Real Kyper & Bourne - Opening the Quinn Hughes Sweepstakes

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee share their thoughts on Jon Hamm's commercial with Team USA to tee up the Olympics before welcoming in Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre (5:35) to share the latest on the Canucks and Quinn Hughes. They get into the reports linking Hughes to the New Jersey Devils, what the Canucks would be looking for in a trade return, and the direction for other expiring contracts in Kiefer Sherwood and Evander Kane, as well as franchise cornerstones in Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko. Later, Nick, Justin and Sam discuss the Oilers' surge, Florida's comeback over the Blue Jackets after being down 4-1, Dean Evason's postgame comments on the hand-pass rule, and the standings crunch in both conferences approaching Christmas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Welcome in to our national edition of the Real Kipper and Born show. We are live on Sportsnet, SportsSat, 650 in Vancouver, especially 650 in Vancouver after this weekend. What up, Van City. 960 in Calgary and streaming, always on Sportsnet Plus. If you miss our show, Catch it at your earliest convenience on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube. This Hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365.

Nick Kippreos, Justin Bourne, and our very own Sammy McKee. Ian McIntyre is going to join us just to talk about that very subject of the Vancouver Canucks and Quinn Hughes. Star of a new commercial? You know, we just watched the John Hamm Team USA. commercial for the Olympics for the hockey club. Yeah, this is for NBC correct? Yeah, yeah. We don't have the audio. I don't think. I don't know if we're

allowed to. I don't know if we're allowed to do that. They're all cheesy. Why do you guys have like your surprise face on that it's as cheesy as we thought it would probably be? I mean, I, this is a heck of a zag tip. I watch that commercial. It's awkward and weird. That's all. It's not deeper than that.

You expect something else? No, but if something is bad and I watch it and it's bad, I don't say it's good, you know, like it still made me very uncomfortable. There's two parts of it that I love, that they're using the biggest stars and focusing on the fighting that won't happen in the Olympics as part of the trip. But you're not allowed to do in the Olympics, but they don't care, whatever they can to sell.

I do love the little brother aspect of American hockey towards Canadian hockey, that they built their whole advertising campaign for the, Not around winning a gold medal around Canadian tears. Like, I don't, if we beat them, sure, great. I don't care about that. What I want is the gold medal. That's what I care about. And they're like, Canadian tears.

It's like, oh, God. Really? It's awkward because John Hamm isn't in the room with them, and it's stitched together awkwardly. The players do as good a job as you can do. Sure. Say these two words. It's tough to do.

Morgious. I'm terrible at it myself. Building the whole thing around that. Come on. Listen, we're down to... You got Cooper on, don't we? Oh, we do, yeah. Do you want to do it right now?

You got a... You got a hope if you're NBC or Sportsnet, TSN, I don't know who else is involved. CBC, maybe. I don't know, everybody's involved. It's a consortium of sorts. Canada versus USA, that's the only money game out there. Yeah, I think everyone hopes for it. But, like, if we win a gold medal and we don't have to beat the states, it's not going to change my happiness.

But if I think it feels like it's the other way around it, would okay let's listen to john you want to listen to it yeah that's great let's listen to it yeah it's a good clip let's listen to it so funny you say that i think i saw it at dinner last night like over somebody's shoulder thinking what is that and then it was a it was olympic commercial right yeah so have i heard it no but i did see like a clip of it would you like to hear well not right now plus john's a friend so i'm gonna find out what he's great They're going to come back with Canadian tiers, I think. That was the...

That's the line. You know, if it brings more eyes to the sets, that's a good thing. But here's the thing. How many times is Canada going to play the U.S.? Potentially zero. One at the most. So the tournament for me is about them as one of the 11 other teams we've got to beat. And so I think it's probably easy to put a lot of, you know,

into like Canada versus U.S. We may never even play each other. I got him right up there with Switzerland, Latvia, just another opponent. That is so good. The most Canadian. You see, he loves Coop on his team. And I don't know we're in National Hour, I'm like Cooper.

Love you, Coop. Love you, I hate you. But he's the coach of the Lightning. Coach of Canada, love you. God, I'd kill for him to the least coach. Oh, my God. We're closing in. Coupe to the Leaf.

No, no, no, we're closing in towards the Olympics. Oh, my God. I thought you're breaking a massive... We're closing in on the excitement. My heart fluttered. The Olympics. If you were running the leaves, did you trade it first for a Cooper?

Yes, 2028 first. I'll even throw in... They don't play, you know. Coaches don't play, right? They can't step on the ice. No, but they can make a difference on the outcome. And that matters. So tell us why we're talking about the Canucks today, Kip.

Because Elliot, of course. Saturday night stirred it up with the name Quinn Hughes. What do you say? I don't know, that they were talking, I guess, and that was enough to excite everybody. And Sam, why are you excited about it? I just think it's awesome.

I think that this is much like you talked about off the top of our show with no player movement, with no anything. It's like this is one of the best players in the league that's potentially going to get traded. We cling to everything now. So was it something like these, said there's a call.

Yeah. And then he called him Fitz. And then he called them Fitsy, the GM of the Devils, which everyone calls. You know who has better insight on this than us? Ian McIntyre does terrific coverage on the Vancouver Canucks. And of course,

Sportsnet.com. Since 1991. Yes, sir. Ian, how are you, my friend? Good. You know I was about eight years old when I started covering. Wildly successful. Yes.

Yeah. Child prodig. and I never outgrew it. Listen, I don't want to take away anything from Elliot Friedman Saturday night, but it did create a huge wave here. But are we that surprised that if there's been talk with Vancouver Canucks, Jimmy Rutherford, with other clubs that Quinn Hughes' name eventually does get brought up? No, I mean, pragmatically, and you guys know how this works,

I mean, Jim Rutherford was talking as long as two years ago about what the Canucks need to do within the framework of Quinn Hughes's contract. Like that was the window and everything that they were doing was about while Quinn Hughes is still here and available to them. And certainly last season, this became something that, you know, I, among others, talked to Quinn about, you know, what do you want to do? How is this going to go? How hard is it going to be? Of course, Quinn said he can handle the noise, and that is being tested right now. Can he handle the noise?

But my point is there's been this issue out there for a while. And really, whether it's the New Jersey Devils, whether it's Detroit, whether it's any number of these young up-and-coming teams that don't yet have a stud defenseman, they wouldn't really be doing their due diligence had they not reached up. out to Vancouver. And obviously, this is a special situation between the Canucks and Devils because Quinn's brothers play for the New Jersey Devils. They don't play anywhere else.

And so I think it, you know, naturally there's been some discussion. I mean, if nothing else, wouldn't Tom Fitzgerald, I mean, Fitsy to his friends? Of course, of course. Wouldn't he have called the Canucks at the end of last season when Jim Rather Rutherford said in his year-end press conference that this team has to do everything they can to keep Quinn and Rutherford joked then that maybe the Kinnock should try and get Jack and Luke and make it work that way. So this has been out there for a while. I think there's been a lot of contact with a number of teams. I can't tell you what that number would be, but I think a bunch of people have been in touch with the Kinnucks about what they plan to do with Quinn and when that might happen.

you referenced it. It really struck a nerve with, I think, a lot of Vancouver Canuck fans when Quinn Hughes referenced the general manager of the New Jersey Devils, Tom Fitzgerald, as Fitsy. Everyone calls him Fitsy. Right? I mean, is this what happens when you aren't in a playoff contention that you just grasp at straws on something like that?

Or what are your thoughts? I'll say this, it did strike me right away. Oh, they're cozy. They're familiar. But so I asked a couple of people, and they said that he is, in fact, called Fitsy by just about everybody in the NHL. So I'm trying not to read too much into that, but it sounded like there was a familiarity there. And look, it's, you know, there are two thirds of the brothers in New Jersey. We know that, you know, off-season, sometimes in-season, even last year during the Four Nations break, which Quinn wasn't a part of because he was injured.

We know that he goes and sees his brothers and he goes to New York, the New York area, and wouldn't surprise me if there have been introductions made and he does know Fitzgerald, but it did sound, you know, really cozy to the Vancouver audience that he was calling him, calling him Fitsy. As this gets more real, and you'd love to get your take on just how real we're talking here, you know, looking at the Canucks, they lose a hockey game in the next day or two. They can be dead last in the West. Like they didn't set out to do this, but is it such a bad thing at this point to say, we got to tear it down because even if we have Quinn Hughes, or we're kind of at the bottom of the standings? Yeah, well, that's the debate that's been raging for a month now.

I did a sit-down interview with Jim Rutherford, where he said, basically, he's not interested in a rebuild. And he says that they can work, but they take a lot of time and you have to get lucky, which I think is true as far as the draft goes. He made the point that if you're going to rebuild and win a cup, you pretty much need to get a first overall or get a generational type player. And, of course, that takes some luck because it's not just good enough to be bad. be awful. And then even then you have to not get crushed by the draft lottery, which is a little more favorable than it was a couple of years ago to the worst teams. But he he has expressed, he uses the word transition that he believes the Canucks are in transition since the J.T. Miller trade and that they had a plan and were on a certain trajectory when they had J.T. And when they made

that trade, knowing that they couldn't replace him and what he meant to the team. his impact on the lineup that since that point they've been in transition but the transition is to try to continue to add good young players their own but also from outside the organization and I even asked Jim and of course things change but I asked Jim a month ago well will your future and how you get to whatever comes next be determined by what Quinn Hughes wants to do and And he said no, that even if it ends up that Quinn is leaving, they still have a lot of players that they like who are still in their prime. They're in their 20s.

He said it's not a team with a bunch of guys in their 30s who are already aging out. And they believe management does that they can kind of upgrade on the fly and retool or transition to use their word and be a very good team that way. There's a lot of people in the market who would rather just see the tear down to the studs and try and start over. But as you know, we know that that's complicated too because almost all the senior players that they have on this team who are on long term contracts, they've got trade protection or no, or in most cases, just a no movement clause. So it's not it's not as simple as it seems, but certainly it would be foolish to think that. Whatever happens here with Quinn, whether it's this season, whether it's at the deadline, whether it's right before the Olympic breaker, or whether it's next summer is going to have a huge impact on which way this organization goes. You're watching and listening to Ian McIntyre, who covers the Washington, or Vancouver Canucks, sorry, with SportsDat.com.ca.

So, Ian, like, potential pieces in return talking about either a retool and not a real rebukes. build so wouldn't be enough to get 22 or 23 year olds along with a bunch of first round picks compared to a 25 year old or a 27 year old defenseman that could come back and play 20 minutes a night this is and how would the the market respond to young prospects and picks compared to a top centerman that can come in and help right away well again because there's a strong send him in the market right now for the rebuild, people would be elated at the draft picks. As for the Canucks, they do want to get players. This isn't just a deal for, you know, two first round picks and a really good prospect. That's not what this team is going to be looking

for if it gets to the point where they're going to move Quinn. They want players back. They've said under 25, I think they'd be thrilled with 23-year-olds, 21-year-olds, as long as these are guys that with certainty you can project, not just to be. be NHL players but be good NHL players. I think the Canucks would be fine with that. But if this trade happens, I mean, let's be serious. This will be the biggest trade in franchise history. This will be a bigger trade than say when Brian Burke sent Pavel Burry to the Florida Panthers for Ed Giovannowski. And there were other pieces involved. Because, you know, just to compare those two, Buray had walked out on the Canucks and was demonstrated.

manning a new contract and Quinn Hughes is under contract at a great rate and he's one of only two guys right now who does what he does and although most people would say well Kail McCarrick is hands down the best defenseman in this league it's hard to argue that anybody else is better than Quinn and certainly they're two of a certain style and there's very few of those guys and you think about I mean so the teams have been mentioned New Jersey because of his brothers but they already have Luke. So that would be interesting to see how that works out. But, you know, Detroit. And what about these teams like San Jose, who's come so far, but they don't have a guy on defense who rushes the puck and can make plays like Quinn Hughes or even Anaheim who

have a couple of really good defensemen. But again, there's so few of Quinn Hughes, how good would he look there or Chicago? So there's all kinds of teams that I think would be involved And that's partly why I'm not saying there wouldn't be a trade this season, but it would be easier to make that trade this summer with what the Canucks want back. If it simply was a matter of this being, say, one of the most expensive rentals, a team just getting them because he's got this spring and then he's got all of next year and next spring so you get two playoff runs. If it was just purely the most expensive rental in NHL history,

I think that trade, you know, could happen today if Quinn wanted out. But the fact that the teams, the fact that the Canucks want such good assets back and good NHL assets, it makes it really difficult for a team. And let's use New Jersey as an example. You know, they have a chance, they look like they have a chance to challenge for the Stanley Cup now with the team they have. Now, obviously, any team that Quinn Hughes goes to is going to be better. but if you're in New Jersey, don't you want Dawson Mercer for this playoff run? Don't you want Simone Nemich?

So in that case, I think a trade might be easier to do from the Canucks perspective for what they want in return. I think it would be easier to do in the summer. But if someone just desperately wants to have Quinn this season and Quinn indicates to the Canucks that he's probably not going to receive, sign and that's a big part of this like the connects can't do anything till they get some direction from quinn as far as i know there hasn't been that direction you don't think they're there yet in in terms of really understanding that this ain't happening guys

yeah i think everybody feels that nick i think every even before the season i think the sense was the most likely outcome is that queen hughes would be leaving after this year, but I think he still need to wait to hear it from him. And maybe that discussion has taken place, but my understanding is it hasn't gotten to that point yet. Certainly as badly as the Canucks have started this season, it has only increased the likelihood that Quinn's going somewhere else. Because apart from playing with his brothers, if New Jersey was a crap team, I'm not sure even playing with his brothers that it would be the first choice for Quinn, because he's so desperately wants to be in a position where he can challenge for a Stanley Cup.

Remember, he was only a rookie when the Canucks had what we thought was a breakthrough in the bubble season. They won a couple of rounds in Edmonton, but they had this incredible young core of all guys in their early 20s. And then J.T. Miller was a mid-career guy who was part of that core. And then the team went backwards. And then eventually they got good again. They had Rick talk it they had a hundred nine point season they won the first non-pandemic playoff round since the the team that went to the stanley cup final in 2011 and then they go backwards again this has been really hard to take for a lot of the older players and especially the guys like quinn who have who have lived through the turmoil who have lived through the upheaval to see it

going this way again so certainly that's a factor if the conucks were running near the top of the restaurant conference. I don't think this would be a front burner issue right now. It certainly would still be an issue, but it wouldn't be on the front burner like it is now. There's a lot of things, a lot of factors that have made this the story that it is right now. And so, you know, with this being such a big story, it sounds like other players. Also in the news, Kiefer Sherwood, another name that seems like could get moved. So is that where we're at? Is Sherwood going to be a guy that we think gets shipped out soon? Yeah. Well, I mean, shipped out this season, the Canucks.

I think have been pretty clear with that. And of course, that was Elliott's scoop as well, that they had sent the communique to the other 31 teams, basically saying that they're open for business. And then Rutherford wanted to make clear to the world that open for business with regard to their UFAs. So, you know, that's Kiefer Sherwood headlines that class. And it's too bad because he is a terrific player.

He's one of these guys whose motor is going all the time. He's one of these guys that on the surface, to say, why in the world wouldn't you want to keep that guy? And typically you would, except the Canucks last summer. They signed long-term deals for Brock Besser and Connor Garland, who both play on the right side. So now they're a little bit stuck about, well, how much could they afford to pay a guy who, in theory,

is going to be their third best right winger. So, yeah, I think Kiefer will go before the trade deadline. I think there's other players of Ander Cane. some others have trade protection. Kiefer does not. So, you know, there's other players who may be of interest. And I mentioned Connor Garland. He's one of the few because his extension doesn't kick in until next year.

So he has no trade protection at the moment. But he's a player that Vancouver loves and would want to keep. I think the question, another question to this issue, though, with regard to Quinn and what happens next? Is what do those other players want to do? like it's not just about well do the Canucks want to trade anyone else or how are they going to do it there may be some other players who wish not to stay if Quinn is not here because clearly no matter what that trade looks like in the short term the team is going to be taking a step back and most of the guys who have been here a few years and re-signed are as frustrated as Quinn is that that

things haven't been linear and that this season has started going you know poorly again. So I think that's something else to watch. Maybe there's others who won't that. Can we just narrow it down to two off the top of my head, Pedersen and Demko? Yeah, I don't think Patterson is going anywhere because they just need, they need centers right now. And Pedersen, quietly, I presume you mean the original Pedersen because there's a bunch of them. Yes, the expensive one, the really expensive one.

Yeah, and it's a good question, Nick. But the Canucks had a chance. They had a window after last season before July 1st to trade Elias if they wanted to. And they didn't. And I think there was some serious consideration for that. But now we see in very hard, gold, stark reality how desperate this team is down the middle. So I don't see Pedersen being in play. And he is actually having a good season.

His points, if you're not watching. The connects closely, you see the points and you think, well, this is kind of disappointing again, because it's a little underwhelming, although it's better than last year for Elias. But he's doing a lot of things, you know, blocking shots. He's engaging more physically than he used to be. I think the connects are pretty happy with how his bounce back season has gone. Demko was the other one you asked me about? Yeah, who's hurt right now?

Who's hurt, but he's close to coming back. I think Demko could be in play. And again, the players will have a say in this. Most of them have trade protection. So if they go to the team and say, yes, I want to play somewhere else. You know, Thatcher's been very loyal to this organization. He didn't have to re-sign last year when he did. He said that part of the reason he did it was because he wanted to provide some stability to the Canucks.

so that when they go looking for other players, those other players can look at the organization and say, oh, yeah, they've got this guy, this guy, this guy, and they have Demko in goal. But again, if Quinn is moved, it feels like such a game changer for the organization, and it could be a game changer for some of those players. Certainly the Canucks really love a couple of the guys

they have in their pipeline and goal, but those guys aren't close to playing. They're still two, three years away. The way goalies need to percolate, now for a while and spend a season or two or even three, as the case was with Demko in the minors before they come to the NHL. The Canucks still need some goal tending. They have Lankinen who's had a disappointing year. Demko was lights out until he got hurt. He's coming back. I think they'll want to see what this team looks like. If Thatcher can stay healthy,

which is a big if, but if you can stay healthy and get back to the form he showed in October at the start of this season, I think they want to see what that team looks like. Ian, last one for me. Just want to get your thoughts on how Adam Foote has acquitted himself in his first season as a head coach, obviously, some challenges there this year. Yeah, yeah, a lot of challenges. And, you know, in some respects, he was dealt a difficult hand because one of the things that management declared at the end of last season was that they knew they had to get another center that this team wasn't strong enough down the middle. And that wasn't able to happen. And if you look around the league, you can understand why.

There's been so few trades of impact and also the fact that there's this historic amount of money flowing into the cap system, everybody thinks they have a chance because of this money. Everybody can afford players. So nobody is just selling guys off like we'd seen in previous seasons. But the point is this wasn't the roster, I think, that Adam Foote was promised. And then unfortunately, out here on the West Coast, we have we have the, this faint hope that the law of averages are going to catch up and that not everything is going to go against the team like it seems to last year last year the the injuries apart from all that drama between peterson and j t miller the injuries were devastating you look at their top players

every guy was hurt multiple times and i'm thinking of of hughes demko and peterson hurt multiple times so coming into this year there was this hope well it can't possibly be that bad again and then game six they lost two of their only three experienced NHL centers and i think by game seven or eight they had nine guys out of the lineup again and some of them have kind of just disappeared uh and important role players like Derek forbert who was badly missed on a penalty kill which quickly sunk to the bottom of the league and teddy blueger an experienced guy who has a lot of tradecraft so they've missed they've missed uh guys again this has made it difficult on foot there at some nights there's been five or six graduates of their

a hl team in the lineup and although the canucks like most of these players it takes time to learn to play in the n hl i think foot also changed the system maybe more than than what is on the surface and some players had a difficulty uh not embracing because everyone liked the idea of being more aggressive and being more attacking. I mean, who doesn't like that if you're a hockey player? But the transition to learn to play that way without sacrificing your own end, we know was a very difficult transition. And you can look at the goals against on this team and where they rank defensively.

But they are getting better in that regard. The last two weeks were a lot better than the previous two weeks. And I think, you know, obviously foot and his coaching staff, which is a new coaching staff, another factor. I think they're hoping to continue that trajectory. But it has been rough for Adam, but the situation would have been rough for anybody. Even had Rick Talkett stayed,

this would have been a challenge to have this team in a playoff position at this point with all that's gone against them already. Ian, just one more for me, a terrific job breaking a lot of things down of Vancouver Canucks for us here. And that is that whatever we want to call, this next phase for the Vancouver Canucks

a rebuild, a retool. The team's owned by Francesco Aquilini who represents the family. Is it a foregone conclusion that Jimmy Rutherford and Patrick Alvin have his confidence to lead

whatever is coming the way in the next year or two with Vancouver Canucks? Well, so far, but ask me next week. And I'm not suggesting it will change that quickly. but you know how how this market is and things can be volatile. And that's why I think it's so important. I just mentioned how the last two weeks were better than the previous two.

The Canucks have to keep getting better. As long as there's, I think, an indication as they get players back from injury and Dempco could be coming back on Thursday. I'd think of which day it was. They all run together. Thursday against Buffalo, you know, which would be a huge return. as long as they're showing signs that they're recovering and getting better, I think, and again, because this is a new coaching staff and a new head coach,

I think they would get a little more time. And, you know, I asked Jim Rutherford not about the trust level, but did he have the authority to even do a rebuild if he wanted one? Because a lot of people think that ownership wouldn't allow it. And he said, Jim did, that, He has had authority that, although, of course, he talks to the owner, just like every president and GMs of teams do. He said that Aquilini has left it in his hands.

And as far as we can tell, it's still very much in Jim Rutherford's hands. Ian, great stuff, man. Really appreciate you stopping by on the show. All right. Nice being on with you guys. Thanks, Ian. Appreciate it. Ian McIntyre covering the Vancouver Canucks for Sportsnet.com.

since 1991 it says right here when he was eight yeah he was eight that's very funny good stuff there the Fitsy thing I got in trouble I sent you got in trouble I sent a tweet and the Canucks fans got really mad

which the joke is good well I said that him calling the gentleman for the devil Fitsy isn't the best sign I wouldn't say it sounds like your voice it's been Fitsy Gate has been like everyone's like all anyone's ever called him is Fitsy Fitsy Fitsy it's like

you can understand why people were a little in Toronto like I mean players use nicknames but like when Tom Fitzgerald comes on our show I have not shaken Tom Fitzgerald's hand before and I may have first show called him Tom but I believe I call him

Fitz or Fittsie and I'm not quick to go to nicknames he just that of all them feels like the easiest one to Paul do like there's always this gray area with television at least in my early years of broadcasting where It was just like, no nicknames.

Nicknames pissed people off early in my broadcasting career. And I think now we're all kind of all over these nicknames, I guess. But hidden mess for me. I mean, so let's, for example, say that Nazim Cadry was getting traded. Like, there's conversations that he was going to get traded at least. I'm not saying that's going to happen. But he does a thing. He's like, ah, well, you know, my agent and Tree had a conversation that would probably,

rubbed some people the wrong way, wouldn't it? I don't know. No, I think that would go over everyone's head, I think, at this point. All right. All good. It's when you nickname and you don't really have an association, but people can't tell anymore. But there's a sense that you're all chummy, chummy with the guy

and you don't want to be critical because he's your buddy. Right. Well, I call you Kippie. Oh, Kippelano Springs. And we're not buddies. No, just kidding. Just kidding. It's game time.

Presented by Bet365. Visit the athlete of sod. See why it's ever ordinary at Bet365. It was 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Five games on the ice tonight, including the Vancouver Canucks. We just talked to Ian about them.

They are hosting the Red Wing, which is interesting. A team that some people have rumored the Quinn Hughes potential to. The Vancouver Canucks are underdogs on a host. home ice against the red wings they are plus 105 red wings are minus 125 i was looking at the least game leifs are underdogs at home tonight plus 110 lightning are minus 130 coming in this is the one that i had to bring up uh pontus homeberg tonight anytime goal score uh nine to one so the people love a pontus homeberg bet at home listen i'm telling you this stuff happens and this guy's got revenge goal written all over it, potentially an empty netter because he's just

so good defensively that maybe he's on the ice at the end of the game and shoots one in. If you wanted to parlay Nick Paul, who is also a leaf killer and feels like he scores every game against the Leafs, hasn't scored. I think he's got one in his last eight coming in here. What's the Paul number? If you parlay both of those together, you can get that to 40 to one for both those guys to score. Give me just the Paul number.

Yeah, hold on. I just lost it. Let me get back to it here. God, I think you're betting that before the Holmberg number who has nine career NHL goals if he has that. I am putting money into my account

to bet Pontus Holmberg to score. Nick Paul is plus 325 tonight for a goal against Lease. All right, I'm in. So those two, 40 to 1 or buy themselves, 325 for Nick Paul, 9 to 1 for, seems like a bad number for...

How many career NHL goals for Pontus Holmber? He has 180 games played. I'm going to say, at the most 11 17 it's 20 wow okay hot shooter who lets that guy go 26 years old 20 goals in his career how could you let him go anyways that was game time reserved by bet 365 visit the athlete of odds and see why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus on tar only please play responsibly all right let's take a quick break when we return the oiler starting to rebuild some confidence oh i'm so sick of this oh no again we got to

Give him some love. No. Give him some love. Did you guys catch that crazy game in Florida with Columbus and Dean Evans, going a little squirley on the game? Yes. And I cannot wait to talk about it. Yes.

Let's have some fun with Dean. After the break, more real Kippenborn. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things, Leif's, Rafters, and Blue Jays. Every weekday morning, 6 to 9. It's the fan morning show. Sportsnet 5-9 to the fan and wherever you get your podcasts.

As a reminder, this hour of Real Kipperman Bourne brought you by Bet365. Nickyprivile's, Justin Boren, Sammy McKee. Oilers are back now. Your Leafs are struggling, but boilers are back. They can score again now, which is nice. I'm so embarrassed. I did it again. I fall for this crap.

You forgot to change the jersey? change the jersey it's winter meeting time Toronto Blue Jays are a world they're a worldwide team but they're also a Canada white team so you think they're all the way back oh yeah yeah 9 4 6 2 the last two games and you're good yeah although 4-0 before that so they're they're bad and I did it again

and they do oh little slow start oh we suck oh we suck we're tricking everybody and it's like I got to come on here and be like they're bad this year and now they're good and everybody looks like an idiot thanks a lot oilers I mean the division two is just so soft like they're all already in a wild card spot. They're two points behind the Kings. They're...

They're... They're... In the first points up and then looking in the rear view going... Seattle's falling off. They stink. They always stink.

Oh, my God. They're no good. Mammoth are holding on for dear life. The Crackens since their inception, they nailed the logo and Jersey and vibe and then they went out

and got no one of interest. No. And then... At any point. And mammoth just lost Cooley... God, did you see that coolly injury? Yeah, so the Cooley injury was bad.

That sucks for him. Read about it on certain websites out there if you want some additional details. Yeah. But there's a... And some fabricated details. But the coolly thing, for Utah, they're not going to make playoffs

without him going great guns. No. They're in trouble. So yeah, now the boilers are just back. And we all have to just be like, yeah, we were wrong again. Then they'll go to the seventh game. But did we really think they were bad?

I did. I did. I thought it was different than last year. I really did. It's hard to tell now. They were so injured, though. They were without Heimann for a chunk of the year. They were without R&H for a chunk of the year.

They were without a lot of their key guys. You know who's got me baffled is the Florida Panthers. Oh, my God. Because I sent you, I think they were down. 4-1. 4-1. I sent you. And I'm like...

And then the league's favorite team bailed them out. The Panthers don't even look like they're, like, interested in this game. No. And then Gary made the call, and he's like, my favorite team. Give them the call. they got a win. Do you know what he's referring to? Yeah, the hand.

Yeah. The glove on Marchand. So Marchand gloves a puck down. It goes to a teammate. They score 30 seconds later. Goal should be disallowed. Isn't. They challenge.

And then, of course, Columbus gets a penalty for getting the challenge wrong. Florida scores again. Now it's four three. Well, it's coming off of the disallowed goal in Tampa off Hegel. Well, that's the context for the similar play that should have been called. Similar? I, you know, I don't agree with you that they're as similar as you're making it out to be. Oh, I thought they were as close to them.

The one, Hagell's like trying not to get a hit. And the Marchand one, he's like trying to grab and pull down to me. So he missed it, but it did graze his glove. Yeah, it's kind of all around the palm. But that's what happened with the lightning one. The Hagle one, to me, he's sealing the wall and his hand is up, but it's kind of like. Like Cooper said, if I sat here and threw this microphone at you, what would you do? That's what, that's what Cooper's defense was.

If I sat here Put this microp. Punch the crap out of you. That's what I would do. Yeah. Yeah. That's definitely fair. But so the Hegel one gets called no goal.

And then the Florida one, maybe they looked at the Hegel one as a league and said, well, that should have been a goal. And the next time they saw it, they went, guess we got to let it go. I don't know. I thought it was black and white. If it hits the hand, then it enters in that.

It's just so you can use your hand in your own zone, but you can't use it in the offense. Actually, super stupid. It's like, okay, so. You know where? And the high. And the high stick, too, with... What?

What? ...off offense, you should never be able to glove the puck to a teammate, ever. It's ridiculous that in your D-Zone, you can hand-pass it to a teammate. It's like playing shuffleboard. Right. Like, that is, in no way is that a hockey play to me. That doesn't make any sense. Do you want to hear the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets thoughts on it?

Okay, so... Why do we help the team anyway? So they ended up... Florida ended up winning 7-6, like 7-6? Yeah. Bit of a show. No, no, they actually won 6-7 because, my nine-year-old hockey team

was cheering for to make it the 6-7 goal to a degree. You've never heard volume like this in a public place. I've got to show you the video, very embarrassing. But yes, that ended up being 7-6 is a final score. Two points for Florida. Head coach of Columbus,

Dean Everson was not happy. Let's have a listen. All right, Dean, this team prides itself on defensive hockey seven against tonight. What do you count that to? All game was a joke. that's what I counted to in what way

every way the entire game was a joke did it start with that challenge on the hand pass it's a joke an absolute joke that that game was where it was at

how do you guys bounce back from a game like this our guys are great our guys have no issues they know what happened that'll be good tomorrow night we'll play hard we played hard all night we played great

We, uh, we played great. The game was a joke. An absolute joke. He went full, he went full Lindy. Lindy rough. I forget who was it, Tucker, that Lowbridge, Paca, or did something dirty to Paca? And he went, that's a joke. That to me is more.

You don't watch the game very well. Belichick, we're on to Cincinnati or Marshaun Lynch, just here so we don't get fined. That's just like the repetitive wonderfulness. That's, that is misery out of a coach. loved it. They need every point they meant to. Without specifically talking about one thing. Correct.

You just blanketed the whole thing. Oh, a whole game is a joke. You can't, you can't find a comment like that unless you tie it to referee. That's actually the most mad

and you can be and the best you can like let it out without getting fine. Yes. What could you possibly find him for? Oh, he was mean to the, I don't know. No, it was a joke. Like, hey, I heard what he said about.

I was talking about our game. It was a joke. He's like, it was a joke. My players played great, but it was a joke. It's the best. And by the way, Columbus is 13, 10, and 6 doing very well and dead last in the Metro. Like, they can't afford for the league.

They're going to miss. Buddy, they're three points out of a playoff spot. They need those points because that's a joke. A joke. Total joke. Game was a joke. Are we, just to get back on Florida a little bit. That is an all-time great job to have, by the way.

Are you at the point now, I'm pretty close to saying. Also Lake Edmonton? Five teams out of the Metro, three out of the Atlantic. Oh, you think. To make the playoffs. I think you're probably right. Are you there with me? No.

No. Because it's a hodgepodge and the Metro stinks too. The Metro's rancid. But they're, they stink less than this. Who's any good? I think Washington is good. I think Carolina's good. I think the Islanders are good.

They're fine. They're good. Good goaltending playoff. They can mid-HL right now. Columbus almost got in. They almost snuck in last year. Wow, Devils. New Jersey.

New Jersey gets in and the Rangers, if there's five. Devils are struggling without Jack Hughes. I think they're- Islanders are in for you? Islanders are in. Okay, so the top three are in. Yeah. And then is Pittsburgh and the Rangers?

No. No. Philly. Right. Devils. Yes. Rangers are the men. Maybe five if things...

I'm not convinced on the devils. I'm actually not convinced to the devils either. Rangers underlying numbers are pretty good. They've lost five in a row now. They've been pretty bad since Jack Hughes and out. I've got to tell you that having that conversation there kind of talked me into five because look at the Atlantic and it's who do you believe in there? Tampa Bay I believe in.

Florida needs some health. Surely the Leafs can have a run but like... Not the Sabres. Not the Sabres. Sorry. Ottawa. I mean, Ottawa's a good team. Aren't they?

It's a joke. The division's a joke. I've never seen parody so tied into, they stink, they stink, they stink, they stink. Right. It's not like, boy, what a lot of great clubs. It's like, yeah, they're all, I don't know. Oh, my God. Who are you afraid of?

Like, this year, the most random team, the Blue Jackets could win the cup this year. I disagree with that. Mid H. H.L. Yeah, probably not. There's, yeah, there's three. I don't, Jack Reeves gets hot. Wrenskiy's the third besty in the league.

What about my, like, St. Louis Blues that were dead last week? Are they starting to kind of... Put the standings back on if we can. For the West? Yeah, they're minus 27 gold differential this. I know. The problem is they're in the Central. Although Chicago could fall back.

You would need... Hey, blues, your little blues are starting to get hot. Take a look. There's like two points out from... Oh, my God. card spots who isn't who isn't there's one good team in the league actually there's two really good teams in the league avalanches stars and then Carolina and Washington you don't have Vegas in there in the first to me is like they're still getting points but there's their best hockey still

ahead of them and they will make a trade those guys are they have one more win than the leaps is here McCriman and George McPhee will pull the trigger on something. You know it. Yeah, you're right. You're right. That's just their style. That team doesn't wait. They don't take years off.

Hey, I wanted to ask you, because they had just announced Winnipeg and Montreal as a Heritage Classic in 2026. Were you at that one in the Oilers, Habs one? Yeah. Where it was like the coldest night ever. But it was until like a few years later, we went to Calais. Calgary that I think won up the coldness. But that was, that game in many ways should have been canceled.

Too cold to play. Too cold. And the ice, the ice. The ice was starting to like, like chunks of ice were disappearing. Yeah. It could be too cold. It was just cracking left, right and center. There was like, it was touching go there for a while. One of the all-time great visuals that came out of that game was Theodore with the

tuk on top of me. his helmet nothing cooler it just was like and the the breath coming out of his mouth that is as good as it gets that's hockey that's as good as it gets but it's in october in winnipeg they're having outside should be minus that those outdoor games are just gold it's a gold mine for the league yeah it's just nice to see them doing some can't do it's in winnipeg can't get enough of it it's at the bombers brand new stay i think it's princess otto the good folks in sports net know we'd like to go to winnipeg and cover that that'd be fun yeah i'll bring my park up for october we're good to go you guys can send me a postcard

Fair enough, fair enough. That is cool. Celebrini again. Three more points last night. Celebrini, now second, standalone second. The top four in league scoring, McKinnon, Celebrini, McDavid. Sammy and I are going to go see him live. I know.

Thursday, you'll be there. San Jose. We want to see him live. We could have picked any game. We picked San Jose. For a reason. I've got to go get my scouting hat on. So funny.

Borny in our group chat. busy guy You're bailing on us And I literally was like I'll still go May I please come Me I please still go So look forward to that

Sharks tied in points For wildcard spot this year Almost Christmas Blackhawks and sharks Giant bouncebacks I'm really happy about that But these two guys aren't on teams That just flat out suck

It's nice that they're playing somewhat meaningful hockey But Ard really had to hang in there To even get here Ian McIntyre dropping San Jose for Hughes. With Quinn Hughes.

You think that guy's going out to California? It ran, I'm running it through in my head as he's saying. It's like it makes perfect sense from a hockey standpoint. But if he cares lifestyle-wise about being near family, it's impossible. Far. Far. Yeah. Max far.

I'm just looking at the San Jose Sharks pick situation. It's good. Still, eh? They got these guys and they still got all their picks. But I'm telling you right now, two second- I know he, I'd go for Quinn Hughes. I'd go for the boatload of prospects and picks. It would be interesting to see a team right now because so many teams are buyers.

If the Leafs today just said, we're selling, you could really do well right now. Teams are desperate for help. You know, if you all of a sudden made, the Canucks were like, we're wide open. You can have Garland, you can have Sherwood, you can have Hughes. You could pull in four first rounders for next. this summer somebody probably give you something for cane too you know i know he's not having a great year but ufa you know a playoff kind of guy we know it's a great draft you'd have more chances to win the lottery the islanders did yeah i i know they it's a great chance to suck

ownership doesn't want to do it but you're at already christmas you got suck for three and a half months four months there verhoff and mckenna at the top of this draft it's like this is the year to do it boys if you're listening you're watching the canucks just do everything in the candy eke out points yeah for vat for vat i don't I don't understand. Five games on tap tonight. Buffalo and Calgary. Any interest?

Nope. Is it on our network? Yes, definitely. Are you working today? I'm not. Thursday. Yes. I'm really looking forward to Leafs lighting.

I think it's a big game. If the Leafs just like stink to join out again, we're back to square one. Buddy, they win tonight. There's two points out of first. Now we're talking, baby. Our thanks to Ian McIntyre, Sportsnet.com. lot of insight on quinn hughes that's great if you didn't catch it give us a download spotify apple podcast youtube youtube crowd give us a thumbs up always enjoy that enjoy your game

tonight we're back tomorrow it'll be a great week here on the real kipper and born show have a great night everybody Thank you.