Real Kyper & Bourne - No Bergeron, No Problem for Boston

Episode Date: November 22, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with the Bruins and how they've managed to stay on top despite their turnover over the offseason. NESN Bruins analyst Billy Jaffe joins the conversation (4:41) and shares how crucial the tandem of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have been for the hot start, Pastrňák's unreal form and tees up their clash with the Panthers tonight. Later, murmurs of plans for a very exclusive Hockey World Cup between Canada, the US, Sweden & Finland. They discuss the dynamic of the slimmer selection of countries, whether hockey can create a 'true' World Cup and how Russia's absence factors in.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. 

welcome back to real kipper and born i feel like uh garth in wayne's world when they come back when when wayne's not there and Garth is just panicking in front of the camera. Our guy Kippy just taking a phone call outside. So I do have trusty sidekick Sammy in here with me. We are waiting on Billy Jaffe, NHL analyst for Nessun, NHL Network and co-host.

Chat a little bit about one of the hottest teams in the NHL. What do you think about that? I love the Garth. Hello. Kippy has arrived i don't know i think okay i made a wayne's world reference second this week actually i'm grooming you yeah yeah step by step you give me 30 seconds here close to retiring hiring and you'll be taking over the real borny sammy show not you huh um but yeah we were just uh kind of setting up the billy jaffe interview the boston bruins obviously unbelievable record president's trophy favorites once again and kind of what's going on there a lot of a lot of hockey

tonight boys still no leafs but 15 14 games. A lot of good ones. It's nice to see them getting back in action. Big night down south of the border. Isn't this like the biggest drinking night of the year in the States? This is the biggest party night of the 365 in the U.S. Yeah, maybe you see a former fling down there. You go to the hometown bar. Yeah.

Thursday is going to be real interesting with, what, three football games? Yeah, we're covering those, right? Yeah. What are your Lions takes? How do we not? Somebody's bringing a turkey in, are you not? Just a whole turkey. You're the producer.

Did you get a Swiss chalet gift the other day? We got football. We got our show to prepare. Yeah. There you go. Yankee thank you. Love it. All right.

I know we're going to talk Boston Bruins, but how big of a story is it that they've lost one game up until now? Who saw that coming? Well, certainly not Leafs fans who had this peg to be the year they were going to lose every one of substance and it was going to be a lot easier for them. But, I mean, they're blowing the league out of the water of the water boys i mean the only team that really can hang with them statistically is the canucks but they're plus 23 this bruins team 7 0 and 1 at home just continue

to roll and a lot of that on the backs of their unbelievable goaltending swayman all mark off to similar starts to last season and bruins uh in tamp i'm sorry in florida tonight to take on the the panthers first round matchup last year obviously and they're both red hot that's gonna be that's that's a good one bruins have given up 37 goals against the fewest in the nhl the toronto maple leaves have given up 22 more than that 59 in the same amount of games played. When we look at the Atlantic division, we're seeing it pretty much the way it has run. But Florida is the one that's stepped up. We were looking at, we've looked the last few years

at Tampa, Boston, and Toronto. And this was supposed to be the year that it was going to change, right? With Detroit, Ottawa. And yet, it appears it's still the same, but Florida has now thrown this wrench in by turning into this late-season horse last year to maybe one of the favorites when it's all said and done.

Yeah, I mean, good Lord. They're another team who at home is running away 7-1 at home. They've won a couple straight. And then the additions of getting back Ekblad and Montour. Really, Florida is a legitimate force this season. Did you like Montour? I do like Montour, yeah. I mean, he played a legitimate force this season. Did you like Montour? I do like Montour, yeah. I mean, he played a ton for them last year.

Could have stole him a while ago. No, no, no. His tweet, Kip. God, people won't lay off it. It's forever. We got Billy Jaffe. Okay, well, we'll talk about that. We'll get to it.

Now, give me the opening. Did you mention that our show is brought to you by Bet365? Did you get that in? Oh, I didn't know that you had to do that. What do you need? Here you go. Here. There you go, pal.

Oh, my God. I'm not handing you the steering wheel ever again. You've got your own lineup. Take a line for it. All right. Let's welcome in Billy Jaffe as they get ready for a big rematch boston bruins and the florida panthers how are you billy gentlemen it's fantastic to see you uh i'm actually coming to you guys from the beautiful

city of chicago as the bruins and Panthers are on TNT tonight locally or nationally. I mean, so we've actually got the night off and we ran here for two days for a quick family Thanksgiving of rarity and in season trip Kipper. It's great to see you guys in your studio. Looks awesome. Yeah. Thanks pal.

Is this again, the Bruins, despite their record, despite leading the Atlantic division, say that we need to send a message? Well, I think after the other night, Nick, losing the game to Tampa after, with what, they tied it up with like four and a half seconds left and then they lost it in overtime. I think they'd like to get back at it.

And I think because of what happened in the playoffs last year, even though they have played Florida once so far in Boston, this is the one that I think they would like to have. And the other thing, you know, Kemper, they got the dads on the trip. And I know they're pros, but they gave up the lead with their dads there. They couldn't have been as happy as a flight. I'm sure it wasn't awful, but the quick shuttle from Tampa down to sunrise or Fort Lauderdale, maybe the elbow room wasn't as fun given that they only got one point

instead of two. Yeah. Oh, great to see you too. Glad to get you on zoom for this. This is great. We've been talking about the Bruins and trying to make sense of them, not going away.

You know, we do a lot of leaf stock here and the Bruins are supposed to get worse at some point. Who is stepping up in the absence of. You know, we do a lot of Leafs talk here, and the Bruins are supposed to get worse at some point. Who is stepping up in the absence of, you know, the loss of Bergeron and Krejci? Well, Justin, it's awesome to see you too, but I'm glad that things are going so great for you. I would tell you that, look, it starts with the goaltending.

And that's what is so amazing about this team is that, you know, last year the goaltending and that's what is so amazing about uh this team is that really you know last year the goaltending was good i actually think it's better this year yeah borney i really do i think it's better between omar and swayman uh the way that the tandem works the back and forth and by the way i'm going to jump the shark a little bit here jim montgomery has already been asked about would he go more tandem down the road? He's getting that hypothetical question, you know, and he's already said, sure, he would do it. So I think unlike last year where they went with one in the

playoffs, assuming the Bruins make the playoffs this year and both guys are healthy, I'm assuming they would start with a tandem. But the goaltending has been great. That's the bedrock of the team. Then you have awesome defense in front. You've got two, you've got a horse in McAvoy and you've got a horse in Lindholm. So you've got

one of those two guys on the ice for about 24 minutes a night, if need be. The other guy who's really stepped up on the back end this year, in my opinion, is Brandon Carlo. Justin, I think he's had just an outstanding year. Specifically up front, the two guys that have really filled the void down the middle

are Pavel Zaka, who looks so confident. He looks so, he really does. He looks, and he can play wing or center, but the other guy is Charlie Coyle. Now, we are so early in the season. Who the heck knows where this is going to go? But Charlie right now, Coyle is trending upwards of 72 points. I believe he's on that pace. Maybe give or take one point, but you is a guy who 50-54 points was a big year for him. So if he's going to get 60 to 70 points, that's a big difference, and that helped fill the void.

As far as this tandem is concerned, to me, Swayman looks like a guy that's just busting to be a number one goaltender here. He's at that age now where it still may be a little early because sometimes these guys don't hit their mark till 26 or 27 but he's a unrestricted or he's a restricted free agent

after this season he makes 3.4 so collectively eight and a half million dollars doesn't look horrible but this guy this guy wants more there's no. Knowing goalies the way I know goalies, and this guy's going to want to be, envision himself a seven and eight or nine million dollar goalie one day. Will he ever get that opportunity in Boston? Where does this finish for these guys? Well, very fair point. And good question. Both Kipper, you know, he's younger. He's what, six years younger than

maybe seven than Linus Solomark. Linus, after this year, would have one year in his contract. He's six years. Yeah. He'd have one year left on his contract. As you said, Sway got a one-year deal this year with Arb. He had Arb eligible rights and it's a one-year deal. He does want, there's no question that he wants a big deal and he'll get one. He absolutely will. You know, I mean, I can't imagine that there wouldn't be discussion about it. If the Bruins have success this year and Swayman has a stellar year that maybe he would, you know, get more and they, you know,

even if they gave him a big contract and they wanted to go with both goalies after this year, Kipper, you would know that one guy's got a long-term deal and the other guy has a deal that is expiring. Could they live with that for a year? I guess, maybe. Maybe they would look for an option, right, to move one of them. I can't imagine that there haven't been a couple of teams, and particularly one in the province of Alberta, that hasn't, if they haven't actually called up the Bruins, they've at least kicked tires, I would imagine, or internally discussed it. What would it take to get one of the guys? Listen, Swayman has, he has come back with a purpose. He's always been mentally strong, but physically to me, he looks even stronger. And technique-wise, Kipper, this

year, his rebound control, and I'm not a goalie expert by any stretch, but we talk to guys that are. A guy like, you know, I do a lot of work with Razor, with Andrew Raycroft, and he talks about his drift and his recoil and his set and all these fancy words that I get, but I don't have any idea what they really mean. But he's doing all that, and he's doing it really, really well. And his glove looks so sharp, so beautiful this year.

But his rebound control as well, his look has looked beautiful. It looks so sharp, so beautiful this year, but his rebound control as well, his look spot on. Billy, when you cover a team every day, you get to know players pretty well. You know, guys come here to Toronto that a lot of people like, and then they go, hey, wait, he turns the puck over a lot

or whatever it is they notice about their game. Does Pasternak have some sort of deficiency when you watch him on a nightly? I mean, 29 points in 17 games. He runs into people at times. Like, is this guy as, you know, where is he among the league's elite? Well, Borny, anything, you know, you're dead on. Anytime you're with somebody, whether it's, you know, as you said, covering a team or relationship, whatever,

you see all their pluses and minuses, so to speak. The beauty and the beast, right? Listen, a guy like Brad Marchand, we learned this over the years, and I'm getting to Pasternak in a second. Marchand would get criticized at times for the penalties, and some of them were foolish, we know that, but he would turn the puck over a lot. But he was the one that had the puck kind his stick an awful lot. So we'd be like, well, you know, you got to take the good with the bad.

David Pasternak is kind of taking over that role. He's got the puck on his stick so much. He is going to turn the puck over here yet. What he's doing less of so far this season is turning. He still there's giveaways turnovers. Cause that's going to happen, but he's doing it at less inopportune times. All right.

Maybe it's, it's not within four or five feet of the blue line. Maybe it's deep in the ozone and it doesn't work out well. He's more physical than he has been. I'm singing his praises because he has elevated his game so far, Justin, this season. His deficiencies, in the old days, a year, two years ago, it was turning pucks over in bad areas. No question about it. And sometimes it would be maybe taking extended shifts,

getting out there for too long, trying to do a little too much. He's really matured an awful lot. And I do think, Justin, that he really took to heart knowing that Bergeron and Krejci weren't coming back, that he was likely going to be wearing a letter on his sweater, which he is, along with McAvoy, both alternates or assistants to Brad Marchand. And I think it's matured him an awful lot. I do.

And I think we're seeing it in his game. You know, every once in a while, again, he'll – we haven't seen him really do it at all. I was going to say take a long shift or maybe try and do a little too much. But I think he's got the runway now. He's one of the great players in the world now, Justin, that he can do that kind of thing. Speaking of Bergeron,

there are some people out there that might think that he could be talked into Are you okay, Sammy? out there that might think that he could be talked into. Are you okay, Sammy? Are you okay? That he could be talked into coming back for the back half of a season. And maybe his belief of the team taking a downturn might have been premature.

Is there any world at all you see that that could be a possibility? Wow, I had to go on one of the big shows in Toronto to hear that. That's the first I've ever heard that he might come back. That's why I love you, Kipper. I'd be very, is there any, no, I don't see that happening. Okay. I think that he is very content being, you know, not Mr. Mom, so to speak, but the dad who is around an awful lot.

They recently, within a year, had their fourth child, so he's got four kitties. I think they're eight and under at the house, and some would argue that could drive him to go back i'll pay you uh but for 19 years he was well for half of the you know he's away an awful lot i i listen to me he is such a such a bright human being um bright human being. I always would say this about Patrice. He does everything right. It's disgusting, right? You know, it just drives you crazy.

You know, he looks good. He acts good. He says the right thing. You know, make a mistake here or there. He just rarely does. I don't see it happening, Nick. I just don't. I think he – I just felt that he knew that it was the right time.

I think he understands how much of an amazing career that he was able to have with one team. And while it would be staying with one team, I'd be shocked if he were to come back. I would, if only because this is a guy, I think, that really thinks things through. That's what made him a fantastic player. His cerebral nature on the ice, and he was able to translate that into instinctive things on the ice, right? Like, he didn't overthink. He thought just enough, and he was a step ahead defensively than most players, right? He understood. We always talk about the offensive players have that great instinct,

where the puck is going to go. Well, I think the same thing is defensive for these guys, defensively like him, he understood it. So I think his cerebralness, his thoughtfulness, I think he's very content. I really do. I think he's very content with where he's at right now. Okay. If he doesn't, if they don't beg him to come back, where are the deficiencies? What does Don Sweeney need now to fill some voids to really have a true chance at beating the likes of a Vegas one day or Florida? Yeah, it's a thing that it's funny that we've all started to think about

and we're barely 20 games into the season because you say, man, this team, they are pretty darn good. What happens, rhetorically asking, with their third-line center, who right now is a 19-year-old, Matt Potrow? So that could be a spot. Matty's been great. Matt, you know, he hasn't scored. It's now five, six games, I believe, that he hasn't put up a point.

Yet he's had some really good moments in some of those games, Kipper. But is he going to be battle-tested strong enough physically and mentally come playoff time? Not sure. I think they could look for that. They could look for a player to fill that void. I think they wouldn't mind a little more, you know, size up front. And then it's cliche, but defensive depth.

They're playing this kid, Mason Lowry, who has really done well for them. He's six foot four, about 200 210 pounds he's still got room to grow he's just 22 23 years old first full year pro his instincts kipper his first step and and stick handling as a defenseman are excellent he was a forward in fact until he was 16 years old till he made that transition back to d so in essence he's still learning the position but you know with grizzly coming back this weekend, are they going to keep Lurie up or send him down? I think they'll probably look, if they want to keep him playing,

they'll send him down more. But would he be a depth guy for D? I still think they could use a bit of a kind of a tough guy on the back end. You know, they got Forber who's killing penalties, Carlo's killing penalties. But I'm talking about another good 5'6", 7' guy, 6'2", 6'4", with some jam, some nasty to their game. Billy, in the first hour of our show,

we do like the Leafs as a focus, and their record is the same as the season before, and we were kind of assessing, but how do you feel about them compared to the season before? For me, this year's Leafs team, not quite as good as the previous iteration. Still time to change that but you know currently not is this Boston Bruins team as good as last year's or do you think expect them to have some more stumbles along the way well I don't know I mean Justin isn't that amazing by the way I don't want to go too tangent

here but like all of us many of us were thinking Toronto was not infinitely better, right? But they were significantly better than last year with the moves that they made, which is just amazing, right? We all get kind of caught into that. And then you realize you peel back the onion a bit. And you're like, holy smokes. They still have some significant issues. With that said, for the Bruins, we had no expectations.

I mean, my expectations, very honestly, this year were still to make the playoffs, but to make it maybe just as high as the number six team and battle 6-7-8 spot. I thought they were still pretty good because of their goaltending indeed. So they're better than what I thought they were. Are they better than last year, though? I don't know. I mean, it's hard to say that they're better, even though actually their record this year to last year is a point or two better, which is absolutely phenomenal.

Freaking amazing when you think about it. Right. Considering how good last year was. But I do think you still have to ask the questions about the loss of Bergeron, the loss of Crecce, the loss of Foligno, the loss of Hall. It's not just I mean, that's that's not just goals and points. That's also leadership. But they seem to be doing a pretty good job. When it's all said and done, I think they're going to have a few stretches this year of three, four games. It's the normal reps, the normal routine of many NHL teams. Heck, we've already seen it from Colorado. We've even seen it from Vegas a little already this year.

I think that is going to happen to the Bruins. It's not going to be the worst thing to happen to them, Justin, at all. I think last year when it was all said and done, by not having any real troubles, that when they did get kicked in the gut in the first round of the playoffs, that they had a hard time bouncing back from that. If they go through

a few of these this year, which I do, a long way of getting to say, I think they're going to have a couple of those, it's going to be okay. In theory, it should make them better. What's the over-under on how many Bruins challenge Matthew Kachuk tonight? Well, the only

guy, you know, in the line, I mean, Lucci wouldn't do that either. I don't think he would with regard to Chuck. Trent Frederick, maybe. Trent's a pretty good fighter. How about this, though? Let's not forget this, Nick. Remember last time? I don't know if you remember

what happened last time these two teams played. It was the game where Charlie McAvoy got suspended for the hit on Ekman Larson. So I wonder, will the Florida Panthers look to go and get involved with Charlie McAvoy, who has dropped the gloves a couple of times, but who's a tough kid and he's a great body checker.

There's no question he deserved the penalty and suspension for that hit on Ekman Larson, in my eye. I've said that before. So, Nick, I think the discussion or the over-under is probably how many of those guys are going to look to go with somebody because of that. That's me. That's more what I would look for, bud. All right.

Well, listen, great stuff. Enjoy the game from Chicago. A real quick Thanksgiving here. We've only been able to do this with our family. I heard you guys before I came on talking about Thanksgiving here. This is the big one. I got to have a quick one tonight with the family. Mom's cooked everything up.

By the way, this is what you get when you go home for the first time in a long time. Look what I found real quick. Oh, boy. Look at this. Look at this. A Thrasher sweater signed by Kovalchuk and Heatley from my days with the Atlanta Browns. How about that? I thought you were going to tell us Colby Armstrong was on that thing, too.

There's good value to this, buddy. There's good value to this one. No, I'm kidding. No, I love Colby. But listen, we're going to have a great time here, and then tomorrow we fly home. The Bruins have back-to-back matinee games. Classic annual Black Friday game at home on Friday against Detroit,

and then Saturday on the road against the Rangers, which is a huge Eastern Conference early season matchup. Always good value when we have you on the show, Billy Jaffe. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, Billy. Appreciate you, pal. Awesome to see you guys.

Be well. Thanks for having me. Good to see you. Happy Thanksgiving. NHL analyst for Nissen, NHL network and host of the Morning Brew with Andrew Raycroft. There's another guy we got to get on the show, Andrew Raycroft. What was that about Bergeron? Like your jaw dropped.

Sam has like the nightmare of like Bergeron doing a Rocky montage in like a bar or somewhere getting ready to return. It's like the glass smashing and wrestling. God, is that Petrie Bergeron doing a Rocky montage in like a bar somewhere getting ready to return. It's like the glass smashing and wrestling. Oh, God, is that Petrie Bergeron's music? He's going to be in a good F3 position all night. Oh, you haven't heard that at all? No. Oh, I've also been doing this.

La, la, la, la, la. I don't want to hear it, but I have not heard that at all. Kelly hadn't heard it. I know. But have you heard it? I've heard rumblings. Oh, my God. Listen.

Spend time with the family, man. It could be as simple as someone in Boston just going, Hey, Patrice, how you doing? I got a crazy idea. Just hear me out. Hypothetically, you came to play two months for us. And then he turns around and goes, Like, are you kidding me?

Some tell me he hasn't fallen out of shape. There's no chance. Some tells me he steps right back on the ice. He's the best defensive forward in the game immediately again. He's a Selkie on eight games. It's not the – we've been around professional sports a long time. It's not the craziest idea. You know what's funny is yesterday we had Henrik Lundqvist on the show, and the amount of people in his tier of human for, like, doing it the right way,

you know, good-looking, respected type of guy, like, it's Bergeron and Hank. Yeah, I would say, like, you know, Lindstrom, I guess it was a little bit before, but, like, he's in that kind of that ilk of, like, perfect human type of guy. But Bergeron is definitely there. The NHL's all-perfect human team includes those people. I think it would be an unbelievable story. Oh, my God. The return of Bergeron.

Well, on a team that is... He was one of the best 200-foot players when he retired. He was amazing last year. He won the the selfie last year, didn't he? Yes. So let's also piece this together. They're like, let's give this Poitras some run here. We'll give him a run of games. We know he's going to leave about halfway through the year or whatever. We'll have

an opening. Money's not an issue. He'll play for minimum. Money's not an issue. Of course he'll play for minimum. He'll play for less than minimum. Somehow. He'll pay them to play. Another crack at winning a Stanley Cup with a legitimate team, not one that he may be envisioned heading, trending in the wrong direction. You know, Leafs fall into a wild card spot.

Bruins hang on. It's Bergeron. It's Matthews. Game one of playoffs, round one. There it is, pal. Did I derail your game time now? Can you focus? No, I can't. i think it's time you were so happy when patrice retired god listen everyone's like oh you

gotta respect them you gotta i'm like no i this guy i'm a leaf fan he has haunted the dreams of leaf fans for his entire career like oh i respect him for that. Okay, sure. I respect him. I despise that dude. I can't stand him. But the thing is, it's like he's never given me any reason to not, it's not like it's Marchand.

It's not like it's like Pasternak who can play with a net. He was just like stone cold pro killer. Scored one of the worst goals of my life against James Ryman in overtime. Like just, anyways. Oh, when was that? The glass shatters.

All right. Game time? Where's my sheet here? Where's my read? All right. It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odd

and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. And I have gone, I've got a few for tonight, but I've gone outside the NHL for a couple as well. So I've got a couple of non-NHL picks for tonight. Oh, is this now we're doing your men's league again?

Did you pick Jamaica over Canada last night? I was going to talk about that. Is that? Your buddy Matty, the over-under on him coming back in like 10 days on a separated shoulder. We think he's scoring 160 on the Raptors tonight. We think he's going to be the new year for Matty. So, he'll be off for a month. That's standard.

Yeah. But first of all, Oilers and Edmonton tonight, which every game progressively gets to be the biggest game of their season. No, no, no. This one. I'm sorry. Must win. Must win but every game is it's like they are every game is the biggest game but i i was looking at the tough enough to play this game i was looking at the total it's a six and a half total and to me feels like there's gonna be a lot of goals in that game

carolina has cleaned it up defensively recently they've gotten better than their shaky start but edmonton they can't keep the pocket of their net it's just flying in like i feel like i feel skinner going tonight i feel like carolina could get five of those for you so like the over in that game the total six and a half i i just i think there's gonna be a lot of goals in that game i think the admin i think the oilers are gonna pull out a low scoring one they They're going to lock it down for a day, Sammy. No, man. There's just no way to lock it up. You're the believer. I'm the guy.

Hope. I'm the guy. But you hope. Lock it up. Deep down, do you really believe? Not really. I'm losing faith is all I just I gotta keep a solid front on this possibly be

as bad as what we saw in Florida with the the broken stick and then they got some Broberg stepping on it and I'm in the neck on a breakout and ends up in your net like head well get that

worse tonight a couple of ounces man Simmons has one of sayings he's ever had is the year from hell team in every sport in every season there's always one team that has the year from hell and they're having it they're the year from hell it has to get better i mean they got like a couple of weeks here where they can't even be 500 no they got to be perfect. And for the record, like, come on. Carolina, a little disappointing up until now, too. Yes, a brutal start. Yeah, but they're ripe for the pick. Like, this is a game you got to win.

Anyways. Awesome game late night tonight. Colorado and Vancouver tonight. The two favorites for the Norris going head-to-head, if you want to bet on both of them scoring in this game tonight, just straight up, each of them get one goal, it's 14-1. Okay. You know, it's a long shot, but for you, they're both going to want to show out that the other one's better than the other.

I can't wait. I'm going to have to get the scotch tape to keep my eyes open for that one. No, no, no. This one, you're not going to have any problems. Kale McCarr's last like six or seven games here. Three points. One point, one point, two points, three points, three points, three points. He has nine points in his last three games.

Of course, he still hasn't caught Quinn Hughes yet. That's the thing. Pretty. Pretty. How many did this drop? we yeah there we go you know we like to it's like a new flashy toy thing whereas lebron james could have won the mvp every single year for the prime of his career four or something yeah and it's like he could have been he's the best player in the league the whole time but it's like narratives get driven up or whatever and if that's what it's i'm part of it driving it with quinn hugh Kale McCarr is still...

If you had your pick, you're probably still taking Kale McCarr, right? I am, but I know that's not a popular sentiment in this country. I don't... It's not an easy decision for me. Yeah, I think it's definitely gotten harder. I'm still taking Kale McCarr. Other one I have for tonight, Sabres in Washington. You're just going to have to see a longer sample size out of Quinn Hughes.

That's all. Uh, Sabres in Washington tonight. Sabres are having a really hard time scoring and the Capitals don't give up goals. They are second in the league in goals against. They've only given up 40 goals all year. They don't score a ton either, but I like the under on a goal and a half for the Buffalo Sabres team.

Total. We're gonna have a tough time scoring. Uh, it's on the road. So don't love that for the Sabres and, going outside the NHL. I am going to have a tough time scoring. It's on the road. So don't love that for the Sabres. And going outside the NHL, I am going with a NBA pick for tonight. What is happening right now?

Against my Toronto Raptors, my beloved Toronto Raptors, who are not very good on the second half of a back-to-back. I love the Indiana Pacers team total over 122 points. They're going to light the Raptors up tonight. Over 122. And tomorrow, the NFL,

it's one of the best days of the year in the States where everybody just drinks and eats and watches football all day. And the Detroit Motor City Lions are actually good, and it's just nice for them to have a team. They always get Thanksgiving. That's their whole thing is they get Thanksgiving. Is this the off-the-board American Thanksgiving special?

Because you're not going to start bringing me PGA bowling. I'm shutting that stuff down, Sammy. Give me the Detroit Motor City Lions minus 7.5 tomorrow against the Packers. And all the people down in Detroit are going to have a blast at the game. I have no input on this. I have nothing to offer. Detroit's really good. I mean, I watch Red Zone every week like everybody else,

and I've seen them a lot, and they're good. All right. There you go. There you go. There you go. There's a little bit off the board for you, fellas. Okay, wrap it up. I'm done.

Oh, yeah. I guess I got to read that. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now you're done. I am done now.

Okay, we're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to discuss a little World Cup and where the heck is the National Hockey League going with their international play because our good friend, I think, Elliot Friedman from 32 Thoughts

spoke a little bit more in detail of what we can expect as early as 2025. And I got to be honest here, not liking what I'm hearing. Oh, no. So stick around for that conversation after the break. Real Kipper and Bourne. Diving deep into Leafs, Raptors, Jays, and NFL.

The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Just before break, we brought up the topic of international hockey in the NHL and something that's been a struggle, I think, for both the NHL, Gary Bettman, and the NHL Players Association. Level of consistency has not been there since probably the late 90s yeah and uh now we get word of a possible world cup if we can even call it that uh elliot friedman on 32

thoughts i think mentioned the possibility of four or six teams g Greg Brzezinski had a big write-up on it for ESPN down south. So yeah, there's rumblings. So really the gist of it and everything that I hear is towards four teams. Four? Just four. USA, Canada, Sweden, Finland?

Canada, US, Finland, and Sweden. The whole idea would be Canada and the US playing in North America and Sweden and Finland challenging themselves. I don't know, Helsinki. I don't think it would be Stockholm, but it would be somewhere. This is the single worst idea i've ever heard so how many teams do you need to make it legit well listen we're talking about czechia not getting in slovakia germany switzerland you could do austria like yeah and the russia thing i mean how are you

gonna have dry sidles stutzla and cider notasternak. You're going to have them all excluded in this. It's insane. Well, yes and no. It's not great, but it's the best out of a tough situation right now. That's what it is. Do you do nothing, or do you at least try to do something? I see your point about attempting to do something it's just maybe you don't call it a world cup because it's just well it's not a world

cup no it's just a tournament four nations in fairness yeah sure and it's a it's the best hockey countries so it's we're watching like it's gonna be great we are watching. Like, it's going to be great. We are. We will watch, but it won't feed the beast of Connor McDavid for the Olympics. No. No, that is not going to be on par. But it would be a warm-up to that because the feeling would be that the league would come in with this and as early as uh february of 2025 and then after that they would get on a regular uh calendar of world cups and olympics so you go to 26 italy yep and then 28 would be another World Cup. And then 30 would be the Olympics again.

And now you're every two years. That's the plan. Every two years to me is perfect. That's right. It's the right thing to do. And it's, you know, much like soccer. You know, the World Cup is the bigger one. Just to me me the lack of

this is one of the most embarrassing things in the you know in sports history major black mark on the sport to have there not be a real best on best since 2014 is a joke is it like they have david and crosby have literally never played because the last time because last time they played them they wore wrestling jerseys and they played because the last time, because the last time they played them, they wore wrestling jerseys and they were all the on 21 and under team. Right. And they, Canada beat team Europe in the final,

whatever that means. It's, but you know what I think is some of the best, uh, you know, Olympic memories like Latvia pushing. I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean,

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, Because he made 60-some saves for Latvia, and Canada won 2-1. And who was it that the year Sweden won? Was it Belarus or someone knocked someone out? Sweden lost to Belarus because the guy took a slap shot off the head of Tommy Salo that went up in the air and bounced in. And if you'll remember correctly, Canada had gotten starched by them in the preliminary round, and that was who they were going to have to play to go to the final when they beat the States and they got to play Belarus

in the semis. You need these teams. You need these weird but smaller hockey teams. It's competition. That's why you literally play games. It's not you don't just assume. Why you play the game. Or you assume that teams are going to beat other teams. It's like you have to have these

lesser nations. That's what they get up for. That's the huge thing. Playing Canada, playing USA. Anyways, I'm very passionate about this. It really, really hurts my feelings. Yeah, no, and I think that's fair. Is our game strong enough, big enough to actually create a true definition of a World Cup. Like, World Cups are supposed to be about a year or two trying to qualify for it.

That's a real World Cup. Yeah, I see what you mean. Well, yeah, it's not like soccer that has so many different nations that compete. The world still goes on. One of the powerhouses in Italy, soccer. It's not like they cancel the World Cup because Italy is not playing or didn't qualify for it. Can you create a true definition of a World Cup where you qualify a year out, 18 months out to play in an NHL?

Does that mean that the NHL doesn't control that World Cup per se. Like you don't have, they're fixed on World Cups only having NHL type players in it. That's not a World Cup. That's whatever your country wants to send. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think it's a great point about what are we really trying to construct here

and the NHL is wanting to have their fingers in the financial pie of whatever it ends up looking like. And that alone is reason to turn people off. Yeah. When you try to pretend it's a world cup, when all it is, is an NHL invitational. Yeah.

It's, it's about nationalism. It's not about money. Like the whole point, the whole reason the Olympics is so special is because all these elite guys went and played and they're not there for paychecks. We're not talking about salary caps. We're there to determine who the greatest hockey nation is.

Not about like, you know, who's the best of these four teams that we picked. It's the best nations playing hockey i think if you're gonna do like a world world cup i think there's like be like six auto entries right like i guess russia you can't really do but like they would be one of the teams if you were gonna have them right they're one of the best nations would be canada sweden finland usa russia and the czechs would be like the six autos, and then every other team would kind of play

for the last two spots or last four spots, however you want to do it. There's some pretty clear delineation who the best nations are. I think it's different in soccer, but you guys are both looking at me like I'm crazy. No, you can't have Russia politically right now. And that really hurts.

That hurts the tournament. For sure. You lose a complete. The greatest hockey rivalry ever is Canada. Anytime you hear Canada versus Russia, you can't, you think of the history before you think of the current. Of course. Game. But it's like you understand you just can't have them.

There's just no, there's just no way you can have them. There's no, there's no light at the end of the tunnel when you can have them. It always felt like they were kicking this down the road to a point where they were hoping maybe they could. It got canceled. There should have been one this year, and it got canceled because they waited for Russia. And that's why we're hearing a four.

It itself is embarrassing. And this is why we're hearing four teams in 25. It's because we can't wait. We got to do something. And please tell me we're all on the same page here that four teams isn't great, but

it's still going to be way better than Team Europe or Young Guns. Lord, I was, I think, the most vocal critic of that, ruining the whole premise of the tournament. I will say, though. Although the one game against Sweden was electric. No, they played good hockey because they're good players.

It destroyed the meaning of the event. It's a wonderful exhibition. Matthew of our best players. Austin Matthews actually scored his first career goal at Scotiabank Arena in that tournament, which is weird. Great. Playing with Connor McDavid on the line.

All right. We remember, Sammy. Looking into the future for the Leafs. Jeez. Here he goes. Here he goes. I derailed because I don't even remember what I was going to say. I think World Cups are...

I think they're going to be a hard sell. The different location thing is so unappealing, too. So you're forcing these two teams to play off and then presumably meet. That's the idea, I think. In Portugal to play or somewhere in the middle. Just make it be ice in the middle of the Atlantic. How hard will they play one another? That's the other thing, too.

I think those are four pretty premier countries. I mean, Finland and Sweden, they're going to be like the second they put on the ice. To win what? Somehow Leo Kamara is going to come back and scare someone. To win what? Like, it's... Nick Ehlers had a comment, I think, with Joshua,

who was a guest earlier on in the show. I think I read an article of his where it's like, Ehlers, like, nobody cares about a World Cup. Nobody cares. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay.

And I think even Drew Dowdy went on record as like, yeah. Where is Ehlers from? Is he... Danish? Huh? Danish. Danish?

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, he's Danish, I think. I'll find it here. But it's... Because he played with Freddie Anderson, I'm pretty sure, who's also? Danish. Danish? Yeah, okay. Yeah, it's Danish. I'll find it here. But it's... Because he played with Freddie Anderson, I'm pretty sure, who's also a Danish. I think Denmark, you got it.

It's just, okay, you can't... The prize. You're fighting for a Stanley Cup. You're fighting for a gold medal. It's not career-defining. How many did you have in your career? Yes, we're not going to sit here and say, you know, and sit at it that the

2016 World Cup. No, but the Olympic medals do like the gold medal is like something that's like, oh, yeah, that elevates your, it gets you a Hall of Fame if you put that on your resume. It helped Henrik Lundqvist, not that he needed help. But like, I mean, yeah,

the Four Nations Cup, it's like, oh boy, they won two games against America. He's in the hall. Like, you know, it doesn't have the same allure. Because it's going to take so long for it to build up, to have that allure where it's like it matters. Well, if it's set up properly, I think it's got a chance. But I think any World Cup, no matter how many consecutive tournaments they get over the course of four years, it will never carry the clout of a Stanley Cup

or a gold medal to the new generation. My generation, it was gold medal. Nobody cared. Yeah, it was so funny. Yeah, nobody cared about the gold medal because it was the amateurs, first of all. It was our heroes. And it wasn't that big of a deal.

Yeah. Like for amateur athletes, I get it. It's a big deal. But not in the pro world when I grew up. But now, because everybody's had that history and, you know know it started obviously in 80 with uh Jim Craig in that in Lake Placid but it it moved the Americans the Billy Garens the Brian Leaches Jeremy Roenicks and then and then once it came into fruition, I think our first one was 1998. And then Team Canada took over.

Gretzky took over. Mario with a pass between his legs over to Joe Sackick. Yeah, the no touch. You're going to make me cry. The dummy. Right? The dummy. Now it runs parallel with the Stanley Cup.

Yeah. And it's funny. Like, you know, you mentioned just as an aside, that one meant more to me than, like, the Sid moment is, like, singular and incredible. But 2002 was the one that, like, hit me. Yeah. It was like, they both did, clearly.

But, like, that team and Joe Sackett coming down on Joe Sackett. He shoots at low blocker on Richter. Right? Those U.S. teams in the playoffs are enhanced. I wonder if you did ask the young kids if you have just one crack at winning the Stanley Cup or a gold medal. Not close. Not close.

Cut by miles still. I would hope so. Not one tournament. You win four games. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm just not sure what the kids would think about today. Representing your country like that is kind of cool.

You know why the kids wouldn't? Because they don't do it. The kids would be like oh there's you can do that yeah like people coming up it's like how old was jack hughes in 24 i don't even want to know but how old was jack hughes in 2014 he's not alive yet he was probably like four years old it's like there's a whole generation of kids that are coming in that have never even experienced it yeah like i'm not i'm 35 and i'm like, I was young when 2002 happened. It doesn't translate anymore and it's heartbreaking.

Especially because it helps that we're the best at it. This is kind of our thing. We want to show that. If they're going to do the Four Nations thing, give me a best of seven series between Canada, USA best of seven series between canada a

bunch of games canada usa best of seven series and then canada versus whoever wins in the other one best of seven series love that it's gonna it will feel weird to shut the league down for two or three weeks to play for just four countries oh is it okay. So, sorry. It would actually affect the NHL calendar. I think they shut it down. Oh, my God. That would... I'm sure those guys would be like, I'd love to hit the beach.

You can't. Past is like, I'll head to the beach. Oh, no. This isn't shaping up for a September thing. I think this is shaping up for a February. Really? Yeah. So, then it wouldn't be a long thing,

then, like, it would just be one game? Yeah, it couldn't be best of five. So they just play a three-game tournament. No, this would be, this would be, I think, I think you'd need to shut down for a while here. Wow. Yeah, this is multi-games overseas. So.

Don't love it, boys. You'd, you'd, you'd take out the NHL All-Star game that year and substitute it with this, I think. Yeah, okay. Well, I guess that remains to be seen because that sounds like a weird format. The NBA in-season tournament is a very different animal than that. Let me tell you, I will be pouring over every millisecond of every game. I will be there. Can you explain to me why I'm watching basketball games with different colored courts? Yeah, no problem. They're doing

an in-season tournament this year. What does that mean? So, they play a round robin. You have like a group, like you would have like a World Cup. Yeah. And then all your games within that group count towards your regular season record. And at the end of that, whoever comes out of the groups, they go to a week-long

tournament in Vegas. And then when? In December, mid-December. Is it half a million-long tournament in Vegas. And they should pay the players. The players can win. In December, mid-December. Is it half a million dollars a player? Yeah, half a million bucks a player. Yeah, so. Sorry. I spook like a horse against my blinders.

Is this good? I think it's, I actually love it, yeah. Could the NHL do this? No. Yeah, maybe. Maybe. America finally get his wish. We'll have green ice.

We'll do different ice for the tournament games. Just, you know. The purpose is of the different court is to show us in our minds that it's different. Different vibes.

Which I like. The Raptors are wearing like the OVO jerseys, the gold and black. And it's done digitally, right? Like I'm not. What do you mean?

The court? Yeah. No, they put a whole new court in there, bud. Oh, they put a whole new

court in there. And you know what? It's not a green screen. Why do you think your season's tickets are, they gotta put a whole new court. It's also painted and super slick and guys are sliding all over the place and hate it. So there's not like green screen. Why do you think your season's tickets are? They got to put a whole new quarter.

It's also painted and super slick, and guys are sliding all over the place and hate it. So there's that, too. So it's like, so maybe they should get Vancouver Canucks matted helmets to. Matt it up. I like it. No gloss finish.

What are we talking? I don't know. But yeah, you know my take on America versus Canada. This is all so confusing. Maybe no best on best because they may be better. They got lots of talent now. Okay, how many more sleeps until the Leafs play again and we get hockey again? At least one.

But at least we have 14 unbelievable hockey games tonight. Maybe they're not all good, but there's a lot of good ones. Sammy, you're going to stay up for sure. Oh, yeah. Okay, Vancouver and Colorado. I'm falling asleep over here right now. Makar versus Quinn. Must see TV.

All right, our thanks to Joshua Cloak in the first hour and Billy Jaffe on our national hour. We solved nothing. Nope, never did. Especially the World Cup. But we'll take it for now. And we're back tomorrow on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Enjoy your night, everybody.