped. I think if you asked LA after watching Edmonton finish out the year, it goes to your automatic, thrilled, one game apiece going home. Got our split, no complaints.

Split's like a huge win for LA. Although, if you play two games against the Oilers and Connor McDavid has zero goals and one assist. You might want to win both of those. You might want to win those ones because there's going to be a couple where he has three points, four points. They're coming. Okay.

The mere fact that we're talking about two games and one assist for Connor, does that give people the idea? How hard this is? Of no room out there? None. So one of my regrets. Do they really understand? No, they don't.

They don't understand how different it is. We talk about Tampa flipping a switch. How about all 16 teams just now my mom to win another stand on the right side like getting their teams to do this yeah and how hard it is to score it's funny is you could take i wrote an article yesterday about the least being nervous and i did all these clips where geo's forcing it into coverage well okay go look at the coverage tampa Bay has five guys on the defensive side of Leaf players.

Like he doesn't have a ton of options because it's so tight. There's no room. And so trying to create it out there is a huge challenge. Connor McDavid has not had success. He is the best human to have ever played hockey. Find Gretzky people if you like.

Okay. And then there's a lot of reasons why you go dry saddles nowhere near as good as connor mcdavid but but oh my god is he good and he's strong yeah he's a bull out there and he's got this edge yeah he does and that is an advantage that size of his really comes out in playoffs when he just like yarmir yoggers people just uses his giant ass to hold people away from the puck he is a playoff built player and the lone assist that connor got was like a rocket pass on a rocket one-timer yeah dry sidles back swings this far and he smashes it. Hit it in the

sweet spot. I bet you that pass was 75 miles an hour. And he just hits it in the sweet spot right in the back of the net. It's like he's at the driving range and he's got a bucket of pucks. He's also playing with a bow door, so it's probably a little easier to hit

it from there, but yeah. I don't know. You think the wind resistance of that thing trying to swing it's so big it is it's ridiculous yeah talk for the leafs boys give me uh give me a score tonight no no says sammy no i think the uh i think the offense gets going here. 4-2? 5-4-2? 4-2 for me. I know it's such a safe answer. It's actually a really safe answer, but 4-2 Leafs. I'll go 5-2 Leafs. Wow.

You like the offense tonight? 5-4 Leafs in overtime. Whoa. How about one arbitrary prediction? Matthew Nye's goal. Whoa. Matthew Nye's goal. Whoa! Matthew Nye's goal tonight. Let's see what that pays. You know what I need

to start the game for the Leafs? A little Buddha? He owns it, by the way. I'll have a few little Buddhas, but a hit. And I think, I want to go back to what I said the other day, that Justin Hall missed an opportunity on the biggest worm out there.

The literal worm? You cannot turn those down when they are on a platter for you. Start Matthews and Marner's line tonight? I'll be shocked if they don't start. Yeah. And shoot them out of a cannon. Okay. Who's ready?

I am. We're ready. I want to play. All right, thanks. 7 o'clock puck drop tonight, though. Thank God. Gord Stelic, Brian Boyle, Ken Wiebe. Breathe, everybody.

Breathe. This thing is just getting started, and we are along for the ride here on Real Kipper and Born. Enjoy the game, everybody. We're back tomorrow on Off the Rails Friday.