Real Kyper & Bourne - No Matthews for Three Weeks

Episode Date: January 27, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Gord Stellick and Sam McKee share their reactions to the Auston Matthews injury, if there were signs earlier in the season the forward was dealing with something, and how much of a bigger role will William Nylander get. Then, former NHLer and Coming In Hot Sens Podcast host Jason York (22:03) jumps on to discuss how far away the Ottawa hockey club is to make a return to the playoffs, why the front office forgot to add defence to their roster, and preview the Leafs-Sens matchup. Doug MacLean (41:12) stops by for his weekly hit to chat about how close Steve Yzerman was going to play for the Senators, if there's pressure on Leafs GM Kyle Dubas to make a deal ahead of the trade deadline, and if he thinks Rick Tocchet can change the Vancouver Canucks' season around. Afterward, Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Gartner (1:07:19) joins the guys to break down Nylander's skating skills, why the Leafs' need good goaltending in the post-season, and his involvement with the Hockey Hall of Fame. 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. It's Friday. Joni means one thing. Off the rails with Doug McClain. Dougie McClain. And not only that, off the rails Friday with G Cord Stelic. In for Justin Bourne, who has got a real special family day planned for him. Nice. So he's out enjoying that.

And we are here holding the fort. Thanks for coming in. Hey, love it. Always a pleasure. Really appreciate it. Like I said, it's going to be a fun show for the next couple hours. Derek Brandeo, Jen Rolnick, Sammy McKee on board, of course, and as I

mentioned in about 45 minutes, Doug McClain. I love listening to you when I'm on. He really said that. And he means it. So, you remember the you did Hockey Central with him for so many years. Yes. And I would be on

I sort of was your guys fill-in off days, but the odd time. Like, Doug would be carrying on. Well, you were a champ, too. Like, you were like me on radio when I used to endorse about six things. So you'd have your, who had the Lexus dealer? Doug. Doug. You had your water.

And then he had Mercedes in Burlington, I think. Yeah. But you had your water. I had GP8 water. And you had your water i had gp8 water and you had your protein or your um your pills kind of thing your protein things your vitamins but doug would conduct but doug would be selling condos and pei during the show like you could tell when he all of a sudden got something if someone put an offer on one remember they weren't selling yeah so well yeah he was just he was just oh my my goodness. That's right. Fun, fun time.

So just hold on to your hat in about 45 minutes. Once I ask him a question, we could actually go down, get a coffee at Timmy's and come back and not feel like we missed a thing. Yes, I know the drill. Also, before and after, we got Jason York

in about 20 minutes and we'll catch up with him. Always fantastic to hear from him. And there's a special treat. and after we got jason york in about 20 minutes and we'll catch up with him always fantastic to hear from him and there's a special treat we got mike gartner hall of famer one of the one of the greatest goal scorers in our game but also one of the best skaters in our game yes and uh everybody skates now but not a lot of people skated 30 years ago. Mike Gardner did. No. And I know he's a big fan of Willie Nylander. So I want to get his thoughts. I'm going to get him to critique a little bit on Willie Nylander

and what we see every time he steps on the ice. Because I'm not going to say that they're the same per se when it comes to breakaway speed or anything like that. But as far as watching an effortless kind of skate, very comparable, don't you think? Yeah, I do. That's a good comparable. I mean, now, our son Justin was pissed that he's not going to the All-Star game

and play some Matthews. It's like it was. No, first thing he said. So that's the neat beat about Nylander now. It's not about, oh my goodness, his ebbs and flows and he's slumped. No. Like your tick that he's not getting the props like Matthews' martering company normally gets.

He's gone, he's gone, right? Which leads us to the headline today, Gord. And that is that the Toronto Maple Leafs today announced that Austin Matthews will be out a minimum of three weeks with a sprained knee suffered against the new york rangers so uh they're pretty clear on this uh there's a lot of conspiracy theorists out there already saying hold on what's going on does he not want to go to the all-star game this is pushing his three weeks is he nursing an injury that happened before that but this is this is pretty clear that this whatever happened uh

was during the new york ranger game never left the game no that's um yeah when did it happen how did it happen i i don't think we we know and I've not gone back to watch any part of the game Wednesday night. Nothing stood out, though. If anybody else has on social media. But whatever the case is, it clearly was something that progressed to the point where maybe after the game or 24 hours and we've been around the game a long time to know that something can feel a certain way during a game immediately after the game and then 24 hours the swelling kicks up and the next thing you know uh you got some serious issues that to me is what it appears to be yeah you could have the swelling go down to the swelling go up 24 hours you know you always

hope for the first one getting better. It was interesting that Jamal Mayers just had that, talked about that stat about Austin being second in the league in block shots. He just talked about it on Wednesday's game. But, you know, Tom Wilson took one for the Washington Capitals earlier after coming back from his knee injury. But this evidently wasn't a block shot. And to your point about, okay, has something been bugging Austin before

and, you know, maybe it just got tweaked a bit more, you know, because he's missed a day or so along the way. But I think what a lot of people thought, okay, again, these conspiracies, it's about a shooting. He wasn't shooting earlier as much, you know? So it was hand, wrist, shoulder, upper body, if it were anything. So in this case, yeah, well, part of the game.

Are we at the point now where we've stopped with the upper and lower body injuries? And like, this is pretty clear. I mean, they're not dumb enough to tell you it's a sprained knee injury and it's not, right? Because that can come back and haunt you in the worst ways so maybe maybe the leafs have uh gone beyond that uh that uh upper and lower body stuff well pat quinn's the one that started it as leaf coach he started it like 30 years ago about and uh

and now with the gaming situation you know there should be more clarity about injuries. There should be more clarity earlier on about starting goaltenders, since there's partnerships and that that's going on in that regard. Now, you ever have a sprained knee? I knew you had a knee issue, right? Yeah, everything. I've blown it out. So you had surgery?

Meniscus, ACL, everything. Sprained, yes. So the high ankle sprain, which just isn't, that can be good news, but quite often it's worse. It's as bad as a break. Correct? Many say it's worse. Okay. A bad high ankle sprain, most often people say you're better off just with a clean break at four to six weeks.

So what do they say regarding knee? A knee sprain. I mean, who is a knee sprain i mean who is a i think i think if if you give it ample time it could get to the point where it's completely gone and you're fine again but if it's one of those things that uh that you play at 80 or 90 percent you don't allow it to get to the 100 percent mark it can linger it can bother you it could be something that you're gonna have to manage the rest of the season do you think that the leafs looked at uh the fact that okay i'm missing some pretty important games here with uh ottawa washington and boston coming up but we have

that break and if he gets two and a half three three weeks, he only missed the three games and we're fine. And you look at the schedule. Sorry. Hey, boys. How are you? Hey, Sam. How are you guys? Sammy McKee, ladies and gentlemen. If you look at the schedule coming out of the break, I wouldn't exactly describe it as a murderer's row, fellas.

They play the back-to-back home-and-home with the Blue Jackets on the Friday-Saturday. Then they play the Blackhawks at home. And then they play the Habs and then the blackhawks again so they're not i think if you kind of look at that so that would be basically three and a half weeks till the end of that point and the 21st against the sabers would be you know that would be a point maybe where you would look to return i think if you're looking at the schedule if there's any time to get them right this seems like the perfect opportunity for the Leafs to get him right. By the way, Sammy thought I had a knee sprain when I tried to get out of the chair

after Leafs Nation postgame. You know, some nights, yeah. I just say, no, no, Sammy, you're just getting up there in age. Don't worry. I'm fine. I'm fine. I had to put you on LTI on Bordeaux after watching you get up out of the chair. So, Kippy, you think, okay, the conniving that, okay,

this has been around, maybe it's a little worse than normal, and here is the time to let's get that break he's needed and let's just say it out there like whatever, but really it's something we could have done earlier or could do later. What do you think? You know what? We'll address that.

Let's go to Sheldon Keefe right now and just get his thoughts on an update on Austin Matthews and maybe playing with injuries, and then we'll pick it up Let's go to Sheldon Keefe right now and just get his thoughts on an update on Austin Matthews and maybe playing with injuries and then we'll pick it up from there, Gord. Yeah, to be honest I'm not certain what specifically whether there was one specific incident or anything like that. I noticed him

in a little discomfort a couple times through the game but didn't think much of it at the time. He was still sore the next day so they brought him for an MRI and uh there's an injury there so take some time notice during the game it's interesting he was asking him about it he said he probably said he's fine probably lied to him multiple times clearly he keeps going tweaked it somewhere and you kind of shake it off and uh I don't I don't think he it wasn't to the

point obviously where he didn't leave so i thought maybe it could loosen up yeah yeah so now you look at matthew's history it feels like he misses a chunk every season with a different thing right you know he played every game his rookie season yeah and then this it was the second season he had three different injuries didn't he yeah i thought well there was one i remember the shoulder injury when he got smoked by truba on the jets yeah i remember him having the wrist issue i remember a back thing and now the knee so those are the ones that i remember clearly so a lot of different things that have ailed austin matthews guy takes a lot of a lot of abuse a lot of beating yeah but okay so was this a part of a beating it was it him stopping up was it him uh trying to loot a check in the offensive or

defensive zone while he had the puck or was this someone running him the latter i didn't mean to be right but some was this a cheap shot was this a physical play i mean i again that then it would jump to memory right you go oh that kind of that kind of hit matthews took or gordon the problem is because it's the leafs and they don't have that type of lineup they take a lot of those and you get used to them you know and they they they aren't as noticeable because you just assume that and we saw it again with Keandra Miller just burying Lilligren, and it's like, we've had four different conversations over the course of the season on, okay, when does somebody step up? And then we saw it a little bit two weeks ago, and we all got excited, and then it kind

of fell off again the last few games. But you almost get tired of talking about it, to be honest with you. So when you say, okay, you're talking about Giordano, when he stepped up, and Bunting's always been a guy to stick his nose into things, and, you know, just that. But that's a minimal, right? Yeah, yeah.

But the constant guys taking healthy runs at the Leafs, are we all not used to it by now? Again, it goes back. It's so interesting that Brendan Shanahan played hockey and played hockey on teams that incorporate what we're talking about, what you're talking about, and then they've really gone all in about the whole skill thing. And the guy that was the best that they need and they miss is Nazem Kadri,

but it's certainly understandable why he's gone. This isn't crying over spilled milk, but just something about, part of why he went overboard is because he got pissed off about something, you know, and he overreacted. But we need, you know, it's like, who was talking about things like, even a Joe Thornton in his day, about three times a year he'd take off, you know, he'd all of a sudden, nice, all of a sudden, three times a year he'd take off. You know, he'd all of a sudden nice, all of a sudden three times a year he'd be set off. And you almost need that

from everybody that can, to some degree. But then you need the other part. We are married to the fact that that's not like Austin. You can't set this guy off. He will just step out of any scenario or you know, I mean, we saw him slew foot

I don't know which player, Sammy. No, but I'm okay with that, right? The trip on, was it Nick Cousins said he did that to you in Florida? Yeah. So that's the gist of him setting off. Well, he's a Hart Trophy winner. Like, I'm okay. Like, you're a Hart Trophy winner, you're a Hart Trophy winner.

I just mean it's some others about, and you see Nick Folignino in an appropriate role now not a front do that among those would collectively with the boston ruins that it factor they've always had and the leafs haven't that fair to say yeah i think so okay do we have uh sheldon on injuries yeah i'm playing with him i think if there's anything we've learned about our team this season, it's we've been resilient no matter who's been in or out. For the most part, other than missing Austin for a couple games, it's been the defense that's been beat up a lot.

I'm not sure where we're at in the league in man games lost, but it's got to be significant in terms of where we're at within the league. And it hasn't bothered our team since we just keep playing. Obviously, you're a different team. I don't think you have to play differently other than just more opportunity for other people and expect them to step up and do their job. And everything that gives us success when Austin is in has to continue.

And you got to find a way to get that extra goal. You know, that's really, really what the focus is. But in my time here, whether it's Austin or anybody else out, they really don't talk about it. You just prepare to do any other game don't talk to it and the perception out there that it doesn't bother them so is he just have they been kind of lucky at this point does it catch up to them eventually or will we really find out against still an Ottawa team that seems to be buried in the standings

but can be very dangerous when it comes to putting the puck in the net, the Washington Capitals and the Boston Bruins? Are we really going to find out if it bothers them or not? Okay, but I thought, Kippy, if you had to say what would be catastrophic, it'd be Morgan Riley, T.J. Brody, Jake Muzzin, whatever, the Jake Muzzin at the start of the year, all out of the lineup. And to what Sheldon's saying, they weathered that storm. I mean, that was the one with all those D, with all those D out.

And I thought, you know what, you lose four games in a row and Kyle Dubas is saying uncle and maybe making a trade that he really does. Not a horrible trade, but just something to get, just to get a body. And I give them credit how they weathered that storm. So, hey, Boston started the season without Marchand and without Charlie McAvoy. And this is kind of like that kind of player, Sammy. And to look, you know, he's kind of right.

The stats bear out. I mean, I put it in the lineup here, but with Austin Matthews in the lineup, they have a 635 points percentage. And without him, they have a 653 point percentage 31 16 and 2 without them stevie felon always sends that stat and it makes no sense their power play is four percent better without them and those in those however many games they've played so they've all just trade them then right now absolutely completely agree kipper that's a

great point by you and i'm just saying, like, they have found a way. Sheldon's right. They've found a way to play well without him. I think it's also safe to say that whatever your perception of, you know, Austin and peaks and valleys, this has been one strange year for him and one that we did not expect in terms of on a lot of nights, not as noticeable as we would expect him to be when we think of other superstars in the league, most notably Conor McDavid.

Like it has been a strange year for this guy. But the, okay. So last year Conor McDavid was going to it has been a strange year for this guy. But, okay, so last year, Connor McDavid's going to win all the trophies pretty well every year, except when things are a little bit off like it was for him last year and mostly for the Oilers last year. So good on Austin Matthews that he wins the Rock of Richard, the Hart, and the Ted Lindsey. And then a lot of people say, let's go for 70 goals.

Well, you know, 60 scored once every 10 years, although Connor McDavid may do it again now. let's go for 70 goals well you know 60 scored once every 10 years although connor mcdavid may do it again now so yeah again i i it's like the bar is so high that is that and then and then when he gets goals they were tip-in goals and you know and i still love the two-way game he plays i still you know he's always going to be a heart trophy candidate but you know given last year that everything went in just everything and he's really had picked it up he just had a slow start we're kind of you know slow start he had a i remember he had a few that looked like easy going in and hit the post or whatever things that wouldn't happen last year so i i uh we we love hockey or so much and we have

this show or you have the show with justin that people dissect it all which is the what which is the wonderful thing they're not doing it in n and Arizona and Florida and places like that so uh yeah I don't know what people expect about the Austin Matthews but I think if you call it a strange year I think that's that's not a bad term it doesn't mean bad it just means kind of different compared to last year wow yeah we didn't see uh we didn't see the goals, as many of the goals, and we didn't see as many games that he's physically dominated. But with that maybe comes the rise of a Willie Nylander in the process. Yeah, and part of what I like with Austin is when...

And Tavares too has been better. Oh, yeah. But also, you know, when Austin, when he has the puck like with Austin is when... And Tavares, too, has been better. Oh, yeah. But also, you know, when Austin, when he has the puck like a lacrosse ball, that's the best, you know, just like... And, you know, maybe, again, we're getting pickier, but maybe it happens because when he kind of gets that presence, he's got the puck and no one's going to...

Kind of like Patrick Kane, right? No one's going to get off him and that, and have we been seeing that a little bit less? I don't know. Maybe. And it's just funny, the other night, switching up the lines to get them going and actually got Nylander and Tavares going.

You know, Marner's streak ended with Austin in that particular game. So, yeah, I find it a little picky, but I do find considering the season he had last year, probably there was no way to go but a little bit down. So, you know know in that clip where uh he mentioned the man games loss and he didn't know where they ranked in the in the nhl do you think do you know where they rank either of you guys i i don't think they'd be at the very top but i probably would have them top 10 they're fifth in the league in man games okay so fifth

in the war in the bad one most man games they've man games lost. 279 games lost to injury and illness. The worst. Flyers? No. Flyers are third. Washington number one. And that's the example. And to me, there's the example of a team that's battled in,

like Washington Capitals, just when people question. And that's what you want to get, you know, within the Leafs in which they show with all those defensemen injured, the ability to, in Washington's case, stay in the playoff race. Right now, in the Maple Leafs case, you know, try to battle for home ice advantage in the playoffs. Yeah, so it's Columbus, Philly, and Montreal are the other three. And Colorado?

I just have the top five here. And it was the Leafs are in there. So I just wanted to mention that since he brought it up in his scrum. Okay, no Austin Matthews, which means opportunities for others, And it was the Leafs are in there. So I just wanted to mention that since he brought it up in his scrum. Okay. No Austin Matthews, which means opportunities for others, including Pontus. Let's go to Sheldon Keefe on this move. He's a guy that obviously has shown well since he's been here with us, both offensively and defensively.

He's a guy that has shown that he can play in the league and help us. So there's an opportunity there now. We do have some other options, other options that we've used in the past. But this is one we haven't necessarily, save for shifts here or there. But I think it's a good opportunity for him to just jump into that and see what he can do, and obviously we'll monitor it. Okay, whoever saw Yarncroft-Holmberg being two-thirds of your second line at any point during the NHL season for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Well, Yarncroft, because they signed him, you thought,

okay, maybe he'll try on different lines. I never thought there'd be a Leaf named Pontus. Just never did. And this guy's been a real revelation. He played really well. So, yeah, they get a chance. And, of course, Willie Nylander, who we'll talk about, is going to be on the line with him. So, that's, you know, how can, so Holmberg, Yarncroft, yeah, being on the Leaf second line.

Off the top, that means not beating Tampa Bay in the first round, but that doesn't have to be the case. And I am a big Pontus fan. I think that from the first exhibition game that I saw him, of course he got sent down. He didn't make it through training camp, but there was a guy that presented just a little heavier, a little bigger, a little smarter than I think others,

including Aston Reese and Hunt and those type of players on the bottom six. The presence that he has is much greater than I think we've seen from others. And what I like, Kippy, is you can't always have guys come up and just be fourth liners, right? And you think of when Zach Hyman came in with Andreas Janssen and Kasperi Kapanen and Connor Brown, right?

All at once from the Toronto Marlies in the span of two years and played different roles and could play up. And in Holmberg's case, he's been able to do that. So that's an added bonus because you can't all be fourth liners. Okay, let's go to our first guest who might just one went up doug mcclain on taking it off the rails jason york co-host of the coming in hot sense podcast yorkie what's going on buddy kimper good to hear from you buddy i'm actually in florida right now i'm at my one of my good buddy paulaough's house.

We're having a cold beer here, getting ready to watch the hockey later tonight. So, no, you know what? Thank you for the compliment, but can anybody one-up Doug McClain? Can anybody get a word in when Doug McClain's around? He was my first general manager when I was in the minors and Adirondack fellows. Wow. Back with the Adirondack Red Wings,

Barry Melrose coached that team. That was Barry's gateway to Los Angeles. We won the championship down there, Gordon. But Doug was around all the time with lots to say all the time. Yeah, I don't doubt that for a second oh i know and barry was a guy when i did that show rinkside he'd be one of the guys i'd call

in the adirondack dressing room to get the skinny and he said to me once he goes i'm watching i go gordy stellick i don't think he says one ehl game live well i couldn't i whatever anyway so he was one of my uh my tipsters way way back when what, you know, just first of all, with Doug McClain aside, that the Ottawa Senators, okay, it's always a funny animal that, okay, you look at Winnipeg last year, whatever. It went off the rails and they said,

okay, we believe in what we have. Even a few years ago, John Cooper did that with Tampa Bay, right? Just said, okay, this regular season, we don't have to do any heavy lifting. The New York Islanders, for example, might be revisiting that philosophy this year. Ottawa, like, are the pieces there?

You like the pieces. I know there's injuries. Kind of said it's going in the right direction. You feel that way or not? I like this team two years from now, Gord. I think this team is two years away from being a really good hockey team. And the reason I say that, you look at them down the middle right now, guys. Tim Stutzler's just turned 21 years old.

You got Shane Pinto, who's a young guy as well. Norris, he's hurt again. He's not that old either. He's another young center iceman. And now they have Greg in there as well, who played really well the other night. So for me, you build down the middle and two years from now if I'm forecasting the Ottawa Senators

they just need a little more time a little more experience some more reps and they're getting it right now like Tim Stutzler for me has been he's taken a huge step in his game and I think he's got the goods to be a franchise type player in a couple years in this league.

As far as the back end, Yorkie, and I'm watching a segment with some insiders the other day, and they're like, yeah, Pierre Dorian's still looking for a top D man. And I'm like, yeah, you know what? I'm also looking for my retainer I lost in grade seven. But it's a little late, don't you think? So everybody was excited in the summertime. They coined it the summer of Pierre in Ottawa.

The shopping list was great, but they forgot to bring in the main course. He forgot. It's like having a barbecue without the steak. You can't win in this league without defense. And everybody says, well, you can't get a defenseman. You can't win in this league without defense. And everybody says, well, you can't get a defenseman. You can't find a defenseman. Well, New Jersey found their Suria. Yeah, New Jersey.

Look at what John Marino's done over there. Look at what some of these teams have done. You can't. Kipper, you're exactly right. We all know this. Gord, you're a GM in the league. You can't wait until the season starts to try and bring in a top four defenseman, because guess what? There's about 20 other teams that are trying to do the same thing. So

those moves in the summer for me, guys, those were flashy moves to get the fan base excited, to try and get the season tickets up again, and to try and make this team a little more attractive to sell. And I think they accomplished that. Like Debrinket got everybody excited. Claude Giroux got everybody excited. But signing a top four defenseman in the summer, nobody really, it's the right thing to do, but it's not the most exciting thing to do. So they didn't do it.

It's too late now. This team is not going to be a playoff team this year, but they're going to be a really good team in two years. So everyone's excited, particularly in Canada, about trade deadline, right? That talk's going to go and go and go. So, I mean, Ottawa, right? So John Klingberg's not a guy, a hired gun. They're out of it, right?

So they don't do that. Do they have much to sell? How would you characterize them around the trade deadline? I think they got a couple pieces that, well, they're not going to fetch you much in return. Like you could probably, like a guy like Holden, Nick Holden, for example, he's got some experience with Vegas. He's had a nice, a couple of nice runs. He's an older guy.

I think he could maybe get you a late round pick. Here's the thing. And Kipper, Kipper, he and I talked about this last time it was on. If you want to get something in this league, and I'm telling you guys what you already know, you've got to give something that somebody else wants. And if they really want to go big game hunting and bring in a defenseman that's going to help them two years from now

and now, you're going to have to trade Alex to Brinkett. That's the guy you're going to have to trade. And maybe that trade is better off done at the draft this summer when maybe you get some more people at the table, but a lot of people, especially fans, want him signed because of the 40-goal score.

I don't see the fit for him in Ottawa. He's going to want to get paid. He's going to want his qualifying offer at $9 million. I just think it makes absolutely no sense to bring him in make a nine million dollars a year in a long-term contract if he's going to sign for a lot less absolutely but is alex to bring it going to sign for less money to stay in ottawa well the question is can he go UFA and get nine anywhere else?

And I don't think so, Yorkie. Yeah. So particularly forwards, right? So and you're watching Huberto, who had a career year and was phenomenal in Florida, come back down to earth. And I think people thinking that DeBrinkett's going to get paid eight or nine million would scare a lot of people off. So is there a seven,

seven, five over a long-term deal in the cards for Ottawa? I think that would be more realistic. Yeah, I think so too. I, I think at that number, it's doable.

The cap's going up. There's going to be space. The other thing too, is I always find with players, especially goal scorers, if you're going to score 40 goals, you've got to be on that power play for a minute and a half. You've got to be out there. You've got to be – you're not having a power play 1A and a 1B. And when I look at who Ottawa's committed to right now,

as far as their top players are, you got Tim Stutzler, you got Brady Kachuk, you got Drake Bathurston on a very cap-friendly $4.5 million, and you got Josh Norris, who's also signed for $7.5 million. You got Thomas Chabot. So is he really going to get 40 goals if he's having to share power play time with his other guys i i know you can't score goals in this league unless you do that and i just he sure is a 40 goal scorer but i

don't see him as a 40 goal scorer for the ottawa senators down the road because there's just too many other forwards that he's going to be fighting with ice time for so i'm going to do a bit of a pivot just because we talked about d and i'm thinking and it's ottawa playing toronto tonight so nikita zeitz of okay brought over here little amarillo gives him like a almost like an adam larson contract like he did in new jersey right the seven-year deal kind of he's not going to be an all-star but he's going to be a solid nhl-er then he gets traded i mean seven whatever number of years later like well did he get hurt or what like what happened from a guy that was a decent NHL defenseman, which you think could have been in your core four or five years ago,

to just being a non-factor now? When you're a defensive defenseman and you play a lot more in your own zone, like the Ottawa Senators, who are not as good of a hockey club as Toronto Maple Leafs are, you look a lot worse than you are. When he was playing for Toronto, and I know this because I played on some bad teams and I played on some good teams, you look pretty good when you're standing on the other team's offensive blue line

and then you go back and retrieve pucks and, oh, I get to pass it to Austin Matthews, I get to pass it to Mitch Mariner, I got John Tavares versus all these young players on the Ottawa Senators. So it's way tougher to play. I remember my last year in Boston, guys. We were a really bad team. And it was tough because you're always playing in your own zone

and your game gets nitpicked. It gets torn apart. And I don't think Zaitsev's a terrible player, but he just, he looked, it's tough to play in the system the Ottawa Senators have with the way they're built. And he's just, I think he's lost a step too, guys. And he's never been a guy that's a great puck handler. And unfortunately, when you're playing in a little more system, a little more chaos,

you're going to have to have the ability to make a play where other times maybe you just throw it off the glass. So no, he hasn't been good when he's played, guys, and it's happened not overnight, but in the Canadian market, too, the fans have been really on him, too. So I don't know if that gets back to him or if that gets in his head, but he's, you know, especially early on in the year, he had a really tough go. We're talking to Jason York, co-host of Coming In Hot Sens podcast. Hey, Yorkie, when you look at the challenges of the blue line,

it certainly didn't help that when they traded Mark Stone to Vegas, and at the time, Mark Stone was regarded as one of the best 200-foot players in the game. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the centerpiece around that was Eric Brandstrom. And like... You don't even know his name, Kipper. That's how good of a player he is. Don't be mean.

That's my job. That is a huge miss. Well only that kipper when he made the trade he said this is going to turn into the greatest trade the ottawa senators have ever made and he said that branstrom has the ability to be an eric carlson he's on the record saying all these things like if you're going to say those things you better be right um and again he's a i i believe especially with defensemen circumstances dictate a lot of how you're going to play as a player he's a type of guy that needs to be on the power play because of the way jake sanderson's come in he's pushed the door down here he's broke the door down for the Ottawa Senators. He's now the guy on that second power play unit.

He's playing all these minutes. Brandstrom's now playing 12, 13 minutes a night. And that's really tough to go out there, and especially if you're a puck mover and offensive guy, to really do anything. So he doesn't have any points. He's not on the power play. He's now killing penalties.

He's totally miscast in the type of role he has in Ottawa. Can he go to another team and maybe be that power play guy? I don't know. To me, guys, he's more of a tweener. It is a myth so far. He is still young. I think he's only 23. But he's also a real small two-kipper. He's about 5'9".

He uses a really tiny stick. And I know what type of defenseman the dj likes he likes big guys long bodies and he can just tell the way how he employs branstrom that he's not a fan of doesn't trust him so big miss um but when eugene melnick was alive and this team was being run uh under watch. A lot of moves were being made not with the intention of rebuilding. It was more like, get rid of this guy. He's making too much money, or get rid of that guy. So the Ottawa Senators, unfortunately, this is really the first year where they're starting to rebuild.

But, no, I agree. The Branstrom trade is a horrible mess. Yeah, I mean, one of three first-round picks of Vegas in the first year, but he was not Nick Suzuki, of course, who went in the Max Pacioretty trade to Montreal for sure. So, you know, you mentioned Eugene Melnick, and before he passed even, I just found, because Toronto's a great example about doing things right.

The little things become the big things. I mean, Daniel Alfredson, here's a guy that was on the front office and then was disconnected with the team, example about doing things right the little things become the big things i mean daniel alfredson here's a guy that was on the front office and then was disconnected with the team and now now being honored and all those kinds of things about guys like chris phillips working for the team being honored you know i i don't know what they mean inside the dressing room to current players jason but i think they're i just think they're really important boston's a great example right montreal is a great example about that and And I've just been really pleased the last, say, two years to see that be a priority in Ottawa rather than bitter taste after bitter taste after bitter taste.

Gord, you hit the nail on the head. I was at, I'll give you another example of what you're talking about. Wade Redden was appointed into the ring of honor. We had a ton of alumni come in for that game. And people can say what they want about DJ Smith, good coach, bad coach. DJ went to the players on that team and goes, I want all you guys to make sure you go up after the game and shake Wade Redden's hand. I saw guys coming up and they were sitting with us. They were having a drink with the alumni. And there was a connection, that former player, current player. And it was great to see. And that was the first time our alumni has really done something like that.

But it was a great step. And kind of it's great for the brand. That's why teams like Toronto, teams like Montreal, I know there's a lot more history, there's more winning. But you got to – that's how you keep a generation of fans. And I really believe maybe the last five to eight years, the Senators lost. They lost a small little gap of the generation of the fans that were coming to hockey games.

And I'll give Pierre Dorian and his staff and the whole organization kudos because they've really stepped it up in that department. They're going to retire Chris Neal's jersey in February, Chris Phillips. And, you know, it's just you got to start embracing that history. And I think they've done an excellent job of doing that so far in the last couple of years, Gord. You're exactly right. And, you know, Yorkie, you're not that far off now, whether it's Ann Lauer, who's been rumored to buy the senators, or if there's going to be another billionaire come in,

the rink's going to get built and they will like speak of doing things that you just spoke of tenfold. It's coming. There's no question. There'll always be a challenge for that market to drive some revenue dollars. They don't get to write off boxes there with the government or that sort of thing.

That'll be a challenge. But whoever's coming in will take this organization completely to another level. I have no doubt in my mind about that. I 100% agree with you, Kipper. And also, too, one of the things just I didn't mention, Alfredson's been around a lot more guys. He's going into the rink and he's going in. He's skated a few times.

They're putting out an olive branch to get him back in the fold. He's probably smart, too, with new ownership coming in. You want to make sure you're tight with Daniel Alfredson. Because Alfie's going to get a seat at the table. Whoever buys this team, if you're smart, and smart people usually have money, and they'll bring him in the fold, and that will be another really big step

in bringing back a lot of that fan base. Hey, when I used to play for the team, it was sold out every single night. You go back to the year they went to the Stanley Cup final against Anaheim, that rink used to be rocking. There is a fan base in Ottawa. Unfortunately, like I mentioned,

it just went lost the last little while, but I agree. Kipper if it's and Lauer, whichever group gets it, they are going to, they're going to spare no expense to make sure this franchise gets back to the days when it was a sold out building. Yorkie Ottawa is not going to make sure this franchise gets back to the days when it was a sold out building. New York.

He, uh, Ottawa is not going to make the playoffs, but I can't believe, uh, a team with, uh, Brady could choke in it tonight, uh,

is going to lay down, uh, not only for the Leafs, but, uh, for other clubs. Uh, it should be a fun game tonight.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I could check that kids. Uh, he's a chip off the old block Kipper. I remember, uh,

you remember playing against Keith. He wasn't fun to play against. And, uh, Brady's the same way. He's going to off the old block kipper. I remember playing against Keith. He wasn't fun to play against, and Brady's the same way. When Ottawa eventually does get into the playoffs, his game is tailor-made for a best-of-seven series. So it should be a fun one tonight. All right, pal. Really appreciate your time.

Thanks for doing this. Yeah, take care, fellas. Jason York, former National Hockey Leaguer, close to 800 games. Solid citizen out there. Solid. Solid. You know, I was just looking up Greg's dad, Mark Gregg, you know, who was, well, a Leaf briefly. 15th overall.

Line made of mine. Was he taken right after Brad May and just before Marty Brodeur and Keith Kachuk? Just talking about, I mean, we always revisit drafts. I was with him in Hartford. Were you? Yeah. Okay, so. And he just paul hungren

always just made him so nervous it was so much fun to watch he only like had 145 games or so he played in europe later on that but talented kid yeah shoot the puck so was his kid and a great kid as well okay we're gonna take a quick break as promised doug mclean off the rails off the rails with gordon stelic, Nick Kiprios. Plenty more wherever you are watching and listening. We're glad you're aboard. After these words, Doug McClain.

More Leafs. More Raptors. More Blue Jays. The Fan Morning Show with Ailish Forfar 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 Fan. What do you mean so far? I didn't even turn it on. I know.

You said so repeat again because it wasn't on. I said Nick Kiprios and Gord Stelik in for Justin Bourne and doing a terrific job so far. Yeah. Okay, good. And I said, what do you mean so far? And I said, well, you could blow it. No, you said so far doing, which made it seem like, okay,

I'm not too sure the rest of the journey. You're pulling like, we're going to talk later. You're pulling a Jim Rutherford on me. You're going, he's doing well, but I'm not happy with training camp. Right? That's what you're doing now. I'm going, what the hell? I did as well as I can for 45 minutes.

It may be going off the rails already. We haven't even brought in our next guest. I'm going to go for a coffee. Anybody want anything? The one, the only on Fridays, Doug McClain. Hey, listen, that's what you did for Ballard. Get him coffee. Why wouldn't you do it for me?

Yeah. Well, actually, I got him coffee. I got Punch Imlet coffee. I got anybody coffee. I would have got you coffee even, Doug. Don't laugh. I got Brian Murray the odd coffee, too. And I would have got Scotty Bowman when I was working with him, but he didn't laugh. I got Brian Murray the odd coffee, too. And I would have got Scotty Bowman

when I was working with him, but he didn't know who I was. He probably fired you before you could. The greatest Scotty Bowman story ever. I got to tell it. So Scotty calls me aside. He's a new head coach, and I'm assistant GM, and he calls

me aside in the hallway. He didn't really know who I was, but he said, Hey, hey, Illich's Tigers are having trouble there. They're really having trouble. They don't have a right-hand pitcher. And I said, Yeah, I guess so. I don't follow that close guy. He said, Well, you know, next time you're down to Illich,

tell him that he should sell Iserman and buy a right-hand pitcher for the Tigers. I said, Scotty, don't you think we should keep Stevie here for now? I thought that was a great story. Anyway, buy my book. Yeah, I think history will prove correct that it worked out well for the Detroit Red Wings keeping him. Hard to believe, though, Steve. You think about all these young kids with the Leafs.

Stevie Y was in his 14th year of his career when he won his first cup. Hard to believe. Yeah, so, Doug, I know when you were there, not there. What do you have to do? Go ahead. I was going to ask, how close was Steve Iserman to leaving, to possibly going to Ottawa? There was these kind of rumors before they won the first cup.

Was there any bite to that? There was, well, the one time, that was late. I was just leaving then, and that happened just after I left, that there was rumors of going to Ottawa. The one deal that I was there for was Iserman to the Islanders for LaFontaine. And Brian told me, I went to bed, told me the deal was done. It's going to be announced in the morning. I go to bed thinking, oh, my God, it's going to be a busy day tomorrow.

I get up the next morning, went into the rink, never heard another word about it. Something happened between midnight and 9 o'clock when I got to the rink, and I never heard another word about it. I just took for granted he was gone. Maybe the backlash on Twitter was really bad, and they pulled the plug back then. So listen, you guys, I'm so disappointed Jason Bourne isn't on with us today.

Justin. Or Justin Bourne isn't on with us today. So I read his article. I read his article today, and he's got F1 and F2 are really unbelievable. In the eight, your F1, F2 of your eight players. So I'm trying to figure out what the hell is this guy talking about? Then I figured out it's the top eight guys okay so i think today could go down as one of the monumental days in maple leaf history because of this article that born wrote because nick and i

for four or five years have been talking that they're not good enough in their bottom six and obviously dubas didn't understand what we were talking about but when he sees it on a graph like bernie had he will understand i know i think it being on the graph will finally get through to dubas so i think it could be monumental this article if if long we've got to get it be monumental, this article. We've got to get it in Kyle's hands. We've got to get it in Kyle's hands. What about the loss of Austin Matthews monumental the next three games?

That won't matter. It won't matter because it's the bottom six of the Kraken that have got them in first place, according to that article. So Austin doesn't matter. Well, you know what I did for you when I went washington me al may and rob murray or robin bow wow i mean come on you know how important we are that's right i had a guy send me an article on my first ever pro hockey win it was the skip jack's first win

against rochester americans at home at the baltimore civic center and doug wickenheiser the late doug wickenheiser, the late Doug Wickenheiser, had three or four points in the game. I don't know if you, I think your name was mentioned as an assist or something. You think Sheldon's okay with Austin taking three days off, having eight off days after Wednesday against Boston and getting them ready for the playoffs healthy? Or would you be...

Well, three weeks off, right? Yeah. It's huge. It really is a monumental loss. But you know what? The good thing is, did he see the game last night between Boston and Tampa? Sheldon, did he watch that?

I'm sure he's probably someone mentioned to them that those two teams you may have to play to advance. Watching that, you know, I look at that game last night and you say, okay, just a minute. Vasileski, 9-5-4 save percentage in the game against the best team in the NHL. 9-5-4 save percentage. Hedman, 27-plus minutes and scores a goal.

Sergeyev, 24-and-a-half minutes, played a hell of a game. Then you go to Kucherov, who plays 22 minutes and three assists. Then you go to Hagel, who they pick up in an unbelievable trade, and he scores his 19th goal of the season. It would make you nervous when you watch that game last night. That was a Stanley Cup playoff-style game. The Leafs have hung in there all year, have played really well against those teams. That last night was as good

as it gets and isn't it that that's you know how many of those games do we see without the foolishness of this circle around here and circle around there don't touch anybody get out of the way don't get hit with a puck last night it was serious i loved it you know if you had a graph to match those stats you could you could work again full time and here's another did i tell you the hagel deal the rationale behind the hagel deal i just want to tell you the the brilliance of tampa bay lightning on the hagel deal okay okay so they give up they give up two first round picks and two prospects to get hagel and everybody laughed at the deal everybody thought they were crazy okay so then you go back and you say okay what was the rationale first of all the two prospects they gave up

will probably never play radish and somebody else i mean they're they're borderline, borderline, borderline guys. No, the Radish, they gave up to Chicago. Borderline guys, okay? And the two first-round picks are going to be 28 to 32 in all likelihood in that range. So they're really closer to second-round picks, okay? So in Hagel, they get a guy that they know they can, that'll play in their top six, top nine for sure. But the critical

thing is he's on a three-year deal at 1.5 million and what the deal is is he fits into their top six or their top nine for sure at 1.5 million that's the critical part of the entire deal right there not what they gave up but what his salary cap hit is for a team that has got a three-year window to win, and then they have to start over. I thought it was a brilliant move, and he gets his 19th last night. There's cap management, boys, right

there. No argument about it. So, on the Toronto Maple Leaf front, trade deadline then. Okay, you're not going to get Kucherov, you're not going to get Hedman, but I mean, you mentioned Hagel, you mentioned there's Nick Paulul there of course was coleman and goodrew a few years ago that tampa bay acquired the leafs went bigger than they should have for an injured at the time unfortunately nick felino a couple years ago so what what do they need to prioritize on what i mean cap wise they're they're like a lot of teams they're to get a, I don't think they'll get a Hagel bargain that way,

but what do they need to prioritize on cutting down the trade deadline, Doug? Well, you know, I don't think their blue line's good enough. Justin Bourne thinks they need a number eight forward. So, you know, I mean, you know, you got to go with a number eight forward or top four D, you know, seriously., you know, you got to go with a number eight forward or top four D, you know, seriously. They need help in their bottom six. They've needed it for four years. They need a real player there.

They've been better this year. They still need a little help and they still need another D. I look, I talked to an NHL coach this week and I said, what do you think? Toronto is really good, really talented, well coached, but I don't see them getting by Tampa Bay or Boston for sure. So I don't know. I mean, look, I like the way they've played for the most part this year. I think they deserve a lot of credit for the way they've played, the way they've competed competed their goaltending has been good for the most part very good at times sam sonoff has been really the better i guess murray had a great run earlier but

so look it's going to be a hell of a series but it just bothered me last night how how zoned in tampa bay was in a game against the best team in the nhl. It was a show-me game is what it was. Leafs have had a few of them against those teams and have fared really well. So, you know, the deadline for Boston is going to be real important. The Tampa Bay Lightning won't do a whole lot. They're not going to do anything fancy. They've made their moves, and now they're sort of locked in. So I don't expect a big move from them.

And it's going to be up to Toronto what they can do to make the right move. Hopefully it'll work. We're watching the development of a guy like Timothy Lilligren, who's played like 20-plus minutes, I think, in six of the last seven games. I mean, he's logged a ton here. And his poise and his development has gone to another level but then there are some struggles and i know mac i've talked to you about morgan riley a lot over the years and and you are a fan you like him but i mean when you watch what a guy like headman did last night and and others

and i get he's not headman i get it but he still has to be he still has to have that presence on the back end for the Toronto Maple Leafs does he not yeah I look little grams been a great story and you know he makes a couple big plays the other night and he's really come along no

denying that but you know when you watch what a headman does in these critical games, now a headman's got miles on him now. I'll tell you the interesting thing when I look at Boston, just to stray away for a minute, but talk about the same thing you're talking about, Hampus Lindholm. I thought it was the best pickup at the trade deadline last year,

this guy they picked up from Anaheim. It didn't turn out for them last year. Now, all of a sudden, you go McAvoy, Lindholm, Carlo. It's a different look back there. That type of pickup was a great pickup for the Boston Bruins. Now, does it work this year for them? It certainly has all season. He's been real good.

That type of pickup can have an impact in the playoffs. So we'll see what Kyle can come up with. They're not easy deals to do. I, you know, I feel for them, but your point on Lilligrand is well taken. This kid has been really, really good as, as their blue line has been. Giordano's been good. They've all been pretty good. You know, Morgan Riley goes down and they they're better.

Morgan comes back. He's still, he's good. He's just hasn't got to the level. If he was as good a skater as Virtue, he would be a frigging star. Teresa. Is that her name? Tessa Virtue, for people that are wondering who on the Leaf team is named Virtue. Yes.

Yeah. You're horrible. You're just so, you're brutal. I'm kidding. Tell him, Morgan, I'm joking. I really like him, and I really like her. She was a great skater. Yeah. Hey, so the Hampus.

I was in, by the way, I was in Joe Lewis Arena. I was in Joe Lewis Arena just getting ready for our morning skate when, you know, the Zamboni driver, what was his name, that used to throw the octopus? Al something. Al Sabaka comes running in the coach room. Quick, quick, they just clubbed a figure skater over here. Remember the girl club? What's her name?

Yeah, Nancy Kerrigan got clubbed by Tonya Harding. Nancy Kerrigan got clubbed on mya Harding. Nancy Kerrigan got clubbed on my watch. It was Cobo Hall next door. It was Cobo Hall right next door. I'm so glad you're here today. I don't know what the hell he's been talking about the last three minutes. Yeah. That's where Doug McLean got the line.

Why me? Why? Why me? Right, Doug? I used that when I got fired a couple months later. So I wrote an article today, or today, earlier this week. On Thursday, it came out on the whole thing with Bruce Boudreaux. Gord read it.

He says to me, did you really write this? Yeah, no, it's well-read. Did you really write this? Yeah. No, it's well written. Did you really write this? Yeah. No, no, I meant... You're a little like me. You have a ghost writer, obviously. You have a ghost writer. It was a great article. So can

a couple of wins just settle this thing right down? You go first, Doug, and then I want to hear from Gord. In Vancouver. Can a couple of wins, can talk get this thing going? No. You go first, Doug, and then I want to hear from Gord. In Vancouver. Vancouver. Can a couple of wins, can talk get this thing going? No.

No, it can't. Well, I hope it does for talk's sake, but it can't settle things down because you've got this Horvat thing looming. Now, you know, somebody just said to me this week, Jimmy Rutherford considers Horvat a third-line center. Well, obviously, he must've had really good one, two guys in his, in his career. And I know he has with, you know, Malkin and Crosby and so on, but I just don't know how anything settles down till they either make an amazing deal for

Horvat or they get them signed. I just can't imagine it settling down. I mean, they were so bad the other night against Seattle, it was absolutely embarrassing. Go ahead, Gord. Well, and they play home against Columbus tonight. Their fans will be saying, Bruce, there it is, not the Seattle fans. I mean, this kind of game, they better not lay an egg at home.

I like talking. I remember you had him here once on radio, what, 10 years ago? He went out for a bite after and just I'm big on him. You get get a few wins the fans will start to come around but it's just you know what i don't get doug and kipper is i got all the respect jim rutherford's a hall of famer and i got respect what he did in pittsburgh and carolina but kippy's article to the point that he wrote it you know and with the harold ballard documentary coming up it's a coming out it's a 2023 version of of what he did to Roger Nielsen.

That just, you know, it's like. Yeah, it was. Well, he started. Yeah. So, so, so. Go ahead. I'm just thinking, like, they had a good season at the end last year. Maybe Jim understood there's a lot of things that had still to be done.

But you don't bleep on your coach at training camp and publicly say, I didn't like training camp. We got no structure. We whatever. on your coach at training camp and already publicly said, I didn't like training camp. We got no structure. We whatever. I'm really puzzled by a guy that didn't make those kind of moves before Doug. Not only that, not only that, the comment at his press conference the week before he was fired saying, yeah, I've been talking to other candidates about the job.

Yeah, I've had conversations with other people. I've never heard that in my life ever said by a general manager when the coaches i know guys do it behind people's back i know that but i've never heard a guy say it right at a press conference yeah i've been talking to other people about the job and i'm thinking are you kidding me did i just hear that but you know i mean the vancouver fans are so upset i mean, it reminds me when I went into Vancouver with Columbus and I phoned Berkey and asked him if he could get me a couple of tickets for my brother. And, you know, Columbus were coming into town.

I was all excited. My brother's there. And I said, you know, he's got a couple of kids. And Berkey said, Doug, and this is the same thing Jimmy would be saying if you phone him for a ticket today. He said, Doug, despite how popular you think Columbus are, I could give you or your brother an entire section for the game tonight. So that's what Jimmy's saying to people that are looking for tickets.

By the way, I am looking for a single ticket for the skills competition for the all-star game. Is there anybody, you know, that I could get a single ticket for, for the skills competition? Are they, are they typically hard to get?

Who wants to go by themselves? Like who, who wants to go by? A weird guy I played golf with asked me if I could get him a single ticket to the skills competition. I said, you're not kidding. You're not serious. He said, yeah, I'm serious. I said, you're not kidding. You're not serious.

He said, yeah, I'm serious. I said, oh, okay. But I had a great friend, a guy by the name of Doug Sifu, who was the minority owner there, and I think they fired him as minority owner. So I was going to call him, but I don't think he's around anymore. I think he got fired. So I don't know. He might have got fired because he was like friends with you.

He wasn't friends. But anyway. Anyhow, so, yeah, so it's tough around the NHL right now. But anyway, lots of things to look forward to. Now, look, is it Jason or Justin Priestley? I don't even know anymore. It's Jason Priestley. Jason Priestley.

I would Jason or Justin, whatever your name is. Little Italian restaurant right around the corner from the Rogers that we used to go to, a great little Italian place. We're friends of yours, Nick. The kids were hockey players. Anyway, I remember sitting at the bar one night, and the guy, having a glass of wine, the guy said, Hey, Doug, nice, good to see you here.

And I said, Oh, yeah, do I know you? And he said, Yeah, I'm Jason Priestley. So we had a nice talk. I guess he was in some famous show or something, 9-1-1 or something. Beverly Hills 90210. Yeah. Don't call 9-1-1 when you're looking for Jason Priestley. Anyway, seemed like a nice guy.

I'm really excited to watch that ballad thing. I really am, to be quite honest. You know what? I did watch it, and I'm like, I had to stop and pause because in it is Alan Eagleson. There's been no Alan Eagleson sightings forever.

I know, but he knows a lot about the story. I know whatever you think about it. They were partners for the Summit Series in 1972 on the TV rights. They made money on it, him and Harold Ballard.

They bought the... They sold the advertising. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing, Al Eagles. And I walked into the Starbucks here in Delray a couple of years ago and I walk in,

I'm going, the guy goes, hey, Mac. And I turn around and it's Al Eagleson sitting up in a coffee. So we had a great chat. And this was before John Ziegler passed because he said john's uh staying at my house this week

so it was uh it was nice to have a chat but anyway i'm right into the i'm right into the harold ballard's uh story and then as soon as i saw him and i realized it was him i'm like hold on get to harold later let's ask you a couple of questions right now yeah there's your next documentary and Don Cherry's in it too which is great to see grapes I think it'd be amazing to watch I really really think it would be an amazing story to watch because I was such a Leaf fan in those days and early days as a kid and to watch him was, you know, his act was unbelievable.

But anyway, it would be fun to see. They did a good job. Michael Geddes... Were you in the show, Gord? Were you in there anywhere? I'm in it and my brother Bob's in it quite a bit. Oh, that's awesome. To your point for one minute about coffee, Haroldold bowder lived in maple leaf gardens okay 24 7 so he was there his his office

was his apartment some nights he probably was the only person in the building like there was not a night watchman or something so i i got ahead and all serious about getting coffee and that that i knew he was an early riser so i would get get a call. I'd come like eight in the morning, which was early for hockey offices back then, and get my coffee and muffin from Kelly's Muffin, a little place at Carlton and Young. I'd get my Toronto Sun, and I'd sit in my office, and I'd look, and so his phone line would be back and forth with switchboards.

So then I would answer and just, you know, screen the call like the administrative, the secretary would do later on. But I'd answer and go, okay. and then I'd push the intercom. Hey, Mr. Ballard, Nick Karpios is on the line. They go, Gordy, you're in? And I go, yep, I hang up. And then about five minutes later, he'd come out in his housecoat

and he'd sit in my office. And it was the nicest time when he chatted, right? So I did that to make him think, even though I was just reading the Toronto Sun for about 90 minutes and having him three muffins and coffee. And would you get the Herald, like, act, or would you just get a normal conversation?

Great conversations, but as I gained in notoriety, you'd have a great conversation. And then you look at the Toronto Star, Stella could be out, as GM Ballard says. He said a nice conversation. But I'm going to keep him around to get me coffee. Well, that's right.

Yeah, I got to work on the show. I got to work on the hot stove after as a bus boy. Well, listen. That's great stuff. That's great stuff. You know, forget about your weird friend. You're all set for your four tickets, your six tickets. It's a whole family thing, All-Star weekend for the McLeans.

No, I just want one ticket from my buddy for the skills competition. I'm not going to the game. Are you crazy? I mean, like, seriously. That might be the last thing I'd want to do. I can't even watch them on TV. They're so bad. Like, seriously. They still

have the little mini games. Are they still doing that? Yeah, three on three. I don't know. I appreciate the promo given. I'm doing color commentary with Steve Coolius for the first time there, Doug. Did you not? Gord's calling the game. Yeah.

And the skills. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Are you going to be on the ice skating during the skills competition like they used to be? Yeah. No, no, I'm not going to be doing that. I'm going to be in a booth with Steve Kool.

No, Scott Lockham will be at the bench. Is it true that alligators are involved? I don't know about the skills, about that. I think it's going to be on the fan. They haven't told you you're calling it. They haven't told you yet. I've got to keep it quiet. Can you try to get me a ticket?

I was going to phone. Who's the guy who just got fired at Sportsnet? What's his name? He's the guy that fired me who I never met. What was his name? He was the guy that fired me who I never met. What was his name? Oh, she'd be a great contact. Bart. You're talking about Bart?

Yeah. Yes. Bart. I was going to phone Bart and see if he could get me a skills ticket, but somebody told me he's gone, and I'm like, geez, he's gone. I never met him before he fired me, and then I never met him, and he's fired. So I may never meet the guy in my life.

Wait, I just got a text from him. He said, tell Doug McClain, give me the name, and it'll be a will call. Okay? So just give me the name and just tell the guy to go to will call. And he's going to have an alligator presented to you. Okay. All right. Thanks.

Go away. Hey, listen, guys, thanks a lot for having me on. I really appreciate it. Listen, no problem at all. I don't know. Did we mention anything hockey-related at all? Gord, you've lost my number, Gord, for your show. I used to be on there regularly.

I lost my number. See you later, boys. See you later. Doug McClain, former something of some organization. I don't even know. I love listening to you when I'm on. That's a great line. Yeah. You Google the term shrinking violet. There's not Doug. That's not Doug's. Yeah, no, that's not Doug.

So heading to the all-star game. That's awesome. We're we're doing a financial network radio on, and I believe the fan network's picking it up as well. So I haven't, so anyway, I haven't been for a long, long time. So looking forward to it. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. As promised, Hall of Famer Mike Gartner and the Washington Capitals coming in on Sunday,

which means Ovechkin. And we'll get his thoughts on that, Willie Nylander, and what he thinks about today's game. All after the break, you're watching and listening to Real Kipper and Born with Stelictricity. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jeff Merrick Show. 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. Mick Kiprio, Gort Stelic, and as promised, Hall of Famer Mike Gartner joining us. Garts, thanks for doing this, man. How are you? I'm good, Kipper. How are you doing?

Good. We had a chance to connect wednesday night when the rangers were in town it was is great to see you and uh you know the the best part for me was actually when we started talking about the current toronto maple leafs and especially willie kneelander and you know gartz you will uh always be regarded as one of the best skaters we've ever seen in our game. But it was quite interesting to hear your comments watching a guy like Willie Nylander. Well, we were. We were.

Imagine two hockey guys sitting up in a box talking about hockey, Kipper. Like, we got nothing better to do. But, you know, you watch a guy like Willie, and I can appreciate he – I would say he's very light on his skates, and he has got a change of direction like I've never seen. And I think my comment to you was if I could stop up like Willie Nylander, I might have got an extra 100 goals if I could just put the defenseman on notice that I could do that

and but I couldn't and it wasn't just a matter of sharpening my skate sharper but but Willie when he's coming down the defenseman has to be so cautious with him because when he does stop up he creates a second second and a half of separation that he can do something with the puck. And very few players that I've seen have that kind of a stop-up capability. So it's really fun to watch a young player like that do that kind of stuff on the ice. When you played in your heyday, were you so fast from north to south that it was something that you didn't need to feel like you needed so fast from north to south that, you know, it was something that you didn't need to feel like you needed to work on as

much, or it just didn't naturally progress to stop ups and cut ends. You were just that much faster than everyone else. It was almost like the type of game that I played. Like I didn't want to stop up. I figured if I had a head of steam going um that I could challenge anybody and it's like you just got to stop me because I'm going wide on you and and every now and then you had to do something a little bit different um but the game is different now like a lot of times they'll give you wide and then you can take wide and it's tough

to cut in at the net it's tough to get those kind of plays. But to have that in your arsenal like Willie has, for instance, it's a nice tool to have as part of the repertoire. Mike, were you faster than Kipper? Well, Kipper was pretty quick, I've got to tell you. So Kipper played, we played on three different teams together. We didn't actually play in the Capitals together, but we played in Toronto and New York. And,

you know, Kipper was a great teammate, Gordy. You're being a great teammate now. Yeah. No, he was a great teammate. And I was glad he was on my team because he always came to play.

But, but Kipper was surprising. He was a surprisingly more skilled player than anyone would give him credit for so he could he could uh he could score he could skate and uh he skated pretty quick so every time you know you'd end up seeing a mike gartner on the ice or you know in washington it would be me and alan may and they just brought in peter bondra who had Mike Gartner elements to his game. That first practice he's going a thousand miles an hour and Alan May

and I are like let's just see how fast he is with an elbow to the chops and we never caught him to give him an elbow to the chops. It just never materialized. Couldn't catch him. It's amazing how you have to adjust. It's like okay I can beat that guy but I know he's going to try to

whack me on the side of the arm, grab me, and otherwise try to mug me out there. So it just makes you get even faster. It is amazing, though, Mike, when you look down rosters today and there's a lot more skaters

like you and Willie than there were in our day when you got to the bottom six. Like, no question. I mean, look at even the Leafs' bottom six. You get a guy like who maybe is the fastest guy on their team with Engvall. He's a great skater. He is. He's not in your top six forwards.

And a lot of teams have those kind of players. There's not much of a of a drop off from the standpoint of what players can do. Top six versus bottom six. You got to mix in a little bit of spice in there for sure. But from a pure speed and skill standpoint, those there's there's a lot lot of guys that are playing in the National Hockey League that have that kind of skill and that kind of speed. So, Mike, when you're talking skate, it would be like an excellent hitter talking hitting or a pitcher talking pitching or quarterback passing. So you've got that. You've got that cachet and street cred. So we talk about Nylander.

Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, marner like i mean three phenomenal skaters on this team so you you met you gave us the skinny on kneelander what about those two guys as excellent skaters what what what makes them from your point of view well i mean they're not it's not like you're flat out skating because you don't have to do that as much anymore but it's the ability to skate at a high level like like Marner's and Matthew can do while keeping possession of the puck and and stick handling with it and making great moves with it it's the ability to do that at a high speed really is a separating factor you see it with a Connor McDavid and what he can do at high speed. It's like, you know, were you as fast as Connor McDavid?

I said, well, you know, maybe I was, but not a chance in the world I was as fast as him with the puck. The puck slows everybody down. But you get your top players like a Marner and a Matthews now, the puck doesn't slow them down. And that's a huge advantage well when you watch uh uh connor mcdavid that's another one um that you add to those edges as well that uh you just must marvel like i mean not so much as much as us because we never got to your level but it's

watching what connor's doing out on the ice is truly spectacular isn't it well it is and i and i had the pleasure of watch connor you know grew up kind of playing at ntr which is our hockey rink that west jarvis and i up and own up in new market and saw him playing uh at different times watched him come out and do a charity hockey game when he was 15 years old in Barrie for our hockey night in Barrie that we had, watched his development as a young man, and terrific family, terrific young man. And then Gary Roberts has his training facility at one of our rinks in Richmond Hill.

And so I see Connor in the summer sometime, and it's not a surprise. He's a tremendous amount of natural ability, but he actually works harder than anybody else. And so why is he so great? It's because he has that whole package and he works hard. And so when you have that kind of combination, you see what he can do. And it really is so much fun to watch guys that take their craft extremely seriously like he does and guys that put the time in to be not just good players and really good

players, but great players. And it is a lot of fun. There's a lot of guys like that in the league right now. It's a fun league to watch that way. So in some ways, I know it's different eras, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are kind of like your Washington Capitals that, you know, they couldn't have the kind of playoff success that they had in the regular season and in the capital case I know David Poyle cited goaltending was a big factor they believed back then so I'm curious about you know is there a way you can gauge in

the regular season that you're better prepared for the playoffs if you're the Toronto Maple Leafs? It's a tough one, Gordy, because we had some great teams back with the Washington Capitals. We had finished third, fourth, fifth overall, but unfortunately we'd be playing in a division where either Philadelphia or New York Islanders were finishing first or second overall and very much like the Leafs of today, right? They have Tampa Bay, who's winning Stanley Cups. They have the Boston Bruins, which they don't seem like they're going to lose a hockey game.

And it's a tough, tough division to get out of. But it also will make it so sweet because I don't know about you guys. I like the Toronto Maple Leafs as far as their team goes. I do like their team. And I think that they really just need some kind of a break. And maybe that break is a goaltender just almost stealing an opening round series. Maybe it's just a couple of key saves at the right time. Maybe it's a couple of key goals at the right time.

But they just need a little bit of a break to get over that hump, just to get through the first round and possibly the second round. They might find if they get that far, that the last two rounds might be easier than the first two. We're talking to Mike Gardner, Hall of Famer and eighth all time in goals with 708. Wasn't it just like almost yesterday that like Ovi passed you and you know, those moments

when you just go, damn. Yeah, I think it was about 100 goals ago in about three months. But we were talking about that the other night too, Kipper, and like Ovi is like another, that's a different kind of machine right there.

Right. That is a scoring machine. Like where can he take this? Like you're, you're at seven Oh eight where he's at. Uh, if I'm not mistaken, eight,

12, like where do you see this thing finishing off? Well, I don't see it finishing off anytime soon. I really don't like you you look at ob there's a whole bunch of things we could talk about with ob but i think the one thing for me as a goal scorer that stands out the most is the volume of shots that he actually puts on net and it does not happen by accident i can tell you that right now. He has a plan every year. I had a plan every year.

I wanted to get at least 300 shots on goal in the year. And I figured, you know, if I have a very average 15% shooting percentage, that's 45 goals a year. So you look at a guy like Ovi, who is the highest, has the most shots of anybody ever in National Hockey League history. And he gets about 4.7 shots per game, which works out to about 370 shots on average. He's had several years over 400 shots.

And he's got a shooting percentage of about 12.9%, which actually isn't all that great. But it works out to 47 goals a year. And so even this year, he should be slowing down at age 37. He's still fourth in the NHL right now in shots on goal. So as long as he can continue to stay healthy, which he has been, he's very durable. His shot, there's nothing that has come off his shot

as far as accuracy, quickness, release, velocity. There's really no reason why he can't keep scoring goals at this pace. Maybe not at the 47-goal pace, but maybe. And maybe at the 35-goal pace or the 30-goal pace. But just do the math. He's signed a five-year contract he's got three or four years left on that deal so it's gonna happen it's gonna happen well and Wayne Gretzky the one intangible is Ovi's a physical player and he's got this ability whatever the

ability to not get hurt I mean I mean that's huge to go through your whole career like that and hopefully still stay healthy. Yeah, it really is. And it's not necessarily like he's a big man, right? Like he's 6'3 and weighs about 240 pounds. And sometimes that works against you. We've seen big guys that get hurt often, but he is one of those big guys that doesn't get hurt very often. And so that means he's just playing a lot of games. It's not just a matter of playing the number of games, so you're going to get more shots, you're going to get more goals.

It's the matter, the point of playing the games, not missing a stretch in the middle of the year where when you come back you're just you're you're not up to the same speed as everybody else and because when you do get hurt and when you have missed two or three four weeks five weeks in a row it's tough to get back in you're healthy but you're you're not in the same condition and playing condition as everybody else no matter how hard you've worked so that that's obviously going to play a big factor with him as well we see austin matthews down for three weeks how about your career with uh on your way to over 700 goals how are the injuries uh any particular year you kind of regretted

no i was fairly durable as well and um i think i had four or five seasons where I played all 82 games and didn't miss a lot of games I really didn't miss a lot of games until the last season that I played I had some knee problems but with anybody and depending on the time of the year when you miss a chunk of games when you do come back it is it is tougher to get back in it It's a timing thing. It's a groove thing. It's a thinking thing out there. It's kind of getting back into the grind of the travel and the practicing and everything else. And it does take a little while to get yourself back up to where you need to be. So, you know, Mike, talking about the Hall of Fame, you're in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I'm trying to think how many years ago it was.

It was this fun kind of casual uh surprise dinner for ron ellis kind of retirement dinner it was pat quinn's last appearance we didn't really you could tell at that point he wasn't he was battling something and he passed a number of months later on but just great great memories that way so kippy mentioned hockey hall of fame but also you and lanny because i'm trying to like um as far as your roles on the selection committee what's what just update me there. I remember the ceremony back in November. You and Lanny are making sure everybody arrives and all that that's going on

and what the deal is there right now. Yeah, so Lanny has been involved with the Hockey Hall of Fame for many years, is a Hockey Hall of Famer himself, and he is the chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. And I have been on the Hockey Hall of Fame and I have been I have been on the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee for the last 10 years and am the chairman of the committee for the last year I took over for John Davidson in that role and so yeah we have the pleasure as well as 17 other members to do the annual selection for the for the hockey hall of fame happens every june and then we get to have the fun job of calling all of the uh those players that have

and builders that have been inducted in that class and so that uh i've really enjoyed that over the last year just to last year was the first year that I did it. And then Lanny is with me as well, making those calls. So that's how we serve with the Hockey Hall of Fame. And it's a great job, I can tell you that. It is, but it's also incredibly challenging now as these modern-day kind of heroes are all, there's more of them because there's more, there's expansion over the years.

And now we're at 32 teams. Garza, I can only imagine what 17 people are exchanging thoughts and ideas on who should be in and who should be out. I mean, I bet you there's some really, you know, strong conversations going on there and beliefs and a lot of passion in those those conversations yeah they're without question there is and it's uh which is good because that's exactly how you want want to have it is you need to have those robust conversations you need to be

kind of rooting for the person that you're putting forward. There are 18 members, and you have to get 14 votes. And if you don't get 14 votes, then that person doesn't get in. But, you know, and we know it's a position we always get second-guessed, either the guys that get in, and I say guys, I mean, the women, too, are obviously included in that category, and those that don't. And we always say, listen, if they're a Hall of Famer, they'll eventually get in,

which I think we've done a pretty good job of that. Although there's going to be a little bit of controversy every year. And I think that's probably a good thing. It kind of makes sure that we're on our game and that we're taking everything into consideration and that the players and the builders that deserve to get in are going to get in. Is there anybody shilling for Doug McLean to get in as a builder? Is that true?

I think it's just, is it Kipper or is it you, Gordy? Are you guys performing? Is that who I keep getting those anonymous emails from all the time? Well, no, mine is about since Gil Stein got removed, you got a spot there, STE. Who else can you put in there, right, to get the symmetry back? So that's why I'm pushing El Gordo. Well, you know, it could be Gordo. It could be your brother, Bobby.

That could be the first choice in the Stelic family. I'm not sure. I hadn't thought of that. Hey, Gart, Gort Stelic's calling the all-star game, but he's also calling the skills competition for NHL serious. Yeah. NHL network radio. Yeah.

And I'm just wondering, I know at times it's probably gotten a little goofy at times, the, the skills competition, but the fastest skater, does that one always catch your eye every year? Because you would always have set that bar. I like it i mean it is fun and they've kept it the same for uh all those times i think there was the only little controversy was a few

years ago when dylan larkin started at the red line and and uh but other than that it's fun to watch and i was glad that my record was broken by Connor McDavid and that I really like it. It's kind of fun to see, hey, is there somebody really fast that we don't know about? And we'll see if that can happen again this year. What was your record time? Do you remember it? I don't know.

I think it's like 13.3 seconds. Wow. Yeah, Gordon and I would need a calendar to time us. Yeah, I know, but his record stood like Bob Beeman in the long jump. You know, normally records get broken every year. Gart's hung in there for quite a while. That's quite an accolade. It was pretty good.

Bob Beeman. You might even have to explain who that was, Gordon. He set the record in Mexico in 1968 for the long jump by about two feet and nobody touched it for like 30 years because normally yeah track and field record so so it is a compliment if you're when you look them up it is a compliment trust me i had the record on that track and field video game remember that one where you just tap it tap it really yeah hey guards so appreciate your time man on the show today. It was awesome. Anytime.

Anytime, guys. That was a lot of fun. All right. Mike Gartner, Hall of Famer. 700 goals. That is a cool job. That's what I thought. They're the two guys that get to make the calls.

Regardless, you can debate who's in, who's not. Like you and I, to make the calls, you're making, like it's the old thing, the publisher clearinghouse. When you knocked on the the door you've just won a million dollars or something to some random you're calling someone you're giving them as great a news as great a professional news as they're going to get in their life and then you got to weigh in individual accolades and championships oh it's in deciding that's different I'm just saying to make the calls. Yeah. No, the behind the scenes. Yeah, there's, and there always will be. Hey, controversy is part of it because people are very passionate about their opinions as they should be.

All right, let's bring in Sammy McKee because it is Friday, which means that we'll do some maybe YouTube or text questions. Hey, Sammy. Yeah, we will. I just wanted to, you guys were talking about this with doug mcclain before he started talking about god knows what but the tampa and the boston game last night i i watched a bit of it as well and i know the whole time you're watching it you're thinking about your beloved leafs i yes i was thinking about the leafs and i was thinking how if the leafs, God forbid,

want to go to a Stanley Cup final one day in my lifetime, they don't have to beat one of those teams. They have to beat both of those teams. And I know this isn't a unique thing to the Toronto Maple Leafs. This isn't a, it's not like a detriment to them. It's not a criticism of them what team in the league could beat those two teams in a row in playoff series like it's just there's no that division is a joke the fact that we still are doing this it's a joke you want me to get them

a tissue where you want to go okay but it's but first of all okay in the spilt milk category columbus and montreal okay you had your chances absolutely for the easy path and you bleeped it In the spilt milk category, Columbus and Montreal. Okay? You had your chances for the easy path, and you bleeped it away. Okay? No doubt. Absolutely did. So here, if you're... And I do believe...

I picked them to win the Stanley Cup this year, the Leafs. Okay? At the start on Sportsnet.ca. I don't... I've never picked them before. Just, I got... You thought Johnny Bauer was still playing? Yeah.

No, just... Yeah. Father David Bauer, I thought, too. Whatever, but... With Matt Murray and Samsonov, you thought that was going to be enough? I just thought a gut feeling about if they win the first round, everything is off their back. Like, wow, free at last, free at last.

The town will be crazy. The pressure's gone, and you just ride a wave like St. Louis did four or five years ago. I think a team's going to do that. I think this is a year somebody knew was going to ride that wave. Carolina, I don't know. Somebody. I just got that feeling. So anyway, why not be the Leafs? So that was it. That was it. Does that help you, Sammy?

The Eastern Conference is just so stacked, fellas. So if you happen to get through those two teams, then you got the rangers potentially right waiting for you who we saw the other night you look excellent carolina's one of the best teams in the league but they all look excellent at that point well yeah i guess that's what they do it's a different situation i guess when you're going into the the semi-finals people get hurt they're playing at a different level i understand that it's just it's it's a daunting daunting task

to get through the Eastern Conference this year and years past and heading forward. Okay, a couple of years ago, you're a Montreal Canadian fan. How are you going to get through Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vegas? Well, to me, those are much less daunting teams than Tampa and Boston. Yeah, but... Probably didn't feel that way at the time, though. No, no.

Weird stuff happens. Galchenyuk and others make plays like you can't believe. Winnipeg, Shifley runs a guy in the first game, gets suspended. Weird stuff. Vegas, it came to Marc-Andre Fleury's untimely giveaway, right? And then you look at when St. Louis won, like, Biddington was phenomenal. But the Dallas series, they got fortunate bounces, right? You all of a sudden, you know, who knows?

Who knows when we, Toronto Maple Leafs and the other teams get there. You don't have that feeling? Listen, as far as talent's concerned and with how Michael Nylander has now emerged, it's a different. Sorry? You said Michael. Is it now Michael? Willie.

Or Willie. Sorry, I'm thinking of his dad. I know. I'm thinking of his dad. Yeah. Teammate of mine in Hartford. is it now michael willie or willie sorry i think you pulled a gourd dad i know i'm on uh thinking of his dad yeah teammate of mine in hartford um when you when you think of what willie's been able to do uh it's really going to come down to uh you know in tampa bay in the first round it's going to be stamp coast point and kucharov versus willie andey and Matthews and Marner. And yeah, I mean, a headman is a big deal back then, back there for Tampa.

And the Leafs are going to have to do that because Morgan cannot match headman, but they're going to have to be able to do it by committee. The good news is that we've seen points of the regular season where they've been able to hold the fort together collectively without anybody really stepping up and looking like an all-star or a superstar. Points of the regular season where they've been able to hold the fort together collectively. Without anybody really stepping up and looking like an all-star or a superstar. And I don't know, is someone coming? I don't get that sense right now that there's a chikrin move.

No, they're going to have to do it the way, well, I'm going, first of all, 93-94 when they had McCowan, Lefebvre, Ellett, Rouse, you know, that kind of defense by committee, or like the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup. Carlson's a nice defense, but it was kind of a D-wide committee. Even Pittsburgh, Letang, but then a little bit more by committee. That's how they're going to have to do it. But really, how much is playoffs that when they beat Ottawa all those years, Ottawa didn't have vasileski so you had curtis joseph and ed belfort and goaltending was a huge factor beyond

gary roberts and darcy tucker and all the toughness but it just was and goaltending had let them down so many playoffs jack campbell played well enough last year but then vasileski got going right but yeah you know maybe like like as it was at guard said it just a goaltender steal a series washington couldn't get that way back when a goaltender steals a series all right speaking of willie the son of michael there we go barkov replaces matthews at the all-star game that shouldn't have been willie i can't get too bent out of shape about it i mean maybe since gordo's call on this, he can be a little bit more. Where is the all-star game being played?

It's being played in Florida. So he's the hometown guy. They're having trouble selling single tickets? I think there's always trouble. There's plenty of single tickets available for Doug. But I doubt they're having trouble selling tickets. But the hometown guy, Barkov, I think, you know, Willie Nylander deserves to be there for sure.

Your nose shouldn't be too much at a joint about it. See, I remember, it's funny, Eddie Olchuk, he's never been to the All-Star game. And my brief time as general manager, before the All-Star game, Glenn Sather was the manager of whatever team, I guess guess i don't know i guess yeah it was whales versus campbell and he called and he goes i'm going to take lehman or olchuk and he asked he goes do any of them have a big bonus like so we could avoid a big bonus being

paid wow like he asked and i said i think they both had 5k each or something so i said take whomever you want so i kind of so he took lehman instead gary lehman instead of eddie olchuk i don't know if eddie knows that i didn't what didn't i didn't punk him but you know i thought what seriously you have to tell him that story gonna save a penny or two i had to do is say take eddie i could have said that i didn't know but i just was being honest whatever it was up to him you know i like gary too i like them flip a coin equally well straws just left it just left it with them and i can uh and i remember the end of the season who was looking for uh who was the gm of the team canada team and they weren't world championships yeah

world championships and he goes so they they thought they had gary and then it was in russia so like they said the worst thing was when it was in russia back then the guys didn't want to go but i'm not sure it was gary but he said someone showed up and they took the team cat of luggage and all that stuff and they didn't they didn't call back after that you know they had a like whoever might be coming but they got they got their swag and then they didn't pull the chute yeah yeah i don't know it was one of our guys i don't know which one kind of said i'm not gonna go the soviet union or Russia. Would have back then, you know. So, might have been Cliff.

I'm not sure. Oh, my goodness. No, Ferguson. It was John Ferguson, senior, senior. Okay. And he goes, can you put a whatever on a, yeah, I shouldn't. I don't remember which guys it was exactly. But they got their beautiful Team Canada swag and then just didn't fall through.

The little things. Little things. What do you got for us, Sammy? What do we got here? This one I just love because I'm a junior hockey guy, so I've never actually asked you this question. So John S. from YouTube wrote in and said, what was Kipper's favorite junior barn to play in?

Oh, man, there are some nut barns. There was that old Hamilton one. We played Hamilton Steelhawks. Right. Shane Corson. Some meatheads on that team. It was only like 1,700. It was on Hamilton Mountain or something.

And then they went to Copps, and then Cops was like lost. You were lost, right, in front of like a thousand people. So Thursday night, Channel 11 used to do Hamilton Red Wing games, and that would be the barn you're playing in. And the thing is the camera would go, and there still were posts there. So there were posts in the way, if you remember about that. I'm trying to remember the name of the rink. Peter Bros was Goofy Corners, like

the odd. Remember the odds? Corners? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Buffalo Auditorium Corners. Squared off. Squared off. Sault Ste. Marie was a nut show there too some nights. Man, that was like an NHL game there. Kitchener Rangers had a nice barn and still do,

the odd in Kitchener, which is, at the time, you think it's almost like a mini Maple Leaf Gardens. Yeah, exactly. Like Hershey was, kind of. Yeah, a lot of fun ones. What was your least favorite? It was a big thrill to go to Maple Leaf Gardens because I was a childhood...

Yeah, of course. My team was the Toronto Maple Leafs. So that was like, oh, my God, I can't believe I'm in the same building that Daryl Siller and Lanny McDonald and all these guys play in. And then after a while, it's like, oh, my God, there's only like I can see my whole family in the corner. And the whole building's empty. It's all quiet. They were like borderline homeless people in ushers. Like some games you sit there and you're like,

how come there's no people here? Like it was like. It was not. Once it wore off that it was Maple Leaf Garden, it's like, oh my God, get some people in here. It wasn't a big marketing department back then. That's funny. All right, so this is from Irv Bl blitzer on youtube what's going on with mason

marchman he's the same amount of points as kerfoot this year and one assist in his last 16 games been crickets from you guys on him i wonder why irv blitzer not pleased about our last say hi to his brother wolf still like him uh but i think it's just maybe 82 games scored uh being now paid like a frontline guy a top six guy i'm sure it's still a learning curve for him geez new coach um team underperforming even though kachuk's doing great right at it so So, yeah, because I'm surprised by that stat. I knew he'd gone a little bit cold. Yeah, and maybe being used different ways by Paul Maurice. I wish I had something better for Wolf's brother.

So the Leafs won the Maligan trade is what we're saying here now? Yeah. Yeah, they killed him on it. The Leafs won the Maligan trade. Yeah. Gosh. Adios, Dennis Mulligan. Yes. So yes so gordo you're heading down to the rank tonight on sportsnet 590 the fan i am let me throw a junior question out to you oh boy i just know just the last couple of days have you heard at all because it's unthinkable generally and i've got no

direct bite to it that shane wr Wright could be involved in a trade deadline deal. Like could it be Bo Horvat from Vancouver? Could like part of that? I don't. It'd be very unusual. And you know why it'll be unusual? Because there's nothing that we've seen in the last few years out of Ronnie Francis that he is that type of general manager.

Well, anybody generally, really. Well, the success has been great, but they had a horrible season last year, and they weren't knee-jerk, and I don't think they're going to be knee-jerk based on the fact that they're having all this success. First of all, they got Matty Beneers. Okay, here's their guy.

So I'm talking about a big trade. I'm talking a real trade i know like a trade trade trade but do you really know for sure what you have out of shane right right now that you want to give up on him or you're just you're not when you make a real trade you're not because also the team that's acquiring going we get the rookie cap money for a couple years that's huge there's a there's so many teams out there that are. So what are you trading for? Like another 21-year-old? I don't. Huge.

I don't know. It would have to be a big trade. A Bo Horvat. For starters. Is that where you're going? For starters. If it's Vancouver, for starters. For starters, that.

Okay? Because you're giving a guy at like making a million bucks a year cap-wise. I don't know. Just, and I'll tell you a set of John Bucciagras as well said it. We're just chatting. So I'd said, it's funny. I heard million bucks a year cap wise. I don't know. Just, it just, and I'll tell you, he said a John Bucciagras as well said it, we're just chatting. So I'd said, it's funny. I heard about that a couple of days ago.

I don't buy it for one second. I got, could have no legs just, but since a couple of people threw it out there, um, it, this is, this is where I,

I go back and I, I get Vancouver. I get Jimmy Rutherford. I get the fan base going like, we're going to get a boatload for Bo Horvat. And it's like, he's becoming unrestricted. Why would you get a boatload for Bo Horvat? So if I'm Seattle and I want Bo Horvat,

I'm going to give up Shane Wright in a package to get Bo Horvat? Why don't I just wait this summer and get him for free? Well, no, you'd be getting the package coming the other way, would be my thinking, if that had any bite to that particular kind of trade. So, okay, Timo Meier, Dylan Larkin, Bo Horvat, that, let's face it, even though they won't be honest, the GMs, if they're making those trades, they got to let the other team try to cut a deal,

like Campus Lindholm last year, because then you're going to get more. You're still not going to get a boatload boatload because he's, he's gone at the end of the year. So, so the point being is then you got to let the other gym cut a deal. And if I'm Seattle, I'm doing this because I think I can win a Stanley cup this year. I said, Bo Horvat for starters. I have no idea. I'm just saying the name being out there, you could get a lot. Let's no-brainer in seattle for this guy okay that's all i think seattle's

gonna be very quiet this trade deadline really i think they got a great opportunity yeah i think they got a great opportunity ron francis isn't the type of guy to uh he's look at his history he's barely made any trades well yeah but it, but it's new in Seattle compared to Carolina. Like, I mean, there's an expectation now. Like, hey, you're Vegas, like Vegas in year one. You're doing that year two. I know, but they're not acting like Vegas. Remember Vegas the last two years?

Got a deal? I'm in all of them. Yeah. That's not Seattle. Gordo, I got a question for you. Okay. From Donnie Does Dishes on YouTube. Okay.

Did Gord ever dog sit puck for harold ballard uh no i never tc pucks the correct name tycat puck tycat tommy did uh tommy was the dog walker yes yeah but but but but and it's common now in offices a lot of offices like lisa takes our dog blue uh to uh her office and people have dogs there on certain days so i've seen some offices that dogs are there all the time. So anyway, no, but T.C. Puck would run around and he was a big dog, a Bouvier, beautiful dog. But he would roam freely in the office.

That was cool. It was a nice dog. And Jerry McNamara got one of T.C. Puck's litters as well. I don't know if T.C. Puck was the guy or the girl, but he also got a bouvier. Somebody's following around the dog with a shovel, though. No, no, it wasn't like that.

No, no, all very pleasant. But T.C. Puck was very respectful when it came to that, doing his business. Where, outside in the parking lot? Probably, yeah. On college? I don't know, yeah. Gipper, just to go back, a little housekeeping.

It was called a Mountain Arena. There it is. Mountain Arena. Thank you. I mentioned the mountain. And it's now named after Dave Anderchuk. It's called Dave Anderchuk Mountain Arena. Oh, wow.

There you go. That's a big thrill for the Anderchuk family. Norm Marshall did Play by Play, Channel 11. Yeah, that is for it. And they talk about Tampa Bay Lightning. Dave Anderchuk, front and center on the broadcast. They're a marketing guy. They're a Daryl Sittler kind of guy, right?

So you got a big weekend heading to Scotiabank tonight for Ottawa. And then Sunday is 5 o'clock? 5 o'clock start. Yeah. 5 o'clock start. Right between the two big NFL games this weekend. Thanks, Liefs. Appreciate that.

The football games a little bit. Yeah, it's right in the middle. Yeah. But we want to plug the 5 o'clock. Sorry? I wonder if the NFL thought about canceling those games. They don't want to go up against Toronto Washington. That's true.

Good point. Cincinnati Eagles in the Super Bowl. Oh. Hey, awesome you coming in. Yeah, and I like your card and the betting thing. Oh, I've got the next rewards. You're going to play this weekend. Yeah, yeah.

You downloaded? Once you found my password and everything, you downloaded for me. Thank you very much. Kipper19 gets you 250 points. Next rewards. I got them already. Download it on your app. And NHL hockey's coming in a couple of weeks.

Perfect. Our thanks to Gord Stelic, Mike Gartner, and Doug McClain today on Off the Rails Friday. Jason York. Jason York. That's right. It's been so long. I know. Stelic, Mike Gartner, and Doug McClain today on Off the Rails Friday. Jason York. Jason York. It's been so long. I know. Enjoy your weekend, everybody.

We're back Monday. We'll be right back.