Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs vs. Bruins: How Much Does It Matter?

Episode Date: January 13, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee break down the Maple Leafs loss to the Detroit Red Wings and how Bobby McMann has fit on the Leafs lines. Next, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery jumps on (18:35) to discuss his adjustment to the team's system while implementing his own philosophy, how different it is coaching a veteran team in comparison to younger teams, his assessment of the Toronto hockey club, and getting another chance with the Bruins organization after leaving the Dallas Stars. Then, Doug MacLean joins for his weekly chat with the boys (57:43) and shares his thoughts on the regular season, if teams are allowed to have throwaway games, and if young players can cement themselves into a lineup when the post-season comes around. Afterward, the guys are joined by Windsor Spitfires, Seattle Kraken prospect Shane Wright (1:05:54) to sum up his learning experience playing hockey in the World Juniors and within the AHL. 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 Fan. That it is on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. Sportsnet's YouTube channel. Sportsnet Now. Is there a Sportsnet Later or is it just a Sportsnet Now? Sportsnet Later is a less used app. Sometimes you're subscribing on iTunes and Spotify. However you are getting us, we're glad you are aboard.

I'm Nick Kiprios. He's Justin Bourne. Derek Brandeo. Jen Rolnick. Sammy McKee on this Friday the 13th. Oh, is it Friday the 13th? Oh, God. That's not good. Oh, boy. There we go. Didn't even realize it Friday the 13th? Oh, God. That's not good.

Oh, boy. There we go. Didn't even realize it, did you guys? No. Oh, God. Are you buying into that? No. I've had an incredibly normal day.

Should we wait two hours to find out how unlucky Friday the 13th is? It's one of those things. You get in a mindset and you're like, I don't know. Things can kind of go weird on a day like today. Well, we, despite the calendar day, we are lucky to have

Jim Montgomery, head coach of the Boston Bruins on the show. A head coach of an NHL team. What a cool, I didn't know they would come on our show. That's fascinating. One day we may get a Toronto Maple Leaf. Who knows? Probably not. The good news is they don't, they just say, hey, listen, we're not coming on your show.

But the good news is we're not going on any show. Yeah, that's true. No one is getting to talk to them. Also the bright spot is Sheldon Keefe comes on our show every day whether he likes it or not. It's true. We bring him on our show by audio. Yes, we do. And he says generally the things that he would just say to us.

Yeah. Anyways. Right. Or the principal. Well, the other part is. Coach is going to keep his mouth shut. Live. Keep his mouth shut live on our show

we know that for sure also Doug McClain in about 40 minutes so that's where we get the true we're less on the 13th of the month and more on just off the rails Friday because you know you don't know where that guy

is going to take anything but guaranteed today he's we haven't had him on in the last little while I don't know he that guy is going to take anything. Yeah. But guaranteed today he's, we haven't had him on in the last little while. I don't know. He's golfing a couple of times. So, you know, he's going to be, he's going to be jacked to come on and start talking God knows what. Yeah.

I always feel like Doug has some like generational wealth thing going on. Every time we talk to him, he's like, yeah, I rented a Porsche and drove down to Cabo. And it's like, what? What did you do? In the second hour, Shane Wright's going to pop in, and we'll get to ask him about his gold medal. Shane Wright and Jim Montgomery, a couple of guests today.

And how hot is Seattle Kraken are? You going to ask him about that? Yes. Okay. That's, you know, he's not there. They beat the Boston Bruins. I know, in Boston. In Boston.

Boston scored zero times on them. Which sets up a game where both the Leafs and Boston are coming off losses. That's good. You wanted to get Boston's attention, really sharpen their axe before Leafs come to town. Well, and it's coming off a loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Detroit Red Wings, which apparently hasn't happened in a very long time in regulation. Since 2017.

That's the first time they've beat the Leafs in regulation. It's 2023. I know. That's pretty crazy. That is crazy. I will say that I love the fact that maybe the Bruins were looking ahead as well. Right? I think that's possible.

It matters to me that the Bruins care as much about Saturday night as the Leafs do. Because to me, last night was a vintage scheduled loss. Second half of a back-to-back letdown spot. We're going to go up against Bruins on Saturday, and then they lose to the Squids on home ice and regulation. They're both looking ahead to Saturday night, if you ask me. Love it. Set the stage.

I get that for sure, and I think we're going to hear that out of Sheldon Keefe, who, despite losing to a team that doesn't seem destined for a playoff spot, he was actually okay with that. Let's go to our first Kippers Clipper. Well, I love the effort. It's not just the back-to-back. I mean, that's five games in eight days for our team.

So the fact that we punched back in that second period to make it a game when it's 2-0, you don't let it run away on you. You score a big goal, and then you're fighting right there basically to the end. I love that with our group. Obviously, we just couldn't generate enough offense to make it a real game to go in our favor. But in terms of the effort, I love that our guys dug in tonight.

Loved it. Is last night a little bit of an example that if the big boys don't carry you, was there a sign that secondary scoring, that would have been a perfect night where somebody in the bottom six steps up with a goal here and there. Bobby McMahon to kick one in or something. And you find a way, and there and bobby mcmahon to kick one in or something and you find a way

and you find a way but no austin matthews and i i thought i thought detroit did a pretty good job on mitch marner i didn't think mitch marner was that great last night which is kind of a rarity that he's he's quiet but as ke mentioned, five games in eight days. It didn't seem like a whole ton of pop out there for the fellas. I would say that was by far Mitch Marner's least noticeable game of the year. Just like not bad. No, like most games, like Kipper said, he's involved in everything. You really, you know, you notice him in every fast of the game,

popping offensively, defensively. Just felt like a night where I barely, it feels like I didn't say his name a whole lot yeah he wasn't involved a whole lot we saw on on the long goal with sandin uh a really nice given goal with uh tavaris but outside outside of that i didn't get anything out of tavaris either no and he's the guy lucas raymond scores that goal coming from behind tavaris who's just watching the puck instead of getting the next wave of guys you know it's a defensive nap for me on that one from Tavares so not what you're looking from one of your veteran guys not to mention that one hit Samsonov in the hip and was going to hit the middle of the net and still went in but Samsonov otherwise made some big saves I thought back-to-back games where the goalies give you a chance at the end

to come up with a point or two. And Murray was able to do that for a regulation win. And Samsonov didn't, and he didn't have any offense to support him, but he kept them in the game. Yeah, he made some saves. That's a winnable game for them, right? They're down 2-1. Again, Matthew's not there to shoot one in as he so commonly does you know a

couple of really you know a couple of big ones along the way so not a poor performance i'm not sure what his save percentage would have finished at but just below 900 probably but still a pretty good night from samson off and you get a sense of the competitiveness now a little bit out of Samsonov. Here they are. They pull the goalie. They get the 3-1 game convincing goal. And then they, for good measure, they put in the fourth one. Did you see his reaction after the fourth goal? No. He was pissed.

Oh, yeah? Because that's all about messing with my save percentage and my average. And that's just a crappy goal to give up for a goaltender yeah particularly a guy scrapping for the starting spot and earning his next contract as the season goes along those goals matter as much as any really all right you mentioned uh the goal no goal we had talked about mccannann at a pretty good, great length the other day. And here he is. He gets his first NHL goal.

Same city. I got my first NHL goal. I can't even. Was your dad there? Oh, yeah. My mom and dad were there. Oh, wow. I can't even imagine the feeling.

The moment that pause and it's like oh god when they took it away yeah that's on on your first nhl goal yeah talk about giveth and take it away and like you know he kicks it up to his stick or tries to away from the net hits the other team it was until sammy on our chat line said oh no this is new jersey all over again and it didn't even dawn on me i thought for sure for sure that this was going to be just a stupid challenge by detroit and then it just didn't even dawn on me yeah i wonder if this is like one of the ones they use in the nhl offices to say like you know we got to change this rule a bit this isn't the guy kicking a puck into the net this is a guy who kicked a puck and it went into the net like are we really wanting to take that

goal off the board it's a good question but i and i hate it and I'm with you 100%. I get legally. It's probably no goal. You start. They are worried about tweaking anything because there's always that trickle effect of what it means and a whole new can of worms could open up because of it. Yeah. And I don't know if they're willing to go there or how hot button the topic is.

We've seen a couple of Toronto Maple Leaf examples. I don't know if they're willing to go there or how hot button the topic is we've seen a couple of toronto maple leaf examples i don't know i i'm not watching outside of you know the leafs on on most nights on is this a league-wide issue too here or are other players getting ripped off if if the league were to suddenly say kicked in goals count get it into the net if you got to kick it whatever if they suddenly did that is there a big concern that people are going to suddenly become zlatan ibrahimović or whatever his name is and do bicycle kicks from the center? You know, like, are we concerned? I think you're more concerned about the knives they play on going into somebody's face. I understand the concern, but that's what I'm saying.

Are we really concerned anyone's taking giant punts at the puck? Do we go your way until we see, you know, a jugular laying at center ice? Can we slash at least a couple of throats before we... No, I mean, I don't know if it would happen. That's, I don't think you want to try that. How about if your blade's on the ice, it's okay? To me, I just think that's, unfortunately for Bobby McMahon, and the optics aren't great, I don't know how you'd change it.

To me, it's just, if it goes off your skate and doesn't hit another stick, that's, it's no goal. Then if your skate is on the ice, it should be a goal. Well, who's jugular you're slashing by with your skate on the ice?

No one's, so why can't you do it? I don't know. Maybe, then it's just more gray area. It's like the posts and all this stuff. To me, if it's a kicking motion at all it doesn't hit a stick it goes in the net it doesn't count we do not afraid of gray area let the refs make some calls i uh you know that's gone the last couple nights so maybe i think we avoid that i'm really starting to hate that i think that a goal is not a goal until maybe a minute and a half after. Yeah.

It used to be like once a goal's in, you're cheering and you're... That's actually what I dislike about the NFL. You're never 100% all in on anything because it's like, oh, God, it was offside. That's NFL every play. It's like, catch. Does it count? I hate it. I hate it. This happened in soccer too right with var where they can review offsides that are you know by a guy's eyelash if he's

offside by that they'll call it back so you never get a true moment of the pucks in the net we scored a goal there's nothing that can happen it's like semi celebrate while you stare at the ref to see if the you know flag gets thrown the thing that upset me the most about what the goal last night with McMahon is, if it doesn't hit modest skate, it's on his stick and he's shooting it in the net. Like he was kicking the puck up to his stick, which was on the ice, about to tap the goal in, and it hits modest stick. Out of luck slick, eh? Back heel kick up to your stick?

Which he was trying to do. So are you going to get rid of, as soon as you kick it at all, it doesn't count? Like you can't heel kick up to your stick? What she was trying to do. So are you going to get rid of, as soon as you kick it at all, it doesn't count? Like you can't kick it up to your stick? Like there's just so many little things to me that upset me about that goal. Let's hear Sheldon. I feel sick for him. On the no-go call.

Yeah, my understanding, and I've asked the official for the exact clarification on it, my understanding is that if, because it's, it's kicked, um, in any direction, if it's kicked and it doesn't go off of another stick, even if it's, well, it's our stick, their stick, the goalie stick, if it doesn't go off of anything, any sticks, then it's, it comes back. It just, that's the way it goes in. So rules are rules in terms of what should or shouldn't be. That's over my head that's all

it's over all of our heads yeah because i i don't know i just watch and you're like uh okay i guess you can interpret it that uh yeah it was redirected and the rule says this and according to the rules it's correct but it just it just sucks. Yeah. Bummer for McMahon. But nice that the Leafs have a player who will be in the crease. Yeah. Good point. I just feel for, you know, family flies in. Yeah.

He has a great first game. Gets to go on the father's trip. And you go down there. Was it the second shift of the game? He gets out there. Puck goes in the net. Everybody's going crazy. Actually, I did the Flames game last night. And Walker Dewarer second nhl game just like mcmahon his family i know second walker doer sounds like two adjectives

but anyway he scored and his parents are there it's pretty cool i think that the good news for bobby is that he's gonna get another crack against the b Bruins. I like him. Yeah, you do, eh? Oh, yeah. It's fun talking about a couple of guys that can play. He's in already. Hunt? No, sorry. Done. This is amazing. Really appreciate coming in, giving it a good look.

Really? Completely agree, Cameron. Wow. Yeah. McMahon. McMahon over Hunt all day long. Bigger, heavier looks the part. The Big Mac.

Faster. How about Aston Reese? I don't know what he's got to do to come out. They must love him. You can't have Hunt and Aston Reese. They're really kind of twins. Yeah, one's a more energetic guy in Hunt and the other's maybe a better positional guy,

I assume, because they love him. Hunt, 13th, 14th, go back to the Marlies. Love that in the playoffs. Come on up, no problem. Love having Hunt in the press box. Yeah, but cannot play fourth line Tampa Bay Lightning. Man. play fourth line tampa bay lightning man yeah i you know i i i respect your opinion on that sort of role and that sort of player and i've you know i when i watch him i just think he's got some life to him you know yes yes which i like so i i can't i don't disagree with you at all uh but you

are limited at five eleven and and a half, six feet. That's all. He's definitely six feet in the program. Yeah. Yeah. The same way I'm 6'2 in all the programs. But it's actually another good find by Kyle Dubas. That's all.

Just to take something out of nothing. And make it look like. An asset. A serviceable asset. I think Bobby's on his way. You know what I think of? I think of the Bruins. Actually no.

An even better example is the Pittsburgh Penguins for a year. Do you remember one of the greatest tweets of all time? Sammy. I think it's. Who is it? acting the fool man maybe that was like every time you look at the the pittsburgh penguins they got another guy named like buzz flibbert or mark donk who has 60 points on the first line there's like when you're a good team and you bring someone into your structure and into your culture if it's a good structure

and culture they should be able to look okay yeah and i think the least are there now where they put guys in for a couple of games and you don't go, well, that guy's an AHL player. They look good. Like dressing you in a Blue Jay uniform and sticking you out in left field. You might notice. No, as long as the ball doesn't come to you, you look exactly like any other left fielder would look like. As long as my shirt's not tucked so tight they can see my little belly,

but otherwise, yeah. I guess with Alexander Alejandro Kirk on the team, you can get away with a bit of a pooch. Yeah, but he actually hits the, but otherwise, yeah. I guess with Alexander Alejandro Kirk on the team, you can get away with a bit of a pooch. Yeah, but he actually hits the ball. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it makes a lot of contact. I'd be standing in the back of the box just cowering. Not quite the look the other night that we had against Nashville.

So Nylander doesn't hold his spot at the center ice position. Holmberg all of a sudden slides down in. Let's go to Sheldon on that, and we'll pick it up after his comments. Yeah, I mean, less about tonight, but more so what he's done for us. To be honest, it's something I thought about last night, but I didn't think he had a great night last night. I didn't think the timing was right. But here tonight, I thought he was a little bit better,

and we needed more offense. So I just thought the time was right to give him a little bit more there and have a true center in that spot. So I thought we'd give him a look. And I thought he was good with the puck and made some plays, but obviously not enough for our team as a whole. Okay, we're going to pick up on that a little later. Let's just quickly go to keep on playing the Boston Bruins

because we've got Jim Montgomery in a moment or two. Well, I mean, it's not much of a race at this point. I mean, obviously, they are, I mean, unless I'm mistaken, they're playing at a pace that's the highest winning percentage in the history of the NHL. So it's not much of a race at this point, but we would like to make it so that they have to try to maintain that pace or we're going to be right there.

So that's really it. Obviously we failed to get points tonight, but any time we're playing head-to-head, it's a good opportunity to compete. But more importantly, it's a good chance for our team to bounce back and go against a team that is going to push us in all regards. And I'm excited about that. We'll take a day off tomorrow, much needed, and be a group for Saturday. All right, from the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs

to the head coach of the Boston Bruins, let's welcome in Jim Montgomery. Jim, thanks so much for giving up a few minutes of your time. I know there's a big game Saturday night, and for Leaf fans, they're a little excited that you've given them hope by actually losing a regulation game at home to Seattle. So on behalf of Leaf fans, thanks for giving

them some life. Yeah, thanks guys. I appreciate you, Justin and Nick, having me on the show. Yeah, that's going to be a fun game tomorrow night. As far as just coming off of a loss um and you know for the first time uh uh regulation loss at home so uh you know what is what has been going what's been so right and and what kind of snuck in last night uh on the 3-0 loss? Yeah, I think what's been going

so right is we're really deep. I mean, we have two really good goalies. You know, we've got a deep back end, and we've got four lines that can push momentum, push the needle back in our favor the next shift that they're out there.

And when all four lines are going, I think we're really hard to handle. So you couple that with great leadership and a culture that I feel very fortunate to be a part of, it leads to a lot of success. And then what happened last night was I think we got a little bit of our own medicine. We played against a team that played with great structure, didn't give us much didn't

allow us uh to get to middle ice didn't allow us to um you know overwhelm them in the offensive zone because they were very aggressive and then they attacked our net well uh you know not dissimilar to what toronto did to us when we were in Toronto. Jim, you mentioned there leadership and the culture there in Boston. Before you got there, what was it like, you know, being the head coach and wanting to implement your own ideas and somewhat of your own culture, I imagine, with some parts of it already in place there? Was it, you know, any sort of conflict or contrast?

What was the process like of becoming a head coach of something that had been established with some guys? Yeah, well, I think the biggest thing about the culture with the Boston Bruins is how, I guess, open-minded and welcoming people are. It's a very inclusive environment. And, you know, led by the Bergerons, Marchands, Pasternak, Preachies, Folinos, Lindholm, McAvoy, Carlo. Like, there's so many players that understand the Bruin culture. And they want to be pushed. They want to learn new ways to better themselves individually

and to better the team. So there was never any conflict or contrast. It was, you know, without the puck, we're not changing much. But with the puck, there's a couple of wrinkles we're going to add. And they wanted to see those wrinkles, and they wanted to go to work on them. And, you know, that's where I say, like, it's an easy job because you come into the job and the players have a thirst for knowledge. And then the communication, the give and take back and forth is really good. You know, it's like, what do you think about here, what we're doing?

Do you think we should do this? You know, and it ends up being our plan it's not my plan it's a plan that we all believe can give us the best opportunity at success and and it keeps evolving because you play against different teams that pose different challenges and i think what we're trying to do now is prepare ourselves you know for the big challenges that lie ahead in the spring we're talking to jim Montgomery, head coach of the Boston Bruins. Jim, from the outside in, we can all look at a guy like Patrice Bergeron or Brad Marchand and go, they're great players.

But once you get there and then you're on the inside like you've been, what are the things that you see that doesn't necessarily show from the outside? I guess what doesn't show from the outside is how hard they work every day. They're the best players in practice every day. And the other thing is how good people they are. Like Patrice Bergeron's awareness of everybody else. If someone's down, he's aware. He picks the person back up.

If someone's out of sorts, either, you know, because they're being way too competitive and they're getting on the verge of being obsessive about something, he's aware, and he pulls that person back into a healthy state of mind. And then, like, with Marshawn, he's not going to accept anything except anybody's best. So he's going to raise the level of your competitive fire, whether it's through his example or he's going to lift it by, you know, trying to demand more out of yourself. And that permeates through everybody else. Everybody expects the best that everybody has, and everybody expects everybody to treat everyone with respect and care about each other.

Jim, all of us are different with different people, I think, in life. That's only natural to sort of make it work. I wonder how you feel about how you're different with this team, knowing that you've been with a couple of teams in the nhl uh in the past and in university and and all that do you find with this many veteran guys that you get to be quieter maybe because they're they're not afraid to speak up how do you feel that you're different as a coach with this group well i i feel that um i give them a longer leash in games behind the bench when things aren't going well.

You know, like we've had a couple of times where we're up 4-1 and we give up two quick goals. Normally I would call timeout and make sure the team's settled. But this team talks well on the bench. So it's like, well, what they're saying, I can't do any better. So I just let them play themselves out of it and they do uh and then i think the other part would be uh off the ice um it's not so much giving them a leash there but it's the communication of i go to them and a big part of that is don sweeney like don likes when I go and talk to players and ask

their opinions and that allows me to be myself because I want to know what the players are thinking that helps me make the best decisions for the team and the players here are always going to say what they think is going to help the Boston Bruins. So the trust level is so high end that when everybody's thinking about what's best for the Boston Bruins, you're going to end up making a decision that's going to be best for the entire group. And it's not my decisions. It's a team first decision by everybody.

Jim, with such a big lead in the Atlantic and sights on maybe a first overall President's Trophy whatever the case is I mean what do you do for the next 40 games outside of those few things what do you do to prepare this team not to win a round or two but to win the Stanley Cup where's your focus outside of

what is being presented here for 40 more games yeah i think our focus is we we try and stay in the moment it's a big part of what we do is being very process oriented and if we think our process and our details and our habits are good the success is going to come but how do we get better well there's areas that we try and pick on like one day or max two areas of our game that we think either needs refinement or it's an area where we can get better and that and we know that we're doing this in order to be at our best when it comes playoff time because it's hard to like our our group knows how we're supposed to play in all three zones with and without the puck but are there wrinkles that we can add that are going to make us harder to play against you know

like do we change what we do in the offensive zone to try and create more offense those are just examples but that's how we maintain our focus to try and be really good that day, but also with a little bit of our sights set on the spring. And I know great teams like yours, you guys typically would focus on yourself and doing what you do best and making other teams worry about you. Is there anything that the Maple Leafs do that's unique or you say, okay, this, you know, when we play this opponent, the Maple Leafs are like this. so we have to pay attention to it?

Yeah, you know, the Maple Leafs are extremely well coached. They transition well. They defend really well. It's very underrated how well they defend as a team. And, you know, they also pose some individual problems, you know, like how do you match up against Austin Matthews? You know, who goes against Tavares and Marner? You know, like, and, you know,

how can we try and get in front of their net because they're so well in defending the net. Those are, you know, so they pose a lot of problems. And that's why I think you look at the Leafs and Hurricanes and what the Bruins have done to not have 10 losses in your first 41 or two games, depending on how many you've played. It's pretty incredible. So this poses a great opportunity for us to see where we're at

and where we need to continue to improve, whether it's individual matchups or it's the collective team versus team. Jim, what you can do is just keep throwing Lindholm out there. It was a trade last March for Lindholm with the Boston Bruins where you're like, okay, well, they got this guy out of

Anaheim and not necessarily Lindholm's the first name that rolls off your tongue as a great 200- foot defenseman but man oh man has he made life for the Boston Bruins a lot easier moving off of a guy like Chara right in his heyday and just what he's meant to you so far this season and and how he's been able to really go to another level yeah well I, he's been huge for our team all year long. And, you know, I was out west when he was in Anaheim,

and I always thought his game was really good. And it's like you were wondering, you know, early in his career, Anaheim was really good. And that's when his best years were, his first three years in the league. And then, you know, every organization every organization i guess has downturns and anaheim is as you know is in a downturn and i think a little bit um his development and his own uh personal game maybe suffered because of you're in anaheim you're not in the playoffs everyone in the league kind of forgets about you and I think him coming to an original 16 being in a hockey rabid city like Boston where the fans love you has re-energized him and I think his 200 foot game is really really underrated in the league

and I think people were okay well this guy's a fine defenseman. He's not fine. He's elite. Yeah, and he really has been super effective. Last question for me, Jim. We appreciate your time. Just wanted to get a thought from you on your goaltenders. Linus Allmark obviously having an unbelievable season. How much of that is getting to play behind a good team with good structure, and how much of your good structure comes from trusting that guy?

I think it's 50-50. It's a really good question. And I think that he has matured and goalies mature later, right? Like if you look forwards, peak at the earliest, then defense and then goalies because it's the hardest position to be really, really good at. And his, I think, second year in Boston has helped him. He used to be in Buffalo where he faced a lot of shots.

Now he came to a situation last year where he faces less shots. And how do you keep your concentration and focus when you're used to 38 shots compared to 28? And then I think just being in the same city has really elevated his game, and we're really lucky. We have Jeremy Swayman, who's a terrific young goalie, who's, you know, got off, he got injured early in the year, delayed his development, and he's been great for us his last seven starts in a row.

Hey, Jim, one more for me, and I hope you're okay with me asking about just going from losing your job in Dallas, and you've been public about that, and just now, and we're in this world now where sometimes it's really hard for some people to get second chances, and here you are getting your second chance, and just how grateful you are for it.

I'm incredibly grateful for it. And I would not be in this position if it were not for great family, great friends, and, you know, support of so many people in the hockey world, whether it's referees, linesmen, executives, players, and fellow coaches. The hockey world is a great environment where people are great people. And I think for myself, I would like our entire society to be a little more tolerant, forgiving of people who do make mistakes.

I know I'm very lucky and I would not be the person I am if it wasn't for second chances. And, you know, the onus is on the person to make changes in their lives, but you can't do it alone. And I think sometimes we forget that, you know, no one does anything alone. You look at great hockey players, you know, when they were kids, they were supported in a good culture, a good community. It takes a community for everybody to prosper.

Very well said, Jim. Appreciate your time. Wish you all the best and looking forward to a great game tomorrow night, Toronto and Boston. Thanks for doing this, Jim. You got it. Thanks, guys. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Wow. Good interview, if I do say so ourselves. Guy was scraping the bottom of the barrel in Dallas, and here he is. I don't know. Did we just engrave the Jack Adams award to him right now? Five losses. Did he lose it with the uh being shut out

by seattle last night i think he's okay okay you know it's it it's really impressive to listen to him talk about all the things about trust in their team and decision making the one that stuck out to me the most was talking about off ice stuff and just getting the feel from the team what they want to do because he trusts that they actually have the team's interest in mind not like you know what club they want to go to i loved listening to him talk about patrice bergeron because i'm just like he's he's talking about mark massier for me yeah where that's a great comparable where he they're just so in tune with everybody's energy in the room and if someone's down in the room and it doesn't matter brian leach mike richter or a fourth line guy like me or the guy who washes the towels in

the dressing room if if there's something wrong in there then it's wrong for all of us and we need to fix it you know that's why it's hard to see boston really falling off like you know i they'll have a stretch of games where they're not great but there does seem to be such a you know a trust a team factor there where that is a united group and you look through that lineup and the amount of veteran guys whether and i'm not talking about the same names i mean taylor hall is you know a veteran guy now and charlie coyle and crachy and mcavoy and you know and guys you know, a veteran guy now, and Charlie Coyle and Krejci and McAvoy and guys, you know, Derek Forbort. These guys have been around now. So it's not just Marchand and Bergeron and, you know, and Pasternak.

These guys, they're a veteran group of guys, top to bottom. Tough to see them really having a massive fall and not pulling it back together. So I'm going to go to our resident superfan, Sammy, on this one because let's put aside for a second how deep they are or how good they've looked. Is the sense from Sammy's world, i.e. Leaf Nation, is that it's out there that we could,

we still feel better about maybe beating a Boston Bruins team than we do a Tampa Bay Lightning? Because there is a sense that over the last few years outside of that meltdown in, what, 2013, that the Leaf teams have gone into Boston. They've won. And if I'm not mistaken, Boston may be a team for, like, Mitch Marner who has as many points against them as he does any other team.

Oh, really? Like, I don't know. We'll have to look that up. But the perception is that the Leafs can go into Boston and beat them? No. No way. I really... What?

I think that the perception is a lot of feeling sorry for themselves with the division. And Boston's included that with Tampa? Look, I forget where I saw it, but somebody tweeted out that over the last five years, the three best records in the league are these three teams. These three teams are... I know, but they've had success in Boston.

Yeah. Outside of the meltdown. I said to you yesterday, Sam, that this is... The Leafs do well in these spots. I know they haven't won the playoff series. I'm with in these spots. I know they haven't won the playoff series. I'm with you on this. Yeah, they haven't won the playoff series, and so it's tough to call it success. You'd rather go into a series against the Bruins and the Lightning.

No. Is that what you're saying? No. I just think the gorilla in the room is bigger with a Tampa Bay jersey than it is a Boston Bruin jersey. I think they're equally horrifying. All right. I honestly couldn't pick. jersey than it is a boston bruin jersey i think they're equally horrifying okay all right i

honestly couldn't pick if i had to pick which one i'd rather play maybe boston because it's been a few years maybe something change you should prefer tampa this boston ruin i think so i listen linus lomar is having an unbelievable season but when he comes i'd much rather go in a game than vasileski is this going to be one of those games where a win means more than i don't know a win late in the season or to to win a division or something like is there going to be value in this if the leafs lose 5-2 or if boston wins 52, is this something that's going to last? It's a good question. I never really know.

You know, I think it's pretty easy to point from both perspectives. At the least, when you're like the people who are really pro this core and pro this league, like say they can beat the Bruins, and then the people who are against the core will be like, oh, yeah, well, you beat them in January. Great job. Plan the parade. Like this argument can go both ways,

but it can't hurt going in there on a Saturday night and beating the Bruins on home ice, which is something that outside of the squids, no one does. Yeah, you want to feel like you're able to do it. I just can't wait for the game. You don't want to be the Montreal Canadiens or Senators coming into Toronto and getting a wing.

Or the Winnipeg Jets, was it, Mark Scheifele? You said, nothing better than beating the Leafs and it's a big celebration. You know, you can't put the Bru scheifele you said nothing better than beating the leafs and it's a big celebration you know you can't put the bruins that far ahead there it is you know the bruins are a good team they're the best team in the nhl this season the gap is not insurmountable for toronto getting there i don't mean to catch them in the regular season standings i mean in terms of teams yeah yeah okay where they're at like don't over don't mean to catch them in the regular season standings in terms of teams where they're at don't underestimate how great

the Leafs three best players are if the Leafs play the Bruins in a playoff series we're all going to be sitting here talking about a game 7 at TD Garden let's just put that out there the Leafs fans will get Austin Matthews back for tomorrow night almost certainly but there has to be over 60 minutes tomorrow night

that we can see at least get a feel for how deep boston is or uh what may be missing still from the leafs can we get that out of 60 minutes i i would believe that i i will get a feel for that i know you're putting a lot of stock in these games so there's three boston and one tampa left is that right on the air no two boston two boston and one tampa left yeah and i do put stock in these games yeah i think my son's having a sleepover it's gonna be kids at my house oh boy i do believe that kyle would be watching this and wondering okay where where are the Bruins ahead on this? Third and fourth line guys. Nick Foligno is having a hell of a year. Can I give you the Boston Bruins bottom six?

Yes. Go ahead. Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederick is the third line. That is absurdly good. That's a very good third line. Nick Foligno, Thomas Noshik, and Koppinen. I don't know who that is right now. Really, really good. That third line of hall coil frederick is frederick's a player guys beast he's like the perfect he's exactly what the leafs need let's imagine like it's quite

again six five but i don't even know put him on with tavaris and marner for a few shifts or uh for a big game against tampa i just want the Leafs to have a guy like that so bad, boys. Like, I just really do. Just like a guy that's a dick. I'm watching. I don't even know if I'm allowed to say that on the radio. I don't even know if you have to be a dick anymore in 2023. Frederick is.

I know he is. He's got the rest of his arms. I can't believe this. I know. We're not on delay. Oh, my God. That hurt my ear. I can't believe this. I know. We're not on delay. Oh, my God. That hurt my ear.

I'm watching last night. I'm going, Andrew Kopp. I'm noticing him out there. He's heavy. I bet you Detroit would trade you Andrew Kopp. Oh, they would give you him. You can't take him. Five million. He makes five?

Five. For five years five so that's what has to happen though is kyle needs to find a cop before ufa right yeah pre-ufa cop who is that rangers from winnipeg to the rangers they had their run yeah they can't afford them anymore yep where is andrew cop before free agency out there for kyle and the leafs it's a great question mid um um i thought it was drops that sounds live every time just a quick mid quickly go back to your uh mitch marner with the bruins yes he has 28 points in 17 games against the boston bruins seven goals 21 assists for a plus nine rate is that regular season uh yeah pretty darn good and then and his he's only played so that's in 17 games against the sens he's leading he's got but he's played 28 games against them and 11 goals and 22 assists

how about austin against boston uh give me two seconds oh now we're gonna race to commercial uh i'm quickly i'm going as fast as i can here i do give me some um give me some jeopardy music here we go boston bruins austin matthews 13 games against the bruins which feels like not that many he's got eight goals and eight assists for 16 points you know you just mentioned like that marner has 28 games against the bruins which feels like not that many he's got eight goals and eight assists for 16 points you know you just mentioned like that marner has 28 games against ottawa and less against boston like by significant amounts i wonder what that's about you missed some time yeah a couple years just just yeah canadian division oh yeah that's the answer thanks brandale which is why detroit also more than just a hat rack....since 2017. Somewhere you can hang your earphones, eh? Way to go.

Valued contributor. Okay, we'll take a quick break. Off the Rails Friday with Doug McClain coming up. I got this bizarre story this week with Doug McClain. I'm going to share with you. I don't know if you want to have him on the line listening or not, Sam, but I need a minute to kind of shape this thing up because Doug was in a frenzy this week calling me up,

asking me about John Bartlett. That, after the break, you're listening and watching to Real Kipper Unborn. Just before going to break, I told you we're going to have Doug McClain on. But I got to tell you this quick story. Earlier in this week. Doug's on. He can listen.

All right. Earlier in this week, earlier this week, Doug gives me a call. And he's like, John Bartlett. John Bartlett. And I'm like, John Bartlett, John Bartlett. And I'm like, John Bartlett, our sports night play-by-play guy, John Bartlett? And he goes, yes. He's driving me crazy. He says, he keeps calling me up and he wants me to invest and I'm ignoring it.

And he just keeps coming back to me, sending me messages. He says he's starting to stalk me. He goes, how well do you know him? And I'm like, I don't know. I mean, I talked to him a couple times. We talk hockey. But, like, if you're asking me if he's on a flight down to Florida to chop you up in 10 pieces, I don't know him that well. I mean, I don't know.

You're alive. That's good news. I'm here. He was hacked. Your account was hacked. He was trying to sell me crypto. Then I realized his Instagram account was hacked. Some idiot wanted to send me crypto. I was trying to be nice crypto and then i realized his uh instagram account was hacked some idiot was wanting to send me crypto i was trying to be nice to bartley what are you doing you know i'm busy i'm playing golf i go to the beach i'm doing a little real estate pei but

overall i well i haven't got this crypto deal and i'm thinking about shut up. I don't want Chris. I don't want headaches. Anyway, that was my week. I mean, I get the – anyway, it was Mario last week. It wasn't – It was Bartlett this week. I got people bugging me all the time. So it was an actual person? It wasn't like an automated machine sending you stuff? Someone actually pretended to be John Bartlett?

It's not been a good... It just hasn't been a good week. Like I told you the other day, I go to play Pine Tree, this exclusive country club where Broder's a member and Ray Shepard's a member and Mario's a member. Mario's kid's a member.

I play where Mario's wife is a member, but anyway, I give the guys a member, but yeah, anyway, I, I got, I'd give the guys a treat. So I bring three cigars for the one guy. I know he doesn't, doesn't smoke cigars. So I brought two cigars for the other two guys. So I give them my torch. I light their cigars. I put it back underneath and we're driving down the first hole.

And I look at the guy, the towel, the white beautiful towel they gave me is on fire. Anyway, it's been a tough week. It's been a tough week. You're supposed to put the lid back on the torch. No, it's an automatic. It shuts off itself for whatever reason. Anyway, it doesn't matter it's just

why do we have you on it sounds like you watch no hockey anymore you why do we have you on have you watched anything i'll tell you something i'll tell you something the only time i watch a game is when i have to go on with you too that's the only time I watch just so I can at least be a little bit up. Anyway, I watched a couple last night, so it's fine. Are you buying into Sammy McKee's long 82 games

throw away a loss for the Leafs last night in Detroit? Who's Sammy McKee? He's a guy that pushes some buttons in the back room here. Oh, Sam, your producer. Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know. Okay.

I just know him as Sammy. All right. Long 82-game season. No, I mean, look, the Leafs have had a heck of a season. I saw your article kissing up to the Leafs saying they're going to beat Tampa Bay in the first round. I asked somebody the other day that was actually at the game in Tampa

watching them play, and they think you know what? It's going to be a heck of a series. It really is. Tampa's not as good without McDonough, but they still have a dynamic group, and they got Pasileski, Hedman, Sergeyev. mean it's still gonna be it's gonna

be an unbelievable series i i'm i'd like to get this next whatever what half a season over with so i can start watching playoff hockey then i'll really be focused it's a long march long march to the playoffs here for the toronto maple leaves half a season ago you know we're quibbling over their bottom six, and they've added a new kid here, Bobby McMahon, who's in there. Pontus Holmberg is starting to play up the lineup. Are you a believer that these kids can come up

from the American League as sort of untouted guys and be in the playoffs night one for the Leafs and hold up their end of the bargain? And he's gone. He hung up on me. He didn't want to talk about the bottom six. I'm interested in his answer. I actually, I am curious to know if he legitimately was like,

this kid wants to talk to me about Pontus Holmberg. No. I got stuff to do. He's been around long enough to know that a Nick Paul can make it or break a seven game series yeah i love i love that in two stories he got duped by a bot and set his towel on fire and we're asking for opinions he's starting to lose his mind i love that i love the tlc doesn't care this is what it is you got it back you know why it sounded like he almost ran out of battery

i don't know they're pushing a lot of buttons back there i'm interested in his uh his answer because you you do frame it rather interestingly in terms of saying, okay, how do these guys go from the American League to trying to win a Stanley Cup? Yeah. All right, you back? No. Nope.

We're just talking about long seasons. I'll never forget we had a five-game road trip when I was coaching in Columbus, five-game road trip. And our fifth game was in Colorado when, when they were really, really good. And, you know, I'm thinking, okay, boys, we've got to be ready to play. And I'm thinking like, it's like our fourth game and six nights, we weren't a very good team to begin with. And we're playing Colorado and I'm coaching.

I give the great pep talk about, and we're losing five nothing after the first period. And I said to my assistant coaches, guys, if we keep playing like this is going to be 15 now like seriously seriously and you know what the guys didn't have one thing in their tank not they didn't have a thing it it was that type of long season late in the season really a grind and it's a grind for everybody we ended up losing the game 5-3 you know because we battle and they stopped playing really was the reason.

Colorado said, okay, I'm not going to embarrass this new franchise. But it's a long, tough, tough season. And, you know, in every professional sport, it's the same. It gets to be the dog days. And I remember when I was coaching and when the pitchers reported the training camp for the Major League Baseball, it was like, oh, my God, we're finally in the stretch drive now we can really it's this is this is the fun time of year once the pitchers report you're saying okay now we're in the stretch drive now we

got to really take it to a whole nother level here so you know it's funny how you have different marks during the season ask him that question yeah yeah it was just uh before we lost you there was asking about you know nick and i had been talking about the bottom six for the leafs and now they've got bobby mcmahon playing a few minutes they got hampus lindholm actually took some shifts on the second line for them just want to get your thoughts on if it's possible for these guys who are relatively unheralded players to step into the lineup and you know be impact players in a playoff series. They got Hampus Lindholm from Boston? Sorry, Pontus Holmberg. It's all similar, Sam.

Imagine that. Okay, okay, okay. I was wondering where the hell you were going with that. I thought, where did I miss that trade? Yeah, big deal today. And he's at a fence when he's not playing up front. Anyway, you know what? We saw it with, what is it, Ross Colton when he came up with Tampa Bay

a couple years ago. Really had a great run. It happens. Guys come up and get the job done and buy into the roles and really have perfect fits. And it seems to happen every year. We saw it happen with Goodrell a few years ago. We had a great playoff in San Jose.

I mean, it happens where guys come in and become really important guys. Goodrell again. You know, different teams. Certain types of guys rise to the occasion. The Leafs have missed on it. They've missed on it, in my opinion, for four years in a row on finding that right bottom six. This year, their bottom six at times have played pretty well.

So it'll be, this is another test for them. Their goaltending is going to be a test. Murray and Samsonoff have played really well, full marks to them for most of the season. Their bottom six have been pretty good, maybe as good as we've ever seen recently. We'll see what happens at playoff time. That's going to be a real important test.

The big boys, it's tougher to score. It's tougher to play. They're defended so much. The defense becomes so much tougher on the best players. You need those guys to perform. The Leafs, in my opinion, their bottom six has been pretty good. Now we'll see what they do at playoff time. But that's going to be a monumental test.

And they can't get it wrong this year. They've got to make sure it's right. Trade deadline. Trade deadline is going to be real important because you know Boston are going to add. I just – somebody asked me, Boston are going to – every top prospect with the Bruins, as thin as they may be in the prospect chain, are available because they're going to go for it. Boston, they've got to go for it. Tampa, you know they're going to do something. So what go for it. Austin, they got to go for it. Tampa, you know, they're going to do something.

So what are the Leafs going to do with the deadline? It'll be, you know, to match what they're going to be up against. I think the Leafs have a good chance to get by the first round. I'm with Nick on that. I really do. We're talking to Doug McLean, former NHL president, general manager, and head coach as far as a little over 24 hours, Mac, how much will Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas take out of what they witness tomorrow night

in terms of going up against a team like the Boston Bruins? Can they get a pretty good idea out of just one game to know what the focus needs to be? Can they zero in on that out of tomorrow night's game to get to a trade deadline? Well, I just have to watch how the Kraken decimated the Bruins last night. Ate them up. Just follow the Kraken model.

Whatever that is, but it certainly worked. We had Montgomery talking about it. Seven in a row now. I think this is a good matchup again earlier in the season they played really well against the bruins you know this is another big test the bruins have been the best team in the nhl by far they've been the best team and most consistent team in the nhl

it's a great test for them but those are matchups but those are different from what it's like when you hit playoffs. Nick, you remember it goes up 25%. The intensity level goes up 25%. It's a different game. You've got to play through people. It becomes a grind. And it's a good test, but you've got to be prepared to play at playoff time. And I'll never forget. And I,

I tell this story all the time. I remember saying to my team every night, we play before we played Pittsburgh in the class. I said, I want to make Mario. We want to make Mario and Yama. Yager hate hockey. By the time this series is over.

And you know what? Both of them hated hockey at the end of that series. They hated it. And it, you know, it's, it's vicious out there. So it series they hated it and you know it's it's vicious out there so it's not the same today but it's still vicious doug i know it's impossible to really know in terms of culture and leadership of a team when you know none of us are inside

the maple leafs room but how do you think they stack up against the boston bruins team you know we talked to montgomery and he talked about trust and how all these guys have the best interest of the team in mind and you know you head into a playoff series how do you think the Leafs stack up in that department have they been through enough now that we feel like they've probably got some of their own culture and leadership to count on well how can they not I mean how many times can you be kicked in the teeth before you say, okay, enough already? And they've got quality people there. You know, they've got, I mean, Matthews, Marner, Riley, Giordano.

I mean, these are quality people that, you know, that should be more than prepped to challenge. But the Bruins are pretty unique today. They're pretty unique. When you got Bergeron as your number one guy and Marchand, who everybody hates, but everybody would love to have, and Pasternak and McAvoy and Carlo

and their goaltending, which is like a team. Their goaltending is a team, those two guys. I mean, it's going to be a tough matchup. Their goaltending is a team, those two guys. It's going to be a tough matchup. The Leafs can't lose again this year. I don't know about beating Boston, but they've got to get by the first round. We said the same thing this time a year ago. They've got to get by the first round, and they unfortunately didn't and played pretty well.

I will be surprised if the Leafs don't get by the first round and they unfortunately didn't and played pretty well i i i'll be i will be surprised if the leafs don't get by the first round i really will be and i know they're going to play tampa and i still will be surprised if they don't beat tampa if they don't beat tampa good grief what then they got to make some massive changes that's what's got to happen but i think they beat them i really do want to keep it in the uh atlantic division mac and just get your thoughts on the ottawa senators and the big the big talk going into the season was meaningful games uh are they going to play meaningful games here are they already trying to outside of ownership uh in a short period of time i look look at a guy like Debrinket, and I'm like, what are they going to do with this guy? They can't let him qualify at $9 million

and then walk him to unrestricted free agency, can they? No, I mean, you pay a first, second, and third round pick to acquire Debrinket, you got to sign him. And I'll be shocked if they don't get him on a long-term deal in the $7, $7.5 million range. I see that. I know they want to sign him, and I be shocked if they don't get him on a long-term deal in the seven seven and a half million range I I see that I know they want to sign him and I think they will get him signed they like him they they actually they actually think he's he's got a chance to become a very important guy will he ever be a 40 goal score maybe not but he's certainly going to be a 30 goal score and I think he's he's asset, a valuable guy. They like him a lot.

I'll tell you what they're really excited about. Giroux has been the first acquisition they've made in years that has come in and really set a tone in their room. And, you know, they rave about Giroux and the job he's done, the respect he has. Kachook's the leader, but don't discount the leadership of Giroux in that dressing room. I'd love to see them make the playoffs. It's going to be such a race to get in. No, that's the challenge. I mean, what are they out today?

Six, eight points out. I mean, it is going to be so tough to climb over teams, but I'd love to see that young group get in. Talbot, can he get them in? He's good. He's average. They need him to be unbelievable down the stretch here to get in. And Shabbat, to me, like I keep watching Shabbat thinking, oh, my God, you've got to be better than what I'm watching.

You've got to be better than this. I mean, maybe I'm catching him on off nights, but this guy has got to be better than how he's performed on a lot of nights, for me anyway, at 8 million or whatever he's at. You think ottawa like of the group that's not toronto boston tampa are they the the next best team is it the sabers is it the red wings who you got you're talking atlantic atlantic yeah yeah yeah i mean buffalo really intrigued me but they can't seem to to keep it going I mean, Jersey's going to get – Jersey's getting in.

I mean, it's going to be a dogfight, it really is. But from a skill perspective, aren't Ottawa not right there? Are they not right there to get in? I mean, their defense, they still have a massive hole on the back end that they have not been able to fix. They've got to find a defenseman for the deadline. They've got to find a defenseman for the deadline. They've got to find a defenseman. And, you know, I mean, I mean just a number four, you know, right-hand shot,

number four guy that can really play, you know, that 23 to 26 minutes for them. That's what they desperately need. And hopefully they can get one. Can you get in with Ryanyan reynolds and uh buy this team um i after watching netflix i think i'm going to invest in a soccer team it looks like it's a lot more fun over there are they really going to get uh eight nine hundred million dollars for this team i don't know it's pretty bizarre i was involved in a group when we're trying to put a deal together at Tampa. We had a deal for $200 million to buy Tampa Bay Lightning 10 years ago. And my owner paid $80 million for Columbus.

And they're going to get $800 or $900 million. They probably are. They probably are. I bet you wish that worked out in Tampa. Yeah, what a joke. But anyway, we're $15 million short. $15 million short on that deal to close it. And I remember sitting in the Starbucks with the Palace people

and they owned the Red Ring. And the guy that was heading up our group, he said, look, if you guys will hold $15 million in paper, we will close the deal on Monday. And I thought, oh my God, give me a drink of that cappuccino. We're going to celebrate here. And they refused. They didn't. And they ended up holding 150 million in paper to the group that sold it to. Wow. Anyway, it did. Uh, yeah,

because they obviously didn't have enough money. So, anyway, it was a fun experience. I mean, I spent eight months on that process, and we ended up not getting it. But we came out of it all right. Okay, one more quick one. Connor Bedard, is it just an absolute given that this guy's going to be able to do what all players that get labeled as generational do? They come in and they're impact right away.

Do you see that with this kid? Oh, man, he looks so good. He looks just amazing. You know, the only game I really saw was Canada-USA, and it was a hard-fought battle, and there wasn't a lot of ice at times to go. It'll be a lot tougher in the NHL. Is he capable of being a Sid?

Is he capable of being a McDavid? That's asking a lot. He's damn good. But those guys are such – yeah, he's got character. He's got everything going for him. I'm just saying, I'm just – you know, I'm praying Columbus get him with that first pick. And I know they're devastated in Columbus get them with that first pick.

And I know they're devastated in Columbus being in 32nd overall right now. I don't think I was ever 32nd overall when I was there. But anyway, that's okay. That's for another day. But anyway, you know, I'd love to see them get them. Well, listen, good luck with that investment with John Bartlett in crypto. Don't want to miss another big opportunity. Thanks, guys.

You passed on Apple, didn't you? You passed on Apple. You passed on Google. Yeah, don't do this. Anyway, look, guys, I really, really appreciate you getting me on. It really is great. All right.

Thanks. Go back to the hot tub. Doug McClain. Why don't we make Doug do that? I don't we make doug do that i don't know i don't know is that good radio i literally have no idea i think it's perfect for our fridays it really sticks with the theme it is because our uh give a crap meter really goes down on friday it's high ceiling low floor radio we get a little of both. And just enough to give us our next break.

Okay, when we come back, Shane Wright's going to pop by and we're going to talk a little Windsor Spitfire, World Juniors, Seattle crack, and so happy to have Shane on board when we come back after the break. And we'll also get into a few things. Emily Kaplan spoke of Austin Matthews, not being a hundred percent. I want to get into that as well.

After the break, Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, more on real Kipper and Bourne after these words. So happy to be back off break. Cause I don't have to hear Sammy come whining and complaining that no one's giving him a stealth driver. We've got to talk to some people.

I don't know if there's any large golf outlets that work with individuals out there, but if they do. Just give me a chance! Just give me a chance! He hears other shows getting free stuff and it's pissing him off. I've never got one free thing ever.

I've never heard one person tell. I mean, I've got free golf, but not one free golf thing. Like a driver or a putter. I've given you a sleeve of balls. And you gave me a driver, too. You get a hat every time. I gave you a crappy driver, apparently. Yeah, it was not great.

It's like hitting a pop can. Yeah. This show and Golf Guys, available for golf sponsorship. Yeah. Anyone want to send me a driver, I'm available. All right. Callaway. We want Callaway, though.

I'd like some irons to be nice. Oh, they're great sticks. Yeah. I've had mine for about six years. Oh, really? Oh, yeah. I've got some tailor-made rack irons. All right.

How far are we from golfing? Oh, too far. I think we're the farthestmade rack irons. All right. How far are we from golfing? Oh, too far. I think we're the farthest from on both sides. We're in the depth of it. All right, Tammy. You going to find a Shane Wright? Yeah, he's going to call in in a second. All right.

So, Shane Wright. Windsor Spitfires, currently. How many teams has he played on this year? I think it's just three. No? Yeah, the Kraken. How many teams has he played on this year? I think it's just three. No. Yeah, the Kraken. Oh, the American League. Yeah.

Coachella. The World Junior Team. Windsor. There you go, four. And coming up five likely, right? Isn't that the thing he's getting traded somewhere? I don't think he went back to Kingston. Oh.

Let's ask him. Okay. Let's welcome in Shane Wright, the newest member of the Windsor Spitfires, of course, top prospect with the Seattle Kraken and most recently captain of the gold medal winning team. Shane, thanks for

joining us, man. Catch your breath yet? A little bit, yeah. Obviously been a little bit whirlwind here. Been a couple different teams in different places and all that, but yeah, definitely nice to settle down here. Obviously, I've been a little bit whirlwind here. Been a couple different teams in different places and all that. But, yeah, definitely finally nice to settle down here. Yeah, no kidding. You know you're not going to play on another team,

but between now and the end of the season, that must feel good. Yeah, it definitely feels good. Like I said, nice to finally know where I'm playing here. Nice to know what team I'm on and live in situations as well and all that. Definitely a good feeling for sure. Why don't you tell us about the experience so far? Some NHL time, you have

a world junior experience. The first half of the season, maybe not exactly how you saw it going, but how would you sum up the learning experience at the start of the season until now has been for you? Yeah, I think I've definitely learned a lot. Obviously, just the chance of being in Seattle, being around those guys,

and having that NHL experience is really beneficial for me. Definitely learned a lot from those guys, learned a lot from those games, and going to the NHL as well, learned a lot there. Then World Juniors as well, took a lot from that experience. I've been fortunate enough to be around, you know, a lot of really talented, really, you know, high-end guys, high-end players, and definitely was able to learn a lot from all of them.

As far as the biggest adjustment, Shane, for you personally, from junior to NHL, out of the games that you did manage to get in, what was the most noticeable thing that you saw on the jump? And what are the things that you're going to have to work on? Yeah, it's a really fast game. I think that was the biggest thing. Every player is the best league in the world, best players in the world.

Everyone's the top notch. Everyone's just such a smart player. Everyone's making the right decisions. Every pass on the tape, you're not really making mistakes. And the mistakes that you do make, they're going to cost. You're going to maybe end up in the back of your net or end up in a scoring chance again. So you have to be perfect. You have to make sure you're on your game at all times.

And it's definitely a bit of adjustment for me for sure. So what is the best case scenario for how the rest of this season goes for you? Obviously I can imagine what it is at the team level for your own development. How would you like to see the rest of this season play out? Yeah, I think just,

you know, just play here and, and, and enjoy myself. No, really you'll take a lot from this experience and try to produce offensively. I think that's one of the biggest things. I want to do what I'm here is produce offensively.

That was something that Coach Shavard talked to me about already in winter here is he wants me to play offensive and play with the puck and create chances. I think that's definitely something I want to really pick up here for sure. It's funny. We just had the head coach of the Boston Bruins on, Jim Montgomery, with the puck and create chances. And I think that's definitely something I want to really pick up here for sure. You know, it's funny. We just had the head coach of the Boston Bruins on Jim Montgomery. He spoke very highly of your, your,

your NHL team Seattle and just what is going on there. And while many of us, including me, I'll be the first one to admit, man, I just did not see Seattle challenging this year, but obviously from, from the time that you spent with them, I don't think that you're probably as surprised as the rest of us. No, I mean, I was fortunate enough to be there for a couple months and got to see what everyone was like on a day-to-day basis, and it's pretty professional there. Everyone's really dialed in.

Everyone's really committed to the process of the team and to winning games, and obviously it's paying off so far really committed to the process of the team and to winning games. Obviously, it's paying off so far this year with the level of play and the amount of games they've been able to win so far. It was nice and I was lucky enough to see all that unfold at the start of the year and really

learn a lot from all these guys. Was there anyone in your time there that helped you or took you under your wing or under their wing? Anyone that you really got to know that perhaps you didn't know about them? I mean, I wouldn't say really any one guy in particular. I think just overall, it's a really good group of guys. Obviously, I got to know some of the older guys like Eberle, Alex Wenberg, Justin Schultz,

all those guys who are older veteran players who have had a lot of success in the NHL and just kind of learned from their past experiences and learning from what they've done their past years in the league and in the NHL. I think anytime you can talk to guys like that, it's a, it's so valuable. You can learn a lot from them. And I definitely learned a lot from him for sure. One more for us. And,

and we got to ask you because you had the, the, the best view playing with a guy like Connor Bedard and just how good is this guy going to be Shane? Yeah. I mean, I have no idea how good he's going to be but i know he's going to be pretty uh uh a really really good player i think obviously everyone sees you know the talent

and sees you know what he can do with the puck and um i think a lot of time goes unnoticed you know just how uh you know committed just how passionate he is to his own game and to getting better and always you know improving himself i think that's something that um you know i really noticed about him is he's always you know expecting the best of himself he always has no high expectations on himself and he always wants to be the best version of himself that he can be and um i think the sky's the limit for him and i'm really excited to see where you know his career goes well listen we want to wish you the best of luck in windsor and we can't wait to to see connor and you start your uh careers on a full-time basis and that'll come very very soon thanks for doing this shane yeah thank you very much appreciate it thanks shane right captain of

the gold medal winning canadian world juniors yep he's gonna be a really good player he is i like him i you know i spend a lot of time picking through his shifts this season um you know he's a smart player you know has some talent and it's a big jump right playing the national hockey league you spent a couple of years going back and forth and trying to get a foothold you can understand how it takes some time to just jump in and him he mentioned savard savvy mark svart who used to work, who I worked closely with for a couple years and watched games with for a couple years, watching the Leafs when he did Leafs Nation postgame. And there's not many guys in the world that love offensive hockey like Mark Savard does. Yeah. There's no him being coached by Savvy that's going to only help his offensive game.

I think, like, I think the defensive side of the puck for Shane is something that's kind of one of his calling cards. Like he's a pretty responsible guy, but I really do think that there's a world playing for savvy and just the way that he saw the ice and the way he played offense that could really kind of take his game to the next level. That Windsor team's really good. So as, as a, the local OHL insider, when it comes to the OHL, that's a good team that's got a real chance to—

By insider, you mean guy who pays attention to it? Yeah, I keep an eye on it. No, I just think it's a really good opportunity for him playing for Savvy. I kind of feel bad for him in terms of just now today's world with the internet ability to follow like 12-year-olds, 13, 14. By the time they're like 17 or 18, they've had almost their own kind of personal careers. Right. He's five years into his career.

I'm watching the highlights of this 14-year-old phenom women's hockey. Nella Lupasanova. She scores the Michigan now, and now she's – I must have seen her Michigan on TV 18 times. Yeah. Like they couldn't play it enough. But – She scored another goal that was way more nasty.

Yes. The one with the toe drag. We are in this world now when you can get your, we can get our hooks on these kids at such a young age and watch them. And it's almost as if watching Shane Wright in those last six months of going from basically first pick overall to dropping as if there's some sort of failure with that. I know.

He got selected fourth overall into the National Hockey League. Fourth overall. And somehow we've managed to make him feel bad about it. I know. What is wrong with us? I know. Oh, he got into, what, he got into nine NHL games this year? He's no good.

19 years old? Who said anything like that? It is definitely implied that this year oh okay oh sammy burying him i didn't bury him in case but you understand what i'm saying yeah he could he can go and play 15 20 years the question is now is do we believe that we've seen enough to say definitively that he's gonna be a good player but he's not gonna be a star he's not gonna be a a guy that can uh franchise type of player or you know i mean you know as you get up and the levels get higher your ability to separate yourself from that pack is smaller

everyone's good so we just watched him get to the highest level of all and kind of work his way in a little bit. The problem is not that we kill the guy for failing. It's that we big them up on the way up when it's unrealistic. But it's the hype, right? It's always about the hype. That's right. And who can hype? Nella. You know, like I'm sure she's going to be a wonderful player.

But, you know, pump the brakes on the exciting. And that way the bottom's not so bad. You know, if we can find that sort of, this is a good player. Lafreniere in New York. Sure. Like, is he going to be a superstar in the league? Or is he just going to be a very good player? It's hard to see it happening.

Probably a very good player. You know, Jack Hughes recently took the leap. Nico Heashier never quite did, but he's a good two-way guy. You know, Yakubov's not in the league. I donashier never quite did, but he's a good two-way guy. Yakupov's not in the league. I don't know. It's tough. The top picks. Yes, Apulia Yarvey. Like Shane Wright said, pretty fast league.

Pretty fast. Pretty fast. Pretty good players. From all over the world. Good league. Connor Bedard playing in the Western Hockey League. How many Western Hockey League. How many Western Hockey League players in the last 30 years have gone first overall? I just heard this the other

day. If you're asking me, it's got to be like five. Ryan Getzlaff? I'm going to say lower than that. I'm going to say probably maybe one or two. Tops. Three. Three. Can you name them? Yeah. was gets that one no i don't think hold on my brain hurts on a friday i'm terrible at this new jim hopkins right out of um

yeah and uh chris phillips wow that's it that's in 30 years wow you said three there's only two and conor bedard yeah yeah will be the third now chris phillips newton hopkins good player the best season of his career now whatever he's 30 years old or something now isn't he first overall not a franchise player not a superstar but just a very good player yeah i mean if audacity if if shane wright ends up being or a newton hopkins what a career pretty good take that i think anyone would take that including himself he would i i always thought that rnh is a guy that another team should pry away from edmonton if they could because i feel like if given a different opportunity he might be a more valuable piece somewhere else already played 762 games how old's he 29 i'm old i feel old i know you guys don't want to hear that from me but like you're you're starting at 18 who is it

someone in the league i think maddie benears or something said that like he grew up watching austin matthews before he played here it was like it's like it's matthews eighth year isn't it seventh eighth yeah oh my god you grew up watching austin one of my worst feelings ever was i i It's like it's Matthew's eighth year, isn't it? Seventh, eighth. Yeah. Oh, my God. I grew up watching Austin Matthews. One of my worst feelings ever was like 10, 12 years ago, I'm in a bar and like guys like six, five comes up to me and goes, hey, I grew up watching you on Sportsnet. You're like 42 or something. I played, man.

I played. I want a Stanley Cup with the Rangers rangers dude i don't care about sports that i want a stanley cop yeah i wasn't born yet everybody yeah okay thanks check please yeah it should not be out past midnight here yeah but hey listen uh i'm the dinosaur you got that right I think we look at Sam Reinhart there's another guy that I think at times was talked about as a first pick

overall he went second was he second or third I mean fine good career not a hall of famer nope not a star superstar but it's you know to be a guy who plays in the top six which reinhardt does in the nhl there's 30 teams you know four winger spots per team it's 120 wingers you're one of them. Way to go. He's on his way to his one, two, three, four, five, six in a row, 20 goal season, Sam Reinhardt. Yeah.

Oh. Great career. Take him. Can win with that guy. Probably made $30 million. Not presently. Right now, you can't win. Yeah.

Yeah. But. They're having a tough time with that. Having a tough time. Okay. We are going to, in a little while, we're going to take some texts on Friday here, Sammy. Is that? I'm just.

What's the address? The address? You can text us. Send a letter to 1 Mount Pleasant. I told you, I'm the dinosaur. What's the address, Sammy? I'm the dinosaur. Text us at 59590.

And on YouTube, make sure if you're watching on YouTube, you at me and you can get your questions read by us. But a couple things before we get to that. Okay. I kind of teed it up a little while ago. Emily Kaplan sent out a report through ESPN

and I think the broadcast, if I'm not mistaken. She said that Austin Matthews has not been 100% this season, but especially due to other Leaf injuries early, he has played through it. That plus the fact he's under the weather has kept him out the last two games. Matthews likely to return on Saturday.

We do believe that he will be in against the Boston Bruins. But I found this rather interesting with the suggestion that he has been hurt all season. Yes, that is an interesting suggestion. When did they play Dallas early in the year? How many games into the season? Very early. The third game of the year, fourth.

Can that be constituted as all season? Yes. Why, you think he got hurt then? That cross check, Jamie Benn. No, it's not a cross. That's not the cross check. Kipper's got something up his sleeve. No, I don't.

I don't. But, I mean, I heard it. Do you know things? I don't know things, and I would just be speculating, and someone had suggested to me what he might be battling outside of, you know, not being under the weather. I'm not going to throw it out there because it's just mere speculation and I'd rather not do that.

Sure. But I do find it interesting that at this particular time, you know, I mean, Emily, no different than me or Elliot, you only can go by what you're based and told, right? Mm-hmm. On occasion. But is this... Doug McLean, I'm not telling you it's true.

I'm telling you what I heard. No, no, this is just me kind of spitballing on hearing this as if... if you're wondering why a 60 goal score becomes a 40 goal score it's because you're playing injured all year so i wrote about this today this very topic um about austin matthews do you see that at all based on Emily's report on the timing of it? I do see a player who looks less dynamic and dominant on the offensive side of things.

Yes. Would that be somebody from the Matthews camp saying, hey, don't crap all over my player because he's been playing hurt all year. Do players' camps reach out to the media sometimes? Has that ever happened? It's possible. It's very possible. So that could be a thing.

The other thing is, you know, your suggestion earlier in the year about becoming a more well-rounded player and in looking into a lot of the numbers, you know, I shared with you guys that stat the other day about defensive plays and it's like him and bergeron and he's like 70 up on bergeron um by the way bergeron's been one number one or two in that stat for like five straight years um all of his defensive numbers are really you know top of the league most stick checks his hits per game are highest they've ever been blocks per game um you know basically by every defensive

number you can come up with this guy is having one of the best seasons at five on five these are all five on five stats um you know dom decisions one of those guys has game score a model that says basically what they think the or who he thinks the heart trophy nominees he's got five guys ahead of matthews this season you know which for a 20 goal score really speaks to all the different categories and boxes that he is checking i don't know do you see enough you know to go from 60 to 40 goals like you talked about at the start of the year well just but emily's not suggesting that he's working on his defense more. She's not.

She's just coming out and saying the guy's been hurt all season. And there's also the suggestion that if there wasn't the other Leaf injuries early, he probably would have taken games off. Yeah. That's the other thing I get out of this. And if he weren't sick right now, he'd probably still be playing. So I don't know. You know, they're different things. I do think that when you're hurt, I think playing defense is easier than playing offense.

I think you have to be more dynamic and energetic and it's harder to create offense. Let me throw one more twist to this report. Is that he's negotiating a contract this summer. Is this another message maybe to the Leafs saying I'm negotiating as a 60 goal scorer here and if he ends up

40, don't be coming back at me and negotiating as a 40 goal scorer. Only you would think of that that is the most kipper thought it's not wrong right like i'm sure like he's saying i'm playing hurt i'm dealing with something you know that's not my pace my pace is what i've done every other season pay me like that it's not the worst thing i've ever heard well certainly you can stay for the rest of the show, Sammy. Thank you.

No problem. Well, but I think you're focusing on the wrong thing here. You're focusing on Kaplan's report. You're very interested in Kaplan's report rather than Matthew's play and what he is and what's happening. Yeah, I am. Okay. Yeah, 100% I am. I'm just, right?

That's the message. Yeah. That's the message. Is that. So you think it's come from internally. I'm hurt. I'm playing on some nights i probably shouldn't i've been doing it all season if anyone's questioning that uh i'm

on pace for a 40 goal season this might have something to do with it i was actually thinking earlier watching a lot of his video today and yesterday thinking that you know you wonder if the leafs go you know maybe there is something that's been kind of bothering them. That's not going to get better. If they did just want to say, take a couple of games off. You know, we need you at dynamic and dominant. We don't need you at playing good defense and being on the right side of the puck and all that sort of things. And these two games.

A fresh start. These two games midweek where it's like the predators who you know yeah mid and then you go in a back-to-back to play against the creds wings so you know what take a week let's start over against boston see if we can find something here from you just looking for a little bit more pop from the guy it is interesting though when you look back at sheldon saying you know not even answering luke fox's question about it could something be hampering his shot? You know, if he knows that there is something lingering here with Matthews. The last thing Emily Kaplan's report does for me

is completely shuts him down from the All-Star game. Whether he gets in off of a vote or not, he ain't going. Right. You don't... That pleases me. You don't. That pleases me. You don't, you know, come out with a report saying he's not been 100% all season, this season, and then go to the All-Star weekend. Yeah.

So congratulations, Willie Nylander. Yeah. I think that's a great assumption. Have we seen any updated numbers on that? Like, have they put anything out? I haven't. At hashtag NHL All-Star vote, which wraps up this saturday question i should probably be answering that question as i am the producer of the show there's there's still there's still that behind

the scenes stuff that some teams don't want certain players to not go they don't go i appreciate the fan votes but at the end of the day teams and leagues decide who go yeah so you don't think john scott's getting in this year uh it's gonna be kind of interesting i think there might be one or two names that we could just shake our heads at but i don't think there's going to be as many as we think the potential has to be. Do you guys see it come up in your Twitter feed? Do you see anyone getting votes?

Like with this hashtag? No, I've not seen any leaderboard. Is that what you're asking? I am asking that. I've not seen a leaderboard. Me neither. Nor have I. You want to talk about Carlson? Yes. Yes.

Okay, so this is the last thing before we get to a few questions. Eric Carlson, so what's the word? Give us the background. So Frank Cervelli put out a tweet saying that it was reported that the Sharks ask for Eric Carlson is three first-round picks, and the Sharks will retain 18% of his contract. Imagine, imagine you did that. Your team took on 10 and a half million for a 30 some year old guy with injury issues. No.

Three first rounders. Can't get it if you don't ask. Okay. I'd like to be paid $1 million to host this show. There you go. This is getting redundant. Listen, he's good. Again.

Are we talking about me? Carlson. Oh. And you're okay. Thanks. I'll take half that then. Canadian. Yeah.

He has put himself in a position where he's really good yeah the best right now unbelievable season Norris trophy for sure for me yeah no if up until this point I mean he has the most points by a lot. He's having an unbelievable offensive season. I would take 10 guys in the league before him at the same money. 10? 10 guys. Okay. I'm pretty confident he'd get there.

What would he look like saying to Edmonton? Look like the Oilers. Go really good this way and not so good that way. Wouldn't he? It wouldn't put them right at the front of the line on a team that could get to a stand like a final in the West? No, not for me, man. I know what we're going for here,

but it doesn't do it for me. Yeah, now we're talking. Now we're talking. I want someone to like okay we're up three to one who we who's going over the boards you know that we trust to protect this league you don't know what did we say he has after this year three more years yes ten and a half so so they're offering to retain 18 of his salary which i don't think is enough i mean so that gets him at what?

9 million? I'm not good at math. 8.5? Something like that? His salary is 12 million this year. His is 12? Yeah, so it's... Cap hit 11.5. Okay. So, I think there'd be takers at

7.5 to 8 million on the next three years. I think so'll be takers at $7.5 to $8 million on the next three years. I think so, too. Eric Carlson, $7.5 to $8 million? I'm in. It's four years after this. Four years. Yeah, it expires in 26, 27. That number you're talking about is a Morgan Rielly number.

Minus 18%. Would you rather have Carlson than Morgan Rielly? Of course you would. Yeah. And he has a no move. So as much as San Jose can float out three first rounders. He'll go where he wants. He's Pat Kane.

Yeah. When Eric Carlson says, you know, why are you wasting your time talking to Edmonton? I already played in Canada. I played cold. I like it in California. Focus on south of here. I mean, all of that still has to get played out here. You can talk me into Eric Carlson for that $8 million.

Like, I'd pay for that. I'd pay for him. For sure. I'd pay for him. I think that has8 million. Like, I'd pay for that. I'd pay for him. For sure. I'd pay for him. I think that has a chance. If someone would say, we'll give you two first and eat a bunch of salary, you can give us Eric Carlson.

Because if you're San Jose, you're like, you need that off the books. You're not trying to win right now. Well, you're paying 30 cents on the dollar, what's left on his contract. It's a good deal to unload that. They're just being too obvious about how they want to get rid of it like this is their one shot they feel like how he's playing right now is to get rid of

this contract and it feels like they're playing with pocket aces and they have a big smile big big ask for greer right now right like your first time gm better nail this one he's not getting no trade he honest if if he can if he can get his owner to withhold 30 percent and get a first rounder out of it and a prospect run yeah run your team stinks totally agree and they're gonna stink for a long time yeah and you get to save your owner a ton of money yeah yeah well you're not winning and Ryan, your team stinks. Totally agree. And they're going to stink for a long time. Yeah. And you get to save your owner a ton of money. Yeah. Yeah, well, you're not winning and improve your chances of getting better draft picks.

And, you know, if you're San Jose, you're saying, don't look at Ekman-Larsen. Don't look at what's happening there. Look at Lindholm. You leave a bad team and you're good. Don't look at Ekman-Larsen. Don't look at that. It's Lindholm. And all of a sudden, it's funny because I've been saying this

right from the get-go all of a sudden Pat Kane he's got some health issues so what do you think I don't understand what you think that means that he doesn't want to go somewhere I mean or he wants to protect himself until he's got options it means yeah if I need to shut it down and do some cleanup work and decide my future in the summer, that's what I'm going to do. I'm not saying that it's going to happen, and I'm not saying he will not be traded in March. So then is that leverage against Chicago basically to say, hey, trade me exactly where I want? I think it just reminds everybody I am in complete control here.

That's all. he did an interview yeah and you kind of read between the lines on that a little bit yeah i sent it to our group and he basically said about he has the full support of his girlfriend amanda they have a kid together i believe and a full support of amanda and his family to do whatever he wants um whether it's to stay in chicago or play elsewhere she basically says go do whatever you want to do whatever he wants um whether it's to stay in chicago or play elsewhere elsewhere she basically says go do whatever you want to do whatever makes it makes you happy um because we're going with you he said that's good to hear so yeah sounds like he has until day three in the in the hotel when your kid's screaming and there's nowhere to go no maybe a bigger suite maybe i'll get a nicer suite than the room that I usually get. I think he's made enough in his career to get the nice suite.

Yeah, you can upgrade. But wherever he goes, in all probability, will not be able to re-sign him. Does he want to pull a Shane Wright and be on three teams in a year? You don't see many players do the thing where they go play somewhere else and go sign back with that original club. It doesn't seem to happen very often.

Know what I mean? Like go back and re-sign with Chicago this summer. And it feels like it gets talked about every time. Every year. And it's like, well, I hear that with, yeah. Was it before that I saw someone say that about? And how much does he want to make next year what's he still worth you don't want to sell yourself short you're going to probably

try to be convinced that taking less will be better for you to win another championship somewhere eventually but how about four years 30 million that's seven and a half per season yeah if i'm him i'd try to make more i'm pat kane i'm pat kane top 100 in history yeah maybe nine i'd try to get nine or ten if i was him it's one of those things like the tabaris contract you'd pay him nine knowing that you don't love the back end maybe but to have him for nine get another good couple years out of him yeah i the only team is still a top creator in terms of like the only team i threw out was buffalo for an off season they should just do it now do it now do it now try and make a push for the playoffs see i i could be talked into that for

sure amanda you told me you were cool with going anywhere we're gonna go live in buffalo in january the bills are red hot yeah um here's a quick question from tom brown in schoenberg full name treatment tom brown does zach cassian appeal to you guys in a comparison to pat maroon are we talking for the toronto maple leaves i would imagine so maybe leave show no thank you derrick for weighing in i'd look at it was he is he making minimum i truly don't know how he's playing this year So I'm going off I would take old Zach Kassian I don't feel like the end of his career Is going to be Kyle Clifford

Like I think you're asking me Do we want Kyle Clifford He does not make the minimum And he is He makes 3.2 million dollars This year and next Oh that You didn't say that

Yeah I didn't know that I didn't know that That's a huge nut I don't know that my ears ever Recovered from the beep sound we played earlier in the show. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. That's a deal breaker, my friend. Okay.

For sure. I guess Tom Brown and Schoenberg didn't know that. I've also gone on record saying that I think they might be second guessing the pass on Max Domi. Is it too late to reacquire? I think Max Domi would be great. Third line. No, I don't think it's too late. I'd have Domi come out of the Leafs.

He's got $3 million this year on the books. Take him over Engvall? Half the size, 10 times the heart? I don't mean heart. I just mean chutzpah. I would revisit mean heart. I just mean chutzpah. I would revisit that one. I think Max has done very well in Chicago. He's their leading scorer with 28 points.

Yeah. That's like me leading my college team in points. How many do you have? 31. He makes it uncomfortable for other teams. That's one thing. It's just, and again, I'm watching. I did this last year at domey though

and it didn't it doesn't help that it didn't work for them i know but you're also giving him an opportunity to step in with tavaris and yeah and willie yeah or mitch marner it's a big difference i'm in i'm in on max domey you can okay i'm on that's great for me that'd be a lovely addition what else you got for us uh this is from skanak on youtube wool or shalgren who will be called up and who would go to the playoffs if one of the big two are injured i just gotta wall the dice i have no idea i shalgren has played in the nhl and played adequately wall's hot though i understand i would think that i'll take kipper's page it's too late with that with a comfort zone of knowing that you're not going to catch boston by uh march or early april maybe we're gonna see

these guys i would think you're gonna get wall Wall into a game. I love that. What do we got next week? Get him in. He's hot. No, no, it's too early. Is it? All you're going to do is piss off Samsonov and Murray if you start messing with a third goalie. Too early.

It is a funny statement to be like, I know you're both playing great, but we're pretty sure one of you is going to get hurt. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. You'd have to frame it as like you know in the start of march like you know but you guys just have a quick management yeah just relax i was like i played

22 games once you're in that smile once you're got 10 games and under yeah you could do a lot of things yeah knowing that you're you're a lock for what's going to happen in the first round panthers habs jets week, by the way. Panthers, Habs, Jets. And Jets and then Habs. Doesn't it feel like Montreal beats them every time? For sure. This is a question here.

It's more of a statement from somebody that texted in, Matt. Can you guys talk about something other than Matthews? How about the NFL? The playoffs are tomorrow. It's Sportsnet, not HockeyNet. Is that a serious comment? No, but that gave me a perfect opportunity to be like, what's going to

go happen in the NFL? Who's making the Super Bowl? You're not on camera, but you're loaded with your hoodie. Yeah, I got my AFC hoodie on today. This is the weirdest hoodie of all time. It just has, not even like cheering for one team, just all the AFC teams. It's like Rob Lowe wearing the

NFL hat at the football game. I love the sport. I don't love one team in particular the afc the whole conference like rob low wearing the nfl hat at the football game i love the sport i don't love one team in particular the jets are on there i love it super bowl predictions who's going from both conferences and who's gonna win any any picks i got absolutely nothing on this no idea nothing to offer at all do you watch the nfl i do but like you don't follow the discourse no oh my god kipper no i don't have the discourse? No. Oh, my God. Kipper knows. I don't have time. Well, I do now. Last year and a half, I built an app, a sport gaming app. Which you own.

Which he owns. I do own. Yeah. With just reward points. We launched it, soft launched it with the NFL. So now I'm watching every play and answering questions for points. Right. So I'm like glued.

My wife's like, oh, my God, hockey all week, and now I got to watch football on the weekends. She's stuck. You don't have one-on-one TV, buddy? Come on. No. What? Really?

You have one TV house? We're downgrading it. We're old now. Empty nesters. I think the expression is downsizing. You're not supposed to move into a downgrade just downsize okay download

alright next rewards the Bills yeah this has to be the Bills year my dad and I kind of like they're family the Bills for Toronto the Bills are like family

all i know is you cannot win with skylar thompson as a quarterback so i'm fairly confident that they'll get out of the wild card round i can't speak after that so they'll play the winner of bangles ravens so likely bangles and i have a you know i'm rooting very hard for the bills i love the bills like you you know this whole dam rooting very hard for the Bills. I love the Bills like you. You know, this whole DeMar Hamlin story. It's just, it would be such an incredible, serendipitous story. They go on a run. They win it for him.

But I've got a bad feeling about the Bengals for that. You don't like it, eh? They're good. Oh, my God. That Joe Burrow. Joe, cool customer, man. Cool customer. I'm a big Burrows fan, too. Yeah. We have one cool white guy, and everyone's like, I. Cool customer. I'm a big Burroughs fan, too.

Yeah. We have one cool white guy, and everyone's like, I like this guy. No, he's second coming to Tom Brady. Like, he's the real deal. So that's going to be a hell of a game when it happens. Speaking of not cool, Tom Brady. Tom Brady is still impossible to bet against for me. Agree. You know.

How about that? Yeah. Anyways. I can't think of an athlete I like less than Tom Brady, but tough to knock his career. Predictions at TD Garden tomorrow night. Fellas. I think it's a great low scoring game. Give me a 2-2 overtime match.

Or two Leafs with an empty netter. Wow. We got positivity. Yeah. 4-3 Bruins in regulation. A lot of goals. Matt Murray. Big test. That's what I want to see. How, three Bruins in regulation. A lot of goals. Matt Murray. Big test.

That's what I want to see. How's Matt Murray? All right. Fun today. Friday's baby. Doug McClain. Shane Wright. Who else do we have?

Doug McClain. I already mentioned him, didn't I? I'm so happy. I'm not working tomorrow. Jim Montgomery. Shane Wright. Doug McClain. I already mentioned him, didn't I? I'm so happy. I'm not working tomorrow. Jim Montgomery, Shane Wright, Doug McClain. But most of all, thanks to all of you who continue to watch and listen and support us for some reason. We have no idea why.

Stay safe, everybody. Have a great weekend. We're back Monday.