Real Kyper & Bourne - Oilers' Options After Firing Kris Knoblauch

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee kick off by reacting to some big news out in Western Canada: the Oilers parting ways with head coach Kris Knoblauch, and the Canucks announcing the Sedin twins as co-presidents and Ryan Johnson as GM. They discuss whether the Oilers' move forces the Leafs to act faster in the head-coaching market, and they evaluate Patrick Roy, Peter Laviolette, and Manny Malhotra's potential fit behind Toronto's bench. Later, Oilers Now's Bob Stauffer (28:45) stops by to discuss what led to the Oilers' decision on Knoblauch, who — aside from Bruce Cassidy — the team is considering to be the next head coach, and the Connor McDavid aspect of the coaching change. Finally, Nick, Justin and Sam discuss the potential of a Morgan Rielly-Darnell Nurse swap. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

All right, let's get her going. It's the real Kipper and Boren show. We're live on Sports. Sports at 360. Sportsnet 590, the fan in Toronto. Streaming always on Sportsnet Plus. Also available at your convenience. If you can't catch us live,

which I think you all do. Sometimes we don't catch ourselves live. What did we say today? Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube. If you're not in that chat, man, you are missing something. Things are happening. It's wild in there.

It is. Oh, yeah. I'm on it. I keep an eye. You do. You do? You just dip your toe in, like the piranhas bite it off.

I'll send a little comment. Can you say hi to everybody for us? And let's, you know, if they can start us off with just, you know, a couple thumbs up. We'd love it. Everybody. I can't tell you. Dr. Nick?

Nick Caprio's Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee. Frank. The tank. Baraska. Derek Brandeo with you for the next two hours. I know we got to do maybe a couple of minutes on the Leafs, whatever you're feeling,

but this is all tied in because the Edmonton Oilers officially fired Chris Knoblock, which means there's a bit of a race going on right now for a head coach. And we'll put Toronto, Edmonton, and the L.A. Kings as what is, what are they looking for? What are they thinking? Who goes first?

Who will appease their fan base fastest if someone goes after, I don't know, Bruce Cassidy? I think we need to address the elephant in the room. Are the Oilers going to hire Craig for Ruby? I think that's the biggest question of all for the day that we need to address. Are people suggesting that? Are you joking or are you serious? I am joking, but I am seeing people seriously ask it. Oh, my God.

So I think no chance in heck. I would agree. I am seeing out there that people are, the requirements for what they're after in Edmonton, I think it was Jack Michaels who tweeted that it's going to be, or maybe it's Bob Stauffer, who's going to join us later today, that they're going to hire someone with experience who's won before with some gravita, gravita.

I don't think it's crazy to explore or think about a guy that can just come in and we put the hammer down. Edmonton they have to win. They have to win next year. Ruby's come in, been the head coach and won. It's not just Edmonton has to win next year. You just want it to happen? Kind of.

It's not just that Edmonton has to win next year. They have to win and keep Connor McDavid. There's two things at stake here. And we'll get into this as well with Bob Stauffer in what, 30 minutes? Can I just, before we move on, that's such a dangerous place, right? The Canucks admitted that they did things

to keep Quinn Hughes, lost Quinn Hughes, then have the baggage that came with a thing they didn't want to do, but they did for Quinn. So if you're doing things for Connor, it's scary. And we'll get into the... Maybe doing things for Austin. We'll get into the Vancouver story a little later, but that's another...

Yeah, they're doing a press conference right now. It's hard button topic. Are you going to live? listen while you listen to us? Can you do that? Can you walk and chew gum? No. You can't?

No. I don't know. Do you want to stream it? We can just go to that so we don't have to talk. Play them. Hey, Sammy, why don't you tell us about your thoughts on twins while we're watching the city being introduced as co-presidents of the Vancouver Canucks? I don't know.

Okay. We'll just push that one down for a little while still. Coe stands for a couple. They got a couple. Chris Weidman, former National Hockey League defenseman, Hab sends, Oilers, and Panthers. So we'll have a little bit on on what to think about

maybe the Oilers as well. And their head coach, of course, Montreal and Buffalo get going once again. Big night. So since we are on the Leafs Hour and, you know, I guess kind of leaves half hour right now, have you given more thought into the potential candidates?

I have. Have you kept? It's hard not to. Like I said now, because Edmonton is now out there, the Leafs. Everybody wants to say they want to do their due diligence, take their time, but there's a sense of, I don't know, maybe racing to something.

The problem is, and I'll use this as an example for Edmonton now, is that you've shown your cards. You went after Bruce Cassidy. Yeah, totally. You got to get Bruce Cassidy. You have to get him. Yes, you have to get him. Because you had to fire your coach because you went after Bruce Cassidy.

No? Yeah, they did. Yeah, they did. But that's not the reason. I say you have to get Bruce Cassidy. Because he is your first choice. And if you fail, if you let the Leafs get him, if you let the L.A. Kings get him, then all you look like is you couldn't get it done.

Well, and you're clearly at the prom not with the girl you asked. You got your second choice, your third choice. So how much, I guess they're probably going to fire Knoblock anyway, but how much of the timing? I don't know that they were, Sam. You don't think so? I think it was like feel out interest, and if it's not there, we're pretty content with this.

Yeah. You think? I do. I do, too. Really? And not confirmed, but. What you hear or not, you know? The decision was right from the top.

Uh-huh. That, hey, we got to look into this guy. He's available. He's... Just in terms of maybe firing knoblock, I think the hammer came down, and it may have come right from the owner. Well, hey, if he's willing to spend the money,

what's it to everyone else? I mean... Three years. He hasn't even started a new contract. You have three more years? Chris, Knoblock. had three more years. Barubi, two more years.

Man, him and Barubi are just on a yacht somewhere. I got to tell you, you're going to fired coach. It's got to be the dream job. Like, what's he making? Three mil, four months? He went to the finals twice. Yeah, no, he deserves the money he's got coming. Oh, I don't have to do anything and I get to...

Well, also you kind of get to pick your next opportunity. Yeah. I don't know if he'll be doing TV, but... It cushions. He probably will if I know. Cushions the blow. Cushion? That's a nice cushion.

That's a really nice thing. That is swayed. How long? What's expensive? How long before you see Craig Baruby on TNT? Not long. Oh, you'll be great there.

Oh, right there. Maybe even for the finals. Like, he might be doing it soon. Did you see the, I don't know who did the meme of Buruby in the Sheldon Keefe video?

I did. With the ocean behind him. Least Nation. It was pretty good. Yeah. You know, as much as sometimes you hate it. Ah. It's stuff out there.

Some funny stuff out there. You people are very funny. So you think that what the question was going to ask is that the Leafs firing Baroube, do you think that had an impact on the Oilers filing a knob block? In terms of getting the jump to be able to get... Not as much as the leakage of shopping for Bruce Cassidy. Okay. I'm not saying it had nothing to do with it.

Yeah. But... Because I'm getting sunny meta vibes here. Where the Leafs fire. their general manager in Bradford Living. And the number one story we have in the market is, oh, the Lisa loves Sunny Mata. They love Sonny Mata.

And then two days later, Devils fire Tom Fitzgerald, then hire Sunny Mata out underneath the Leaf's nose. It kind of feels like that could happen with Bruce Cassidy here. Even though he probably wants to go there, much like Sonny wanted to go to the Devils, but I'm getting the same vibe. You sent me today, our partners at Beth 365,

put out the odds for coaches for the Toronto Maple. Leafs? Yeah. I don't know if you've had a chance to look at it. I have not. Oh, great. This is going to be fun. Frontrunner, Bruce Cassidy at plus 225.

Second odds. Bruce Boudreau, plus 400. David Carl, plus 550. John Gruden, the American Hockey League coach for the Marley's plus 550 as well. Jared Galant, Mani Malhotra at plus 650, Dean Eveson, Jay Woodcroft, plus 1,000, Chris Knoblock plus 1,200. And then the name, Sam, what's talking about? Jeff, Halper, no.

Halpern. I just sent you a screenshot. I could be farther down. The name that Sam wanted to bring up. I'll let him have it. Patrick Waugh? Your boy. If you had gotten the team, you thought you were...

Not to do too much here, but you like him. I do. I do. I don't know how much... Could he wear the blue and white after all those years as a... Oh, I think he could. I think he could. Oh, that would...

Oh, that would. I think you could. Few things sweeter than seeing Patrick Waw behind the Leafs bench at the bell center. That would be, like, do you think, I mean, that's it, I think there's a few guys that you could go out there and hire that are officially like a statement. I think hiring Patrick Wa is like a real statement.

Like, is that what he wants to do for his first hire, is hire Patrick Waugh, but got to be electric. I don't think that lines up with who we think Chica is. No? I tend to agree with that. You know, I don't think why. And I think he's come a long way from being a real kind of my way

or the highway kind of guy, stubborn. I think he learned a lot going from Colorado to being off to the junior push. The ramparts. Ramparts. Working with young kids. I didn't mind him in the island.

I didn't either. I thought he did a, he was a good culture center for them. I liked that the islanders who at times, kind of get treated as second-class team. I like that they had someone who's proud and bold like that. The other thing, too, for me, is he'll come in still with that reputation, Hall of Fame, Stanley Cup champion.

I think he kind of pushes down a little bit, Matt's. Just, just, he's bigger. He's bigger than Matt's. He's one of the biggest characters. As an ex-player, he's just, he's like bigger than life for a lot of us in that era. And I'm just, I think if you're, if you come this far with Matt's being that ex-player feel, I don't know if there's enough room for Patrick Watt and Matt's. My problem is that he's too much like Barubi.

Like he's, he is not a X as and O's technical guy necessarily. He's a motivator. Yeah. Which is what Burubi was. That's kind of the same idea. a famous person, you know, been in the league, you know, like he's a presence. But I don't know that he's like, you know, and again, Craig Bruby, I've got a long history with him as well, playing against him, brewing with him, being Hershey with him.

I was just very surprised that we didn't see more of taking a hard line. and the biggest one for me guys and I saw it like early in the season was just this strange relationship he had with Willie Nealander where like when Willie was going he's going and we joked around

and we played those clips and I leave Willie alone and you know all of that and that's Willie that's Willie and it just to me it's Willie when you when you needed a times to play a little bit of that hard line and to a lesser extent with others, I just didn't see it. You know, I asked this sincerely, you know, what NHL superstars get leaned on by head coaches in today's day and age?

Patrick Guad, Berzel. Yeah, good one. Yeah. Jim Montgomery, pasta. Was he hard on pasta? Yeah, then he got fired next year. Yeah. So did law.

Yeah, so did law. That's the chat line. But it does. There's probably more. But it does seem like a recipe for pushing it to you or me and the team always like the star plays. It's way tougher. Yeah. For coaches to go to their star players because they have more power.

They know where their power is. The no moves have changed. Long contracts. You're worth more money. Climate of trades and how we treat these star players. Yeah. So I don't know if Craig felt that or I can't lose Willie. I don't know what it was.

And he's not wrong. You couldn't have success without Willie. But yeah, it did feel early on like they went head to head and then Willie. Willie wanted more ice time. Yeah, I remember. Willie wanted more ice time. And he said that he wanted more ice time. And he got it.

And then he did get it. And he got it. He did score 40 goals. Great numbers. But he scored 40 goals. But others would have said, well, you know how it works, right? You play better. You work harder.

You get more ice time. Yeah. You just don't get it because you ask for it. I do think that if there's one thing for a coach that's actually really hard about this market would be benching players here. Yeah. I think here, if you sit down. I mean, I remember we had a, when Marner got benched for a couple of shifts by Keith,

it was like, it was like a referendum. We've been talking about it for years. I just, I think that aspect of coming in here and being like, I'm going to sit down Willie for, especially this past year when their team reeked and he was one of the only real threats that they had it a lot of times. It's harder for him to be like, I'm going to sit him down because then it's a 24-hour conversation. The one thing I want to see happen when I'm talking about accountability is that at the end of a hockey game where the Leafs need a goal, I would like to see the players on the,

who have played well that night, who have their legs, who are involved. It's always Willie. And, you know, there's some games he's just not going. And that should be handled as such. So I don't need them benched. I just like to see other people elevated when they're playing better. Yeah.

I'll go back to like Brennan-Janahan. And I'll give him some credit to here because there was that one incident with Cadry where something happened. It never really came out publicly. But he essentially suspended him. Do you remember that? I do.

Yeah, yeah. And he had also gone through a couple of stages where, you know, big suspensions and playoffs and all of that. And people were get rid of them and all of that. But I think, and I didn't particularly know if Cadri put this in his book or not. But, like, for me personally, that was a fork in the road for Cadry. and I don't know where he feels about that today. Yeah. But could have been a big part of why he kind of straightened out

and gotten himself one hell of a career. And maybe on the brinks of another Stanley Cup in Colorado. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's important to have those moments. Another guy that's been kind of making the rounds I've seen in media, I haven't had on our show, but Labiolet has kind of been popping up here a little bit too. When was the last, was that he the Rangers coach last year?

Was that two years ago? A couple years ago, he's, he's been among my top ten interviews we've done on this show. Yes. Where he's really thoughtful and smart. But he is surly. Surly. And he is American. Yep.

And funny. What? I don't know if we talk about coaches and. Does it matter? The second thing out of your list is he's American. Yeah. And like, I just don't remember that in past. when you talk about it's like, oh, he's the best guy.

But it's a thing. Yeah. I mean. It's a thing now. An American coming to coach in Canada. It feels more in the last year and a half or so. The climate has changed. I wonder why.

What's happened? What? Yeah. There are some things that have shifted. You know, like Canadians aren't even going to the U.S. at the same rate they used to go. Like it's... I'm totally with you.

I'm not saying the division is permanent or whatever. I'm just saying right now it would feel hard to be like bring one of the coaches from the American team that just won gold to coach our city's team. And let's not forget, it's just not you. It could be a wife and kids who are looking at Canada in a much different light than they would have two years ago. Some of them want to avoid it forever and some want to flee here now. It depends where you stand on certain issues.

But I just, you know, all these names that are coming at, like you sent a tweet today about Malhotra that got Canucksians really mad. Yeah, they're mad at me. I mean, it's not hard to get that mad. They're mad at you. They're mad at me because I asked the question, hey, what's up with them finishing 27 and 40 and almost dead last at the American League this year?

Like, seems like a relevant detail on the coach now. Did he get dumb in a year? No, their roster was brutalized with injuries. The Canucks were hurt. Everyone got called up. They used six goalies and 18 D men and they didn't have the same roster, which are relevant and important details. But again, it's on his resume.

They were not good. This year they had some hardship and it didn't go well. I think it's worth discussing. The other thing I'll note about Melhotra, he was the assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs for a few years. I don't, yeah. You barely remember it because they don't talk. They don't.

they're hardly shown on TV. One of the things, I can't even. One of them he was shown on TV for a while. Well, Elliot made one, a savvy meter. Yeah. Right? Yeah. The, uh,

He was an assistant here for four full season. I know. Four full seasons. From the, from 2021 to 2023. I may have lost this article I had up. But, you know, in looking into Melhotra in his time here, one of the details was that he ran the power play. It did not go well with.

Matthews on it, Nealander, whatever, and they took it away from him and gave it to Spencer Carberry, who did so well with it that he ended up a head coach in the league. So now you're going to make him the head coach and go back to the same guys, Nealander and Matthews and say, hey, this guy who couldn't run the power play

a couple years ago is your head coach now. That to me is a tough ask. Relevant detail, no? Totally. They know them. They know them. And it, I don't know, they had good years. They had success.

They probably like him. But I'm just saying that it wasn't all lollipops and roses and unicorns. Yeah. Yeah, I think you bring up a valid point. However, people like this man. He had a very credible career. The way he played was honorable. They like him.

He said he wanted to call their cup as a head coach in the American League. For the record, though, when we start talking about GMs, and there's ample reasons to look at someone's history from trades or just success and go, What was that one? Not a chance. Yeah. And you're like, next thing you know, there's a press conference. Yeah.

Well, and no, but this is the testament that it's hard. And it's like baseball where if you strike out seven out of ten times and get a hit the other three times, you're a Hall of Famer. Yeah. It's like failure is a part of professional sports so everyone has them on their resume. And the learning curve, right? That's right. And so it's not disqualifying, but it's not irrelevant information.

It's all I'm saying. Connux fans, chill out. No, they don't. That's not in there. You know what part of it is that they're concerned that they've been like grooming him to be the next Canucks head coach and they're worried the Leafs are going to snap him up just like they did the first overall pick? Oh, yeah, that would be tough. I really believe that the ball's in Bruce Cassidy's court right now for the Edmonton Oilers. You do, eh?

I do. So he'll do it. Vegas to Edmonton. That's a tough lifestyle switch. Would Vegas is, are they going to allow it to happen? Okay, first of all, they fired the guy. Yeah. Okay?

They fired him. But they're, you don't, you don't get to fire a guy and then. Did I have permission? Just tell him, we're not going to allow you to be a head coach somewhere else. Why do they get to at all? Because they're still paying them. No. It's not.

This is strictly my opinion. Okay. You're not really supposed to go and bother a team when they're still in the playoffs. Yeah, okay. Okay. And I don't know whether or not that was a factor or not, but I've talked to enough teams to go, eh, not a good time right now.

Hey, game six is tonight, we kind of need this one. Yeah. Could we maybe discuss this at a better time for me? And it could be simply as that. It's like we're not dealing with this right now. So that's where it was the deny world. No, no, the permission was with help. With help.

For maybe that day or that hour. Hour? Or that like just, can we just, right now? Can you just calm it down? It's like I often say to my kids. Like I'm not saying no, they're just not getting an answer right now. So they're still paying him. And it's always about a negotiation.

And this is where, like, I don't understand why the coaches would ever allow this. but like when a player gets bought out, he gets that money plus new money on a new contract. I love where you're going with this. And where in the coaches, did anybody ever come up with? Screw job. I'll fire you.

I'm paying you to stay home. But once they want you, I get all this money off the books. Why? What sense does that make? You've committed this money to me. You said I can't work for you anymore and you're going to pay me. That's my money.

money. If I go earn other money, you've already said you don't want me. Don't worry about me. Every company does it. There's buyouts, there's packages, there's still money on the table for a lot of people in business when employees say we don't want your service

anymore, but we still owe you this. That's not the case with the coaches. Not a good deal. It's a horrible deal. Very bad deal. Right. Great deal for, but this is why people fire They have a coach's association, but like can someone stand up in that association for some of these guys? Yeah.

And like, but I don't know if it's like really run like a like a union type. It's just more like a, hey, we're here for you. We're the association. Golf tournament this summer. So, yeah, I guess so they probably won't make any decisions until Vegas is. I don't know about that. I don't know. Maybe it's maybe it's Bruce Cass.

that has to really kind of lean in on this. But I do believe that there's a few clubs out there, including L.A. that want some answers out of Vegas. You think Cassidy would want, or Vegas want, or L.A. would want Cassidy as well? It has to be an option. It has to be a thought for sure. If you're Cassidy and you're trying to win a Stanley Cup,

I mean, is not Connor and Leon the most enticing? You know. It's easy. I mean, if that's what you're looking for, that's the best chance of the Leafs, L.A., and Edmonton, it's the best of those three. There's long-term concern in Edmonton. Like if they need to make significant changes to get better to win next year.

And if they don't, all of a sudden you're holding the bag and you're, what's his name with the Rangers? Sullivan. You know, Conner's left and it's, you know, you've got no picks. And it can get bleak fast if you don't get it done next year. but I appreciate chasing the cops. And I mean, I think Cassidy could be one of those fast-burn guys anyway. Like I think he was in, how many years was he in Boston, five?

Oh, he's completely that guy where you come in. I need you to win now because you have a three-year shelf life. Yeah. And I wouldn't offer him any more than three years. And he shouldn't want any more than three years as well. For the reasons that he just brought up. For the reasons that he brought up. Yeah.

But you need to pay me through the nose. for those three years. Take 18. Six million. I don't know if he'll get that much. No. How much did Babbs get again? He got six and a half per year times a year.

Yeah, he was up around 50 million. He got 50 mil. But he rang the bell. It was actually like the Marner RFA contract where everyone went, this is going to raise the, you know, the pay to pay for everyone else. And everyone else was like, no, it won't. That's not. Babs got that.

That's outside the reasonable level. Got the cash, which is good. Quick J's thought. I like the hat. Thank you. Is that your Jeth's thought? I spent some money on this. I don't know yesterday.

It's really reasonably. Good. You needed a hat. Jay's shop's super reasonably priced. No, I just... Actually, I like the 50 on it. Yeah. So Jeff Hoffman comes into the game last night.

And I don't... Like, I've been to a lot of different sports... Sporting events and seen a lot of different things. I'm not sure I have felt a vibe. shift like I felt in the building when that, when he runs out. And like, like Jake Gardner? It's, it's, it's, I mean, people half the building got up and left.

Like legitimately. Stop it. Like he was, they do like his little light show, day and night and everybody's like holding up their things and half the people are getting up and heading for the exits. It's just people are groaning at him. And he's not like, he's obviously been brutal to start. They had the moment. It's just, I actually feel awful for him.

because he was two outs away from being an all-time hero. He was nails leading up to it. I've just never experienced anything lay in person. It's crazy how much people can't stand him. It's sad. I feel for him. That's what I'm saying. I feel bad for Jeff Hoffman.

I know not a lot of people want to hear that, but I feel bad for the guy. There you go. Is he your new Mitch Marner? No. No. No, listen. I'm going to save it.

We can't have it. I'm going to save it. We can't save it. We can't say that name of the show. We should be like, we should get electric shocks when that name comes up on the show. And I witnessed one of the only five walk-off grand slams in Blue Jays history. Steve Pierce had two in one week. Pretty crazy.

That's wild. Good day at the dome. Blue Jays with Sammy McKee. We got the Stauff coming up, Bob Stauffer. Bob Stauffer, host of Oilers now on Ched. Also does a great job on the Oilers radio as a color commentator. We'll get more answers out of stuff. when we return to Real Kipper and Born.

Everything you need to know about the Blue Jays, Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in studio. Nick Kippreel is Justin Boren, Sammy McKee. You got Bob? Where's Bob on his way? We've got Bob. Let's welcome in Bob's offer.

Does a great job out West. It's Oilers Now on Ched. Also, color commentator for Oilers Radio. Soff, how are you, my friend? Oh, it's fair. Hey, awesome. Hey, what a great country we live in, eh, when you can go 24-7 on just NHL news, bud. Hey?

Yeah. You know, I think you know this, Nick and Justin, but I've known Chris Knoblock for 25 years. I did his games at the University of Alberta. We've had them on orders now since 2010. When he went to Kootenie was really a defensive coach at that time. They won the W.HL title. And then Braden McNab blew up Joey Hishon in like the, I don't know, one of the first games of the tournament and got derailed his team at the Memorial Cup.

And as you guys both know, the Ointers assisted Sherry Bassett and Erie for a while. And Sherry took a particular liking to Chris. And that's how he ended up in Erie. And, you know, he became the first major junior coach. history to win four consecutive 50 plus win seasons. So we've known Chris for a while. And, you know, it's, you know his family. And it's, unfortunately, we had a year where there was some tracer fire at different points during the season that when Stan Momon said, you know, a week ago on Saturday that they needed to do some evaluation further on the team that you knew that this might be the end result.

So tough day today. is somewhat understandable. Chris will be fine. He's probably going to get another head coach an opportunity down the road. But, you know, there's some factors that sort of worked against him and against the team this year.

But the bottom line is you can't have Connor and David referring to the team as, you know, an average team and the two best players, Connor and Leon at different times, you know, holding the... And I applaud them for it, but holding the organization's feet to the fire

and saying, hey, we got to do better. So they're going to attempt to do that, and that's part of the reason why they made the change. Bob, no question on everything you said, including the process of evaluation, but once news came out that Bruce Cassidy was being discussed by the Edmonton Oilers, unfortunately for Chris, he was cooked.

There was not a chance you could bring him back into the dressing room after that leak. Well, yeah, and I have no idea where that came from, But the reality of the situation is, we had Elliot on the show, he's on our show. I know he does your guys' show, and he's on once a week with me, and he says, it's just simple,

Bruce Cassidy's the best coach out there available in the market, and that's his perspective. And, you know, he would talk to a wide array of managers in the league, and we'll see, you know, ultimately what happens with Vegas. But I'm going to tell you right now that, you know, Chris didn't replace Glenn Galtz, office staff. And

Nor Paul Coffey at the start of earlier. He had a very similar staff and there was some rough stretches for the team was

you know what like in 23-24 Chris came in he was the right coach of the right time for the team. His calm demeanor settled things down.

They banged off eight and 16 in game winning streaks. They had great advanced metrics and he deployed a lot of different players in different roles

and we went to the seven game with Stanley. Cup. People forget last year, you know, in 24, 25, the orders for three months from November the 9th until the four nations face off were the best team in the league. Like they had some, you know, real sustained

run there. And, you know, a little bit banged up in Florida was deeper in the final and lost in six. Great experiences either way. This year, this team never had that kind of juice the entire year. They never had longer than, you know, a three-game winning streak until like the final

six or seven games a year where they won five in a row. So there were some challenges the entire year. There were some missteps along the way. They really missed Gulletson. They missed Paul Coffey. They had to bring Paul back after the Olympic break. And it's unfortunate that, you know, stuff happens, but it's an industry where people talk. And a result here, I see Evanton going in a very different path with a much more experienced coach, likely with some Stanley Cup pedigree carrying forward. So I don't think he's reading too much in that to say

Cassidy, do you have other coaches like that in mind, as you say it? Well, I don't think, you know, I don't know what's going to happen with the permission request according to what Frank Saravale reported in Vegas. I have no idea how it's going to play itself out. But I would have to think, you know, would Peter

Lavillette make sense? Which would be a tough pill in Evanton because he beat the orders in the 06 final, but he, you know, he took the flyers and the Predators to the Stanley Cup final as well. I know this would seem quite ironic, given what happened yesterday in Toronto, and I, but what about Craig Barubi? He's from Calahoo, Alberta. I mean, I played against Todd Ewan Ewan growing up, and Craig and Todd were on a line once with Cliff Ronning, which I would have to think made Cliff Ronning the single safest man in the Western Hockey League. But, you know, I wonder, Like, Craig's want to stand like up?

Would he merit some consideration? You know, like, I think if a guy's had some success in a coach that's got some gravitas with some attention to detail, you know, strong, you know, structure and process in the game, for me, preferably a guy that coach is Zone D. That's my own, you know, sort of thing. I think I can foresee a scenario where maybe a coach like that might. I think they needed a different type of coach.

for where the owners are at. Connor McDavid signing the tier extension at $12.5 million. They got there. They are still, I know they had a disappointing season. I know a lot of people think their goal tennis is nowhere near good enough to get to the mix. Well, I mean, I'm just looking at it here.

They got to the Stanley Cup final in 23, 24 with the 17th ranked save percentage in the league and the Stanley Cup final in 24, 25, the 16th ranked, save percentage in the league. I still think they're in their window. You know, you can't change out all the players, so maybe you change out and bring in a veteran coach.

You're watching and listening to Bob Stauffer, who does a great job covering the Edminton Oilers for Chad, also a radio color commentator. Just to reiterate, as if we didn't know, Connor had two years left on his contract. Leon made it abundantly clear with his words postseason. that they essentially have two years left to get significantly better. Connor talking about things getting rather thin in terms of, you know,

where it's all heading here. Is it safe to say stop that the Edmonton Oilers fans are on notice? And Leon and Connor put them on notice. This is maybe even less than two years. Like one way or another, could there be a fork in the road after? your next season? I think you have to be pragmatic. I mean, you guys are experiencing the same thing in Toronto right now with Austin Matthews.

I mean, also represented by Judd Moldaver. I mean, and I'm going to provide a perspective for you. Moldaver has Connor and Austin. He's got Zach Werenstki and he's got Romanozzi. Those are the four best players on their respective teams. The only difference is the owners do have Dry Settle and Evan Bouchard. and not everybody in in Toronto

might believe me on this, but I'm here to tell you the owners have three superstar players. So they have two other superstars other than Connor. That helps. I don't know how much movement they can actually make to their roster. Stan Bowman accepted accountability today and said some of the bets they made, you know,

some of the players they picked up, did not perform at the level that they thought that they were going to. And he said, and I quote, that's on him. And our fan base is intense. We've had an incredible run over the last, I mean, the owners have played 14 playoffs series

in the last five years. They've won nine. Like, that's never happened in Vancouver, Ottawa, or Calgary history, but they haven't won the ultimate prize. So in spite of the fact that, you know, McDavid and Drysettel and Bouchard are the top three scoring players in the playoffs.

So over the last five years, Evanton's on the outside looking in, and they need to, make an adjustment. And one of the easiest things to do is to make the coaching change. Like, I'm going to tell you right now, I look at Toronto, and I wonder whether or not, given where they might be headed, if Chris Knoblock or Jay Woodcroft wouldn't make sense there,

knowing what I know about Kristen and Jay. So, you know, younger coaches that would rely on analytics to a certain degree. But, you know, I think Edmonton's at a different point and needs a different voice, and that's part of the reason why this came to fruition. Our daily coaches' clips can't handle Chris Knoblock. I know he's your pal, and I'm sure he's great on your show, but he's just not a dynamic individual stuff. And Justin, that's fair, and that's an area that Chris needed to improve on.

And believe me, when I say this, it was brought to his attention. Is that right? And some might sit there and watch that and think, does that extend into communication with the players, right? So, you know, and I'll give you a clear illustration of this is in game four, the disputed goal that Anaheim got credit for in overtime, and the officials were initially out of position on it, and they didn't, you know, the puck disappeared and should the play have been blown dead, well, the league said, hey, we got the right call in the end. So I kind of think that Noblock might have had a freebie in game five, and the orders are up for one, and Leon Drysettle, who's been the best playoff player in the league over the last five years, the most consistent play. player. This year he's on a, you know, similar type of injury to Sidney Crosby, the Olympics, comes back and puts up 10 points in six games, and he gets cross-checked, you know,

it'll abortions from behind. That's a five-minute major in the regular season. There's no penalty. If I'm Chris, I'm, you know, I got a chance to show some frustration. I watched Joel Quinville lose it. I see, you know, on a non-icing call, Rod Brindamore, these guys are season coaches. And I think sometimes the coach has to show a little bit of emotion. It's like a baseball manager

getting ejected. Yeah. Right? And what you say is totally fair. I think he would have to become more dynamic. And if I'm,

you know, and I'm going to talk to him about it. Like, that's something you've got to work on with your next gig. Absolutely. One more for me,

stuff, and I'm throwing this out there. Why don't they just hire Paul Coffey behind the bench? Clearly, he was instrumental. and them going to a final.

He leaves. They feel like, oh, we need him back. Okay, he comes back. Just name him head coach, for God's sakes. All right. Where did I put my sheet here? Do you want to know how bad it was before they brought him back? The final three weeks before the Olympics,

the Oilers went three and five. They should have gone one in seven because they stormed oil-like comebacks in a couple games. They were last in goals against, last in the penalty killed below 60%. and last and save percentage at 830. Damn straight they needed to bring back Paul Coffey. They needed to do something different.

Mark Stewart, who was relieved of his duty state. Great guy. Had never been a head coach before and was taken on both the defense and the penalty kill. And Paul came back and he is unorthodox. He's not going to have his head jammed into a computer. So what? Still got to be able to communicate differently today. And he can do that.

Like, yeah, he's not going to pull out the iPad on the bench, but he does know how to breed confidence in a player. So I don't know if Paul's an option. He's never been a head coach before, but I do know this. There will be an experienced man and being the next head coach, the evidence of owners.

You can 100% guarantee that. We won't have a first time NHL head coach behind the bench. Okay, stop. We're still in our leaf hour addition technically. So what do you know about Morgan Riley for Darnel Nurse? I've not. I've not heard about that at all. I've wondered a bit about San Jose.

and I will also tell you that since we're in the Leafs Hour, I cannot believe, with all due respect to the OHL, which is a good league, the WHL is a shadow of its former self. I wasn't good enough to play in the WHL. There's 12 teams in the early 80s. There's 23 teams now, and there's like 10 or 11 million people in Western Canada. There's, you know, there's how many teams in the OHL right now?

20? And you guys got 14 million people. and you get better American players. I can't believe that anybody would look past McKenna, Verhoff, and Stenberg for the top three spots because they simply played against way stiffer competition, you know, and I think it has to be factored in. So that's my diatribe. I don't even think I answered your question. I'm glad you got it in, though.

That was we needed that. It's all right. It's all right. You made my producer happy. I know that. Great. No, and as for this trade, and I bring this up because of San Jose. If I was San Jose at two, they got Dickinson, that's a left shot.

You know, they've got obviously Celebrini, and they got Smith, they got Misa, who's going to be really damn good. If I'm them, I'm taking Verhoff all day at two, but I'm watching San Jose because they've got oodles of cap space, and they don't have any defensemen signed. And part of me is thinking, you know, does somebody offload a contract to San Jose? Jose at some point. So I've not heard this Riley for nurse flip myself, but I won't denigrate the source because the source has been right on stuff in the past. And just like Frank has on, you know, his report involving Vegas and Cassidy. So we'll, I guess we'll see what happens. I mean, maybe the time has come for a change for a couple different guys. To be honest with you, I thought Darnel played pretty well in the Anaheim series. I thought he and Connor Murphy had a real

good connection. And the Chicago guys, all three of them, Dickinson, I mean, Dickinson's got the pain threshold of a cadaver. He was an immense pain. I'm sure, you know, I don't know, Nick, if you took Torval or whatever, but he was, you know, like it was painful seeing him on the plane, like just how badly you wanted to play. And Murphy was really good, and even Cold Dock came in and gave the order some juice further down the lineup. So, you know, we'll see. You know, is it all around the possibilities? Probably not. I think teams are going to have to get creative and be flexible. For the record, I was

just as low as a turtle. Oh, God. Jeez. Stop. Great stuff, buddy. Really appreciate your time. Hey, thanks, guys. Take care. Thanks, I appreciate it. You bet. Covers the Edmonton Oilers. Riley for Nurse.

Oh, you didn't hear that one? It's on the lines. I've seen it. The web kids are saying it. There might have been a phone call on something like that. I don't think it ever materialized or got serious. You know, you throw stuff out there between clubs. You know the people do who says no?

They throw out a trade and says, who says no? And that's they figured out. Who says yes in that one? What's the first lose, lose is a trade in that joint street? Who says yes to that? Do the Oilers think Morgan Riley helps him get over the hump? I'll tell you what. I'll pay two more million and more years.

I save two more million if you're the Oilers. And they're both struggling. Come on, let's face it. Both fan bases have guys that feel like a change is in order. I'm on board. And we've talked about this too. We've talked about that switch. Yeah, nurses till I think 2039-5.

Yeah. I think nurse would struggle here too. Yeah. If you're going to trade Riley for another struggling contract, make it Patterson. Make it cheaper. You don't want to do what Edmonton did with our goalie situation and say, our goalie's a problem.

What if we paid him more for longer and got the same goal thing? You don't want to do that. By the way, Kipper, nice call on Kulak. Oh, yeah, yeah, you're just hyping up your boy, Kulak. That's the way you win Stanley Cups. Can I tell you the best part of his overtime goal? It's not the stick on the, on the, he breaks. up a two-on-one, right?

But it's not that. It's the first three strides he takes after that. Because the guy who doesn't get the pass keeps skating, he hits the brakes and jumps the other way. Boom, boom, boom. Three strides to get going up ice. All of a sudden, you got guys on your back. Odd Man Rush.

Lands on his stick in the absolute sweet spot. He put himself in the sweet spot. Shoots at home. Outside of that, Nate McKinnon. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. It is, it was last night.

I know. It was so Michael Jordan. get him the ball last play of the game get him the puck he wanted it he misses that shot game over right short side rings around but ends up ringing around shooting that puck is a terrible decision it was money terrible it's like you got a full 24 second clock in the NBA and a guy shooting a half court shot and he makes it and you go that's how you that's how you end up a living living legend. Totally.

It's unbelievable. He put it in a puck-sized hole under the bar. Michael Jordan-like. Okay. So let me make this super depressing. There was two separate results last night that if they happened at different times in the last year, it would have made all of our lives a lot better. Dalton Varsho hit a walk-off Grand Slam last night.

He had an opportunity to do that in the World Series. And Nathan McKinnon shot one in from the sideboards. That was a way less empty, Annette. If he had done that in February, we all rid a lot more happy to. So two things happened last night that brought back horrible memories. Yeah. Sorry. They both did better the second time.

They did. Try again. But honestly, that McKinnon, like, the goalie was square to him. He's stationary on the sideboards. The defense isn't moving. He didn't shoot it for a rebound. It was the... He wants it so badly.

I know he does. It's like, give it to me. Give it to me. He's... Sometimes... Yeah. No, I know. He's a force.

He scored in six straight games now? He's a free. You see, you know, the flipper stuff, like, Biz tried to talk to him with a snorkel on TNT. I didn't. But he's, like, he's been swimming his whole career. Yeah. Oh, that's what it was about. He called, he's, it's part of what he is.

He used the word pro preception, which is where you are in space. You know, like, if you're doing a flip, like being able to be aware of where you are, he says that swimming like that helps him kind of balance that. We get better at that. He just follows that off with his chickpea pad. I hear, I hear, far down, pal. I hear the money he spends on just trying to make himself better is off the charts. Is that right? He's a lot of respect for that.

You got to invest in it. Chefs, nutrition. Is he, what? He's one of the most underpaid guys forever. But then he got a big one. Yeah, but only 12 or something. No, no, no. He's never, he's never timed it well.

But he took a bad contract and put him behind the eight ball. for earlier in his career. He's only 12-6 till 2031. He's kind of chased it. He's kind of chased it. He's going to spend his entire career is the most underpaid guy in the league. He just never hit it.

He'll pray for his family that he'll be able to make it through. Brill's making 17. Nate, the great. Yeah, I'm the best player in the league going to make 12.6. He's hate these tapes. Connor McDavid. Well below what he's worth.

Sidney Crosby, never the highest paid guy on his team. I know what people love him for it, and he's rich beyond his wildest dreams. And he's one of the world champions. And he's not the captain. Oh, we'll have a talk about that when we go national next. Crash. Real Kipper and Bourne.

Don't go away.