Real Kyper & Bourne - Mr. 1000 and the State of the Blues

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee recap the weekend games between the Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals, Morgan Rielly scoring his first goal of the season, how T.J. Brodie looked in his return to the lineup, and how Pierre Engvall has raised his game. Then, Maple Leafs captain John Tavares (39:40) joins the guys to talk about reaching his 1000th NHL game and the Leafs' season so far, his gameday routine and off-ice activities, the evolution of his personal goals as a player, plus the difference of being with the New York Islanders versus playing for his hometown team. Former NHL goalie and TNT analyst Darren Pang jumps on to discuss (1:05:10) the state of the St. Louis Blues roster, whether they will be sellers or buyers at the trade deadline, and why he's impressed with the Seattle Kraken. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Going into the final week here in the National Hockey League before the big NHL All-Star weekend, which JB and Sammy are looking forward to. You know what they didn't do shooting the meat patties in the gator's mouth. That one got nixed? I didn't see it on the list of what to expect. Is there a list?

I think so. Did you see the list? I saw some events somewhere. I got to be honest. I have not committed myself to the All-Star Game project. So you're going through what you heard around the water cooler. I love that I opened the show Monday with vague speculation about something So you're just, you're going through a way you heard around the water cooler. I love that.

I opened the show Monday with vague speculation about something like I've done no work on this at all. Well, why would you do work on that? Fair enough. Uh, fastest skater save streak. You know, there's the Tendi tandem. Not going to pretend to know what it is. Is that like the Teddy that where they throw Teddy bears on the ice? No Tendi.

Oh, Tendi. I thought you said Teddy. I think a goalie tries to shoot the puck in the far net, and then there's a save. Oh, no, no. It's just a board with a little hole in it. These two Tendys. Just an intermission puck shoot? Yeah, that's right.

We've regressed to shoot and win. Yeah. Hey, listen. People love shoot and win. 1979. So, listen. People love shoot and win. That was invented in 1979. So, yeah. Anyway, it doesn't sound like alligators are involved, so I'm disappointed. Wow.

I mean, I mostly wanted to make fun of it. I heard they couldn't cut a deal with the union. The gator union? The union. Makes sense. All right. All right. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Derek brandeo jen rolnick and our boy sammy mckee here for the next two hours in about 45 minutes john tavaris is going to join us

yeah an actual toronto maple leaf is going to come on live wow we're not clipping no kippers clippers just jt live what are we going to do? Ask him questions, I guess. Big 1,000th game. A couple of points in it. I heard he had 60 or 70 guests at the game. Do you think he paid for those tickets or no? We're going to ask him. 60 or 70, there's no way they're making him pay. Like, it's his 1,000th game.

Oh, he paid. He makes $11 million. They're probably like yeah one of the richest uh mls he's one of the richest uh sporting companies in the world uh like you don't get that way by free being everybody in okay we'll run it by him i'm curious that's a that's a lot of tickets well either he has his own box or he rented a box i'm sure he jammed in everybody in there just packed into a box yeah just like someone i know at turtle island used to do turtle island oh forget it okay is this a gordon stelic thing no it's a teddy thing oh um all right john tavaris in about 45

minutes and uh i don't know sammy we were kind of waffling darren pang in or darren pang out hangers joining us today's the only day this week he could do so we're uh gonna go to ralphie tomorrow you know it's the the last minute stuff that gets the real producer you know gets your juices flowing gets you texting and working around and all behind but here we are. We made it. We made it. All right. And the Leafs made it through the weekend where they split a couple of games. Losers to the Sens, 6-2 Friday night. And then they beat the Capitals 5-1. It was a little bit of a freaky Friday flip

where the Leafs were god-awful Friday night. God, they're lucky we didn't have a Saturday show. And Sunday, I thought the Washington Capitals were god-awful. You know what? And I don't say this often about teams. It's not a nice thing to say, but I thought they quit. I thought they just stopped playing. Like the Leafs had like 10 odd man rushes in the third.

They just stopped playing. Complete no-shows. Whoever I saw on the ice, it was like, did you already make plans on All-Star weekend? Sammy had a good point post-game yesterday. It looked like they got into town Saturday and had a Saturday night in Toronto, which I'm told can be a good time.

It was reflective of some humans who had enjoyed a Saturday night. Yes. And that was after getting the first goal in the hockey game on a Nicholas Backstrom goal that he hadn't scored since last March. Wow. You know, I guess they thought they could put their heels up at that point and just relax, but they didn't anticipate the fire of Pierre Engvall. I don't know.

Engvall was, I mean, as good as he's been. Controlling play, skating it, shooting it, looking like a hockey player. Do you want to go to a Kipper's Clipper on Sheldon's overview of the game, or do you want to go right to your boy Engvall? No, let's start with the big picture. Let's do that. It took a while for our game to get going. Our first period was a bit quiet for us.

We didn't really get a whole lot happening with our game offensively. We got a few chances, but nothing sustained and didn't play the way we wanted to. We had to really get skating. After that, they get a power play goal in the first period. That's the difference in the period. But I thought for us to really take over the game, we had to really get skating. After that, they get a power play goal in the first period. That's the difference in the period. But I thought for us to really take over the game, we had to really get skating.

So that was our message between periods. And I thought we really increased our pressure on the puck. And as a result, it's got a lot more territory, put them in some bad spots, and then our guys made good on their chances. Yeah. I don't want to take anything away from the Leafs, but it was to your point a little bit that

like washington was so slow that it it looked like second or third gear would have just been enough for the leafs to to handle them and that to me is what it looked like yeah like they didn't bring their a game on sunday no they didn't need it though to on Sunday. No, I didn't need it though. To your point. You know, they were good enough. You know, they were as good as they had to be. They, they were better than Washington.

They deserve credit. A lot of the, you know, I mentioned Angval. I thought that a lot of the bottom six forwards look pretty good, but yeah, to get back to the theme for me, that was a team that,

that Washington team didn't offer much pushback. You know, they, like Keith said, they started putting them in some bad spots and four checked a little harder and washington was very permissive basically saying after you and that is the type of game where a guy like engel just feasts by the way if you look at the washington capitals and i don't know what their record is since john uh carlson has been out and he is not expected back

at least through probably the majority of the regular season. If they get into the playoffs, he should be able to come back since then. He makes a big deal for them? You're making a big difference in Parnassus? He's just, they didn't have Tom Wilson who's nursing a bruised injury since he returned off of his ACL surgery. So there's two guys. But it's funny because you can watch John Carlson leave the Washington lineup and they can't win two games in a row.

And then on the other hand, Morgan Riley and Muzzin have been out and Leafs have had some great stretches. Yeah. Yeah, I saw a stat that the Leafs have only had their top six, if you don't count Jake Muzzin. But they've only had their top six guys in eight of 50 games this season or 51 or whatever, where they've actually had Hall and Geo and Sandin and Lilligran, Morgan and Brody. They were all there.

They dominated in those games. That, to me, makes a big difference when they have all those guys. So, yep, solid decor, but can't take on, I don't know, you don't want to be without Morgan for too long. Okay, if we're on to the Morgan Riley topic of conversation right now, scored a goal. He did. Hallelujah.

And the reaction was one of hallelujah yeah look into the heavens i did i think on this show sam and i committed to betting 10 bucks a game for morgan riley to score third game did you get it i got it i didn't 10 paid 70 uh 70 bucks yeah that's a good deal i think if i bet that the rest of the year, I'd probably come out ahead. As in, he'd need to score once every, like, six games. I like his odds. You really like your odds. I'm just finding, like, why would they give you such good odds on that?

Well, Morgan had 10 goals last year. Because he had zero goals i know they have to but he's still he's he's not i mean he's not like you're he's not victor mette like what would victor mette if he played what would you what odds would you get that 1400 or something you know like a lot a lot because you're not winning the bet you know so they're pretty good they got that stuff pretty dialed in i remember for a while when austin matthews was hot last year um if you bet 10 bucks on him to score a goal you couldn't even win 10 bucks like he was more likely to score than not so not the case with riley um is does morgan riley have to score here uh like i watch him and watching the relief is

everything you need to know about what this guy was feeling yeah and i'm not i'm just not sure if i was coaching him i would tell would tell him I'm not worried about No, the offensive side of things. another goal. Yeah. Just take the weight, take that weight off his shoulders. Yeah. Let's listen to him, and then I got something else on that. Let's listen to Morgan.

Just relief, that's all. It felt good. Got some good karma yesterday from Easter Seals. So I was out there with those guys a lot and smiling, and, you know, I think that's what it was. You made a good promise to them. Yeah, well, I wouldn't call it a promise. It was more of a hopeful guess, but that's about it.

You think little Johnny asked him to score a goal? Apparently he did. Apparently he was catching some chirps that he hadn't scored. Oh, yeah? Yeah, like some of the kids down there were kind of giving him a tough time that he hadn't put one in the back oh that's nice i like that shut up kid i'm here on my off day it's a fast league come on hey this is the thanks i get i do have scram beat it you know do you think there's an element for Riley where hockey, I'm not, hockey for at this point in his career, of his life, was maybe not the most important thing for a minute. You know, going into the season where it was like he had signed the nice extension.

He is recently engaged. So he's obviously a serious relationship to Pesce Virtue. No, I'm saying he's got focus off. He has a contract. He has a serious relationship. The Leafs are told that the only thing that matters is playoffs. No one cares, Morgan, what'd you guys do in the regular season?

So I just, I'm saying it wouldn't be beyond me. If that was my life to say that I'm going soft, I'm a pretty good hockey player. I'll go out there and just see how it goes. Not to mention he's handed. Oh, by the way, your partner tonight is Ben, and now it's Mete, and now it's... Connor Timmons.

Yeah, Timmons, and then it's everyone. It's Lilligren. So he hasn't exactly gone into this year like hockey. You know, hockey's the most important thing in my world, and maybe it's coming around now, right? Everything's... Borny and I touched a little bit on this last night in the postgame show, but it's, I don't

know, it's unquantifiable how much different somebody looks when the puck enters the net off their stick. And right after Morgan Riley scored that goal, he just looked at least two times better than he'd looked the rest of the year. It's just nitrous. It just seemed to completely change him on the ice. Like, I just felt like you, I know we were talking about how dog-due the caps were, which is completely fair,

but it just really looked like he almost took it over after that happened. Yeah. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that what you're saying is completely out of left field. I mean, those conversations have gone on forever when it comes to... Humans are human. Right? I'd love to say I come in here with my exact exact best every day but sometimes it's a little less the big one when we played working his bag

off was you know towards the latter part of the season when some of the europeans look like they've checked out and the thought that the world championships meant more to them than the Stanley Cup playoffs, knowing that you don't get paid in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sure. I mean, again, it's human. You know this better than I would, better than anyone, just that there's so much going on in your life. And, you know, whether it's relationships or business deals that people have or, you know, like it's, you know, some guys are hockey obsessive and some guys are humans who play hockey and

it can be tough. I think sometimes to fight my mom to win another Stanley for 15 years, be dialed in a hundred percent every day. The one thing with Morgan though, for me, that's been a constant is that I, when I watch him it's almost as if he's like caught in the middle of of trying too hard being a offensive d-man or just a d-man yeah yeah which are you right like well it's yeah it's just a maybe even a processing thing that sometimes he's just caught either pinching when he shouldn't be pinching or uh jumping up on a rush when he shouldn't be and sometimes i

think that just comes from trying too hard i wish there was a slide bar like zero to a hundred for aggressiveness and you could toggle it for a player because i'd like to make him a little bit less aggressive like a little bit less risk taking and just a little bit more a little bit more tj brody mentality yeah and right and i know we don't want riley to be brody but to err on the side of being brody rather than being eric carlson if you had to pick which guy you're going to try to play like because i think his natural offensive abilities would come out. If he's in the defensive side of the puck, opportunities will present themselves,

and he'll take advantage of it. I don't think he needs to create where there's nothing present. All right. TJ Brody back in the lineup. Let's go to Sheldon Keefe on having him back. How do you feel about TJ's performance? Solid. Just great to have him back. Solid. Just great to have him back.

That's the most Brody Cliff of all time. Why didn't he feel like he needed to go into this like four minute how brilliant he is like the majority of his team. Do you guys think we talk about anyone on the Leafs less than TJ Brody? That's a good question. Yeah, just move on. I would love statistics on the amount of less than TJ Brody? That's a good question.

Yeah, just move on. I would love statistics on the amount of times we say each player's name over the course of a year. That might be the biggest compliment. Huge. That's where I was going with that. We don't... It's not a problem.

Not an issue, not a problem. Nothing stands out mistake-wise. He's a B-plus every night. He's turned himself into a very good referee. Where we don't complain about him. It's a good night. Yeah. I think it's pretty remarkable the fact that he came here on a somewhat big free agent ticket.

It was, I think, what did he make? Four times five. Four times five. Was it four years that he signed that contract? Yeah. ticket it was i think what did he make four times five four times five for was it four years that he signed that contract and he plays on the top pair of the toronto maple leafs and we never have a conversation about him he's just it's the first time in the history of this team that that's happening each other and you're like you know you want to know why you want to know why the biggest reason for that is because he's in that perfect soft spot where $5 million isn't too little

and it's not too much. It's just, it's porridge. He's probably worth six. He gets paid five. It's in the perfect sweet spot. If this guy was making $6.5, $6.25. You'd go, he never does anything. Doesn't do anything.

I don't even notice him out there. Let's he bring it to the table. Why are we paying this guy seven? That's why the salary cap's so stupid. Right. We shouldn't even have to. Oh, another reason why. No, but it's true.

He doesn't know what these guys make. Well, no. I think TJ Brody's the perfect test case in this because he gives him value at $5 million. It's like, oh, he's really good defensive defensively doesn't score a whole lot or if ever don't notice him but if he's making one million dollar more like oh i need more production out of him like it's it's ridiculous there's a lot of islanders fans like old school islanders fans that i'll talk to that'll be like you know no one appreciated kenny morrow Like, Kenny Morrow was this guy, you know, hard-nosed guy, did the right thing. If Ken Morrow made $6 million and was worth $5, they'd have buried him.

You know, like the fact that anyone has to, we don't have a clue what Kenny Morrow made. And he's beloved because of it. You're right. The salary cap buries a lot of these guys who aren't the flashy ones on the team. Kenny Morrow. That is your Kennyny morrow block of the show from the 1980 gold medal team to five stanley cups did he win a fifth i don't know he's a part of the four just the four with the islanders he retired in the 88 89 okay yeah there you go

yeah nice story yeah great first time he got brought up in this show he gets mentioned as often as tj brody all all for 60 grand a year yeah yeah you're in car salesman money and yeah fans love that's not the uh that's not the what we're talking about well and i and to be honest we could talk about a couple people about with the money thing because Tavares is the star of the show here today. Pierre Engvall is a relevant guy we're going to talk about, you know,

and you can't act like we don't view those players through the lens of their contract. I think the time I do notice Brody is when he's going back on a puck. When it goes back into his corner or back along his boards, it usually comes out in good shape. Two-on-ones too.

When he's defending a two-on-one, I'm okay with it being him. I want it to be him. Yeah. Are we at TJ Brody now? No, we're good. We're good. What else do you say? And for me, if I was playing him in a best-of-seven,

I'd dump it into his corner all day long and just try to hammer him. Yeah. It's funny. He's been here three years and you've never seen him upset. Oh, two years? He's a guy that I think, you know, you'd want to avoid what Sam's talking about. Going in, picking up clean, and then making a great first pass yeah he's not flashy he just

wants it to go north just get it out of here i don't really care how we do this okay you mentioned pierre engvall a bit of a whipping boy in the last few years you think sammy for sheldon i think probably not just for sheldon Kipper. For you? Maybe a guy sitting behind the glass. Yeah. You got to be warming up a little bit to him. No. No.

Good answer. No. This is the annual smoke and mirrors. Okay. Every year we have this conversation where he gets hot for a couple weeks he's going north so predictable it happens every year have a good pocket of play in the middle of the season when other teams get sloppy i can't wait to hear sheldon keith i want to get a sense that he's warming up a little bit more than you sammy let's have a listen he's done a good job

you know i think he's he's found his way through some inconsistencies. For me, in the last, I'd call it 15 games, he's really done a good job for us, both in transporting the puck, getting the puck to the net, scoring some timely goals for us. I've been happy with his game, for sure. I mean, I think he's a guy that can continue to grow and always can give us more, but I think we've really been happy with the last segment of games for him. Found his way, Sammy.

He's found his way. He's found his way to zero goals in 17 playoff games. Oh, jeez. That's an indictment. He's got 10 on the season, though. Listen, this is his Super Bowl. Against a team that's slow and not trying to hit, it's when he gonna look his best listen you know everyone is gonna get tricked again like kyle dubas gonna get tricked again keith gonna get tricked again everybody's gonna get tricked again they're out

of work you realize that right everybody's out of work i completely agree i don't think kyle dubas be at work very long this is angwell's last season it's actually really interesting at 2.25 like what his next contract looks like guy who scored three he got 15 last year he's gonna get 15 this year three plus he'll get three million with the edmonton oilers next year oh no he's uh he's he he has done enough to to probably a million-dollar raise. But see, this is so funny that we talk about it. You talk about him as someone who deserves a raise because we don't ever come on here and go,

like, he was amazing last game, and we're still like, oh, yeah, Engvall. And is he the ultimate most frustrating guy? I just think of him coming out of the D zone with the puck, and he's so long and so fast that he's always pulling away from whoever's chasing him. Like, he does so much good, and I just can't pulling away from whoever's chasing him like he does so much good and i i just can't help but come in here and be like i don't know about that guy if

your pro scout caught him on the right night be like we gotta trade a first for him he is uh the the last to sheldon's point the last 12 15 games he's skating the puck more really well he's he's cutting a lot harder with the puck. He shoots it as well as hard as anyone. He's protecting the puck more, and he's finding post and in now. Yeah, I know. Like. He's got zero in 17 playoff games.

You think he's going to get some this year? I wish he would accidentally run over somebody. I know, run, just bump into someone. That's not him, and it's not his game. So, Kipper. He's going to score a big year? I wish he would accidentally run over somebody. I know, run, just bump into someone. But that's not him and it's not his game. So Kipper. He's going to score a big playoff goal. Book it. So that's perfect. So going into the first round matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning,

you're happy and comfortable with him on your third line going up against Tampa? I am. I am. There's nothing that... Tricked. You've been hoodwinked. There's nothing that makes me comfortable about anything. Okay. Okay, let's get okay that straight we are now in a the best of a i'm not going to say bad situation but not an ideal situation he falls into the best of not an ideal situation a six foot got five guy who doesn't like to hit when he's gone he's gone right at at 15 17 20 goals i need six foot five to at least make people nervous to move the puck

faster five nine then and just enjoy what you get out of him at that height mid he's got like he's got such a great like he is such a great looking player oh yes the um i'm not even talking about the mirror with him like he's a great looking player i was thinking about it driving in today and you know the max talbot goals or the whoever it is in game seven that gets a couple random ones calorn collapse someone who you're like oh who you know you know nick paul gets their game winner and oh you're sorry against the, who, you know, Nick Paul gets their game winner in O'Hear, sorry, against the Leafs. Who's their Fernando Pisani? Her Fernando Pisani is a great one.

Engvall's going to get a goal this year in playoffs. Can we get a clip of that? Engvall's going to get a huge goal for the Leafs in playoffs this year. Oh, that'd be nice. And if it's one, it still won't be enough. No, it's going to be like an OT winner or something. Everyone's going to be like, Engvall. It's coming, boys. If Engvall gets an OT winner or something. Everyone's going to be like, Engvall! It's coming, boys.

If Engvall gets an OT winner in the playoffs in the first round, I will sit in there with you guys and do the show topless. Please. Book it. Lock. I usually eat just prior to the show starting. You can't throw that stuff out. You need to get sunglasses.

We'll finally have a sponsor where I'll be wearing the milk logo for you for that day. That's great. Are we Engvall'd out? Brody and Engvall show. People must be riveted right now. With the rise

of Engvall, means like Kerfoot's taken on a little bit of a lesser role or a less noticeable any concerns there well you know three and a half million fourth line guy here's how i feel about it the other day and i'll give sammy full credit for this because he's the guy who mentioned it when holmberg was the second line center and Keefe saw, like, what, 30 minutes of that, and as you mentioned, they were like, get Kerfoot back up there.

The line instantly looks better with Kerfoot there, right? You know, he's just, he's that guy that can handle being in that spot. He's not a centerman. He's not a top six guy. But it's better than seeing team where Holmberg's got it. Best of not an ideal situation, because now I got two left-wingers that don't really like to run into people. Yeah.

I mean, it is going to come down to that level for the Leafs. Are you able to find a physical engagement level to handle the first round. I mean, it's not a Neanderthal topic. It's a real hockey topic. I saw Taylor Hall play the Tampa Bay Lightning the other day and run into Vasilevsky and Tampa players fighting each other to get to Taylor Hall, and then everyone in Boston fighting to get to the Tampa players, and it was like this level

of engagement and animosity that I was like, that's coming. So so angval's not going to be able to skate away from brand brandon haggle when he wants to punch him in the face and neither's kerfoot are you tough enough to play this game and that's taylor hall thank you i know one time mvp of the league yeah now on some nights third line winger yep knows his role gets in there skates hard takes it to the net so it's just a matter of these guys having to find that level in the postseason not asking them to do it for 82 games i'm just gonna like i've my concerns are just still very high about the bottom six of the lease and i want it to be better and i'm not sure how they afford to make it better but i want it to be better and bigger i believe we're four weeks from the trade deadline today are you telling me that uh an aston reese backhand was old that hand goal that made it 5 was it 5-1?

The 5-1 goal isn't one of those moments where you go, yes, now the fourth line is solidified with the You condescending. I mean, Pat Mahomes was driving for a touchdown at that point. I might not have seen that one.

No, it's a nice goal. Great talk. It's a great goal. Really nice move. All these guys are was a great goal. Really nice move. All these guys are just the same guy. Every guy, the sort of crew that they're rotating in and out, it's just there's no difference to them. They all don't really have a pop or they don't have an identifiable skill. It's a hard...

Joey Anderson's not in the lineup in playoffs to start if everyone's healthy. You don't think? As presently constant. How many games have I watched him play? Was it last night? He scored. He had an empty net.

Yes, it was last night. Oh, my God, he missed so bad. Was that Anderson? No, I thought that was Kent. Both of them had. Off the Engvall pass backdoor. I'm not sure, like, you know, whether they score or not. At the end of the day, it won't really matter whether you know whether they score or not at the end of the day won't really matter

whether you're in the lineup or not but you can't miss those opportunities when you're when you don't know you're a bench NBA player and you get garbage minutes you can't miss a layup you know you just can't so that How much longer do you go through fourth-line tryouts before you have to go off the board? I'm hoping off the board is coming soon. Because as presently constituted, it's a huge issue for the Leafs going up against Tampa. Do you guys think, here with Boston losing three in a row,

can you squint and talk yourselves into, you know, there's 30 games left in the season. The Leafs catching their 11 points back oh no three games against boston thank you derek three games against boston 11 points i think that's a pretty good question for the captain of the toronto maple leafs in about 15 minutes john tavaris is joining us really what do you think that's great you're gonna ask him that i'll ask him sure should we should we talk about matt marie uh do you want me to give you tavara's to ask him that? I'll ask him, sure. Should we talk about Matt Murray? Do you want me to give you Tavares' answer before I ask it? No.

We want to hear him say it. No, no. I want to hear your answer. He's going to say that, you know, they just can control what's in front of them, get the points they can, you know, and see how things shake out. That's really true. That's right.

Or he could say, yeah. We got him. They're dead. Well, that was really true. That's right. Or he could say, yeah, they're dead. Well, that was Bruins. They're no good. We're not afraid of them. I'm glad I'm not going to the all-star game.

I'm going to the Bahamas. I'm going to rest up. I plan on resting up some more. No, we can't catch them. That'd be amazing. Oh my God. Please God,

let him say that. We're just getting ready. I'm going to be well rested. We haven't even. Please, God, let him say that. We're just getting ready. We're going to be well-rested for Tampa Bay. We haven't even started playing yet. Not even trying. Would you like to hear Keith talk about John? You know that story will grow, though, if and when they beat the Boston Bruins on Wednesday.

Yeah. I could really see them beating the Bruins, like, badly on Wednesday. 6-2. Yeah, like something crazy because, like, the Bruins are. on wednesday six two yeah like something crazy because like the bruins are and then we come in here and go oh my and it just doesn't matter at all you know can you picture it like i like it might matter because then you're only how many points back nine points back like it's you can start convincing yourself you know what the worst part about that though they can win six two and we'll come in here and go wow you know but it

probably doesn't matter but if they lose six two-2 to the Bruins, we're going to have a crisis show about how they can't hang. Welcome to Sports Talk Radio, baby. You can't win. It's still unfair. It is still hard for teams to catch teams. And I know it's only just Toronto to Boston. Florida beats Boston the other night. Boston gets the loser point and, you know, inches along it's just even florida has been pretty good lately and they cannot

it's still hard for them to close still two teams in front of them to get the playoffs they are how many points back three points back at the last spot with two teams between them you know we're hearing all this stuff about the metro having five teams in there after watching the capitals and the penguins lately like i'm not sure it won't be five teams from the atlantic like buffalo is apparently unbelievable they're plus 20 goal differential florida's minus five pittsburgh's plus eight like they look good hit losing at home and regulation sharks to the sharks that sucked and they blow it late too or something yeah okay um you mentioned matt murray we gotta mention samsonov let's go to sheldon keith on his goaltender on the weekend you know not an easy game for him either right i mean he's been rolling

well he's been playing a lot more than we would like him to or that he was intended to. Obviously he didn't get the day off that we thought he might. And then the game doesn't go well for him the other night too. All of that and then you bring in his old team into town and I thought he was

excellent. The guys did a really good job in front of him, particularly in periods two and three. I thought he was good and it's a really good job in front of him, particularly in periods two and three. But, yeah, I thought he was good, and it's a really good game for him. Good win for him, good win for our team, and a good example of what we didn't have the other night in terms of the team taking care of the goaltender. So I thought it was good all the way around.

The team taking care of him. Interesting note, because that game against the Senators, which again, we haven't talked about, that was atrocious. Yeah, it was really bad. But 82 of these guys, there's just going to be some nights you just don't have it.

Not even a question, right? Worst game of the season. yeah and just again you know maybe it's just unique to like the games i've seen lately but like see i don't know if you watch any of the jets lose to the flyers on saturday night but kind of look like they quit a little bit you know the the other night it just seems like teams right now you go down a couple of goals it's game 50 i don't know there's i'm just we really are seeing a lull in competitiveness leading up to the all-star break as far as i'm concerned and my apology saturday night was date night i didn't get to see you on hockey night in canada

well let me tell you canadian senators it was uh it just seemed ideal tough night for matchups, let me tell you. Just seemed an ideal time to take my wife for dinner. Yeah. Took her to Pizza Hut when he saw the matchups. Ottawa versus Montreal. How about you, Sammy? I was at a party.

Went to a party. Watched wrestling, actually. Royal Rumble party. Sorted out your sock drawer? No, I sorted out some beverages. You know uh ridley greg was really good guys if you're interested yeah exactly so i had left the show on friday thinking we were gonna see matt murray play and then uh by the time i get into the alumni box, I look up and I'm like, oh, Sammy gave me a bad scoop. Said Matt Murray was in. He's not.

So ankle. Ankle. Ankle. But how strange. So like he had been fine for a period of time. It had been a nagging injury, it sounds like. And then. Took warm up.

Stayed. Right? Backed up. He couldn't have gone. It had been a nagging injury, it sounds like. And then... Took warm-up. Took warm-up. Stayed, right? Backed up. He couldn't have gone. He got asked after. And it was... It would have been an e-bug. So were they just bluffing the other team or something?

Probably. And no point in, like, rushing or crashing into our goalie because we have a backup? Yeah. So he was sitting on the bench there. I just thought, why is he even involved? If he's... Like, this guy's, like, really got a bad injury history. You obviously want to keep him healthy around the playoffs or whatever.

But why is he even there if he's not feeling right? Like, it was just, you put yourself in an unnecessarily weird situation to have to throw your red-hot goalie in when he didn't know he was going to be starting it just was a really odd situation funny too because like he gets hit by a kneelander shot before he heads to the bench and warm up like he there's one up by his ears he tries to catch it he misses and it hits him in the collarbone and then he skates off head high clapper at the end of warm-up every goalie loves that yeah well willie did go over to put went over and apologize i hope so yeah but it wasn't that bad it was like he probably could have caught it and i thought that was the issue

it turns out he just has a bad glove and that didn't even hurt him but it is it you know do you got to get a goalie do you have to get a goalie like is joseph wall you're gonna go with samsonov and maybe murray and joe wall who's played no games in the NHL this year, or Shalgrin. Do you need the David Riddich trade, the third for a guy who you could at least be gum in the dam if there's a hole? That is a question that they're going to have plenty of time during All-Star break and then their're they're bi-week to think about thatcher demko you demko canucks trying to turn things around elliot saying they'd maybe be

potentially possibly perhaps open to moving them uh no okay nope okay can't see it just from vancouver well the leafs it's a waste of assets. You have so many places to spend. What's Demko's... No, don't look at his numbers this year. Oh, his contract. Yeah, his contract. His numbers this year. No, no.

Well, they have Curtis Sanford, though, so... He had... Oh, that's true. He had signed a new extension there, right? He did. I think it's four times five or five times five. I'll pull it up for you. I didn't know that's what you wanted.

It is... Oh, it starts now. Oh, he's on IR. There it is. Five times four more years. So this year, plus three more. Five times... It's Murray's number.

It's Murray's number. Essentially. This year, and then three seasons after, five million bucks. Just to kind of touch on your thought process here, Demko, prior to signing that contract, was considered one of the better, younger up-and-comers. I mean, he's just turned 27. He's 6'4", 195.

He was a 9'15 last year, 9'15 the year before. Who has proven that he can hit some high levels. Yeah, 9'15 on the Canucks and 64 starts, by the way. What do you think that would cost? Yeah, like so much. I mean, probably, right? Like a first and a prospect type of thing, which you want to spend so many other places.

So it's not so much that you wouldn't want Demko for that. It's that you got other problems to worry about i think it's also that you i think it's a little bit scary to try to depend on murray though like on the flip side of this right very like you're a you have him in the net saying he's gonna start and then he comes out and says i'm not gonna start and in the warm-up you know and one of the stanley cups he won he wasn't available due to injury until the final right and not taken away from no absolutely whatever but it is relevant that he is a guy that even in his best years this has been an issue um this is not ideal and this was something that I think Leaf management was hoping would look after itself. But it's out there now.

It is out there, and yeah. Before we break to get to Tavares, do you want to hear what Keith said about Tavares? Do you guys want to do that before we get to him? Yes, let's do that. Yeah, he's a consummate pro, and this is a big day for him. It's not a regular game. For a guy like him that is routine and as regimented as he is,

there would be a lot of stuff happening today that would be out of the norm. But for him to work through that, still enjoy the moment, enjoy the special time with his family, and then go up and play and perform and be a part of the win like the way he was it's a great way to finish it off okay we're going to touch on that and a ton more uh with the captain of the toronto maple leaves john tavaris is going to join us after the break don't want to miss it uh nick kiprios justin borne sammy mcke. We're back after these words.

Diving deep into the biggest stories in Toronto sports and the NFL. The JD Bunkers podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Nick Kipper, Justin Bourne, settling in. As we await the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Tavares. It looked like a real busy weekend for him, didn't it, JB? Yeah.

You know, it was interesting hearing Keith talk about how different it would be routine-wise for him, someone who really sticks to his structure. I actually read a Jason Spezza quote recently that talked about how regimented Tavares is in terms of prioritizing his time and everything. So, yeah, different type of weekend where your kids are around before the game, you're shaking hands with, you know, who's uh someone in the organization very different how about you were you like that at all in terms of how uh strict you are you were on uh on a game-to-game basis and what you liked what you didn't like i regret not being more like that

to be honest i think it was an immaturity thing on my part and something you learn. A lot of players take too long to learn. Okay, as promised, let's welcome in the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Tavares. JT, thank you very much for joining us. I'm sure it's an off day for you and one that you may need after recharging your batteries.

How busy was it for you? Yeah, it was very busy. Thanks for having me on. But, yeah, I think obviously a lot of great things yesterday. Obviously playing and just everything that went with it being a pretty cool milestone to hit. So definitely feeling some of that today, but it's all good. And nice to have a couple days here

uh before we're back at it on wednesday um but yeah it's uh been a whirlwind so uh uh jb here to jt uh is really concerned about uh how expensive it was for you this weekend uh how many tickets was it jb 60 or 70 do you say That many people at the game? Yeah. So, you know, it was really fortunate. I think the organization was very helpful in that regard. And my teammates as well with our allotted tickets and the way they stepped up to the plate and took good care of me there. I definitely owe them one. But, yeah was there's

still some expenses to the week uh weekend for sure um i'll let my wife handle those and i'll just continue to try to focus on playing some good hockey that's great it sounded i mean it was beautiful seeing your kids out there with the silver sticks and all that like in you know in toronto uh you know somewhere where you grew up wanting to play, obviously just such a cool moment for you. When you watch that video back before the game and where maybe you were reflective on your own career, you know, what are you most proud of? What were you thinking about watching that video? Well, I think there's lots of things. I think obviously definitely very proud of myself, you know, just, I think, the commitment, the work ethic,

you know, the sacrifice and dedication. And really, it's really all those things because, I think, just the love of the game and, you know, the same feelings I get when I put my skates on. You know, even though there's different components now from when you're a kid to being a professional and playing in the NHL, but the same feelings I get and excitement to play the game and to compete are the same as I was

I have as a kid so I think just a lot of that and I think there's a lot of gratitude for a lot of people and obviously two great organizations in a big part of my career and helped me get to this point and where I'm at so just just really, really grateful for that. And obviously, really special, like you said, to have this game and this milestone where I grew up and to have so many people that were all part of that, either through my childhood and coming up through junior hockey and then obviously professionally.

So really nice to share with them and with my teammates and the organization. All in all, it was a great day. We're joined with the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Tavares. JT, on this show, we often break down Sheldon Keefe's every word

right down to the nitty gritty. One of them today was in regards to your structure, your routine. For some of those listening out there, I mean, what does he mean? What's a game-by-game situation with you if it's a 7 o'clock start and the things that you go through, maybe you can kind of quickly let our listeners and our watchers understand what they mean when you they talk about your routine well you know something that gives has always kind of given me a lot of

confidence and probably something i've you know just realized and picked up picked up on are things that i've i've learned from different people throughout my career um and just getting a sense of who i am as a player is just preparation. It gives me a lot of confidence and helps me feel good. Not that I really want to be so strict, but I think you want to develop a really good process and habits that put you in the best possible state of mind. I think physically on a day-to-day basis. As I get older, you know,

just your better understanding, you've been through it a lot of times, and the more that you learn, whether about yourself or just the things that can make a difference for you over a long grind and the challenges of being consistent and playing at a high level and an elite level that, you know, I want to push for and be at and what I expect of myself. So there's a lot of things that I think are important that, you know,

I try to take care of from, you know, just even the simple things of, you know, routine of just when you go to bed, when you wake up and, you know, obviously how you take care of yourself, the way you eat and hydrate and all the other things that are a big part of, you know, recovery and performance these days that a lot of science has gotten behind. So, you know, something I've been intrigued about and seen from other athletes or players or guys that have been around or obviously throughout our staff and the things they bring to our attention. And, you know, as I'm getting older, continuing to refine those things,

that I can still obviously play in an elite level and continue to make the most of this opportunity and just enjoying playing the game. So something I enjoy and something that helps bring me confidence and helps me feel prepared. And obviously being a father now and having a family, managing my time is extremely important and maximizing all that and making sure that, you know, that's priority number one for me in my life.

So that's part of it as well. It really puts a lot of things in perspective and kind of weeds out maybe a lot of things that you used to do or the way you used to spend your time and allocate it and whatnot that, you know, it's helped me kind of even dial those things even a little bit more. John, when you look at that career arc for yourself again, thinking of watching you at the Islanders in your early days, obviously as a player coming into the league,

there's just a lot of go-go and show everyone what you can do. Has your style changed intentionally in any way? Do you feel like when you go into a game and you talk about your your routine what you're trying to accomplish and what you're trying to bring is that always been the same or has it evolved as you've evolved over the years oh yeah no question that's evolved i think you know as a one young player and obviously you know a lot of expectations and i think even just for me that but i expected of myself, you want to come in and you want to prove yourself. And I think you always constantly have to prove yourself. But I think to establish myself as a player in a league and as a good player and obviously pushing to be an all-star

and an elite player and counted on in a lot of areas and the strength of my game, obviously, offensively and what I was able to do as a kid and through junior hockey. Obviously, you know, you want to find that confidence and bring that ability and that's, you know, really fine-tuning, you know, the areas of your game that need some work and some polishing and some of that comes through experience. Obviously, you know, playing in the league and understanding the league and obviously, you know, what you learn that is important.

How it brings success to all parts of your game and how they all become connected. As I've really come to kind of realize over this, you know, last few years of my career, how important that is. And I think, you know, my role has probably changed over the last few seasons, especially, I think, with Sheldon coming in, and he's been great in helping me with that, especially with, you know, just the way, you know, Austin has become one of the best players in the world

and how our team dynamic has kind of worked out. Just how you approach things and having a feel for your game and the team and how that dynamic works and how you can make the biggest impact possible. So, you know, I've tried to take a lot of pride in that and enjoy that part, that evolution part, and continuing to find the areas or the mindset that you want to attack

and improve upon and see how things can kind of evolve. And, you know, when you play and gain experience, you see other guys around the league or guys that you've played with who have been through that, and you can pick up things here and there, and you learn from all those things. So that's the benefit of, you know, playing in 1,000 games now or 14 seasons, and evolution I think is critical.

To always think just what you did yesterday is going to work tomorrow can be a little bit short-sighted. But in saying that, I also think it's important to know what your strengths are and to be good at your strengths because that is always kind of the foundation of your game. And then again, it doesn't hurt. And there must be some sort of comfort in looking over your side and either seeing Marner or Nylander. You and Austin just draw straws before the game

and there's really no loser either way? Yeah, I mean, you know, I mean, it's a big reason why I came here. You see what those guys were doing and they're even just on their even just on their coming into the league as extremely young players, so much expectation, a lot of attention, especially playing in Toronto and what that brings and their ability to handle it

and obviously their skill sets and the exceptional talents they all are. You obviously want to play with know, play with good players and seeing where they were at in their careers and where I was at in mine and knowing, you know, the opportunity of the contract I was going to be able to sign. And it made a lot of sense and, you know, part of the decision-making process.

So no doubt, anytime you get to play with elite players like that, it just makes the game that much easier, and you learn so much more about the game and get so much better. I talk a lot about, you know, in practice, you know, whether it's going up against Austin or you're, you know, you're working together in whatever we're doing in, you know, our team settings or some of our skill development work, you just get so much better being around those types of players

and challenging yourself going up against them every day. And you gain, obviously, so much respect for them and love playing with them, but they also help make you better. You know, so cool seeing your kids with the Islanders patch and the Leafs patch on their little jackets. You know, I'm curious about what the difference is in your relationship with Long Island and your relationship with Toronto.

Obviously, both positive experiences on the balance. Just wonder what's different. I know it's a tough market here in Toronto, given all the media attention, and obviously I imagine there's a lot of noise at being your hometown. Yeah, I mean, different places, but both obviously incredibly special to me

and impactful to me. You know, being just a young kid getting drafted first overall, the Islanders is a tremendous honor. And obviously I took that with tremendous pride and tried to give it everything I have every single day and really embraced being an Islander. And it's obviously a very passionate and proud fan base and the organization.

Obviously, we're working hard and doing the best we can to try to turn things around. And, you know, have a lot of great memories and tremendous relationships built there. And obviously, it was a big part of me growing up and becoming the player and person I am. And obviously, just a really unique opportunity when things kind of came together and decided to come to Toronto.

At the end of the day, I love to play the game, and there's a lot of different things and things that you can read or listen to or watch or see, but at the end of the day, I think I just try to go out there and give it everything I have and believe in my ability and have fun and know that getting to play in a market like Toronto with the history and tradition of the organization and obviously an unbelievable fan base,

it doesn't get much better than that. So, you know, it's really special. I think, you know, that's what makes it great is expectations are high and people want the team to do so well so badly that, you know, I think 99% of the things that I hear when I'm in and around town and people see it is all so positive. And, you know, I think they love the team, watch the team

and the type of players that we have. So, you know, just continue to work at it. And obviously for us to find a way to break through. We're talking to John Tavares, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. JT, just going into the last 30 games as one of the leaders on the team, where is the focus these last 30 games? We're watching a Boston Bruins team absolutely run away with a lot of things so far in this National Hockey League regular season.

But, you know, is that something that you guys discuss in the dressing room? A couple of losses, a win by you guys. Is that something that you have to keep an eye on? Is there believers that you can still make this thing close in the Atlantic division? Well, I think all we can do is control what we can control. And obviously that's with our play and trying to earn the results that we need. And however that falls, we'll see. I think obviously they've been playing at a record rate,

which has been really impressive. I think at the end of the day, we know the road to get to where we want to get to is going to be extremely difficult the East overall and obviously our division is tremendously tough I think we saw that last year as well so I think it's just continuing to build our game obviously earn the results that we need

and see where things fall obviously you want to put yourself in the best possible position. And so, you know, continuously, honestly, just trying to take things day by day as boring as it can sound. It sounds sometimes it's such a long season, long grind, and you're looking at the big picture a lot. You know, it can, I don't want to say it becomes overwhelming, but I think it takes away from just the focus of how you can just get a little bit better today

and things can continue to snowball and we can continue to get better, work through the adversity or the challenges that we do face or the things that maybe we haven't been as good on throughout the season or through recent stretches and whatnot. So I think first and foremost, it's just trying to take care of what we can and what we have to obviously we have some great tests coming up starting with Boston on Wednesday

before our break and that's a great chance to go out there and earn two points and if it can chip away at things that's great and we obviously want to take advantage of that Well we know you could have easily gone to Miami along with Willie Nylander. You're not. So maybe headed up to Collingwood or Niagara Falls for the break.

Big plans? Beach it. Yeah, nothing crazy. I think it would be great to spend some time with the family and try to enjoy some winter. So I'm actually headed up to Mont-Tremblant for a few days. There you go. Winter's been a little different in TO this year,

so it'll be good to get them on the skis and just to relax, just nice to enjoy some peace and quiet and some good time with them. And it'll be good. It'll be really nice. Well-deserved. We really appreciate your time. Thanks for coming on our show.

Yeah, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, John Tavares. It was a good interview. It was great. See how I try to keep the money in Canada? That was nice. Trombone.

Trombone. That's good. That is. I like that. I liked a couple of his answers for sure. And, you know, the one that kind of stands out to me is just, you know, his routine and the way he tried to prepares himself and you know there's there's something to be said about just were you a routine guy i was a routine guy i was not superstitious yeah um that's healthy but everyone throws you off you got to be able to but every once in a

while i'm like okay if i'm on a roll like why? Yeah, yeah. But no, I was not buried in this. I have to do this and I have to do that. But what a regular routine does is it kind of kicks in your natural reaction to things. And if it becomes habit forming in a good way, then you won't get caught up in how big the moment is sometimes. Right. It's automatic, right? You let your subconscious kind of take over. then you won't get caught up in how big the moment is sometimes. Right. It's automatic, right?

You let your subconscious kind of take over, and sometimes the body will just move without you actually putting a lot of emphasis on it mentally. And that's, I think, what he's talking about. Yeah. Does that make sense? It does. You know, hockey is so fluid. Like golf people have a swing trigger, right? You do all these things and you get above get above the ball and you know whatever it is that for certain people before they hit it it's not

like that in hockey where you have to be open-minded you know to a flow state and change a game and react and so trying to get your brain in a position that's not too rigid is good but you need to be rigid enough that you're prepared in the way that usually are you feel the same you're able you're right but able to react the same. So it takes time to sort of dial in what a routine looks like. Obviously, he's been at it for a long time. And he's maybe the most consistent player on the team that's not named TJ Brody. I think routine in all facets of life is super important.

Like, I, you know. Totally agree. For me, like, every single day I do the exact same thing before I come to work. Which is nothing. No. Yeah, nothing. I do nothing. Just me, like, every single day I do the exact same thing before I come to work. Which is nothing. No. Yeah, nothing. I do nothing. Just kidding.

No, no. But, like, you know, get up around the same time, walk the dog at the same time, make breakfast, coffee, everything exact same time, come to work around the same time. Yeah. And, like, I went away for a while. I went to Mexico. Sure, it was great. But, like, even by the end of that, I'm, like, kind of missing the routine, kind of missing, like. Egg time.

Getting in. And I think. We are creatures of habit, though. That's what I mean. And now with kids, too, it's wild. As an NHLer, I would be the exact same way. Like, do everything at the exact same time, take the same route, same coffee before the game.

Like, to me, that stuff matters big time. And it obviously matters to John. There's pleasure in that routine, right? It is. Yes, absolutely. Like, I love hearing him talk about that, too, because it does matter big time. Look at the best players routine right it is yes absolutely like i just i love hearing him talk about that too because it does matter big time look at this the best players like sid is a freak with this routine like he goes into the rink the same way tapes his stick how

about the warm-up yeah right exactly which hockey night in canada showed us on many occasions that you know stretching and is stretching and the wiggle and uh it's all part of a part of the plan um so you know i thought it was really interesting well he actually said a number of interesting things tonight or today but just hearing him talk about i guess his teammates here and how easy it is to play with math sorry, whether it's Marner and Willie, I guess that is sort of unsurprising. But, you know, being reflective of his career and just being proud of the whole thing and proud of coming to Toronto, right?

Like that was a big decision, but clearly it's one of the things in his career that he's proud of. Yeah. Oh, go ahead. I was just going to say, you know, you got another point before I make, I kind of, I don't want to kind of bring the energy down, but I'm going to give you guys a dose of reality. All right.

But go ahead, Sammy. I was just going to say that I was going to get into a bigger conversation about Johnny T about just his legacy and what's coming up here. So maybe go ahead. No, that's exactly what I was going to get into. Okay, perfect. So to me, these next, he's got two more years after this one on the contract, which is crazy to think about.

But these next two and a half years are such massive swing years for his legacy in terms of if they go to a final or whatever that happens, if they happen to somehow win the cup in the next couple years, what his perception will be in this city versus if they'll get put out in the first round a couple years in a row again yeah if he they never win a playoff round he's a 48 point guy next year it's different they win a cup he's you know i'm i'm gonna say the exact same thing that sammy said but it ain't the next two years or three years it's three months yeah yeah and we can go back to our earlier conversation on on brody and how he can kind of get away with things because he's in that sweet spot

jt's not in that sweet spot he is gonna have to lead he's gonna have to produce in the first round and hopefully the second or third round or else he's going to be one of those guys that will get killed if they get knocked out in the first round and yeah and and and now sammy uh a first round knockout puts brendahan, Kyle Dubas, and the Shanahan plan all in jeopardy, which means you don't know what the next few years may look like for John Tavares or a lot of other guys.

I don't think he's oblivious to that pressure. No, no, no, no, absolutely not. But that's the reality here, that it's in the next three months, in that first round of the playoffs, it will be, hey, John, you're a point-of-game guy. If this thing goes seven, we want seven points, maybe eight, and you're going to lead us here because that's what you're supposed to do

when you're making $11 million a year. Yeah, they play seven games, and he gets five or six points. He'll get killed if he gets seven or eight points he'll be a hero you know like it's it's do we advance with your five or six it's on a knife's edge it is really is okay two things that we need to cover off to uh number one is uh the the ticket cost so the he's like the team was really helpful with that he must have got a discounted box or something the boys gave him his two tickets each obviously i'm like you can't come on air and say that that's circumventing the salary cap jesus i don't i arranged they arranged the boxes don't

go on any more shows and tell them that the team looked after me i feel like they might have given him like some of the teams maybe he makes a lot of money so it's hard for me to picture them buying his tickets for them but maybe they bought some extra tickets for him.

Well, every player gets two tickets and you got 20 guys in the say, here's my two John for the night, you know. But he said he had 70 people there? 60 or 70, he said, yeah.

How do you keep everybody smiling like that? What do you think went down? I called his answer almost verbatim you nailed it okay you nailed it but i did kind of tee it up beautifully for him i just lobbed it up and he hit it right out of the park and he had it for sure no there's no doubt about it but it is classic we can only control what we can control yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, to his credit, that was an insightful, thoughtful interview. And you can't say that about every interview you do with players.

So for the record and for the people listening, we don't always want players on our show because it's tough to get them to be interesting. And I thought Tavares did a good job. But, you know, that is typically for our preference. I don't always love it. I thought that was great yeah yeah no it was it was great and our thanks to the toronto maple leaves for offering them

yes which doesn't happen very often but when it does they will we're appreciative we are appreciative okay we're gonna take a quick break and off uh the back end uh daryl uh darren pang oh we haven't had him on in a while former nhl goalie hockey for TNT, and a very good friend of the show. Darren Pang, coming up after the break. Breaking down the biggest stories in Toronto sports. The Fan Morning Show with Ailish Horfar and Justin Cuthbert. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590, The Van.

I'm Nick Kipper, I'm Justin Born. Waiting on Darren Pang. waiting on darren pang former nhl goalie hockey analyst tnt maybe panger fills in for rick talkett now they're looking it's not an easy fill hmm yeah that's interesting they got keith y Keith Yandel on the desk once in a while. You know, Gretz could use a couple of raps probably. You betcha. Gretz doesn't work. I know. I've noticed.

He's been on like two shows. I know. In an outdoor game. There's only a guy on this very show that was super personable and great on TV. That might fit TNT. No. Do it, Kip. I'm not dealing with the border.

It's a border. They can send a man. No. Do it, Kip. I'm not dealing with the border. The border? They can send American money up here and I'll do it the pandemic style on remote. A hologram at the desk? They got options at TNT. Those days are over. Yeah. Alright. The new generation

now. You, JB. I don't know if I can feel rick tockett's shoes i am available though where that to be of interest look at sammy working really hard to find panger now now a bit of an audible because panger was supposed to come on earlier in the show and then uh john tavaris was available we traded him straight up at 345 for ralphie though i mean i hate to bust on ralphie here where'd ralphie come in well this is ralphie slot we're gonna have tomorrow was was ralphie in the deal listen did ral Ralphie help?

We love the Toronto Maple Leafs very much for help providing John Tavares today, but it came at the very last minute. We moved some stuff around. We kept Panger for today, and we have Jim Ralph tomorrow. And Panger's on the line right this very moment. Oh, my gosh. Panger, where you been? Oh, you know what?

If you had Ralphie, was that Jim Ralph? Oh, yeah. Is there any other Ralphie? Did you had Ralphie, was that Jim Ralph? Oh, yeah. Is there any other Ralphie? Did you say Ralphie? Ralph Hurley? There's no other Ralphie. Ralphie and I, man, do we go back a long way. He emceed my wedding in 1987.

What? My first roommate of pro hockey in Milwaukee. What was his fee back then? Yeah, in Milwaukee, too. What was what? What was his fee back then? His feewaukee too what was what what was his fee back then his fee what did he charge you for free i know nothing he did it for free for me because he said i'm a special little bald guy and he would do it for free for me

what an honor well that's so funny we should have had you on at the same time you guys i'm sure have some. Are you guys the same age? No, Ralphie's a couple of years older than me. Kipper, he was an all-time great Ottawa 57. He played as an underage. And then I got drafted to Belleville. So then the year before that, Ralphie went to, or maybe it was two years before that, he went to turn pro with Chicago, and then I got traded to Ottawa.

And then I signed with the Blackhawks, and so I was at training camp with Ralphie. We were roommates on the road in Milwaukee. Randy Boyd as well, we had the time of our lives until Ralphie hurt his knee. Ralphie was a great goalie. He was the next guy up for the Blackhawks. He hurt his knee in Toledo, Ohio against the Gold Diggers. I think Don Waddell was on that team. And so then his career kind of slowed down after that.

And wouldn't you know it, I got called up. The Blackhawks had an injury, and I got called up and played my first game. And poor Ralphie was sitting there with a big cast over his knee with a torn MCL. And he got the nine of hearts. And, uh, and I got the, uh, I got, I got the puck. I got to, I got to play a game. So I always felt bad for Ralphie for that, to be quite honest with you. And I stay close to him to this day. Just buy him a beer, nachos. He'll be fine.

You don't, you don't think I haven't bought him a beer before? Maybe two or three. That's for sure. What's going on with your voice today? I'm in Winnipeg. It's about minus 50 here. TNT? Big game?

It's actually the only game in the NHL tonight. If you actually looked at the NHL game schedule, Kipper, you'd see that there's only one game tonight. Toronto's not playing, actually. The Winnipeg and St. Louis are the only game in action tonight. I'm sorry, there's other teams in the league? I was going to remind you of that. Yeah, there are other teams in the league, yeah.

I'm not sure if you knew that. Well, we are other teams in the league. Yeah. I'm not sure if you knew that. Well, we're going into the all-star break here, Panger. And Boston all of a sudden has lost a couple, and the Leafs beat Washington. Is this kind of the Bruins coming down to earth, or anybody have thoughts, including the least of catching them. You're wasting your time.

Oh, no, I, we got lots of hockey left to go here. Kipper. I mean, loads of hockey momentum, momentum and getting on a roll.

Boston has been impressive. I mean, the only thing that can stop Boston probably is Boston, you know, I'm trying to keep this up i think of the was it the 1977 montreal canadiens when scotty bowman was coaching and then when scotty was coaching the red wings in what 95 96 that's uh you know the most points and they were i mean how do you keep going every single game and keep your game up um so i think

boston naturally was going to find themselves in a bit of a low and Carolina played a pretty decent game there too. You know, yesterday there, that's a pretty darn good team. I got them Wednesday on TNT and Buffalo. And I, I love watching Carolina play,

but I go back to, I think Toronto has a, has a chance. I mean, I didn't knock down some of the teams. I mean, Carolina and Toronto would have the only chance for me of catching the Boston Bruins at this particular point in the Eastern,

in the East. So, Panger, you got the Blues-Jets game tonight. You know, a little bit fascinated by this Blues team that, you know, for a while there was like, here they come again. It's the Blues, and they've lost four straight, and, you know, frankly, not great luck. Some of the games losing Arizona, I think, 5-0. Where are they

at? Is this still a team that has hopes of playoffs and contention, or is it kind of turning the other way here? not great luck some of the games losing arizona i think five nothing where are they at is this still a team that has hopes of playoffs and contention or is it kind of turning the other way here well how many of them do the toronto maple leafs uh are they knocking on the door at the trade deadline um right love they are you know they are a team right now that, I mean, this is just me. I don't personally see the UFAs on the Blues team. The UFAs are Ivan Barbashev's a UFA, Noel Achari's a UFA, Vladdy Tarasenko's a UFA, and Nico Mikula, big defenseman, is a UFA, and so is, obviously, O'Reilly.

So there's your UFAs right there. And, and you know i would have to think at this particular point army has seen the good he's seen the hope he's seen some will and then i think he's seen some games like you just mentioned uh bernie that you know that listen they lost at home to chicago and then they trailed in the game early they lost at home to buffalo they trailed four nothing in the and then they trailed in the game early they lost at home to buffalo they trailed four nothing in the game and they trailed one nothing after 20 seconds and two nothing after a minute and 25 and then they went into arizona they trailed in that game and they lost it didn't score a goal on the arizona coyotes who played actually a really hard game and played like a team that was thinking they were going to make the playoffs to be quite honest with you

and then they went into colorado and fell behind in that game. So for four straight games, they fell behind by three or more goals. And so that would tell me that Doug Armstrong, who is going to be heading out to Europe and doing some scouting this upcoming week, I mean, I would have to think that he's looking at all those UFAs and sending out texts to the NHL and saying, hey, this is what I got. These are the UFAs. You know, is there interest out there,

which I'm sure there's going to be tons of interest if that's the case. We're talking to Darren Pang, former National Hockey League goaltender, top analyst on TNT and for the St. Louis Blues. We had Army, Pang, or we had Army on maybe about three weeks ago, a month ago, and we talked a little bit about the trade deadline. And there was a sense that even if he was going to unload a few, he doesn't think that this team has to bottom out by any stretch, not when you have the likes of a Thomas or a Kairou.

So is there a chance that we may only see like one or two guys move out and St. Louis still in the hunt like one or two guys move out and, and St. Louis still in the hunt a year or two from now to challenge? You know what? I think so. I, I agree with army. I mean,

I, if he saw a little bit more like determination and competitiveness and togetherness from this club in the in the last couple of weeks, then, you know, I could see him still moving, moving a UFA based on the fact that I'll just be hypothetical. Let's just say that it's an Ivan Baryshev,

you know, that is finally going to get a payday. He's been underpaid for so long in this league. I know his agent is the same agent as that. You know, Makayov, who got 4.75 with Vancouver. I think Barbashev's probably maybe looking at a price right now

that may be high, so maybe you get a lot for him, because I think you would get a lot for him. He's the kind of guy that can move into any top competing cup contender and just blend in, play his heart out. any top competing cup contender and, and just blend in, play, play his heart out. He's a good four checker. He's a smart player. He's been number one or number two on the PK. He gets some number two minutes on the, on the power play and he can play center or he can play wing. So, you know,

what I'm saying is, you know, I'm, army would look at whoever's brings the most and say, listen, I can move that player, get some assets. And who knows at the end of the day, maybe he comes back and re-signs with me. But this team is not a bottom-out team, not a chance. Not when you've got Pareko and Falk and you've got Krug and, you know, Letty and you mentioned Cairo and Thomas.

You've got Shen for another five years. You've got Brandon Saad. I mean, these are all really good NHL players. And, you know maybe maybe like i don't know what's gonna happen with ryan o'reilly guys i have no idea but i love the guy i think the world of them and i think this team would be uh uh you know much worse place if he's if he's not a member of the st louis blues but if anybody gets ryan o'reilly at the deadline uh he will he may be the guy that gets them over the top. Barbashev sounds like a perfect fit for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I'll say it right here. What do you think the Leafs would have to give up to get him? I think he would... Now that part, honestly, that part I don't know. You know what? I think every general manager looks at their players and has a high value for them, especially a guy that was a big part of winning the Stanley Cup.

You guys remember it. He and Alexander Steen and Oskar Sundqvist were on the same line. They started every shift, every period. They went up against the other team's best players. I mean, he's got that experience. He's only 27 years old. He can skate well. He doesn't get hurt.

So, I mean, if I'm looking at a player to go on to a Stanley Cup contender and be a seamless addition, because that's what you want. You don't want to upset the apple cart. You know, when you think that you have a chance to win the Stanley Cup, the last thing you can do is maybe, and I'll say this out loud, but, you know, like last year, the Panthers, they brought a former captain, I mean, a captain of the Philadelphia Flyers there. All of a sudden, you're looking at the power play,

and now who's going to be there? It's going to be Drew's going to take that half-wall spot. He's going to, the puck's going to go through him. A former captain, I mean, a captain of the Philadelphia Flyers there, all of a sudden you're looking at the power play, and now who's going to be there? It's going to be Drew's going to take that half-wall spot. The puck's going to go through him. Anyway, there's a lot of times where things are going really well. You may not have to add that kind of player. But a player like a Barbashev, even like Nola Chari has actually played really, really well for the Blues.

Those are the kind of pieces that put teams over the top. You know, the Butch Gorings, you know, that kind of guy. And Barbershop is a really good person, a really hard worker, and a really good player. Well, you'll have to excuse us for, you know, picking at the not-yet carcass here a little bit in Toronto, but I want to know about Nico Mikula. This guy's 6'4", left shot, D-man, defends as a priority. Does he ever get angry? Is there anything there?

Is there a little muzzin in his prime in him? Yeah, he's actually got some angst to him. He's not afraid to do anything like that. He's not going to go drop the mitts and scare

anybody, but he's a very competitive person. He's a fin. They always look like they're on the ice and they've got a little anger to them. And that's Nico. Nico's a good kid. Very unique that he's a... No, that's a UFA at a young age and a guy that played

really well here. I think he's at 1.75 maybe, something like that. So that will be interesting if he's a defensive that moves along because the blues have perunovich on injured reserve all year marco scandela uh so they do have some depth they got robert bortuzzo for another year and they've got callie rosen i think for another year as well so they do have some depth back there but uh no nico's nico's a good player he's a good defender you know what he does does? He's a good defender. He stops the cycle.

You know, that's what coaches talk about this time. Can you stop the cycle? You've got a long stick. Will you block shots? Are you a good penalty killer? And that's what Nikolai is. Me? Sure.

Seattle, Panger, done in the playoffs. They can't blow this lead, can they they going into the all-star break? Wow. 63. I'm looking at it right now. Hang on Kipper. 63 points. That I think they're going to be in it at the end.

I, I, I mean, in it, I mean, fighting for fighting for a spot at the end. I, I think the veteran teams are going to pick up some steam here. I think Calgary is going to pick up steam. Colorado's not going to look back. You know, Edmonton's right there, L.A. You know, Seattle is the team that you wonder about because of, you know, where they were last year and how they played. But, man, they turned it around the way they're playing.

Kipper, I don't know if you've seen them play very much. But, man, they play fast. They get the puck up the ice. Like, you know, they got some pieces and some feisty players up front. Yeah, they do. Can I see them dropping off a little bit and having to

really fight for that last wild card one or wild card two? Yeah, I can because I think the veteran teams that have been there and done that before are the ones that are going to continue to climb up the ladder in those tough games in the last month of March. Panger, you got the Jets here you're mentioning tonight. You know, that's one of Canada's hopes here.

You know, they got off to a really hot start. They struggled a little bit of late. What do you make of that Jets team and their ability to contend this year? Well, they haven't played well their last three, that's for sure. And that's what Rick Bonas was saying this morning. I i mean they got shut out by philly in the last one but you know how many teams have got beat by chicago and philly and and arizona you know lately it's it's been quite amazing um but they're a good team i i'm listen i i think they're i think they're rock solid um they got good they got good defensive zone coverage.

That's one thing that the Blues haven't been doing very well. They haven't been a five-man unit kind of defending and skating hard back to their own net. They give up too many chances. And the Winnipeg Jets, by and large, take care of their own, even though Halibook's a three-time All-Star. So, you know what, I like them. I like them. And I think this place is such a home ice advantage.

I just, you know, it gets going here. The atmosphere is incredible. And I think this is their time to kind of move forward here, especially with the way Morrissey's playing and Pionk. I think they're simplifying their decor. It just plays a simple game and they play hard for one another. So, yeah, I'm liking what I see there with the Winnipeg Jets for sure. And really, a ton of pressure on Sheveldayoff to add to this

because regardless of what you think moving forward 12 to 18 months with so many key guys in contract situations, this team's going to look vastly different in a year and a half. Yeah, very much so. But he has not been afraid to pull the trigger on a deal at the deadline and you know a lot of times he goes for that center ice position he went for haze he went for staff me um i don't think you have to do that now with dubois and shifley and lowry and who's the third line oh kevin stendlandland. Yeah, Stenland. Columbus Blue Jacket, the pick. So, you know, I wouldn't think that he has to do too much there

unless he's afraid of the lack of experience on that fourth line and wants to improve that. But those are the kind of players that, I mean, they're not a dime a dozen out there. I just mentioned one myself, Enola Cherry. Like, you know, I mean, you're not going to give up a whole lot. And I'm not saying that Enola Cherry is going anywhere. I'm just saying he's a UFA that fits whatever need, you know i mean you're you're you're not going to give up a whole lot and i'm not saying that nola charlie's going anywhere i'm just saying he's a ufa that fits whatever need uh you know you need to have at the deadline like a right hand shot that wins 52 of the draws that's been in

the stanley cup final before and and played hard for for bruce cassidy so i mean i think that's that and probably a deputy and that's probably i would think that's probably it for the Winnipeg Jets, and then move along and see how you can do. I think they can challenge anybody in the Western Conference and give themselves a chance. Before we let you go, Panger, just get your thoughts on the Leafs' goaltending situation. Ilya Samsonov has kind of become the guy.

Maybe a nagging injury for Matt Murray is partially why. You know, where do they go from here? Do you think they need another goalie knowing that Murray is a bit of a Fabergé egg at times? Not to blame him, but it's tough, right, Kipper? Yeah. It's a tough league. It is. That is tough.

Well, you know, he has obviously history of getting injured and odd injuries. And I think the last time I was on the program here, this award-winning program that I'm on, I was talking about how his lateral movement, how he goes post to post, how he pushes out. There's a lot of things that just look a little awkward, and then bang, it's just one little fall, and you've got an injury that you don't know if he can come back and play in.

So, yeah, if I'm this, this is just me talking. If I'm the Toronto Maple Leafs, I don't mind adding a veteran to have at the, at the deadline. And worst case scenario is you've got three NHL goalies that you've got that have experience. If you can make a move for an NHL goal, you have experience and you can, you know, have three goaltenders in your first round playoffs. You're number one guy hardly even skates.

So you've got that competitiveness there, but you've got somebody that's ready to go. And there's, I mean, again, there's a load of veteran NHL goaltenders that are out there that are UFAs. Thomas Grice is with the Blues. He's, no, he's one of them, but there's a number of them that you go around the league and you say, well, would that guy be helpful?

And could he win a game for us? That's what you also have to think about. You're not just going to trade for an older goaltender or a veteran guy and, and his game has passed him by. You have to know that that guy's going to put on the pads. And if he ends up being the number two, because of an injury, that he can step in and be, you know, the first, second or third star in a, in a playoff game.

Cause otherwise what's the point of having them? I mean, what do they say about it? He's a good guy. He's a good a good guy in the room just leave him there you don't want that kind of guy you want a guy that can get out on the ice and and and make a difference and and uh win yourself a win the playoff round so and answering your question yes i i would i would factor in there and make sure that i've got one more guy there that's nhl ready and not just a great prospect and i know they've got some great prospects there but but you want a guy that wouldn't be shy when the lights are at its brightest. So you're a good guy in the room too. And that's why I'm hoping that maybe Rick Talkett left you a couple of suits

so you could jump on the panel seamlessly. Well, that's exactly right. And that's what exactly what I'm going to do, Kipper. I'm going to go to just some of that and take up the spot of talking. I can't believe that Dickie left us. I'm really sad by that. I think he was really coming into his own on that panel and kept that panel, I think, together.

So that's a bummer, but good for him. I'm glad he's out there. I know that if you've coached before, it's hard to not coach. It's in your blood. But certainly going to be missed. Maybe I'll get you on there, Kipper, a couple of times. No, no, I love watching. And now it's gone to another level.

The next time Biz sings on the show, can they not find you a spot with like a tambourine or something just off the side tambourine would be the perfect musical instrument for me perfect the tambourine yes yes oh boy hey it's uh it's turning into quite sure you guys have covered a lot a lot of sorry but i'm just going to say that i'm sure you've covered a a lot of uh the bobby robert marvin hall passed away today we're getting there yes yes um yeah we lost a legend no question about that uh uh nhl alumni announcing uh the death of uh hall of famer bobby hall um yeah Yeah. One of the very best.

I mean, when I was a kid, the number nine came up and my dad's like, grab it, grab it, grab number nine, because that's that Gordie Howe and Bobby Hall. That's what you knew. Right. And the rocket, of course. And the rocket. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, a funny story. And I'm sorry if you, if you run out of time, but I know we're good. Funny story. Yeah, absolutely. You know, a funny story, and I'm sorry if you've run out of time, but when he was coming back to play for the Hartford Whalers when the NHL merged and everything, Bobby bobby's son uh bobby jr was trying out as well so bobby would skate with us and and i just remember him coming down that quinty arena that we had members 100 by 200 that big arena uh kipper and it was bobby hulk flying down the wing trying to score trying to skate trying to keep up as he was trying to make a comeback in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers at that time.

And I'll never forget it, just because we had the opportunity to have Bobby Hall on the ice with us, even though it was at the very end. And he could hardly play anymore, but man, it was unbelievable to see him there. Well, Panger, we really appreciate your time on the show, man. As always, great stuff. Have a great call tonight in Winnipeg, and we'll catch up to you soon, man.

I will, bud. Thanks, Panger. That was great, you guys. Keep up the great work. You too, buddy. Talk to you later, boys. Dern Pang. Yeah, just Bobby Hall. I mean, when it comes to the slap shot and how everything evolved around, you know, bigger than life kind of personality.

Yeah. He carried it for a good portion in the 60s. Yeah. You know, I obviously can't speak to any of that. And what's so challenging talking about this sort of stuff is obviously a lot of off-ice stuff with bobby hall and you know um so all i can do is kind of go off what other people say i read it here's a tweet from uh gare joyce um who talking about uh bobby hall today he says sublime talent good to great teammate lousy sibling son

absent father abusive and violent husband guy who signed the biggest contract in sports later broke this is gare choice a guy who made hundreds of players 100 million dollars and none of them gave him a job until he was in chicago you know he says tell me where i've got it wrong um you know he was not always beloved as a guy bobby hall you know incredible legacy as a player obviously hall of famer Famer, Bobby Hall, dead at age 84. Okay, the Bruins. Yes. Losers of three in a row.

Like, we haven't said that all year. Right? We have not said that all year. Seven. It was just a matter of time, wasn't it? Yes. I mean, every team goes through this skid at some point again it's 82 game season good team or not you get a couple injuries a couple of

bad bounces here and there three in a row though you know what kind of sucks for me is that we we we know they're coming in town on Wednesday and somebody wins five, two, somebody loses five, two. It's the last one before the break. Yeah. Someone's pulling out the, we've already checked out or we're already on all-star break or we're

already on. And he takes away from the match. A hundred percent. Damn it. I'm not, I don't envision playoff intensity i don't envision what we saw just a few days before between boston and tampa bay it's just it's the last one it's really hard and this isn't just a hockey thing but you at home

listening can you know what it's like before a four day the last day before a long weekend or last day before christmas yeah you know like it's it's not four-day, the last day before a long weekend. Last day before Christmas. Yeah, you know, like it's not the same. And so as a player, you tell yourselves, okay, it's, you know, one more focus. It matters just the same. But there's a different feel to, okay, we actually have a week before we play after this. We can go out to the Bahamas or to Mont-Tremblant or whatever. Did you see the turnover from David Pasternak too?

Yes. It's about if Willie Nylander did that kipper, the show that we would have talking about that turnover he made, and then you're like, I love Pasta. It's like, oh, he's just rich man's Nylander. He's rich man's Nylander. Tough Willie. Tough Willie with 12.

He's not that tough. He turns the puck over. He gives bad efforts on other nights like he's he's not perfect no pastor well listen when you when you run the risk of doing what he does every night and on a lot of nights where it turns out well you can live with that i i don't i i don't think he's the type of player that's notoriously been known as being as high risk as maybe Willie in the past. Now, Willie's cleaned up a lot of his game. And the majority of it comes on the backs of him being a lot more focused and a lot more engaged from shift to shift.

It is crazy. You know, Willie, the, you know, we talked tj brody and how we never come in here and say he had a bad game you know willie had a stretch of five or six games where he didn't score you know and that's like the only stretch really and even then he was fine like he hasn't willie still is gonna find nights where he cheats and pulls out early yeah but listen i saw you know i watched the way let's play the other night and the greatest player on earth connor mcdavid there's a puck bouncing out to the point. And he blows past the puck hoping that it best skips.

So the D-man, I'm saying the best offensive players take some chances. No, no, 100%. And they will. Yeah, and they have to. Continue to do that. Yeah, it's worth it. But it also has been noted over the last few years that Connor needed to be better defensively.

And that if they were going to go to the next level, then he's going to go to the next level then he's going to have to make a better commitment in his own zone yeah that's been out there for quite a while yeah and you know the odds of mcdavid like if he if it bounces over a d-man stick and you're kerfoot you don't want to take that chance and cheat because you're probably not scoring on that breakaway whereas willie and mcdavid the rewards are huge if it bounces they're probably going to score so i get why he has but you're right come playoffs you don't want to be on the wrong end of that equation where you fly the zone and they're going the other way and at the end of the day i mean for sammy to kind of compare the two

and the success that pasternak has had in in playoffs, and I haven't seen too many of those turnovers over his career. You live with that. And I don't, you know, if Willie was to do that Wednesday night, I don't think he'd get killed. I think he's earned some grace. Yeah, there's just going to be that acceptance, Sammy, that you go, okay, this is what he does. Sometimes you got to take a chance on creativity

when you have that world-class talent and you're going to have to live with it. Yeah. Willie is 14th in the NHL in scoring right now 59 points 28 goals marner also has 59 points you think he's pissed he's not going to the all-star game you know how many matthews has 53 six points behind willie and mitch although he's played less games but sorry ask me that again yeah is he pissed he's not going to the all-star game he is going now isn't he is he going i don't know did they know somebody get hurt i thought I heard something and he was going.

Maybe not. If I had to bet. Where did that come out of the sky? If it is about the All-Star game, I don't know the answer. Would you think that he'd want to go, though? He didn't get. He's not there. Barkov replaced him.

Okay. Yeah, Barkov replaced him. Okay. But no, I don't think he'd want to go. Actually, wait. Let me change that. I do think he'd want to go actually wait let me change that i gotta i do think he'd want the honor once in his career at least i gotta think that you know maybe there's still a chance between now and you know midweek that somebody gets hurt and he can

he can i would think he'd be left he'd be the only one left right now that you would go how is he not in uh he'd be the next replacement if someone pulled the chute for sure and in you know how injuries are this time if anyone has a visible bruise they'll check out right like nathan mckinnon got asked about you know going what he's doing over the all-star break and he was like i got voted in so i'm going just like so disappointed's like, that may happen to Willie here. Mikheyev. Oh, I was going to say there's another All-Star game thing. That Matty Beneers is not going. He's injured.

And his replacement is not a squid. So there is no squid represented at the All-Star game. Actually, I think same with Vegas. I want to say. Chandler Stevenson is his replacement. Oh, is it? Okay. Okay.

So there you go. So there's no squid involved. So that's a good sign fine that they will do that and if if nobody notices or cares in seattle then maybe next year you can have real all-stars and not care about having every team represented you hate to rip on guys but you can't talk about the nhl all year without you know some guys don't have good seasons. I watched that Blackhawks game against the Oilers the other night. Seth. Yeah.

Not good. Not good. All-star. Like, calling him an all-star is, you know, he hasn't been an all-star this year. Yeah. You know, like. I think that's fair to say. You know, and so what are we doing?

You take away credibility of the game. Is he the most noticeable out of all of them because the NHL did a good job of kind of making sure there wasn't anything too controversial. I just don't, like if you're, maybe Patrick Kane didn't want to go. You know, like I'm just thinking even if he's got 30 points or something, it's not like he's been a schlub. He's a Hall of Famer in weight. You know, you'd think you would have Kane go, but I'm sure Kane took the option.

Okay, bring me up to speed on Mikheyev this weekend, because there was a lot of tweets coming from Ilya Mikheyev kind of justifying pulling himself out of the lineup to get healthy for next season. In perfectly crafted English, by the way. So what are we insinuating here? Why did someone say, hey, we need a PR statement here? Okay, but why? Because the Canucks are getting buried in the PR front.

And the Tanner Pearson injury, they messed up and people were quick to go. They must have messed up this Mikheyev thing too. Is that a fair connection? So why don't they do it? Why does a player feel like he needs to justify a health decision? Should they just give him $20 million? Can you do this for us, please? Listen, as far as that gives me 20 schmil, I'll say some things for him.

Let me tell you. Yeah, I think that's part of it and so i do believe that mckeah you know would have been eager to get out there and clarify the message people saying that they botched his injury or whatever but again we know he learned english very recently and it is like flawlessly written and i'm sure he got help with it to get the message across clearly. But it does seem like a PR message. But they wanted him to play. They thought at the start of this year that they were going to be a winning team because of the way they closed last year. These are big-ticket items.

I remember Frank Cervelli reported it, and then he got killed for it. Remember that earlier in the year that he's reported it? No. He tore his ACL. Yeah, like, there was a in during camp that he did it and then he you know they walked it back and they said he didn't he's gonna play and then he plays with a partially torn acl hyman do that for the leafs did he play in playoffs with a torn yeah he did something yeah so like he's taking he's taking draws on his weak side thanks babs yeesh yeah you can play on it listen this is

uh this wasn't as big of a deal when i played but it's a very big deal now in terms of you know who's hurt who's not who's playing hurt who's not who's responsible who's not like patcher eddie with carolina now uh is coming off of uh surgery for his Achilles tendon that people are questioning. So let me ask you this. And he's UFA. Yeah. Interesting to see who gives him a kick. So how are you getting a new contract now?

People are saying, okay, you're twice removed off of a bad Achilles tendon and you're 35 years old. He got it done in Finland, some specialty clinic. I don't blame him. Yeah, he's like, I'm going somewhere totally different to get this figured out. So how much did he lose? He came back in a short period of time. I think he had three goals in a few games. If he would have been able to go on a nice run,

maybe Carolina gets to a conference final, that guy could have been looking at $5, $6, $7 million on a short-term deal next year. Yeah. Who's going to give him that now? No one. It will be interesting to see what he does get. So it does bring up an issue with, like,

who should have the final say in when you're good to come back? You know, obviously Jack Eichel's injury looms over all this the team didn't want him to do what he wanted to do and the player you know deserves to do what he wants to do with his own body i don't know about you but like when i was injured i had a torn mcl i was to the doctors i was like you tell me i don't know i didn't go to school like i can feel it feels okay you tell me. I don't know. I didn't go to school. Like, I can feel it feels okay. You tell me when I can go back. Who should have the sort of say in terms of these guys? Okay, Ilya, you're going to play.

You're going to not play. Do the players decide? What do we know? Any team could just argue that, you know, we felt you were fine, but it's your call. But I don't want it to be my call. I don't know. But you do want it to be when it doesn't work out in your favor.

Yes. And sometimes we're hard on the Leafs for this, boys, about being careful with guys and giving them the extra day. We joke about the 100 cooks in the kitchen. But Murray played last game, and you were saying, why is he even around if he's hurt? I guess that slipped through the cracks. But it's a rare thing for them.

Like, they don't, it often doesn't happen like this where they are, like, it's like Brody, like, remember early in the year, like, oh, he's feeling better, he probably could go tonight, but we're going to give him a couple extra days to get ready when he was coming off the oblique. And that's part BR2 of just, like, demonstrating that they're trying to be careful with people that you know always ready

but we're going to give them two more games to even make that a public statement like there's management of the injury management of the message management of the players expectations i feel like this about all things that i know nothing about, like doing my taxes or whatever. Like you just tell me what I, oh, like I'm not going to pretend to know how to fly a plane. I just do what I want. Okay, we got a couple of minutes left. We got to talk about the Oilers putting in their e-bug,

their emergency backup goaltender. Right. Which? Matt Berlin? I don't know. It's Berlin's last name. Right. Which. Matt Berlin? I don't know. Is it? It's Berlin's last name. Yeah.

I think it's Matt. Like. You know. Are we? It's fine. But this is still. Like there's a. There's a part of me that.

Is bothered by this being. The best league in the world. Yeah. And. I think that's great that you're bothered by that. I'm not just saying that. I'm bothered by it. It's the best league in the world.

And we're handing these things out like it's, like we're taping Fantasy Island or something, you know. And it's like, buzz, buzz. The bug boss. It's like, you know, like what are we doing here? People are paying 300 bucks. It's not like, you know, what are we doing here? People are paying 300 bucks It's not like, you know, what was that line you gave me before the show? Which was pretty good

Oh, I don't know, what did I say? Can I say it? Sure Yeah, is this the NHL or is this Make-A-Wish Foundation? Yeah, no, fair And so what's the solution though? I guess it's it I get it's a. And so what's the solution, though? I guess it's it. I get it's a great gesture and it is a great moment.

But are we going to start like, you know, it's a hell of a zag, Kipper. I'm here for it. Like, should every team have like a guy like I wonder if you took an American Hockey League goalie and said, instead of playing this year for your american league team we're going to give you 500 grand and you can just practice with us all year long and wait till we might need you we may never need you i i don't think it's it's not a team in the league do that it's not a david air situation right it's a guy who's a guy he's a player he's playing for the golden bears the best team in canada picking people out of the stands to give them their their uh fantasy

moment but this isn't david ayers this is guys no i know i know yeah yeah no no he is a goalie yeah but now you're hand picking opportunities oh you're pretty pissed about chicago like we had you had no choice right those were the rules, whether you like them or not, those are the rules. But this one, now you're handing people opportunities like this. Anyways, well, pick it up for another day. Our thanks to Darren Pang and John Tavares, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.