Real Kyper & Bourne - Oilers Pick Up Perry

Episode Date: January 22, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour with more on Corey Perry signing with the Oilers, the off-ice aspect, what Perry brings to the team and what the market was for him as a free agent. They are joined by NHL Network's Mike Rupp (11:44), who weighs in on the signing, how it might impact Edmonton's locker room and the deal's timing. Then, he shares his thoughts on the Islanders bringing in Patrick Roy. Finally, news & notes - more on Roy, if old-school coaching tactics still work in the modern NHL, Patrice Bergeron potentially working towards an NHL comeback and the Senators hearing offers on Jakob Chychrun.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.

let's welcome everybody in for the real kipper and born show this is the national edition we are live on sportsnet sports at 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary this hour of real A real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. The Edmonton Oilers agreed to terms with Corey Perry on a contract for the remainder of the season. Lots of talk, lots of speculation. Not so much if Corey, guys, was going to come back, but when and where. Your first thoughts, I'll start with you, JB,

on this getting done, I suppose, this early off of the trade deadline date of, what, March 8th? You know, my first thoughts are just, I think it's really strange how it's all being covered and handled. You know, that he did something so egregious in Chicago that they terminated a $4 million contract. And, you know, here we are, whatever it is, eight weeks later, new team signs them.

And they don't have to say anything about why. Fans are just supposed to be like, okay. You know, like, it's all... That team didn't want him there because of the way he was comporting himself so i just think it's fair to ask questions like why is it not important to know a little bit about what happened are you jesus are you under the uh sammy you think everybody feels that way or there's some people that say this is a private matter and it's none of our business?

I think it probably comes down to what market you're in. If you're in Edmonton today, you're probably making the argument that it's not our business. Right, the privacy and all that. He's a public figure though, right? No, I think probably people in other markets are making different things when rightfully so. Like, you know, I said in our hour before that be lying to you, if part of me wasn't upset that he's not on the Leafs because of just very clear needs for the Leafs, very clear fit there in terms of on ice stuff.

But watching the press conference today, and we'll get a couple of clips, I don't know. It just feels fast. Yeah. Feels fast to me. Okay. And what about you? Let's get Corey Perry.

He met the media today after practice, along with general manager, president, or I'm sorry, president of hockey operations, Ken Holland. Let's listen to Corey Perry today. Corey, you'd mentioned in your original statement back in November how you were looking to get help for mental health and some substance abuse counselors. What do you say to the people out there? Because lots of people maybe are going through similar stuff like that. What advice to give them? What'd you learn about yourself during

the last few months in regards to that? You know, this whole situation, it's not easy. But if you do have a problem, get help, seek out. You know, there's no shame in it it's just if you need the help go find it and uh and and treat yourself i mean you when i when i get up in the in the morning every day now it's i can look uh i can look myself in the mirror and be happy about myself and and where i'm going and uh and be proud of what i've done over the last two months. Would you have more clarity to what he exactly was going through? Is that what you're feeling, that you needed a little bit more explaining? I guess the question is, is there a line that's too far for anyone? Like, does it matter what he did at all?

Or is it just like, you know, it doesn't matter? My presumption is most people would say, of course it matters. You can't do everything. And so I think it's interesting that later, and I don't know if we have this clip or not, but like Ken Holland was asked, what do you know about it?

Yeah, you want the clip? Do you want it? Yeah, let's go. Let's hear the Ken Holland on that. Do you feel like you know about it? Yeah, you want the clip? Yeah, let's go. Let's hear Ken Holland on that. Do you feel like you know everything that happened in Chicago and from an off-ice perspective, why are you comfortable bringing him in in that sense? Well, do I know every detail?

No, but I have talked to Kyle Davidson, who obviously is the manager of that team. Again, I can't tell you exactly what we said because I told him I can't tell you exactly, but based upon my conversation with Kyle Davidson, my conversations with Bill Daley, my conversations with Corey, what Corey has done over the last two months to get help,

and we've talked to some other people uh ultimately led us to making this decision to uh to be here today so if you know cory perry really he's in a tough spot and he needed help i think it's really awesome that he got help i obviously went through that myself and i've got uh all the sympathy in the world for what he's been through it's a really tough time right after it come out of treatment trying to find who you are again you know having been someone who went out and partied with the boys presumably he's not doing that anymore you know it's a it's a turning point moment so all the sympathy in the world for him and I'm not saying he can't play and shouldn't play that's not my point at all. It's that for an individual organization to say that we're the team that's going to take on what he did in the past,

we are not condoning it but accepting of it or whatever. I just think that, you know, I need a little better than we don't know everything. We asked the GM of the team that, you know, terminated his contract and it seems okay. I just think there should be maybe a bit more. I mean, mean yeah like you can't say what he said he's like he's like or did he say don't sign him he's a scumbag like what did

he say like he could have said anything he could have talked to him and he could have said anything if you don't have to give details right i'm like this is when it comes to mental health and and programs like i'm the last guy that would know anything about that. He never mentioned what he's battling, which is, again, his privacy. It's his prerogative. Yeah, for sure, and I believe that is. But if it's something that was very substantial, is it possible that eight weeks could definitely impact him? I think what Edmonton Oiler fans would want to know best

is that you lost your job in Chicago because of your behavior. And it was bad enough behavior that the Chicago Blackhawks terminated your contract and kicked you to the curb. And we don't know if he's going to grieve that yet. Is eight weeks enough to reassure you and Ken Holland that this behavior will not continue in Edmonton?

Well, it's never enough to reassure, you know, like it's a, like I said, it's the most perilous time is when you're fresh out of it. You know, we talked a little bit before the show and I wanted to give the example of like, you know, when I was out and as an alcoholic and you talk to people who um refer to alcoholics as tornadoes they're a tornado in people's lives they just you know make a mess and wreck things whatever and in the you know big book they talk about like a farmer and his wife go in the storm cellar and you know tornado blows over and then you know they open the storm cell after and the the farmer looks at his wife and says wasn't this

great that the wind stopped blowing. And it's like, but there's still the house is blown over and whatever. So when you get better and the wind stops blowing, there's still a lot of problems to fix. And it's really hard to believe that whatever needed fixing before is

you know, he's got a lot of work presumably with relationships and in Chicago and whatever. I just, I think it's great that he's got a lot of work presumably with relationships and in chicago and whatever i just i think it's great that he's trying to get better i think it's fine that he's allowed to play i just think from a public perspective it's very strange that we're all just going to go whatever he did is fine good on the fourth line well i'll tell you what i mean i the last few days I have made calls to different clubs I believe that there was not substantial

interest in Corey Perry outside of what Edmonton showed right from the get go like other teams that looked at him and said no not for us not for us and I include I think the Toronto Maple Leafs that

one of the things that was brought to my attention was, again, not knowing the details. And we have Ken Holland talking about that. Yeah, we played it. What did he say? I don't know every detail. And that's scaring, that scared the hell out of a lot of teams. Right?

And if you're a hockey club right now and you thought about taking Corey Perry and you don't know all the details, the one thing that stands out is if I don't know all the details about this one incident is there a potential that there are other incidences that may come out a little later right and they did not want to take that chance is that is this, was, was that situation an isolated incident or is there a chance that something else can surface down the road? That's the main reason why a lot of teams did not want to go down that path.

There was no bidding war for him. There was no sweepstakes for, for Corey Perry. This is the Edmonton Oilers taking a chance, no different than they took a chance on Evander Kane. Yeah, and no one has said that he's not a useful hockey player by any means. I don't think anyone's pointed. There's no doubt that he is. It's that is it worth what the statement your organization makes if there are further complications to this?

So, you know, I hope sincerelyory perry needed help and got help and that he's able to start building trust back with his family and relationships and all that and he's able to find his career again and everyone's able to be hunky-dory with it i just think it's it's a little hard for me because i i'm loving what the oilers are doing they've won 13 straight games good mojo they're humming it's really hard for me to now watch that and be like, whatever, it doesn't even matter as long as you win. And we watched the press conference, and he did not reveal details. There's a mystery of exactly what happened.

But there was a sense that the media, at least there, didn't push him that hard, and they don't really care. They don't really, at the end of it, care. So... Do you think that would have been the same here in Toronto if it had happened? I don't... Again, listen, there's...

The majority of the media, they just want to cover hockey. They're not... For sure. They're not the ones that dig. They're not Westhead. They're not Katie. Yeah the ones that dig they're not west head they're not katie yeah katie's trying yeah but they're still out there and i can rest assure you that if there's more or any they'll find it they'll dig it they won't stop yeah and that's the worry for some of the hockey clubs that there's a katie out there that won't let it go.

And if there's anything out there, she'll find it. I don't really want to deal with that right now. So that's why there's that do we want him or not want him conversation. Well, maybe we can ask our next guest what he thinks. Let's welcome him. Or not if you're ready to turn the page, Kip. You drive the bus. No, no, no, no.

Mike Rupp, NHL network analyst, former NHL or Stanley Cup champion. let's welcome it out if you're ready to turn the page kip you no no no no mike rup nhl network analyst former nhl or stanley cup champion no better guy to ask and uh thoughts on on cory perry because we know that cory perry is a player uh but perhaps uh why some teams were interested in some teams weren't uh we'd love to get your thoughts on on this uh rupper thanks for joining us hey thanks for having me uh first off i'll give you my thoughts on i don't know why hotel rooms don't have proper lighting lounge lighting now i have every light on in this entire room and i can barely read a book if i wanted to but anyways uh if you guys can deal with that uh you know i'm here listen listen to what you guys are saying there um i guess for me like that the bigger

picture and we we've seen this with different situations different stories whether it's you know the perry situation i mean you can go back to remember the nichuskin situation in the playoffs there's there's always these, and I get the privacy, and you want to keep those things, you know, in-house. But that's where things get linked, right? And that's where everybody and we all, like, to never have a statement at all on a lot of these situations, I think is, you know, it hurts.

Even from just a hockey standpoint even the carter goj situation to never come out with something like it's where these stories kind of get these legs and uh yeah i'm sure that i would be shocked if the edmonton oilers and any teams inquiring on cory perry did not demand more information. If they did not, that's brutal. But I would assume they did, right? And you've got to try to figure out what you can figure out, maybe that everybody doesn't know. But, you know, as far as a hockey standpoint, it's a great move.

But there's a lot more to it, obviously, than just the hockey. Like Kipper said, you don't want this thing kind of being a black cloud over your team and sneaking up at the wrong time. Rupert, let me ask you about players around the league. And I mean, you're close to a lot of them. And they just watched a player get terminated with cause. But nobody knows why. And now, as we move forward, do I have to now revisit my behavior?

Where's the line for 750 players to say, okay, can my contract be terminated? And I've learned nothing from the situation with Corey Perry. Is there a precedent set or is there no precedent set here? Is that a concern to the players? They don't know why a guy just lost his job? Yeah, that's a fair point. And chances are, I think from just like you guys know

from being inside that locker room, I don't think that that's something you're going to be bringing up on day one and want to know more information from the new guy. Right. So, yeah, it's you know, I think that's where these where agents come into play, too. Like this is this is something that agents have to kind of dig on this situation, too. You've got to know what this situation what happened and why this measure happened right and um to to i want to say learn from it because uh i don't know again that's me alluding to what the situation is we never were given anything on it right but um yeah it's i think that it sits you said there's a player be like hold on our contracts can be

terminated that easily and then but i also think the other side of it is if your contract's being terminated then you can just pick up and jump on the stanley cup contender right away too i i don't know if the message is being sent across on any level so yeah i think it's just being in the know and understanding and and trying to figure out what the heck happened here. And it's not to just be nosy on the situation. It's, you know, you, you have a standard that you want players in this league to,

to operate under. And if they're doing that, that's the end goal. But like, we don't know what we're talking about here. There's so much, there's so much in the gray area. Rupert,

I should just like a general question about, you know, the NHL locker room. You're a guy who had just a ton of respect throughout your career as someone who was a good teammate and a good leader. You know, I've just remember here in the line that, you know, you can have you can have one bad guy in a room, but you don't want to, you know, they find each other, whatever. And I'm not even talking about Perry anymore.

But just, you know, in your experience, is there sort of a threshold of guys that can tip the balance of positive to negative or is there you know some way that a leader has to manage individual players outside issues yeah that's a good question because i know a lot of times from being in the room there for the most part man like when you're talking about my nhl career i mean there's i didn't really come across many guys where you're like wow that guyl career i mean there's i didn't really come across many guys where you're like wow that guy's that guy's a bad teammate like i didn't really have that it's all mostly yeah a lot of them are mostly like okay i would i'd hang out with that guy

i'd have a beer with that guy this guy yeah not so much but usually the yeah not so much guys are the guys that are going to be blocking shots with their teeth right like they're someone that they earn your respect in a different way. And, you know, they go out there and do those types of things. I think that, you know, over the course of an NHL season, there's all different days where you get sick of seeing each other's face. I remember in the playoffs, you know, you're in the hotel, at least in New Jersey, we're in the hotel and home games too.

And long runs, like you're literally seeing these guys in the same, it's Groundhog Day, same situations every day, same people. You want to kill each other at times. And so, you know, it's something where I think that it's really important to have some of those checks and balances in the room. I think it's really important to have a leader, a captain, that's not just your best skilled player. Like captains, true captains have tough jobs to do

jamie langer brunner is our captain in new jersey for a stretch he wasn't our most skilled guy but you know what when we'd sit there around dinner and go on the road and we'd be uh complaining about certain things you know jamie would have to weigh that you know when it was the right time but he'd go to management and be like hey we can't do this anymore and he'd have those hard conversations and not he would always get we wouldn't always get our way, but you had guys maybe in those situations too that would go tell a guy, hey, you got to chill out a little bit. Like it's wearing thin. I think that's important.

I think what we've kind of gotten, this has been a long time probably coming, and Kipper, if anybody comes to mind, maybe in your career too, where I think it used to be when you thought captain, captain was the leader. And now it's evolved into your most talented player. And that's become a ploy in keeping them on roster and extending them. Well, you'll be our captain. You'll be our assistant captain. You're stuck here.

It's kind of lost a little bit of thunder. And then you sit there. I've heard this a million times. Well, we've got, hey, we've got many leaders in the room. We've got 15 leaders in the room, 20 leaders in the room. Okay, but there's only certain letters, and when you have that letter, you have some cachet in that room. So I think it's really important to have the right guys

doing the right things, saying the right things, being accountable just not on the ice but off the ice as well. Well, Kevin Lowe, the year we won the Stanley Cup, he was at the latter part of his career and by no means considered one of the better shutdown defensemen or anything like that. Often I'd see him whispering into Marc Messier's ear, and I'm like, that guy could easily be our captain just as well.

Yeah, yeah, coming through him. Yeah, absolutely. Rupert, in terms uh having a voice now cory perry's voice uh mvp stanley cup champion will carry a lot of that weight but how quickly will it take him to kind of get going here he's been off for two months yeah i mean it's i think it takes time to go to a new team and just find your way in that room socially. I think that's the first thing too, right? It's not just on the ice trying to get up to speed,

especially when you haven't played in NHL games. That, to me, will come along even quicker. I mean, it doesn't take, I don't believe, that long. Obviously, assuming that everything was kept done, you kept yourself in shape and you're doing the things, getting up to speed different for every player. For me, it'd probably take, I mean, it would probably take a couple of weeks for me to be honest with you,

but you know, that, that part's there. But I think it's more that when you get a guy that has a Stanley cup, has the experiences that a guy like Corey Perry has had, you expect some of that to come out, whether it's saying those things in the room or that stuff doesn't, doesn't just happen. I think there's this misconception sometimes that when you add a guy that immediately it's like, Oh, he's, he's one of the voices in the room.

If you come across too hot too early, I think that you lose the room too, right? Like you can't come in the room and especially on a team like this, and I'm not saying that's going to happen. This team's been on a tear. You think they wouldn't they you know like someone coming in saying something it takes some time socially to fall in and find the way you you fit in with that room and you gotta you know show respect to the veterans that have been the leaders there already so um you know take them some time here but the good thing about it is this isn't a team who's really struggling and needs a spark right now and And that's why they made this move.

I mean, geez, the roster's working and clicking pretty good right now. You can take your time with this. And it happened at a good time in the season. You know, speaking of new voices, Rapper, I just want to get your thoughts on one of the teams not too far from you there in New York. Patrick Waugh gets hired to coach the New York Islanders. Talk about a different direction for them. What are your thoughts on the hire? Yeah, it's great.

And Lou kind of came out and said it, right? He's the only guy that I wanted, and that's why he's here. So when Lou Lamarillo wants something, he generally does anything he can to get it, and he's got conviction in his decisions. You know, Patrick, it's nothing new that I'm going to say here anything he can to get it and he's he's got conviction in his decisions uh you know patrick it's nothing new that i'm going to say here that he's going to be a a guy that infuses and you heard that even after last night's game he infuses energy um any new coach would have a little bit of

a different vibe but patty's gonna give them something else they they they were a very flat team prior and they need a spark basically is what it is my only concern is that when you start pulling back some of the numbers on their season fellas they've been awful like really really really bad like that's not a team that i don't i don't will there be a bump this yeah there should be a bump. But I don't think they still make the playoffs. They are pretty much 29th through 32nd in every defensive category there possibly is. And they're a team that they're defending a lot as far as they're giving up their blue line. I'm concerned with their D core. I don't think their D core is what they thought it would be with some of the personnel they have it should be a strength what we thought

was a strength um man they're they're real mess of where things are because they were a team didn't have a good power play well that's good okay it's good now you can check that off but everything you had as far as your foundation is out the window like they are a team that just, I don't see how you turn this around. Even if they went from a 29th, 30th defensive team in the league, if they move that up to 15th, that's huge, huge. That would be huge steps taken in the right direction. They're still not a playoff team for me.

They're not going to win or threaten anybody in the playoffs. Yeah, I agree with you, Rupert, just in terms of I don't see this as a signing to get them in the playoffs, and I hope Islander fans feel the same way. They for sure do. This is about a true winner

going into the room and then looking around and saying and deciding who he can win with and who he can't. This is about straightening out a room here. This is about a owner who just bought a very expensive facility saying to his GM, we need to be in the playoffs as soon as possible, Lou. And if he gets him in, it's a bonus.

Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, and that's part of it too with this team. And I hate saying that. I mean, I'm more or less saying they've been garbage all year, and I don't really see that change that much. Individually, I love a lot of these guys, right? Like, if I was to handpick, I want this guy, that guy, this guy, that guy. I mean, collectively, as a bunch of individuals, I look at them,

and I think this is a winnable group. And I think that's where this team has been at for a number of years, why they've run back this core. They believe they have a special group there. But along the way, like, you've got to play together as a team. And they're not doing that. I don't know what they are, who they are. You know, I sit here and I wonder when, if we fast forward a number of years,

is having Ilya Sorokin in net actually hurt them? Like, is it hurt that franchise set them back? Because it's allowed them to believe, whether it's him or Varlamov, it's allowed them to believe that they're into things more than they are. Hey, the other thing, too, to Islander fans, a lot of Islander fans I talk to are like, well, Ilya Sorokin's numbers are down a little bit. Yeah, they're down a little bit because he's seeing an absurd amount of great A's.

Like, where his numbers are from what he is seeing as far as league average, his numbers should be way worse. He has been their lifesaver all season long. And I wonder if they are unable to turn the corner, whether it's this year or Kipper next year. Like, if we'll look back at this and be like, man, you had one of the best goalies in the league and it made you think you were

something you're not. Well, we'll see where it leads in the next week or two with Patrick. Wah. Hey, a rapper really appreciate your time, man. Thanks for doing this.

Hey, thanks guys. Anytime. Thanks. Thanks, rapper. Appreciate it. NHL network,

Stanley cup champion. Good stuff there. Because the ISD is so bad. Sorokin leads the league and a goal saved above expected on sport logic yeah uh some really good stuff there just to go back on on um my final thoughts on on cory perry um and listen i'm pro uh rehabilitation i'm pro second chances. But to your point earlier, the one thing that I don't particularly like is just the secretiveness about making decisions

without coming with a little bit more information because the less information, the less we as a hockey community can hold people accountable for decisions that can help people move on in their lives or, or, or ruin legacies in their career. Sure. And I look at two people out of the Chicago Blackhawks that were kicked to

the curb, Corey Perry and Joel Quenville. One got to resume his career to step into the Hall of Fame when he's done. And one didn't and is out of the Hockey Hall of Fame. And I don't know why. We don't know why.

We don't know what the difference was. Why Corey got to rehabilitate. Where's Joel? We have no explanation why Joel definitively is out. And we don't have a very clear picture of why cory's back in and we'll never know i guess i guess that's the way it's going to be i'm just shocked that they wouldn't put out some sort of statement like you know here's sort of a rough look at the at an incident and what we're healing from and you know what what steps have been taken i think the like the greater picture

with quenville kip is that like there's a they know what the scenario was and i think you know, what steps have been taken? I think the greater picture with Quenville, Kip, is that they know what the scenario was. And I think, you know, you can debate what the involvement is with Quenville in that, but we know what this incident was and the horrible stuff that happened in Chicago. But we don't know where Joel truly fit into the equation. Of course, that's what I just said. Yeah.

But with Corey Perry, there's legitimately zero, no one has any idea, and he's already back. And if it was no big deal, great. Yeah. Let's talk about it. Yeah.

Then it won't be a big deal. Well, that's the thing. Like, to me, that's the big red flag where it's like, well, if it wasn't that big a deal, then you probably would have told us what it was.

Right. Right? Like, if it was like something that, for your contract to get voided for $4 million, it had to be something. Right. Anyways. And so, you know, I get the desire

in having a Hall of Fame player and a playoff style guy and all that. Okay. You showed a clip last night on our Leaf edition, Leafs versus Seattle of Patrick Waugh. Pretty intense guy in his first practice. You want to do game time? Yeah.

We'll do it after the break. Get back to Patty. You take one day off. You come back. You're the boss all over again. I just thought, you know, save it for our news and notes. So we have more time to stretch our legs with Patrick Waugh. Let's do it. All right. It we have more time to stretch our legs with Patrick Waugh. Let's do it.

All right. It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. At Bet365, must be 19 plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Two that I'm looking at for tonight, fellas. Excellent matchup. Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets.

Ooh. Yeah. Great game. In Boston, Winnipeg is a underdog plus 115 to me that's a nice number for the winnipeg jets who are clearly playing really well heading on eastern can i get the under on that with those two goalies the over under five and a half uh under is minus 120 yeah really so it's a really low nut line they know that uh those two goalies are very good and they're probably they're both good defensively there's six or seven goals in this game i think so five five and a half is a pretty low line that's that is and four two final

empty net god you talk me into it and yeah the bruins are getting hot again they've won four in a row so i mean that's a pretty good number to get the winnipeg jets out who are are they still the best team in the league or one of the best teams in the league and the other one i was looking at watch the penguins in person on saturday night didn't love what i saw no specifically from evgeny malkin boy it's going the other way for him yeah um just they just disconnected in the third period didn't look great they are a huge favorite against the arizona coyotes don't love that plus 130 for the arizona coyotes tonight give me the the mullet boys from mullet arena arizona to win love it 130 the one i want to ask you about if you still have that up it's just what is are the the canucks odds of beating chicago today are minus 450 that's great

they're minus 450 so uh don't bet that don't bet that yeah uh minus a goal's great. They're minus 450. That's fun. Don't bet that. Don't bet that. Minus a goal and a half, they're minus 165 still. Not a lot of value on betting on the Canucks tonight to beat the Blackhawks. No, sir. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. At Bet365, must be 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. All right. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about tough coaches coaches hard-nosed coaches in the year 2024 does it work anymore if it does for how long also speaking of those bruins sammy patrice bergeron man those rumors will not go away did you see the quote from today we will get to it after the break more real kipper and board diving deep into leaps rafters jays and nfl the jd bunk is podcast subscribe and downloadoren show.

I'm Kipper Yost, Justin Boren. Sammy McKee. Mr. Vegas. Thank you. Mr. Vegas thank you do you think you think Patrick Watt can go in there with the same kind of Rick Talkett kind of feel

where it's I got enough old school in me that I can push you but I understand you guys more than ever because i spent the last six years with junior kids yeah i mean i think uh you know a lot of has been made i think of coaches tend to do well on their second stop uh patrick waugh has talked about being humbled by the nhl phone not

ringing post colorado so he's got this like fresh mindset says he wants nothing to do with like player personnel he knows that's going to be lose roll he's saying all the right things and you know the one thing i i would just disagree with rupper on a little bit is you know he talked about how the islanders are garbage uh defensively and you know he goes if they can improve to 15th you know you know okay still not a contender currently two points out of a playoff spot if you go from 32nd to 15th or 20th even in defense in defense you're gonna win a lot more hockey games so i still think this is a very salvageable season and frankly i think they've got enough kind of veteran guys with Anders Lee and Brock Nelson and Pelich and Pullock

and whatever that they can make noise in the playoffs. So maybe it's an Islanders fan comment, but I don't hate this. Jesus is not cooked. Yeah, well, you guys know how I feel about Patrick Waugh. And I got to give Lou Amarillo a ton of credit here because he saw something and then he went for it. And it's not easy today for some presidents or general managers

to go get a voice that strong. Love it. Some of them are intimidated by a strong voice because some of them are intimidated by a strong voice because some of them don't want to hear some things that maybe come back at them. Sure, yeah. Well, we'll tell him what he needs. Think about Lou's reputation as a general manager, his history, one of the best in the game,

and he goes and hires such a strong voice like patrick wa like that says a lot about lou does he recognized a need and you know i certainly think that this this was the perfect team i wrote about coaches last week the day before they fired lambert and said that the islanders needed a change they just needed some sort of different voice so to your point you get a strong guy like wa and a pretty coveted character i think this year you know st louis had been talked about being rumored uh is interested in columbus too i think so yeah and it's like brand new building pretty close to the city here now you know it's a it's a great place and the team's got some talent should be an easy sell yeah and if he disagrees with lou he he's going to tell him. And vice versa.

Like right now, I'd say when it comes to the ownership group now in the island, Patrick's voice is now bigger than Lou's. I think so. Yes. And it'll continue to grow. And I don't think Lou's made some good decisions in the last little while. And there's reasons to question whether or not Lou still has it as a general manager or a president. He's 81. He could run for a real president in the U.S.

And if Patrick doesn't agree with him, man, he's going to let him know. And again, some presidents don't want that. They don't want that strong voice to go up and challenge them. They want yes men around them. Yeah, you know, Lou's thing has always been he's never bought into this whole youth movement,

speed and skill thing that he believes in veteran players. And so the concern with the Islanders is if they're not good right now, you know, who is the one on the Islanders is if they're not good right now, you know, who is the one on the way? You know, like what are the fixes coming? So I understand that they wanted to make a hard change and push these guys to immediately be better. Yeah.

Because it could get worse. My question is, talk about him being humbled and a new version. How many losses does it take to get the other version? Yeah. Good question. Like, you are who you are. You can't, come on. It's Patrick Waugh, boys.

They are who we thought they were. Like, he's definitely going to be, he'll be Mr. Quiet the entire time. Like, how over under a week and a half for first public blow up at a player? They must have given him, what, four years? Remember that story where he ripped the doors off the hinge? Yes. Yeah. I mean, I can't guarantee you doors are safe.

Dude, what do you think they gave him for length of a contract? Because he is a coveted guy, I think, right? He just won the Memo Cup. I got the sense that he was looking more for the opportunity than he was looking for financial security to come back in. That he just wanted an opportunity to come in and do what he loves. And that's my number one priority. Money wasn't.

So I don't believe that he rang the bell on this contract. And I don't believe that it's five years. And I don't believe he's one of the highest paid coaches in the league. Really? Yes. No. It was not. My understanding was that it was about the opportunity,

not about cashing in. Do we have a walk-up? We do have a walk-up. Let's listen to Patrick. Yeah. I could not ask for any better situation at this period of my life. I mean, you know, yeah, it'd be easy to stay home and play golf and enjoy life,

but this is what makes me feel I'm alive, and I really enjoy it. This is what makes me feel alive. For the record, I want to stay home and golf. Yeah, me too. I will have no problem feeling alive. But I will say, hearing him say that. Doesn't he live in Quebec? Yes. I mean, it's January. But I will say, hearing him say that. Doesn't he live in Quebec? Yes.

I mean, it's January. Where are you playing golf, though? Yeah, you're not golfing anyway. I think he's got a place down south. Yeah, he's probably got a... Yeah, but you can golf there. You can coach the Ramparts from Florida when you're working from home.

But he also, you know, like Marty St. Louis said, like, with my dying breath or whatever he said, like, if I could choose whatever on my last night, like, I want to be in the bell center instead of night that's what too these guys are competitors and they want to be at the highest level in the biggest buildings playing the biggest games and that's i want that coaching my team and if he signed a three-year deal he's two years away from maybe becoming the highest paid coach you don't think of success success and he's two years away from maybe becoming the highest paid coach you don't have success and he's turned this program around and they're a top five team and you're patrick waugh go make five million in a heartbeat six million on your next deal and listen like some of the contracts

they do have that are longer like noah dobson's making $4 million. He'll be on Norris ballots this year with all the points he's getting. Pelic makes $5.7 for another 100 years, like Barzell and Horvat. Some very good players on cheap deals. I'm just looking at the New York Islanders' upcoming schedule. Tomorrow, my Golden Knights are visiting them, 7.30. And then on Thursday, a trip to the Bell Center.

Oh, yeah. Second game or third game with the islanders i'm sure no one will be there for that one and they play here in a couple weeks in toronto yeah so that's going to be fun too or they play each other i don't know where the game the one thing's clear just when it comes to that intensity that like at no time can these Islanders now come to practice, go to a team meeting without just feeling like you're a little bit on eggshells. Day one, right? He's on the ice. He's banging the ice.

He's going, you know, we got to be better over here. It won't matter. Win three, lose three. It won't matter. Anytime you're around him, they will be nervous. That's why you care about competitors. And it's, I lived it with Keenan. Yeah.

And it can't hurt. It sucks. It's uncomfortable. Yeah. It doesn't necessarily suck. It's just really uncomfortable. Yeah. Let me ask you this.

You know who's probably rooting for this to not work? Sheldon Keefe. Correct. Who's that? Sorry. Sheldon Keefe. Because, I mean, the Islanders and leafs are in similar situations like the leafs are on the precipice of being outside of the playoffs looking in an underachieving team with a coach that hadn't

really like that you know had been there for a few years and wasn't working like a lot of parallels here and you know bringing in a guy like oh i don't know that's out there that we've mentioned a few times like a craig berube big personality different type of guy a lot of parallels here so like if they start getting hot and they could pass the leagues listen the hiles are chasing when when we think about coaching over the last 10 or 15 years there was like there was this feeling like everybody's getting regurgitated right they're recycling all these names and then there was a push for like new fresh young faces yeah it was it was big there for a while are we starting to swing the pendulum back a little bit to like the the talk it's in the patrick waz of the world where hey yeah it's okay come in and rattle the

cage a little bit i I'm okay with that. I do think that there is sort of a pendulum effect. It's interesting to me they won two of their last three games here on the road and it's still just like the heat never really gets dialed down. Well, I'm not ready to say it's not warm.

They are underachieving. I know the roster isn't as good as it's been in years past or whatever, but i think there's something to be said about that anyways patrice bergeron what is up or did he did somebody call him out as uh are you coming back to play so i don't know where the original ones came from but he's been seen skating so josh I've heard it too. Joshua Clipperton, who does a good job for AP, said he spoke to Patrice Bergeron about the chatter of the comeback because he was spotted skating in the Boston area. He said, it's just a weekly gathering of friends and ex-NHLers.

Come to our skate. The rumors would go away pretty quickly. I find that hard to believe. It's a slow pace is what he says. I really find that hard to believe that the guy could still win a Selkie and now it's a... That's what I love about hockey guys. We suck.

I suck. Imagine how good he is at that skate. I don't know why more players don't push their services like... I'm not playing 82 but I'll come back in December December after Christmas

I made a lot of money I'm 35 years old I'd like to play the back half of this year see you guys in a bit just be straight up with it I'd love that you're looking at me funny do you believe him? first off does he live in Boston permanently? Yeah, I guess. I can't believe for one second, as competitive as he is,

he's not thinking about it. I think it's funny that he's playing hockey at all. I don't think he will, but it doesn't mean that he can't fantasize about it. Yeah, the fact that he's playing hockey. You know, like if you wanted to stay in shape, you know, your career's over or whatever, you've been playing hockey your whole life in cold rinks in January, like, you know, go for a run.

You know, go on vacation and have a cycle in the Dominican. Do something different. And I think probably because we all kind of talked about how this is going to be a down year for the Bruins, and he probably heard some of that, and now you look at them, are they at the top of the nhl standings right near the top of the nhl standings hopping on this moving wagon probably wouldn't be the worst thing for him it's become their third line center and he can just right you just take a couple draws kill some

penalties protect some leads you know he reminded me something because you're wearing your Vegas Golden Knights hat. Yeah. You know, have we worn a hat yet, me and you, this year? No, and I think about it at least once a week. You do? Because I'm worried about how the shadows are going to relate. I've got two hats in my bag. Can I give you one?

Yeah, yeah. Okay, hold on for a second. I haven't. Because some days, you know, you're just tired. It's like, I'm not looking to have a shower today, but you have to. What kind of hats are these? I hope it's a fedora. What's the, I think you should leave fedora?

Oh, my God. Look at this. Look at the side of the hat. What's it say? Real Kipper and Born in the Front and Sammy 2 on the side. Oh. I made one more for Disco Dan. Did you?

Yeah. This feels like championship hat day. Wow, that is a really good looking hat. It's a really good looking hat. Good job, guys. And Sammy 2 on the side. Thanks to Chris Tammis. I love it.

With a head apparel. And Sammy 2 is incredible. Yeah, I only wear a a hat maybe once a week. Just when I'm not feeling like having a hair day. Can I get the shot again? Can I just test it for this if I can wear a hat? No, I can't wear a hat. Yeah, you can. Sammy, do you want one? I would love one. You got one?

Yeah, what color do you want? I like gray. Look at this hair. Not bad. There you go. That's the Vegas off. What do you think of the team buckets? What do you think of his hair. Oh, yeah. Not bad. All right, there you go. That's the Vegas off. What do you think of the team buckets? What do you think of that?

And Sammy, too. I really appreciate that. I guess I'll have to put it on back. Oh, yeah. Love it. Thanks. Thanks, Kippy. Now we all look like we just won the championship because we got the tags on still.

Yeah. So there are a few others. We want to remind everybody we're going to go on the road for the first time ever. We're so excited. We're going to be at the Metro Convention Center. And if you come and visit us, maybe we'll raffle a couple off. How does that sound? Great.

Love that. Throw them to our millions of fans like a t-shirt cannon. Okay. So, Sammy, what did you bring us back from Vegas? You saw the bag I took, Kip. I didn't have room to buy it. Yeah, he brought a sweatshirt down there. I didn't have anything to bring back.

I didn't have any room. Sorry, boys. Nice. Oh, come on. Give me a break. What, do you want a keychain? We did talk about going to Vegas as a show once upon a time, and there will be more road trips for the Real Kipper and Bourne show.

Yeah, you know, it was a really great trip, Vegas has a show once upon a time, and there will be more road trips for the Real Kipper and Bourne show. Yeah, you know, it was a really great trip, but like I said, I won't be back down there anytime soon. No. No. Once? Yeah. I don't know what else I could see. Seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt. Yeah, I didn't even buy a t-shirt.

Just this hat. That's all you got. Just this hat. Yep. All right, so six games on tap. Which one? Vegas and, or no, Winnipeg and Boston. That's the marquee one tonight. Winnipeg and Boston. That's,

that's the marquee one tonight. Winnipeg, Boston, seven o'clock. Uh, Kyle Connor has been added to the all-star game. I believe in, are we hearing some guys now a little bit?

You think we're going to hear a few names drop? Well, there's always a few with bumps and bruises. And then there was someone else who was unfortunately out of it. Yeah. Yeah. I imagine you'll have some guys starting to do the old. Now Chicago's in Vancouver. You think, uh, and then there was someone else who was unfortunately out of it but yeah i imagine you'll have some guys starting to do the old now chicago's in vancouver you think uh bedard made the trip so he can give the car keys to his sister so she quits bugging him on the

commercial that's too bad for him he can't play in this one really too bad so kip you think he's on the trip like even though he's not playing, just go with the team back to your hometown? Oh, yeah, for sure. I know I would be. I know when I broke my jaw, I returned home, and it was Thanksgiving, and my mom was. Oh, my God. I know. My mom's got beef tenderloin with peppercorn gravy on the table,

and I'm eating blended. Yeah. Blended whatever we had. That's a tough balance, buddy. We tried to blend cheesecake. I know that. He grew up a Vancouver Canuck canuck fan it's killing him right now he cannot play tonight yeah in his home i'm sure it's killing the league though that he

can't be a part of the all-star weekend i mean that's a we got we just got a huge name we just got a text uh not one word about the sens would you like a word about the sens uh shane pinto returned he uh played his first game played a little over 14 and a half minutes. Look, the Suns got a win with him in there. They've won one in a row. Congratulations. The season is a punt. Did you see that first goal? Yes.

That was crazy. Everybody's looking around and they've got a clue where the puck is. Yeah, strange goal. So they've won one in a row. Congratulations. And talks will grow on Chikrin being out there. Oh, yeah, you think so? As a row. Congratulations. And talks will grow on Chikrin being out there. Oh, yeah. You think so?

As a trade. Yeah. Teams are asking, and I don't think the Sens are shy now to listen to offers for Jacob Chikrin. Curious to see if Pinto extends at some point, like now that they got him under contract and back playing. Wonder if he gets something done. What a brutal year for them. Yeah. I mean, everything's gone wrong after a great

start. The only thing left now is for Jacques Martin to make decisions on who needs to go and who needs to stay, right? For his ownership group. Figure it out. Thanks for the lid, bud. Alright. Thanks.

My pleasure, guys. Mike Rupp, thank you very much for joining us at the top of the hour. Like we said, six games on tap. Pick your game as we will. And we're right back here tomorrow to do it all over again on the Real Kipper and Boren Show. If you get a chance, please give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you.

Tell us how silly JB looks in a ball cap. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. Have a great night, everybody.