Real Kyper & Bourne - McDavid Drags the Cats Back to Alberta

Episode Date: June 19, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee discuss the flurry of off-ice action today as the Kings trade Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Capitals and the Flames trade Jacob Markstrom to the Devils. Oilers' analyst Jason Gregor (6:34) helps break down the Oilers' season-saving win in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, McDavid's dominance, Skinner's perseverance and more storylines heading into Game 6. Later, they regroup with Sam McKee to go over shifting Conn Smythe odds and review some off-day availability from each team.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

All right, here we go. Real Kipper and Bourne show as the Stanley Cup final continues with the Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid with an epic win last night. Oilers are only the fourth team in history to force a game six in a Stanley Cup final after facing a 3-0 deficit. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Jake the Snake Schultz.

So you'd think we'd come out full barrel talking Stanley Cup final. Would love to. But there's a lot of stuff going on around the National Hockey League. And maybe the National Hockey League in itself is to blame for all of this. And we'll get into that in a minute. Shame. The latest, obviously, coming off of today, and this is for our Sportsnet 960 friends in Calgary. Mark Strum is no longer a Calgary Flame.

He gone. He's gone. New Jersey. Just a quick note. We're also on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver. Sportsnet 590 in the fan here. And as always on 360 and Sportsnet Plus. And this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne is brought to you by Bet365.

All right. That's out of the way. Kevin Ball in a 20-25 first. Top 10 protected. Is that a deal? Yes. way uh kevin ball and a 2025 first top 10 protected is that deal yes also moments ago word coming out i think elliot friedman first uh put a a note out saying that pierre luke dubois may be on the move la kings i also got word that uh it's all but done to the washington capitals and darcy kemper who the la kings were looking for a a goalie

apparently have got their goalie now darcy kemper going to la he uh what is his deal he's got two years left one sec i'm gonna find that for you at six something like that there's washington we'll find that out exactly but yeah so so LA gets rid of the PLD contract. Scott Free, no retention whatsoever. Washington is buying low on a big, young center who can be great. If anyone can get him motivated, can get him to be his best, there are tools there. Is that all it is, is a motivation for him, is it five two five three years for campers focus

is it just not the right chemistry we've seen him really good at times and then to your point almost as if he's disinterested but i will remind people and and a lot of people and i don't know where you stand are you shocked that uh la doesn't have to retain any of his salary i am a little bit shocked and that's over eight million dollars is it not i think it's exactly eight million um just finding that out but yeah kemper has three more years at 525 so he's 34 years old which is not overly youthful. And yeah, the PLD contract. I don't know. I can't find that.

Maybe Sam, we can find it a sec here. Oh, nevermind. I found it. Pierre-Luc Dubois is 8.5. Yes. For seven years. Yeah. For seven more years.

Yeah. But I will remind people that he's only 26 years old. Yeah. That is incredibly young. Is there any history, though, of guys whose enigmatic is him suddenly becoming consistent? Is there more growth as maturity continues to maybe develop for him? Yeah.

I mean, the upside is there for sure, but... I got to say, I mean, that is a unbelievable trade by the la kings at first blush yeah you think eh hey what did pierre-luc du bois have last year i don't know 30 points 40 points yeah it wasn't pretty and you know he's playing on the fourth line making eight and a half million they didn't have to retain anything and they got a decent goalie in return this time last year he had 15 teams going after him yeah look to boy yeah 15 right so is it just a one bad year blip and he's gonna be back to being good maybe kemper was an 890 last year i mean he was a 909 the year before just to uh gonna correct what i said in games, he had 27 points.

11 goals, minus 9. I'm sorry, that's a lie. That's a lie to your face. I lied again. I am a big fat liar. He had 40 points in 82 games. Minus 9 was still the same number. Yeah. Alright, so fascinating trade. We should do last night.

No? You want to do Mark's show? No, we got to talk about that. Stanley Cup final. Yeah. We got tons of time after we get there. We're blaming the NHL for making this a thing. We do Pierre-Luc Dubois in LA and we don't do Calgary. Okay. Yeah, you're right. You're right.

That's a big trade. Okay. Okay. We got Calgary fans right now watching and listening. Okay. Flames are retaining a third of his value, right? So it's a $6 million contract. So they're going to eat $2 million a year roughly if i'm not mistaken that's that's a pretty good deal

for a goalie of his magnitude to to come in and and be a little over what four million dollars what a world for the new jersey devils here right like yeah four million dollar guy who was in the vesna conversation last year and so you get him for what was it you know for four and you go point one two five you give up a first round pick that's top 10 protected and kevin ball who you know has played a little bit in the league he's a good player he's a good defensive defenseman 148 games played 25 points in his career he's a good defensive defenseman. 148 games played, 25 points in his career. He's not the most thrilling guy. Big shot suppression guy. And now, if you look at the Devils, like we talked about before,

our boy Sheldon Keefe is walking into what could be one of the best situations in the league. He really is. He could have used a goalie. He could have used Markstrom this year. For sure, on the leafs no question but i i think you gotta love that for for the devils love also that we get to now talk about the stanley cup final with jason gregor host of the jason gregor show on sportsnet 1440 in edmonton uh what kind of league is this that we get breaking news on some big names during a stanley cup final what what is the league

doing to us well it's an off day right there's uh so i think that's the rule that they uh that they allow but um you know what um i think a few days ago the nhl was hoping for some news because some people thought maybe the series was going to be over quickly um that's obviously not being the case and now it's turned into to one of the more intriguing cup finals i think most people thought heading into edmonton when the season began or sorry when the series began that the series would be three to two i just don't think people thought it would go in the direction of the panthers winning three in a row and now the orders uh winning two in a row and at one point outscoring the panthers like what was it 12 to 1

over a stretch of seven periods? Gregor, that might have been the best hockey game I've seen a hockey player play last night. Like in my life. Connor McDavid, it was an absolute, everyone just, the pace of the game followed him. Everyone watched one person play hockey last night. Have you ever seen anything like that? Yeah, a few times from 97.

That's, you know, you kind of, you get spoiled in a way when you watch them. And I always, I try to, I'm a season ticket holder. And so I make sure that I sit down in my seats at least six or seven times a year just to remind myself of how hard the game is. Because from up top in the press box, a lot of times it kind of looks easy. Why didn't that guy make that pass? It looks pretty slow from up here, but it's not. And McDavid is, he's such a different beast.

Like Wayne Gretzky is, you know, is the most productive player ever. He thought the game and saw it very different than everybody else. But he didn't necessarily bring you out of your seat as often as mcdavid does like mcdavid does things that make you go huh right whereas gretzky would just you know he would beat you with his brain and there's nothing wrong they're just two different players and how they attack right like i think mcdavid's probably closer maybe to lemieux because

lemieux is a guy who could undress players right like you think of that 91 goal against minnesota it's kind of like the goal last night now I know McDavid didn't score it but if you guys freeze frame that power play when McDavid is right beside the sports net uh logo on the ice on the broadcast there's four Panthers around him it looks like a nothing play and three seconds later he's passed all of them and Coreyory perry has a chip shot to score the goal like it's he's done that a few times the rangers in the regular season a few years ago where he undressed four guys just not in the cup final against the best team in hockey or presumed best team in hockey yeah and the other thing is he did that a minute 52 into his shift are you

serious yes i think that's what people forget is mcdavid as great as he is as a player guys i think he doesn't get enough credit in how well conditioned he is oh he's a specimen i did notice that last night at the end of a couple rushes he still has a lot in the tank but i didn't know it was that late into a shift so and it actually to be honest it was a it was a two minute and 22 second shift but there was a TV timeout when the power play started, so I don't count that. And what he's had from the moment that we first saw him at an NHL level that none of the greats in the past have ever had

is this ability for a third or fourth gear. So if you ask me what's happened in this series it it goes back to how great of a skater connor mcdavid is above and beyond everyone else if you ask me there's a lot of guys starting to run out of gas in this series and it just seems now that he's got that that third gear everybody else is is trending the other way he's actually separating himself from everybody else because of his skating and and i include leon dry saddle to me he still looks like he may be tiring a little bit barkov i don't know what's happening physically with bobrovsky but there's a few guys now starting to hit a bit of a wall. Connor's going the other way.

To the moon. Yeah, that's not really a surprise to me. He's taken some three-minute shifts at times late in games when they're trailing by a goal, and he's always able to get more in the tank. Now, Drysaddle, he's got an injury. It's the playoff, so you'd have a better chance finding the caramel secret than what his injury is.

But you're right, he hasn't looked as quick the other thing is though honestly guys when the when the series began i did a look you go to the nhl website on edge yours are the second fastest team in the nhl with colorado florida was like 20th edmonton with mcleod and connor brown and nurse and fogel they got zach. They got a lot of guys that can skate. And Edmonton's speed, I thought, has been a factor in most of the games. Even when they were losing games early, they were the quicker team. And, you know, Nick, you played in the Stanley Cup. Finally, you know that it becomes a war of attrition a little bit, right? And when Florida's not the quickest team,

although I will say this about Florida, I thought the last 20 minutes was the best they've played since early in game three and maybe the best since game two collectively and matthew kachuk showed up once he scored did you see what a different player he was so that to me is a real storyline heading into game six is that kachuk who's supposed to be the engine that drives them and was pretty much in neutral up until that goal that could be a big boost for them you know everyone's talking or was talking about that game five like if edmonton could just get game five and get it

back to edmonton for game six you know here comes game seven do you feel now like there's actually a bit of pressure here and now it's back to edmonton your crowd there everyone thinks edmonton's finally gonna win hockey you're supposed to win you're supposed to win game six now. You're supposed to win game six now, and this is the first time it's back on them. Yeah, I think there's probably some truth to that. A lot of people thought Florida was going to win game five, and they didn't. Now, Oiler fans are going to go back to 2006 when they went into Carolina and won game five

and then came back and played probably their best game ever, the playoffs, in 06, and they absolutely spanked Carolina in one game five and then came back and played probably their best game ever, the playoffs, in 06, and they absolutely spanked Carolina in game six, but then they couldn't carry it over to game seven. Edmonton on home ice has been a really good team all year long, and we've seen that. I do think there's maybe a little bit more pressure. As I mentioned, I thought Florida played better as that game five went along.

They looked a little bit passive early. Like the orders back-to-back games, guys, when you start with a shorthanded goal, like, are you kidding me? That's a huge benefit. So, you know, I think there's a little bit more pressure on Edmonton, but I'm not sure that they really feel it because they've been playing must-win games now for six days. Right now there's only two games in that span,

but they've lived with a we have to win or we're out so i don't know if it changes a whole bunch for them well you mentioned it the back-to-back shorthanded goals and and and what connor brown is all of a sudden done i i don't did he have five goals during the regular season like four and now the importance of connor brown and again to that energy the skating the threat not only can florida now not score a power play goal they got to think about defending their power play yeah how about the fact that the edmonton orders penalty kill is a net 106 percent now because uh they've scored two shorties and they've only allowed one power play goal in the final.

Like when you're plus one on the penalty kill in a series, that's pretty good. Now, Connor Brown is, you know, he had his ACL surgery in October of 2022. And I talked to him after game four, and he really kind of opened up for the first time about just how much longer it took him to get back to where he needed to be.

He said he just didn't have any pop. He couldn't come out of turns. You know, he couldn't cross over. He just didn't feel it. And he didn't really know until he got it back how much of a difference it was. And he really credited their strength and conditioning coaches, Drummond and Jackson, for really helping him along. And he felt like in the last four months, he's, you know, kind of started to feel a little bit better.

But even then, he said it wasn't really until April that he thought he was, that he had his pot back. And he didn't play in the first round, right? He was a healthy scratch. And since he came in in game two against Vancouver, he's been lights out for them on the penalty kill and even five on five. That line, think about it, guys. You got McDavid and Dreisaitl.

Who's starting the last two games? And Nick, you know how important it is for the starting lineup, right? And you've got Henrik, Janmark, and Brown back-to-back games where they're setting the tone on the first shift. Yeah. No, I mean, Brown looks legitimately like fast almost, which he hasn't all year, which is really surprising and made a big difference. You know, when you look at the series going forward here what do you think knob block does with his

lineup does it change everything like how do you feel about how he's coached this series and what he'll do going forward and chris knob block for a rookie head coach i think you you really have to take a step back and be impressed with almost every decision he's made. From day one, he brings Mark Stewart, who's never ran a penalty kill. Here you go, Mark. You're going to oversee it. And look how good their penalty kill has been now, guys.

Like, it's a true weapon. Leon Drysaddle says, I don't see many penalty kills that are able to set the pace for the power play, and that's what ours does. Then he switched, guys. He has shown no fear. You win a game, next game, you know what? I think we need this. So he'll switch his guys.

Now, he's not making massive switches, but there's only 11 skaters on Edmonton that have played in every game. That includes their goaltending. So 11 out of 23 guys. That's not normal. He switches guys out. He's not afraid. Ryan McLeod, Warren Fogle, Vincent Desjardins, Cody Ceci,

like guys who played a lot of games all year long. The only change I could see them maybe doing in six and seven is Derek Ryan. And you could bring in Sam Carrick maybe, or if Evander Kane, that's a big if, but if Evander Kane is going to be able to show the training staff and some off-ice tests that he's got some power and he's got the ability, then I think you could play him because you know, if,

if Kane's close to healthy, he's a better player than Derek Ryan. So that's the one change. But, and if I played him guys, I would start them on the fourth line with McLeod and Perry, which is fine because you need depth to go. So that's really the only lineup change.

I don't, I don't think they're going to bring out CeCe or Broberg at this point for Vincent Desjardins, unless there's an injury that I'm unaware of. But, you know, you look at the minutes played to those guys on the back end, I think they're going to stick with that. And really, why not? Like, they've come back. They're playing well.

Even though he's switched to before when they've won, I'll be surprised if he does it unless Kane gets the green light to go. We're talking to the host of the Jason Greger show on Sports 1440 in Edmonton. Jason, just in terms of the numbers from Stuart Skinner between game one and three

and then the numbers between four and seven to close out playoff series, are we talking about the same goalie? What's the difference for you oh nick you're reading my mind i actually have an article coming up that i wrote that should be out here in about 45 minutes that really outlined stewart skinner and he he's really

an experienced guys like there's only two players on the orders that have played fewer games than him in broberg and holloway like he's a young guy in a high-pressure position. He learned last year in the playoffs. He got pulled three of the final four games in the second round against Vegas. You get pulled, you come back. You get pulled, you come back. It's hard to do. He's persevered this year.

If he has a bad game, some guys like to they don't want to admit if they had a bad game or that they hide away in the back corner. That's not Skinner. He'll come out and he'll just openly talk about it like, hey, guys, the other guys were good. I wasn't good enough tonight.

I got to be better. When he sat two games against Vancouver, he came back and he just said, you know what, it's hard, but I just wanted to be the best teammate I could. It allowed me to work on my mental strength. I think that's a factor of mine. And since then, he's been really good. Even in the first three games, the only blunder he made was outside the crease on the second goal behind the net, right? They lost by one, and that really gave Florida momentum in game three. And, you know, afterwards, I remember he

was asked about, geez, how's this moment? You're down three. And he's like, you know what? I'm grateful that I get to be in these opportunities and learn from it and for most guys you'd probably be like but that's how skinner is he he's very big on mental toughness and man he's come back if you look at his numbers in games five six and seven of the playoffs he's six and oh with a 928 say percentage and a 161 goals against average so when the when the pressure's on he's found a way to really elevate his game in every round so i wrote an article yesterday just on all the reasons things are tipping in edmonton's favor is there anything that makes you nervous about florida anything that makes you look at them and go okay i expect to push back here because edmonton can go

on these streaks man and they've done it numerous times this season where it just feels like nothing can stop them once they're playing their best. Is there something on Florida's side that makes you think they could stop it? Well, I really thought the last half of that, like once Kachuk scored, and there's again, like Holloway, you've got to get the puck out. He doesn't get it out, and Kachuk takes advantage. Dry settle, you can't leave a guy behind you, and Kachuk scores. And because it got Kachuk into the series, guys,

because up until that point, the most noticeable he'd been was giving McDavid a few rabbit punches in a blowout game. Really hadn't noticed him, and he was their best player after that by a large margin. And he's got the ability to bring guys into the fight a little bit more. His line, up until last night night had been outscored five nothing five on five in the series right like they're not going to win that way long term so if that line wakes up that's a big issue i think for edmonton it's a big challenge doesn't mean they can't win

but that would be number one and i look at you know we've seen a lot of teams you come back but man you got to exert a lot of energy and i I would think Edmonton wins game six, but that game seven in Florida, they have a really good home record all year, they're good in the playoffs. You could do it. It's never been done before, so I guess at some point we've seen 16 seeds beat number one seeds in NCAA, so anything's possible. But the odds and the fact that Kachuk has woken up would probably be the two things that make you say, Edmonton, you're going to have to be on your game.

Jason, we, like many, had the discussion about Akon Smythe and where Connor McDavid would be. Yesterday I said, as great as he's been, including breaking Wayne Gretzky's record, he can't give them that trophy if they lose in five games. He scores four points in five games. We're now game six, and I'm like, yeah, he could win it losing game six. He'll certainly win it, I think, in losing game seven,

and we know he's going to win it if they can close this thing out. But what is his playoff run done in your mind not only to solidify him as one of the greatest hockey players of all time but you know comparable to any great athlete out there like what in your opinion has he done in the last month and a half well i think i think he's put to bed any debate on who the best player in the nhl is right and even though i don't think it was one that was still like this year you know he doesn't win the art ross he doesn't win he's not gonna win the heart and people are like oh my god maybe he's not that good and know, he played with a banged up injury all year long. And he continues to raise the bar. Like, I never thought I'd see 40 points in a playoff game.

I'm sorry, in a playoffs year. Like, none of us did. Right? Like, there's only been nine of them prior, and they were 35 points nine times. And that was Gretzky doing it four of them. So it's really stunning when you look at what he's done um you know how he does it and he's he's it's it's funny because let's say the orders lose game seven in overtime guys there's gonna be people oh you can't be top four because he doesn't win a cup and i'm like based

on one game or one goal in overtime like that's foolish to me. I think he's cemented himself in the conversation for sure. I wrote it earlier this year that I thought he's going to become the second player ever to have 2,000 points unless he suffers a severe injury, which obviously you never wish on any player. He's just a

different animal, Nick. I think for the longest time, there wasn't much of a conversation as to who the greatest player in the NHl ever was and i think when mcdavid's career is over there's going to be a lot of people that are like you know what he's not going to have as many points as gretzky but he's probably going to be in the conversation yeah the um i was saying the the game last night just watching the flow of, it was just a bunch of people standing around in his wake, almost being pulled behind him like a slipstream from a car or something. It was truly an unbelievable showing.

So, you know, heading towards this game six, these starts have been so good for Edmonton the last couple games. You get out, you get ahead, you make Florida chase. You know, is that the most essential piece to next game, is making Florida get on their heels a little bit? Maybe it is that brown line again that starts the game, but that's got to be a key piece for them. Well, 100%.

If you look at it, in every game there's been a first-period goal early, except for game three when Reinhardt scored, I think, late with a minute and two seconds left. But there's three times now the goal is scored in the first five minutes of the period. And Edmonton's done it twice. And, you know, in the game they didn't, game one might have been their, well, maybe their second best game outside of game four of the series.

So, you know, Edmonton has started well. That helps them. I think most teams, when you look at the history of scoring first, it's a big advantage guys and in the stanley cup final what the pressure mounts and even though you try to tell yourself it's just another game i don't think it's possible when you're in that moment to not recognize this is game six and if we're edmonton we're like oh my god we gotta win and i still think florida does have what Kachuk said afterwards. Like, hey, we still have two outs.

You know what I mean? Like, the Oilers, they only got one. And I think that the first goal is maybe more meaningful to Edmonton in game six in Florida, right? Because Florida, if they get down one-nothing, okay, fine. You know what? They still are like, we're in the game. It's only one goal.

And B, worst case scenario, we go to game seven. Edmonton gets down, and you wonder if their desperation forces them to maybe take some chances that they wouldn't if they were leading or tied. Well, get a good rest, my friend. You got tomorrow, and then we all kick it up on Friday. I can only imagine what the scene will be like. What's the scene on an off day? Well, you know, geez, off days.

Well, I think half the people are resting a hangover. I'd have asked this question to some of the, you know, the bosses out there. I'd wonder what's worse for production in the workplace, the day after a big game or Friday leading up to it, when the people are just looking for everything angle like it's funny like some fans get so stressed guys like they it's mind-blowing to me and i get it like you're so invested when you can't do anything sometimes it's harder every player will tell you when you're on the bench it's much easier than

watching the press box it's not even close yeah the farther you get from the action the harder it is easier as a player harder as a coach worse as a gm worst as a fan yeah so the fans uh i think there'll be lots of people uh leaving work at noon on on friday uh planning uh well you know they want to get a seat whether it's at the local watering hole or you know what the viewing party's outside you know it's obviously the last game in edmonton regardless win or lose so it'll be a madhouse and it would be the same way in every Canadian city, right? Like when you're in a Canadian city and you're in a Stanley Cup final, man, it's different.

It just is. And no offense to some of the American cities. They don't have the same passion from every person on the street corner. And everybody, even if you're not a sports fan, you get sucked in in a Stanley Cup final. Real quick, Gregor, are you going to be continuing to work after you sell your Game 6 season ticket that you just told us you have, or are you going to retire?

No, you know what's funny about that? True story. So my son is 10, and because the playoff, by the way, it's a joke what the prices are. You've got to sell your tickets just so you can afford to go to the other games. And before the Cup started, my wife and I said, okay, you'll get to go to one game. Which game do you want to go to? And he's like,

well, I want to go to game six because that's when they can win. You know, he's a 10-year-old. So they get down 3-0. He's obviously pissed. And he's like, this is brutal. So last night, he got so nervous watching the game, he went upstairs and then he ends up watching the last five minutes. So I'm downstairs watching the game.

When McDavid scored in the empty net, all I heard was him yelling and running around, I'm going to game six. I'm going to game six. You know what? For a 10-year-old and for anybody, really, it could be a once-in-a-lifetime because there's no guarantee you ever get back. So, you know, I work it.

It's different. But to see him that excited, I think he reflects what a lot of fans are right now. And they'll be jazzed up going to that game. But I can tell you, I've seen prices online. My God, you're right. You could put your kid through college for one year if you want. Like five grand, three grand, four grand.

What do you see? I saw some of the Loge seats. A table of four Loge for 15 grand. Yeah. And it's sold. Oh, that's good stuff. love it good stuff hey jason love your stuff on our show we really appreciate your time man hey anytime guys yeah pleasure's all mine yeah you bet you enjoy the games thanks gregor jason gregor sports 1440 in edmonton does a terrific job we love having him on the show. Yes, sir.

Very good stuff. 15 grand. Yeah, this is... That's a big ticket. You're not even going to see the big silver cup. This is what happens. Wow, you mean. What happens now is that you start grabbing people from like far, far away.

Non-fans. They come in. A lot of Americans will say, hey, let's go to the Stanley Cup final in Edmonton. They'll make it and they'll stroke a check that gets them an additional 37% on the American dollar. There's that outside element of championship. I love Kip knew that.

37.23%. But who's counting? Right? There's that outside element of championship. I love Kip knew that. 37.23%. He's going to dial. But who's counting? Right? If anyone has a line on a ticket to a potential game seven, I know someone looking for them in Florida. They're hoping. In the NBA, the finals, all international money that's driving that price up.

Yeah, you're driving the local fans. I hear the Oilers are making it hand over fast right now. I saw the ESPN numbers, over 4 million last game, 4.1 or something. Like the hockey is doing well here. 4.1 revenue? No, no, no. A million viewers last game. I'm just saying the attention on the finals.

I'm talking about cash, baby. I'm talking about what the Oilers are making per game. A lot. A couple of 97 sweaters. Is the charts well i mean they hey they ain't small market no no that's a game five win i wonder what that made oh my god alone like that one win a lot getting to go home for a game six um eight figures i like i like gregor's thought about McDavid getting to 2,000 points. Because when he first said it, I was a little bit taken aback by it. But he has 982 points in 645 games played in his career. He's going to get to 1,400 games, 1,500 games.

There you go. That's crazy. I'd never even thought of that or considered it a possibility. So unbelievable. And 117 points in 72 playoff games. Four points in back-to-back games in the cup final. Like, yeah, you know, I asked Greg. That's the best game I've seen.

He's like, I've seen 97 do that. That's not the cup final back-to-back games. You haven't seen that before. So we know what the analytics say about being down 3-0 but what you don't have in any of those series is a feel of connor mcdavid like he's running the table in vegas he's got hot dice right now yeah and he he could run it he could run it right to game seven. It just feels like if you're Florida, like you're carrying a stack of dishes down the stairs and they're starting to go like this.

It's just like it's about to come down and he's just pulling it. What you said about McDavid, just him looking like he's getting stronger and everybody else, but you nailed it. It's almost summer solstice here. They've been playing hockey since October. he's getting stronger and everybody else, but you nailed it. We're in, it's almost summer solstice here. They've been playing hockey since October.

It's a, you know, it's a, we talk about how crazy conditioned he is. This is the, he's reaping the benefits of it right now. Separation right now. Exactly.

I'm watching a guy like Bobrovsky who has been fantastic. We know that. But he may be now hitting something that he loses half a second, a quarter of a second in reaction time. I mean, the Perry goal goes off the top of his pad if he's over that much. He looks a tad slower. Two weeks ago, the first two games, Connor Brown isn't beating him forehand, backhand, post to post. Remember when we said you can't beat him on a deke on the ice?

Not doing that. And actually hit his skate blade in the ice. He was almost there. Yeah, he almost got across. The split second I'm talking about that he's lost. I don't think he's clearly has his net like he did early i mean uh bad bounce off of uh uh bouchard's goal right where like it's just right but the hard goal is some hard luck mcdavid goal come on cannot give up that goal that goal was the difference between possibly

florida winning the cup or losing the cup last night the leading score goal or point getter in the nhl playoffs from uh not on edmonton so the the leading goal scorer outside the oilers is is kachuk 22 points mcdavid is ahead in by 20 so he's first two games first two games again florida's ability to close the gap on mcdavid and then we saw mcdavid stick handling into traffic and losing the puck and everybody's like he's trying too hard it was just trying to do too much now split second where that gap isn't there and McDavid exploits it. The rest favors Florida here. Wall battles. Okay.

I saw a couple where Barkov, he was winning those battles. McDavid beat him on wall battles last night. Yeah, he did. The rest favors Florida. So, is that what's happening now they've just they've just now kind of hit a bit of a a physical wall as much as maybe a mental one with edmonton like holloway still doesn't get one out and one ends up in the net and uh i think roberg again got his four two goal oh my god with all due respect like everybody's focusing on Holloway on that goal. Go watch Bouchard.

The guy was gone. And it's 3-0. Well, dry side of where he was going pretty quick too there. 3-0. You don't need to go make it 4-0. You're not wrong. Everybody's saying Holloway's the goat on that particular goal that got Florida some energy. Yeah.

But that's where Evan Bouchard still can kind of scare you a little bit as great as he is a hundred point guy yes 10 million dollars deserves all this praise because the rest of the team was fine i thought the last 40 minutes florida was far and away the better team they were but you know this mcdavid thing is i've just never seen anything like last night i just i am i know there it, just not in this setting. I have been exclusively doubting the Oilers since the start of the second round. I picked Vancouver. Social media has let us know that. I've picked Vancouver.

I've picked Dallas. Yeah. I've picked the Cats. You want to apologize now to Oiler fans? Well, not quite yet, considering this is still a series. That's fair. But I'm done doubting. I really do believe, I do believe fully that this is...

They shouldn't... You don't want this if you're an Oilers fan. Well, I do. I mean, I just... No, Sammy, just keep hating them. No, what McDavid is doing right now is amongst the greatest things I've ever seen in the history of sports.

Right now, in these moments, he is putting a team on his back, and he deserves full respect. It's unbelievable. He's on track to be one of the best in the history of the game, and this is like a really amazing performance you have to appreciate. So, good on him. Absolutely. All right, quick break.

Yeah, let's have a break. And then you'll come back with game time. Plus a few news and notes. We'll maybe touch a little bit more on what's going on off the ice. Any more trades coming? What are you hearing? By the way, McDavid has more playoff points than PLD had in 80 regular season games. Oh, God.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. 8.5 until 2030. All right. More with real Kipper and Bourne when we return. Diving deep into Leafs, Raptors, Jays, and NFL. The JD Bunk is podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Kipper House, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. What would a real Kipper and Bourne show without a Kipper's clipper? Yeah. I feel like we haven't done as many recently. No, we have not. We also haven't done Game Time. Oh, we haven't done Game Time. Is that a part of the show?

There's something we should do. I guess I better figure something out. Yeah, do you first? You're turning into a producer. Listen, I'm just trying to get all the elements in here. I fully would not have done it. It's game time. Presented by Bet365.

Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, I'm just going to quickly pull up what the odds have gone to Connor McDavid for the consmite.

Because I'm feeling very stupid. Because I mentioned this to you when we did our show on Friday. Was it that we did the show? Um, the other one, you were almost like 1200 or something. 1300, 13 to one,

the, the, the, uh, cons might. So let's see what he's at now. Um, I'll bet you it's less than that as i quickly pull it up here and talk amongst yourselves

i'm having i'm struggling here all right but the line for the next game here i'm looking at the florida panthers have now switched to underdogs they're plus 105 and the edmonton oilers are now minus 125 favorites on home ice i mean that's definitely a shifting of the narrative i think the the oilers have been underdogs in the last two. So going back home, you know, the actual favorites are now, you know, it's a shifting narrative. It's going back and forth. I think Bobrovsky has to have a hell of a game to take the consmith now.

After giving up five, then four. I think he's been no better i think he lost it well if they win next game four three barkov does done nothing to claim it maybe that's the recipe for a mcdavid loser mvp he has to win uh friday night but roski has to win and he has to influence the game for him to hold on to it. But I think he lost it last night. I mean, it's McDavid. This is remarkable how much it's switched.

Conor McDavid is now minus 150 for the consummate. What? Barkov still the second favorite plus 225 and Sergey Bobrovsky is at plus 550. Yeah. Wow. Plus 550. If you can't give up. You met Bobrovsky like two rounds ago

where it was a lock for a month. Two days ago he was. I'm sorry, I mean two games? Two games ago. But you got shellacked. I don't know if that's enough to negate his entire playoffs. McDavid's goal last night. The Perry goal?

Cannot. Oh, the McDavid shot, yeah. Cannot go in. Wow. Just can't go in. That's the one that broke their back. McDavid's going to win it, isn't he? Yeah, I think he's going to win it.

I think he's in that ballpark win or lose. Last two games have been him and Ross. He's going to end up with it. And I was quickly going to pull up the baseball game tonight. I know I shouldn't do the baseball stuff because it's a scary thing. But I think Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is going to get a couple hits tonight because he cut his hair. He cut his hair?

How much? He cut it off. No more dreads. He's got like a fresh fade. He actually looks 10 years younger. He looks awesome. I appreciate a good haircut. And I think he's going to get two hits tonight.

So plus 210 for two hits for Vladimir Guer guerrero jr with the fresh new do and that was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 let's be 19 plus and terror only please play responsibly maybe the panthers need haircuts give up on the playoff beards. All right, let's go to Chris Knobloch because he's done a hell of a job, as Jason Greger spoke a little while earlier in our show. And let's get his thoughts on the belief right now for the Edmonton Oilers to come right back.

Yes, sir. You know, I've been part of a lot of teams that have always said they had strong belief, and most of the time they don't. But with this group, they say they have strong belief. I truly believe that they do have that strong belief. Yeah, the more situations you go through where you face adversity,

it just sets you up for being able to handle it in the future. This is a year the Oilers have been through it. Holy. From the jump. Were they 5-12? Yeah, they got a strong chin, man. They have taken some absolute bombs. Yeah, they really have.

And they keep fighting. Yeah. I mean, the way their season's gone. They're nicked yet's gone well the three streaks yeah off of yeah losing three three major ones if it would really be fitting for them to come back and win this for the way their season's been this would be some story holy smokes yeah one for the ages absolutely you got a mark Spector book out in two weeks. So there's a couple different clips from Paul Maurice talking about the pressure.

How's he doing? I have not heard from him too much. So let's play the first clip. The first clip is from last night after the game. He was asked about the pressure here. So let's play Paul Maurice clip two first. Just, Paul, how do you, you know, obviously now the pressure ratchets up here. How do you keep the outside noise and you guys getting tight

and sort of put this behind you without it really turning things around? Yeah, absolutely nothing has changed for our situation in the last two games except we learned some things. Some lessons we don't need to learn. We've learned them enough, but we keep getting taught those lessons. But nothing's changed for us. Not one thing.

Follow it up with, give me one lesson. Yeah. That's all. I would have followed it up with. Which lesson? 97 in blue? Stay in front of him. The power play? Not giving up breakaways on a power play?

That's a good idea. That pass before the Brown goal was an atrocity. Would you like to hear his tone this morning on a similar question? Very much. Okay, the second clip, please, Derek. You're going to think I'm lying to you. I'm more comfortable. I understand the feeling of 3-2

because most series are like that. That's more, 3-0 is more of an aberration in it. Pressure. I think if you spend enough time, I think we think about these things possibly differently. Right? And I'm not sure that I would agree with the assessment that the pressure has shifted so heavily

to us. But I'm not going to try to work you to get it out in the media so I can possibly shift it over here. Right? I just... We've had something possibly to protect at 3-0, right?

The opportunity we've earned this, now we've got to protect it. And they would have had nothing to protect in game four, nothing. So there's a little bit of a leveling out of what you feel like you have to protect. What a clip. What would you know about pressure? I think they think about a little differently my brain is common rubes out there my brain is in he got me i'm the room but i don't know what the hell to think about that because he's like i'm working the media but during my talk about working the media i'm gonna put it in there and say that i'm not working them like i don't know what

the hell to think about this guy what do you i think he's petrified yeah he's supposed to win game six so there's a little bit to his point he's been around a long time he's experienced a lot i don't i think deep down he's there's a thought of i don't want to be the head coach that blows this well and buddy and that's that that's a real feel this is the difference between his legacy being a guy who put in all the work and learned all the lessons before he made this great move to leave winnipeg get to the top of the mountain hall of famer you know whatever versus a guy who just never got it done his there is massive personal pressure yes Paul Maurice here. No question.

This is a legacy maker. Yeah. And you can only do so much, like to the point of like, you're not on the ice, you can just end his job. And the players, they're not that far off from saying,

I don't want this part of history in my bio here. Right. And that's Barkov, that's Bobrovsky uh matthew kachuk who play who is by far the best florida panther not even close last night it changed how i feel about the series seeing him play like that too it's like oh can i also mention that for a split second when i saw him save the empty net goal oh my god i envisioned florida going back the other way and scoring and then regarding that incident as one of the greatest moments

in sport history samuel back me up on this oh yeah that goes off the post a minute and a half to go in the game still would have added that much to the story it felt like that was going to be the moment where it's like god they were one just post away just for a split second that saving dive and then the reach and where the puck was the weight was one of the best things i've seen in terms of saving a goal. You know what kills me, though? The U.S. media was all over that. You see people who never talk about hockey sharing this Kachuk clip,

and it was like 1.9 seconds before McDavid shot it in their net. Well, maybe put a body on 97. Ekman-Larsen should have watched him shoot that. Did he forget he was playing? I think so. If he would have just taken the post out. Yeah.

Right? He was right into the netting. It didn't come off. Yeah. If it came off, then there would have been maybe one more grasp of going down there and saving that moment. But Ekman Larson, like, what are you, like, going for popcorn? That was absurd.

Put a body on him. Florida was humming in that game. Like, you know, Skinner gets beat a few times. Although the Chuck shot was. It is now, it is now, the feeling now is that Florida can't do anything right. And Edmonton's getting all the bounces now. They're all, the puck luck is totally on the Oilers side. It's, it's switched. Yeah. They couldn't get a break in the Oilers' side.

It's switched. They couldn't get a break in the first couple of games. Probably deserved to win. And now they're getting all the breaks. Yeah. I got a guy in my neighborhood, Ian, who wears his jersey, walking around our hood, and he wouldn't even say anything after the first period when I saw him. The Oilers are up, just like Oilers are finally getting the breaks.

We're not even discussing it. Just focus, man. Friday night. And that's going to be Oilers fans for the next two days. It finally getting the breaks. We're not even discussing it. Just focus, man. Friday night. And that's going to be Oilers fans for the next two days is just more breaks. Stare ahead, focus, keep the breaks going your way. I think that Rogers Arena there, or Rogers Place, I don't know, one of them, Rogers something,

it's maybe the loudest arena in the history of hockey. Like, there's a potential that it's going to be the loudest a hockey arena has ever been. Yeah. If they get up early there, like, that it's going to be the loudest a honky bean has ever been yeah if they get up early they're like the roof's coming off so jb you've got two tickets they're worth 10 grand you go or you sell so it depends if my 10 year old son's involved because you know like i'm selling for sure i'm selling oh wow no but. But if I'm, well, if you're a media member, you're going to be there anyway? Selling for sure.

Oh, but I mean, if I'm a fan, I think. If I'm a fan who's got seasons, I'm going. It's a different situation. Yeah. I'm either watching my team extend it or I'm watching a team that's not mine win the Stanley Cup. So I think I'd probably go to the bar with that 10K. I'd buy a few rounds. I'd buy a few rounds.

Would it matter for you that you physically cannot, unfortunately for Edmonton Oilers fans, they cannot see the cup being lifted? Of course that matters. You might sell your tickets and buy tickets in Florida. Get a flight, get a hotel room, get a ticket down there for the chance to see your team. I bet you that money gets you that package.

Long flight, as we all know. Long flight. Whatever the case is, if you've got a ticket, you're one of the lucky ones. All right. Our thanks to Jason Greger. Sports 1440 in Edmonton. Enjoy your night off.

Enjoy one more tomorrow, and then we'll be right back at it Friday. Have a great night, everybody. Thanks for joining us. We'll be right back.