Real Kyper & Bourne - Melee at MSG

Episode Date: April 4, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour by looking back on the line brawl between the Devils and Rangers at MSG. NHL Network's Mike Rupp (3:08) gives his take on the scrap, whether it was inevitable, why fighting still belongs in the modern game and the emotional impact of a fight like that. Then, he sets the stage for tonight's chapter in the Ovechkin/Crosby rivalry as the Caps and Pens face off for crucial points in the Eastern Wild Card race. Finally, they regroup with Sam to answer your questions on the text line!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.

there we go national hour on real kipper and born that kiprios justin born sammy mckee we are live on sportsnet sportsnet 650 in van Vancouver. Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. Sour of real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Mike Rupp in a few minutes. Everybody's talking Rangers, Devils last night at MSG. Does the Rangers come back? I went to Leafs Tampa Bay last night. So did not catch it live.

But the moment it happened, I don't know, six, eight guys, their phones started buzzing. And the phones are amazing. There's a lot of bad things about them. Plenty. Mostly. More bad than good. But the one part is is something happens you hear about it

right away and you get to see it right away yeah our wonderful product sports net plus uh sometimes i find myself on there picking a game uh and that one was like you know seven o'clock leafs were about to drop the puck with tampa we cover the leafs. I was like, Rangers. I had Rangers, Devils on. Toggle over to that one. And I did not expect what came next. Should we have not talked about this a little bit more based on their short history? No, but even last night.

Bad production by me. How do we not know something was coming? We like but but a five on five brawl no that's what i'm talking about like to what degree how greasy could it get out there we're too busy crapping on torts we did have a good torts did it again sucked all the oxygen out of the room left us nothing on the rangers and the devils yeah was it good row who took the draw at center and skated right to the d-man like they obviously had set that up they had a conversation it looked like three guys were fighting and the other four guys

were like we're not gonna look like the punks here i just thought the visual of all the guys getting shipped and all just skating off the ice. In a row. In a row of ducks right off the ring. I'm like, that's as hockey as hockey gets. It's just slap shot stuff. That's a bad call. What? That they got kicked out.

I actually saw, yeah, like what? Like just a horrible decision. Both teams agree they want to do this thing. It's all at the same time. You're going to tell me now that VC and Lazar started fighting like two seconds before anyone else. Therefore, you're out of the game now. It's a garbage call by the official.

They want Rempe and Bastion out there. So that's why they don't say that's the first fight. I'm sure they're like, let's just make sure these two guys go. Anyway, you have someone more important than me to talk about this. We do because he was right there. Let's welcome in Mike Rupp, former NHLer, Stanley Cup champion. Rupp-er.

What's up, fellas? Was that fun last night at MSG? Yeah, it was. It was a good time. It was a good time. Hey, you know, we thought and so many times when you think these things are going to happen, or maybe not that, I didn't think we're going to have a five-on-five brawl. But just to even see the Rempe McDermott fight, there's a lot of, you know, lead up to it. And then a lot of times there's nothing, but it just felt a little different.

And man, what ended up happening, the a was a buzz there at msg and um you know i i love those things i personally think that it's the most galvanizing thing you could do as a team i know it doesn't happen that often and you can't necessarily fabricate those situations to happen and they don't happen um but when they do i think it's i I don't know, it's something unique. Just from the standpoint of, you know, Matt Rempe, let's look at it from the Rangers standpoint. He's been awesome, right? A polarizing guy.

He's coming in. Whether you like him, you don't like him, whatever the situation is, he's come in here. And the Rangers could have been like, all right, well, you got to answer the bell here and, you know, whatever. We're all going to get a front row seat. They're like, no, we're in this too. Like, you know, and that to me, I'm like, okay, like this is something like, you know,

that gives me goosebumps. And I think of it from the other side too with McDermott. I mean, this has been a devil's team all year. That's, they're pretty revered as being a soft team. I mean, they are. And they go out and they get him. And I think it's really important when you get a guy like that, that doesn't change your team toughness.

You guys got to be in it together as well. And I think they could have very easily said, all right, Mac, go do your thing. No, we're in it with you. I love that stuff. I think it's a great sign for both teams. And, again, that stuff, man, when you get in the trainer's room after the game or the plane or the bus or whatever the circumstance is

and the stories are flying and the ice bags are on you, I mean, those are the things you remember. We're talking to Mike Rupp, NHL Network analyst, former NHL or Stanley Cup champion. We're talking Devils, Rangers, 162 penalty minutes, not since 2014 when Tortorella, what, chased down the Calgary dressing room. Have we seen something like this?

But when you factor in the brief history now since Rempe's come in between the Rangers and the Devils, Ruppert, this had to happen last night, right? It just, there was so much air in the balloon that something needed to happen to alleviate all that pressure like there's no way around it last night no there's not you and you know it was going to happen you know that that matt rempe was going to but but i also like the fact that i'm okay with him not fighting the last game.

And, you know, this is all kind of part of, hey, you've got leverage in a situation like this. I mean, you don't, you got to do it on your own terms. So, but I felt like it finally kind of came to a head where you knew it was going to go down in some way, shape or form last night. And probably not in that manner, I didn't expect. But yeah, I mean, that's something that, you know, he stepped up. He did his thing here. We'll see if he can start getting through games against the Devils at some point here.

But so far, I mean, he's made himself very endearing to Ranger fans. I'll get your thoughts, JB, and we'll start with Rupert first, though. But Travis Green, he's the first coach to fill out the game sheet like what do you expect Peter Laviolette when the when the game sheet comes back to his office and you see McDermott's name starting like that's that's the invitation is it not 100% yeah I mean you know I mean I think that I think that that's basically saying without saying that's saying we're here to do this

what are you guys going to do about it you know what I mean like that's basically what that is to me you know I remember back in 2012 when we had that incident you know with the three fights Devils Rangers MSG Torts came in the room because at that time Peter Peter DeBoer,

Pete DeBoer put in the lineup first. And that's when he had, you know, Eric Bolton, Cam Jansen, you know, and he ended up kind of stacking their group. Ryan Carter was the center. And but anyways, Torts came in the room and I remember him kicking the garbage can. And he's basically just like, what am I supposed to do? He goes, I can't. It was kind of funny.

He goes, what am I supposed to do? I can't put Gabby out there. Talk about marrying Gabrick. And he's like, you know, I got to protect. We got to have guys that can protect themselves. And so whether that was true or not or whether he wanted it to happen, you know, you've got Peter LaViolette's got to come back with, with Rempe and the guys who can handle themselves. So, yeah, I mean,

I think for the situation there, Travis Green would be like, you know, I didn't understand why he was so upset. I, yeah, you know why he's upset and I'm okay with it. So Rupert, I think you're a perfect guy to weigh in on this. You know, you, you played in the league a long time and scored plenty of goals and played an important role and also been in the fisticuffs and all that. What do you say to people who say that this is dangerous, this doesn't belong here in the sport?

Like everyone who's played recognizes what happened last night, but what do you say to the people who don't think that, you know, it's dangerous last night and shouldn't be a part of the game? I think the first thing is, you know, we want all hockey fans, man. You know, like if you're a hockey fan and you don't like fighting, I don't care. The more people that are watching the game, the better. Like we can all consume it in the way that we like to consume it. But don't tell me that there's no place for it.

That's our foundation of our sport. It's a violent sport, man. That's what it is. And it's gotten cleaner, way cleaner. I mean, you guys know this. Anybody who's watched the game knows this. And the other thing that drives me nuts in all of this, and I mean this through and through and through,

I have never, ever, ever in my life. So, you know, I mean, I probably had, I don't know, 150 fights over the course of junior hockey pro, whatever. I've never in my life had to fight. No one made me do anything. I chose to fight. Did I want to in all the situations no but i had to because of you know i wanted to um you know not make things worse for my teammates not make things worse worse for

myself you do not have to fight so anybody that drops their gloves in hockey they're willing you know what i mean and and people say no that's not true at one time it wasn't true kipper i'm sure you could tell some stories where guys were forced to fight or they got jumped or whatever. We don't see that nowadays. You know what I mean? It's a decision. Yeah.

And if you don't want to do it, you don't have to do it. And quite frankly, if you're a guy that's going to play hard, like here's a perfect example. Well, look up Patrick Hornquist's career fights patrick hornquist was one of the most antagonistic you know around your net frustrating players in your goalies grill smiling at you all the time he i think he has one career fight maybe two so my point is you don't even it's almost it's almost advantageous for you not to fight and play that role now because now everybody wants to get you and you're just drawing penalties for

your team left and right. You know what I mean? So like, you don't have to do anything. That's the part that bugs me is when people say, you know, make it like the players don't have a decision in this. The other thing I find it hard to explain, and I've been around this game a long time is to, to explain to people that have never been in that environment how it can bring and galvanize a team together and make you,

like, Devils lost, right? Rangers won. Both those teams are going to practice this morning feeling great about what happened. They can bring you together emotionally even more than a five or ten game winning streak could. 100%. I mean, because it strips everything down.

Right? And that's the point too. I know we were to kind of discuss this a little bit, but like John Marino, Chris Tierney, these guys don't fight. You know? Jimmy Vese. These guys don't fight. You know, Jimmy Vesey. They don't fight. But they had the drop of a hat show that they're going to stand side by side with their teammates.

And some people might be like, oh, that's lame. That's stupid. That's barbaric stuff. Like that doesn't mean anything. That's garbage. Because I know when I'm on the ice, and I've been on teams, maybe we're a guy. I've been on a team before. I've been on a team before where one of the players will remain unnamed.

A younger player said to me, came up to me in between periods. I was an older player. And he goes, hey, Rupp, player, blah, blah, blah. He's all over me. Can you go take care of him? Like, that's not how this works. You know what I mean? Like, you got to, like, push back a little bit on your own, too.

And, you know, and then so, like, when you have guys that are making themselves uncomfortable and doing things out of the ordinary for the team, that same thing is blocking a shot, right? Like, we see and we talk about how many times when a guy lays down to block a shot, what that that does to your bench. Or take a hit to just get the puck deep. That's always been one of the ultimates. You know you're going to get hit here. You're not bailing on the play because if you bail on the play, they might score. You might lose the game. I can't emphasize it enough that there is nothing that will bring a team

closer together than getting in the dust up with one another. I believe that through and through. Rupert, we know we got only a few minutes with you here. We got to talk about the matchup between the Pens and the Caps tonight. You're at the building right now. And as I told these guys, what, four or five days ago, man, don't underestimate Sid's shoulders and how big they are and how much weight he can carry on them.

He has been, listen, I know I do the color for the Penguins, so people will be like, oh, well, you have to say, no, listen, there was a few games there, a stretch in there after the trade deadline where I thought that Sid looked defeated. Like he looked like he had a stretch there where I was like his body language wasn't great. And I'm like, oh, no, you know, and I don't know what, you know, maybe he's just tired. Maybe it was whatever. But he's found this gear now. And not just him brian rust has been incredible and uh great story with alex nadelkovich right now i mean they they've got this thing going and it's literally in the sid's been great for a while now but now everyone else is starting to chip in a little bit

and it's um he has he has been he's not going to have enough point totals because i think that's the way that these things go nowadays but but he, he should be in everybody's heart conversation. I mean, that, that's, that's how good he's been all season long. And right now, I mean, he seems like he's good for three, four points every night and, and find a ways I'd say buckle up in this game. I think we're going to see him put on a show in this one. Cause he's been trending that direction for, for a little bit of time now. Yeah. He's been trending that way. And look, I think we're going to see him put on a show in this one because he's been trending in that direction for a little bit of time now.

Yeah, he's been trending that way. And look, I tell you, we watched the Capitals play the Leafs a couple times over the past two weeks. Ah, it's not a great – they're struggling. They look slow, I understand. They are where they are in the standings. They haven't looked great to us here. What are your thoughts on that Snails race in the Eastern Conference

for the final playoff spots i it's crazy because uh we're sitting here and i was i was doing the um the western canadian trip and there's been there's been so many different times where i've thought whether it's the penguins i'm like oh you know they're dead to rights here you know like they're they're done and then then you wake up and you're like i mean they still got a chance here here. They went two games in a row and we're like, oh my gosh, that game on Thursday in D.C. is huge. I mean, you can say that about all these teams. I mean, there was a stretch there where the Islanders

were good. And you're like, oh, Islanders look like they're going to be in this. And then they're not. And then, you know, the games in hand have always been something for the Capitals that you've kind of just leaned and thought that they're going to be able to do that. Now they look like they've dropped off a little bit.

Detroit, you don't know what you're getting from them. It's kind of crazy. So, like, when I look at all of that, I have to go back to, all right, who can you lead? What do we know from some of these teams? And what I do know is we're going to have an elite Sidney Crosby, all right? And we have an Evgeny Malkin who has rejuvenated the last couple games. Does Detroit have guys like that? I don't know.

I mean, Washington had Ovi for that stretch, and then Ovi's kind of chilled out here a little bit. We'll have to see. But, man, it's all about just it doesn't matter how you've gotten here. If you're minus 35 goal differential, if your power play stinks, it doesn't matter how you've gotten here. If you're minus 35 goal differential, if your power play stinks, it doesn't matter. Any of that matters. You literally win your games in the next 10 days, you're in the playoffs.

And I think that's the way these teams got to look at it. Did you see before the All-Star break, OV knocking on the door of 30 goal season? I had a bet with Jason Demers. So when he was at 43 games, 8 goals, I said he's going to get 30. And we made a wager. I didn't feel very good about that. And then all of a sudden, you know, I could start running my mouth, you know, in the last few weeks because he's gotten up there.

But, hey, here's where it's at. If he's going to get there now, he's going to have to wield this team. He's going to have to wield this team because you're right. They haven't looked good. The Caps haven't looked great in the last number of games. Ovi's going to have to be getting another streak going right now if this team's going to get in. And I would expect them to be firing on all cylinders.

I think we'll see a great Crosby-Throwback-Crosby-Throwback-Ovechkin matchup here in D.C. tonight because they're great and that's what they do. All right, Ruppert, we're going to let you go, pal. We really appreciate you coming on the show. We know you got a big night ahead of you. We'll be watching right there with you. Thanks for doing this, pal. Thanks, Ruppert.

All right. Thanks, guys. Good stuff from Mike Rupp there. Yeah, really good stuff. This race is fascinating. You know, tonight, the Capitals, if they lose tonight, the Penguins will be one point behind them with the same game, sorry, with one more game played,

but then they play a back-to-back against Carolina tomorrow. So this could get real tight real quick for the Caps if they don't get a win in the next two days. Islanders got Columbus tonight. Complicated, complicated feelings for me. But depends. Yeah. It's just like I can't root against Sid.

No. And it's like with all the stuff I talk about Ovi, I can't be like, yeah, but I don't. I hate Ovi more than I hate Dubas. So I got a root for Sid. You have to rank your hatred. I got a root for Sid. And he's been unbelievable.

And he's right about the heart thing. He won't win it. But like how many, when you vote, like, is it like the NBA thing where you have one, two, three, four, five? Yeah. To me, he's in the, he's in the top five heart candidate. No question. Like he's not going to win it.

There's huge point totals. I understand it. But he deserves to be mentioned in there and have third or fourth place votes, in my opinion. Yeah. So you got your top three. Yeah. Austin and Sid. What about Roman Yossi?

Perfect. Didn't you like Yossi? What about Connor Hellebuck? Yeah, he slowed down. No. I think that's it. That's the top five. I think if you wrote that down,

you would not be the main character on Twitter the next day. Do you remember last year, some guy left McDavid off his ballot for top five? Wasn't that the only reason he wasn't unanimous? Yeah.

He had like, I don't know, 199 votes for first, and then the kid didn't put him on top five. I think it was a Pittsburgh guy. It was. I forget his name. Don't, because he wants that, right? That's what this is.

I legitimately can't remember it. So does the hand of God me either. You expect Pitt to win tonight? I do. I expect Sammy to give us a number on Sidney Crosby over a point and a half or something tonight. That's all I expect. They may win, they may lose,

but I think Sid's going to be involved. Maybe even a shots prop, like over two and a half shots. You're not going to jinx Pitt like you'd jinx the Edmonton Oilers with David three assists yesterday. If you've been listening all year, just bet against what I say. We are millionaires. These are not. Mention the word lock is not in the there's seven games to go and now you tell me i'm not exactly uh setting the lines of vegas here boys

i'm a bit of an idiot i think i think we all know what this is but uh yeah i don't know if you watched any of that game last night the the edmonton and dallas first of all, boys, Dallas is a wagon. They are an excellent team. They're wearing those stupid lime green jerseys that are awful. They're something else, aren't they? They're like a margarita. They look terrible.

It's not National League. They look like night vision goggles or something. They're embarrassing. It looks like, you know, it's like on the streets of Oshawa. Mountain Dew stars. They're awful jerseys, but they look really good.

The first period, that game was really tight. Close game. It was 1-0 after the first. And for the first 10 minutes of the second period, the Oilers poured it on. They were by far the better team. They do what the Leafs do. When it doesn't go in, they get frustrated,

and they push forward, and all of a sudden, uh-oh, look out going that way. And then they just came like a wave. They got a power play goal from Sagan. Who else scored for them? They were just rolling. Remember when I told you about Dallas a couple weeks ago? That they're good?

No. Oh. One guy. They just need one guy going. Ottinger. Yes. Back-to-back shutouts. Yes.

Yes. Like his numbers are off the charts the last seven yeah so here it's like a 955 it's hard right because you win with 955 i think you win yes almost every time it's just crazy watching the stars and it's like thomas harley wyatt johnson there johnston's like because you don't watch them all the time you don't recognize those are like elite guys those are high-end guys in the league now. I think it's... Did that kid score his 30th goal?

He did. 20th, wasn't it? Wyatt Johnson? No, his 30th. 30th? Yeah. 30. So many.

And he's 20. That's what you're thinking of. I know. Good Lord. The crazy thing is for me that they're such an elite team and they've really done a great job of bridging it from like the second...

Yeah, the vets to the new, the next wave kind of thing that like they're making way too much money and they've kind of managed to sort of middle it with bringing up, like they got that Stankoven who looks awesome. He's flying around out there. Wyatt Johnson, Harley. Oh my God, Turtle Man. They look awful.

It's not like you can just definitively say, oh, this is their number one line they got like three and a half four really good lines yeah that just come at you and second deals up one more year in each after this year or no sorry second has a little 27 but ben is this year and next but those guys are battle tested ben's-tested playoff guy that will find a way to shoot it in the net and piss you off at the same time yeah oh he's he's a big strong man yeah and segan's contributing offensively this year i think he's got 23 or 24 goals like he's been really good so you know he's

not what he used to be he's got 50 points 23 50 points. But what's he make? 9.875 and he makes that until 27. Okay. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's more than I thought it was. It's not ideal. So we're going to do game time here. Alright. But before I do game time and I want to get this all organized while we go to break, please text us. Oh yes.

Text us now. Text 595. Text 595. We want from all over Canada. We don't just want Toronto questions. We want Toronto questions from wherever you are, from Vancouver, from Calgary, from Edmonton, from Ottawa, wherever you are. So text us 59590 and tell us some thoughts,

and we'll read them. And I can organize them in the break so they're not all pouring in at once. As a reminder, we're not on the air tomorrow. Yes. Because of... We have to watch the Jays hit more home runs. We got to on the air tomorrow. Yes. Because of... We have to watch the Jays hit more home runs. We got to watch the Jays take pitches.

Take pitches. That's a good way to put it. Boys, it's a tough watch. Like, if they come home after this 11-game road trip, like, with four wins, are we okay? Five wins? No. Yes.

No, Kipper, I a hundred percent that if they got home with you know 500 or a game under that's a good start to the trip they started to raise hughes yankees it's like a tough trip but the process of getting there it's like holy crap is this a grind and ugly anyways uh game time It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app, latest odds. Find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. I'm just pulling it up here. This, so you made a comment off air that I won't make you repeat on air about this Sidney Crosby versus Pittsburgh, versus Washington Capitals game tonight. And we're having a tough time sort of handicapping it. Which way?

Who do you like? So is Vegas. Bet365 has us up as minus 110 on both sides. They literally have dead split. They have no idea who's going to win this game. You know, I really am betting on Sid. But to me, it's just such a toss-up. I really have no on Sid, but to me, it's just such a toss-up. I really have no idea.

Kipper? Do you go with Charlie Lindgren tonight? I don't know. Anything out of Washington made you believe in Washington? Two and under. That's the number. Either he wins 2-1 or 3-2 or he gets blown out. Yeah.

So... Sid's scary, though. Sid's with that redirect, that forehand redirect. Yeah. The 70-degree wedge. So I'm looking at the to-reach playoff odds. So they've obviously slimmed it down big time here with the odds because in the West, it's basically done.

But the East, clearly, it's not. Troy at Red Wings are minus 115 to make it the new york islanders are plus 180 to make it the philadelphia flyers are minus 110 to make it and the pittsburgh planet penguins are plus 550 to make it and then the capitals are minus 115 the thing is the penguins win tonight and you've made that bet you're feeling really good so it's like it's almost you're almost getting like borderline plus 550 for the penguins to beat the caps tonight like in a way there's like there's a way you can convince yourself that well if they win tonight that changes them big time so yeah all right i like that's a good one thank you next week they

pit has detroit next week yeah that's they have a lot of games they just have a tough schedule that's a tough they got tampa they got toronto they got boston left boys they got some tough teams monday night in toronto if they win like the next couple yeah high stakes game for kyle dubas's penguins coming to toronto and k Kyle won't talk to us. No. He might actually be doing well. He needs to say something for sure. Yeah, me and Will is not the same thing. I can't see him shutting it down on a Monday. Well, maybe we'll get him on instead of a text.

Just another game to highlight tonight. Excellent Eastern Conference matchup. The Boston Bruins pay a visit to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes. Hurricanes, overwhelming favorites overwhelming favorites minus 155 uh it's a big number brought boston's plus 130 you know one of the president's trophies president's trophy candidates at a plus number like that i don't mind it but god carolina looks really good so that's another big one on tap tonight and that was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app odds, and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. I don't think the Bruins are going to play in the second round of the playoffs. Wow. Right now, big bad Bruins. Well, they're going to probably play in Tampa. Tough. So that's a good take.

Tough bounce. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. News and notes when we come back some big names in some big names out of the lineups hurt hurdle in hurt is not hurt hurdles in hurdles in all right and one last reminder texas90, 590. Our boy Sammy is getting ready to read them as we cruise into the weekend. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, we're back after these words.

Everything you need to know about the Raptors and the biggest stories around the NBA. Smith and Jones. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Alright, let's bring it home here, boys.

Flyers captain Sean Couturier out. Day-to-day with an upper body injury this i gotta think he can't wait for the season to end mike uh first what you missed when my net mike was obviously did torts punch him and i would agree that yes this does not seem like very much fun let alone going to battle in a first-round series against the Rangers or something. It's if they get in. Well, I mean, they're doing everything they can to drop this ball,

but they're pretty close to the end zone. They need seven points over six games, roughly, to get in. Buffalo, Columbus, Montreal next for them. Like, they should get in. They should What else did I put in news and notes Did anyone send any text about your new hat No

They should because it's beautiful Thanks buddy I appreciate that It was almost like it was made in a lab for me I don't get it I don't get your hat What about it Well it's a Blue Jays hat It's a Blue Jays hat with a golf Turn to the camera on the other side Sam

It's got a It's got Blue Jays hat. It's a Blue Jays hat with a golf. Turn to the camera on the other side, Sam. It's got a green on it, a golf green. It's a rope. And it's in a rope. So the Blue Jays are golfing? Yeah. No, they can't golf. Well, they go to Cabo and golf in the winter when they lose in the first round. The Leafs go in the summer.

The whole season's covered. What was I going to say to you guys um ekblad is the one thing that i wanted to put in here but we touched on that i guess right with ekblad being out we didn't we didn't know no ekblad hurt again hurt again it's there was a crazy quote always seems like he's out yes maurice had a quote where he said that we know what it is we're familiar with what is happening, and he's familiar with how long it takes to come back from this. He's trending positively, and we think we'll have him back by playoffs.

Factor in Carter Verhage will be lost for the remainder. They think possibly he could get the last game of the season if he needs a tune-up. But, like, they're limping in. Yeah. You would want, though, to not let those guys get their feet under them because obviously they can go back to being the dominant force we've seen them be at times.

But, yeah, they're certainly struggling at this point. Do you guys want to do texts? Texts. Hurdle. Hold on. Thomas Hurdle. Golden Knights. Like, they were looking pretty good this week.

Edmonton. They're coming. Is Edmonton going to draw them? Edmonton is sweat. Let me find. It's almost. It's almost a lock now. Give me a percentage.

Okay. Here's what scares me about Edmonton. Versus top five teams in the NHL. Oh, yeah. They're 4-6-1. Versus teams 6-10. They're 4-6-1 versus teams 6-10. They're 3-3-2. The next cluster 5, 7-6-1, then 21-6-1, 10-2-0.

So as the teams get worse, they get way better, way better. But you don't want a good team losing half of their games to teams that are in the playoffs. So I'm concerned about them beating a good team in a seven-game series is the point I'm trying to make. So they need Minnesota or Calgary or St. Louis to still make the playoffs. They need, yeah, Arizona or Columbus maybe.

Like, if Hurdle's half decent. Yeah. It's, It's huge. Hannafin, since he's been in Vegas, is like a 60% expected goals guy. He's hammering the puck. Awesome for them. Yeah, he's really good. Yeah, and you take him out of context on a team

that was struggling and put him on a good team and boy, what a difference maker he's been for them. That's happened here with Levushkin. People were saying he was the worst player in the league. The worst player in the league was actually what people said when they acquired him been really good well not really good but passable exactly he's been really good um all right i'm gonna start this text all right kipper did kipper ever fight ty domey or was kipper done before ty came in the league from mike uh no old team of ty in windsor. No, didn't ever fight Ty.

Would you have fought him? Ty was like, he was proby, man. He was a heavyweight. You never saw yourself in that category? No, I never saw myself in that category. At times I was stupid. Yeah, so you fought some guys in that category. Lake Chris Simon was my probably scariest moment of my life.

Ken Baumgardner. Yeah. Yeah, Joey Kosher. But you played against Ty? my probably scariest moment of my life. Ken Baumgardner. Yeah, Joey Kosher. But you played against Ty? You would have had opportunities to fight Ty? Ty and I had a little bit of kind of Toronto history, so. There is a bit of deal-cutting, not saying you cut deals. Because he played soccer and you were a soccer guy.

He was like a really good soccer player. Ty's three years younger than me, so we didn't compete against each other, but we had enough times that we bumped into each other where it's like yeah you got other guys you can fight right when you see my team so my dad and clark gillies uh both were drafted by the houston astros and so when they were 16 years old they knew each other from playing like rookie ball in covington virginia they met at age 16 playing baseball sick i know crazy so they go back to the whl and you know clark is a big tough mean guy and my dad was like we made friends you know like i didn't have we were pals when we played each other right you didn't have to fight or be you know to have that come up which is nice so bringing this conversation into last night msg you've got rempy and and uh mcdermott lining up against each other we know that's

happening usually if something like this was going down it's centerman on centerman yeah last night berkeley goudreau was taking the face off against chris churn attorney right buddies oh those two are buddies yeah what happens goudreau i'm gonna pass bypasses attorney that's funny the closest guy bypasses him and goes straight for ball on the defense. I love that. You can still serve the purpose of sticking up your team without punching your friend in the face. That's right. It's great. That's awesome. You mentioned

something there, like not to get off on a tangent. Okay, can I tell you one more story? Yes. So, you know, I know Ty a little bit. I get traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. And we're playing against Detroit. It's Pro B. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is going to be awesome.

I'm going to see firsthand, you know, another Domi-Pro B fight. So, you know, I get to the rink early. And there I go by the zamboni entrance and there's probie and ty together having a coffee signing pictures of their fight in madison square gardens that's probably like 20 bucks a pop yeah that's great it's a business man and they still went out i think it's fine i love that i love that yeah that's hilarious but you mentioned something there about before about like the playing other sports yeah and i feel like that in this era is lost a little bit like i remember i forget whose book maybe it was bobby orr's book that i read and he was

talking about how in the winter never even he's in the summer never even considered no hockey as a thing like he was like i play baseball play soccer play this or put like now it's like it's so specialized like i find in soccer there's so many things you can learn about you know the way you're playing and baseball and all this stuff It's just so specialized now. I'm telling you right now, like, Rempe and Curtis McDermott, they're going to be buddies. Oh, yeah. McDermott already said in that interview that I have a lot of respect for the kid after previously saying he had none. Are you kidding me?

A ton of respect. Yeah. Where would Curtis McDermott be if it wasn't for Rempe now? You think we would have talked about him i see what you're saying he got traded there for that purpose for that purpose rempe gave curtis mcdermott a chance to come back and be a player in the nhl and an important one for new jersey he went from a forgotten guy in the lineup out of the lineup in the minors not in the lineup, out of the lineup, in the minors. Nobody's talking McDermott until Rempe came along. That's interesting.

And now he's on the Devils. Something like that happened last night. And correct me if I'm wrong. Go to your cap friendly. McDermott is an unrestricted free agent. With more value than he had a month ago. Oh, you think? Yeah.

This guy went from like, I don't know, where is he? Google him. I don't know what team he's on to. Devil's got to sign this guy. This guy's going to make, he might sign a three or four year deal for four and a half, five million dollars.

Devils need him. They can't have rent under 30 he's under 30 he's probably 29 or 30 and you know what's the other he is 30 he gives up rempy gives up nine years of experience on him like i'm watching Rempe last night. I thought he fought a very smart fight. He was... Which he hadn't been early on. He was able to do what he did, and he played defense. Curtis McDermott went in last night

saying to himself, I want the knockout. He wanted to knock him out. And Rimpia, age 21, didn't let that happen. Smart kid. Maybe you can speak to this a little bit, but I mentioned Clark Gillies. My father-in-law talked to him a little bit

about some of the fighting stuff. He said he didn't mind fighting. He hated the buildup, like knowing when he had to fight, the night before, whatever. That was the hard part. And I saw Rempe before the game. There's a clip of him on social media. He's got his headphones in, and he's slapping himself in the face

and, like, you know, like practicing, like, you know, visualizing the fight. That's tough. You can probably attest to how hard that everybody's different like i i i i knew when things were coming yeah right i had a whole summer to think about tony twist coming after me that guy was like like if you could have done it like this guy's moment in the summer you just said let's just get it over with yeah it was the closest something for it was the closest thing to like thinking to mecula it was the closest

thing to like thinking you're gonna fight it the actual terminator arnold schwarzenegger in the movie right like he was just like i gotta kill nick capreos yeah and i knew that was coming but it was like for me it's like okay just get it over with yeah right but don't over think it you don't have to like i never never really sat in a pile of sweat you know in a puddle of sweat the night before but i had teammates that did yeah and it's it's such an individual thing you can't even begin to explain it to a teammate or family member of what that feels like well you just think how terrible it is when like your spouse or someone says we need to talk when you get home or your boss says hey come on in tomorrow or something like that you know it's that but for fighting and you have to just sit and wait some guys are

better at it handling it some other guys have a very tough time that's where sometimes alcohol comes into play and you know drugs and that's that's where we got to keep an eye on these kids today. Mm-hmm. So this text says, Ottinger's 9.55 save percentage, not sure when, what point of that's over. I think about the last eight games. Is what we in Vancouver call the Tanev effect

and why we wanted him back so badly. How about some love for the ultimate warrior and team guy, Chris Tanev, Keith in Vancouver. Boys, I want it to be real bad. Yeah. Yeah, there's no question that if there's a comfort zone there for Tanev, that was a statement to the Dallas Stars players that we want to win the Stanley Cup now.

Now. So Tanev is, when he's on the ice for Dallas, they're averaging about 60% of the expected goals. Dom Decision has that in his 16 stats article, which is really, you know. That's quite awesome. Yeah. You know, like if you put any human on the ice

and you average six out of every 10 chances, you're going to win a lot of games. So he has helped Dallas quite a bit. Yeah. You know, like if you put any human on the ice and you average six out of every ten chances, you're going to win a lot of games. So he has helped Dallas quite a bit. I don't know. When I think about Edmonton or Toronto not giving up something significant to go for it. I think they tried, man. No, you just didn't try hard enough.

No? No, you didn't spend. You needed to spend a little deeper. And it's a crapshoot. I'm not saying that, you know, you go big or you go home, but there's a few Edmonton Oilers right now, I think, on that roster that are going, did we do enough?

Buddy, to not add a D-man of significance at the deadline for, you know, Stetcher, okay. I mean, think about what that team with, you know, you have the pairing of Ekholm and Bouchard, which has been one of the best, but then if you have Tanev underneath that, that just makes you look like you're a whole different squad. Same with the Leafs.

Imagine you got him with Riley. Like, think about what that does to rest your... No one here is going to pretend that Edmondson is Tanev. Or, yeah, same with, likes imagine you got him with riley like think about what that does pretend that edmondson is tana or yeah same with like they got the bush can right after they missed out on him it's like he's good but i'm interesting proven track record top pair stud excellent guy clearly the injury stuff but makes guys like riley amazing that's in bouchard's a hell of a talent. We know that. Absolutely. The numbers are huge, but I just am waiting interestingly to watch his commitment in his own zone to play hard and defend when it's needed the most. I don't even know if it would be a lack of commitment

as awareness sometimes. You know, like you may want to do it. I just don't know if that's a strength of his. Sorry to do a Leafs-centric text during the national hour, but too bad. It wouldn't be Sammy if you didn't. This one says, Sammy, loving that new leg room at the Rogers Center, eh? Yes, I am. I'm very excited about that.

As a tall man, it's great. Question for everyone. Where are we with the true living narrative? Beginning of the year, people couldn't slander his free agency ads fast enough, and now we're ready to say that the vision might have actually been pretty solid and that's eric from barry you know he caught the ultimate gift with the klingberg boy did he ever you know that would he think this team would look a lot different if you had to spend 4.5 against the cap on a guy that was you know atrocious

defensively so caught a break but yes, to me, having an excellent season, looks like a better player. Bertuzzi matters. The depth guys, Gregor's been really good. Yeah, I think he's done a great job. Yeah, we didn't see it in probably the first 40 or 50 games. Maybe it took him that long to find a comfort zone or find a rhythm in what they were supposed to contribute.

Bertuzzi, for me, is still a bit of a... Wait and see. Is it a good or a bad? Yeah, is it good or bad? Can he score some key goals and be a dog on a bone? Well, so much of this, so much of this whole thing hinges on in the big moments, he's great. Wait till the big moments.

He won MVP when his junior hockey team won the championship. He was great for Boston last year. If he's great in the playoffs, you go, he's exactly what you thought he was going to be. If he isn't, you go, he spent $5.5 million on 20 goals. Right now, these guys are buying Bradad tree living and brendan shanahan some time and if it falters if it fails in the first round it's going to come right back at them yeah right so you can say that for probably half a dozen teams right now in terms of who advances and who doesn't and who's disappointed and who's coaches on the hot seat.

All of it is coming after the first round. Kent from Hamilton wants to know when Kipper will have his first three putt of the season. We've already been to Florida, so we've probably got it out of the way. Probably under the belt. I had a simulator in a house that I used to own during the pandemic. It was fantastic.

The other thing that saved my game is that you bought that retractable putter up in our office. The putting mat. Kipper spends an hour a day talking loudly to somebody. Talking calls and rolling putts. So he doesn't three-putt a lot. I forget that I have to talk to you every once in a while. I just go to your desk for some chocolates. Chocolates and golf.

This is an interesting one. Quickly, how do you want to see the refereeing in this season's playoffs? Do you want to see them put the whistle away or clamp down to set a precedent? That's from Al in Summerland, B.C. Yeah. Every time we talk about a precedent being set early, it disappears. That's what I mean. That's the history of our game.

And ultimately, I don't think there's too many times that we've crowned a champion that said, you don't deserve it because of poor officiating. So that to me is the ultimate pass for the NHL officials is that when we see a team lift a Stanley Cup, no one's sitting there going, they were undeserving because of poor officiating. No, but there is, you know,

the way penalties are called in the playoffs are typically there's a spike in game one, two, whatever. Early in the series, they set the tone or whatever. And you'll watch penalties per game go down around games four, five, six, seven. And statistically, it does check out. That's not opinion. Except for a meaningless pick play in game seven against the Leafs. Justin Hall's pick.

Yes, that was very illegal. Wes was pretty quick to throw the hand up for that one. Was it Wes? No, I don't even know. I was going to throw Wes under the bus. I know he listens. So take that one,

Wes. Let it go, Sammy. Let it go. Never. Never. Never. But yeah,

so it kind of, it's very typical how refereeing ages and also it goes down towards the, the bigger series. So game seven of a Stanley cup final. Good luck getting a call. I much prefer it that way. I would much prefer the, like last night, there was all those penalties in the Leafs lightning game,

and I'm like, this feels like the game one of the first round here. Now, Leafs fans, who they typically had a good power play, have complained that the Leafs don't get as many calls in the postseason, which they rely on getting because they have that great power play. You know, power play hasn't been great in the playoffs in the past, but that's playoffs, man. Never changes. Yep. That's it.

All right. Good text today, guys. Quality text today. Shout out Summerland. Lovely place. Sounds great. Summerland is a group. It's between Kelowna and Penticton.

It's beautiful. It's gorgeous. Yeah. Tonight. All right. What do you like tonight? I like the New York Islanders to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets. They won't delete them, but maybe they should.

I like that one. And then Pittsburgh to beat Washington. You got the Tampa Bay as a back-to-back there at Montreal. Carolina has Boston, Florida, Ottawa. I don't know. you got the tampa bay as a back-to-back there at montreal carolina has boston florida ottawa i don't know carolina's sleepy i really am looking forward in the year 2024 to sid versus ovi i know something i didn't expect earlier this season where they were both horrible and neither of them look like they're gonna make the playoffs This is rounded into a classic matchup here where two teams that aren't great,

but two superstars, aging superstars, though. Yeah. Can't wait. LA will make the playoffs. Yeah. But I don't... Do you see them making any noise? No, because the top of that,

you're looking at, you know, Dallas probably is an opening round matchup. Yeah, I don't like them in that series. Big game tonight, too, though, is Winnipeg getting a win over Calgary. They could still catch the Avs. They play the Avs once. They're four points back. So I would love to see Winnipeg roll over Calgary tonight.

Our thanks to Jim Ralph in our opening hour of the Real Caper and Bourne show and then Mike Rupp as he gets set for the marquee game of the night. Yeah. Pittsburgh versus Washington. We are off tomorrow. Are we back Monday? What time Monday? Monday, 2 to 4 Eastern.

So if you're watching us live on TV or listening to us on the radio, that's when we'll be on. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Have a great weekend. That's starting we'll be on. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Have a great weekend. That's starting now for us. Woo-hoo!