Real Kyper & Bourne - Optimistic Oilers ft. Kris Knoblauch

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee are joined by Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch (6:24), who discusses the start to his head coaching career beginning mid-season, what it means to coach a talent like Connor McDavid (again, in his case), and the goaltending issues he's dealt with all year. Afterwards, the guys take your questions via the text-line (590-590)! 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 the national edition of the Real Kipper and Bourne show. We are live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver and Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365, Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. In the next few minutes, we're going to welcome in the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers Chris Knobloch what a run he's been on 16 and 6 taking over the Edmonton

Oilers they're off he's turned that McDavid into quite the player yeah he's unbelievable what a coaching what a job that's been an average player before that. Really coming on strong now. So they're set to take on the Ottawa Senators tomorrow night.

So we'll get Chris's thoughts on that and so much more. In the meantime, we just finished up in our first hour with Doug McClain talking about the Ottawa Senators. That's a tough one for the Senators tomorrow night. And a tough one last night. Yeah, they're just in Seattle. They're in a tough spot here, man. Like, they're not at the 40 game mark.

They might not be at the 35 game mark, given, you know, they had a slow schedule to start. And they've gone through a GM, two head coaches you know rumors about you know could there be a third by you know is it barubi or someone like that it's just been a really rocky start to a year that came with high expectations almost 50 games still to go in their And do you approach it now as if we are missing the playoffs? And do you want to now start your assessment for next season? Or are you thinking, what, 49 games to go here? We got to make a change here to show our fan base

or the rest of the league that we're not going away the rest of the season. Yeah, you know, the St. Louis Blues team that was in last place Jan 1 that went on to win the Stanley Cup, you know, like Ottawa had a lot of talent. You need a goaltender to get hot. You need a lot of things to break right.

But they've just played so many fewer games than the other teams in their, you know, conference. Could a little run of success give them hope of a playoff push? Right now, they're, you know, they're 15 points out of a playoff spot, but they've played six fewer games than that team there. So, I don't know, Kip. To me, you can't roll over on the season in game 34 it's just they have too much talent to roll over doug mcclain mentioned uh the abundance of talent

on the blue line shabbat that he would probably move a big name yeah he mentioned Shabbat I mean I like Shabbat I just don't know if he's ever going to be able to live up to eight million dollars a year you know when he plays and he's healthy he plays 27 minutes you know he plays a ton for them but you know when you have a Chikrin and you have a Sanderson um you know when you have some guys back there that are pretty good defenders it's not you know could he strengthen them somewhere else i don't know do you think it's a movable contract right now yes oh god if i was a gm lee i would trade in bucks i would trade for gm or for for shabbat yeah i'd like him to play a lot better i think and produce a lot more but i just think you know how many years is left on that deal maybe six five years left or something because it was an eight-year deal initially i think it's

maybe even seven yeah it's eight times eight was it not yeah and just looking at the you know where he's at in his age you know he's still a young defenseman he's still loaded with talent um and the direction the salary cap is going i don't know that yeah it's through 29 no that's not right um but anyway i i just don't think that this is a guy that isn't going to be good for you and couldn't look good against the salary cap at that number later in the future so i'm team shabbat here but i understand if if you feel like you have to make a change to the core, maybe that's a place you start. I don't know. You get Pinto

coming back here. Stutzla can be better. Kachuk's very good. Norris is good. You know, Giroux. Decisions to be made there. There is some talk now that they're going to maybe focus on changing up a little bit of the core.

And I don't know what that means. And it's hard where they sit right now to actually identify who that core is. Like, go to a number of teams and we can rally or, you know, spew off four names and go, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I don't know where they are today like you would have thought tim stutzla would have been as much of an untouchable as anybody in the league and still is yeah still is but he's not faring well here uh none of them are stutzler has norris batherson point per game this year we know kachuk's not going anywhere but he's struggling too so how do you move here i don't think you do

some sort of panic thing where you finally have good pieces and you trade them out because you need to do something different here like you, they need to add to this group and give them a chance. They're still very young. You know, the core guys you're talking about, Stutz is 21. But they... Chuck's 24. Klaus is 24.

Claude Giroux and Tarasenko and Kubelik. So trade those guys. Yeah, they will. Yeah. They will come towards the trade deadline. No question. All right, let's welcome in head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, Chris Knobloch.

Chris, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it. I imagine since you taking over, what, November 12th with a 16-6, there's a lot of people in Edmonton breathing a little better these days. Yeah, no, things have been going really really well especially lately within our last six games uh for me i've been ecstatic being a part of this obviously a chance to become a head coach but head coach of the edmonton oilers um it's been uh really exciting and i guess i want to ask specifically about it being the oilers you didn't get handed some

you know roster with guys up and coming guys it was here's the best player to ever have played hockey and you know some fellow wonderful players how has it been for you adjusting to using talent like that you know something that few coaches on earth ever get to experience no i know i'm very fortunate. Coach Connor McDavid, to do it once is remarkable, let alone twice. Getting him in junior hockey and in the NHL. Yeah, it's an asset that most coaches don't get to have at their disposal. And now I'm getting to try and optimize that as much as possible and

you can see how he can turn around a game very quickly and you saw it the other night against Philadelphia with five points and five points and only about 16 and a half minutes you know it's it's it's a pleasure to have as a coach okay I want to go right there in terms of a star player, the best player on the planet, playing 16 and a half minutes. This guy's got a Ferrari engine. I mean, 16 and a half minutes must feel like

a cup of coffee for him. Is it hard? Is it strategic? How does a guy like that end up with 16 and a half minutes? Well, I know that's been the season low for him this year, certainly since I've been here. Just the other night when we were in L.A., I think he had 24 minutes.

You know, we don't want to run him up 24 minutes every night. If anyone can handle it definitely can be him but um you know we're getting contributions from everybody in our team obviously he's our best player best player in the league and we're just trying to utilize him as best as possible and um you know sometimes the game's the flow and matchups way wherever whatever's happening you um you kind of have to um just sometimes things just work out the way they do. Just to follow up, Chris, I mean, as a coach, big picture stuff. I know the team's not in a position to think comfortably about the playoffs

based on the start, but as a head coach, is it an afterthought to think what's going to be left of my core guys here and trying to balance it out over 82 games? Absolutely, it's something to consider, but also considering just week to week, the next night you play, certainly if you're playing back to back. Right now our schedule in January is pretty comfortable. Just with we don't have no back to backs.

Our travel isn't too hectic. But as we get into the grind, I know with our schedule later in the season, that's something we have to consider a lot about. Just there's a lot more of, yes, you want to manage these guys' ice times, not wearing them out, but also having other guys feeling part of the team. And, you know, if the line's playing well, you kind of give those guys a little more ice time. And right now, the McDavid line's been maybe the best line in the NHL right now

with Nugent Hopkins and Zach Hyman. And we've been getting a lot out of those guys. Chris, beyond McDavid, you do have guys you just mentioned, Nugent, Hyman, and Dreisaitl and Kane. You have this sort of elite group of guys, and that's kind of the salary cap era. A lot of teams are built in that sort of top heavy way where do you stand sort of philosophically on the idea of different rules for different players and we've been talking about accountability on our show

and just trying to get a sense for your theory is it sort of everyone with the same playbook or do you kind of have to handle the different layers and levels of player differently within your team yeah absolutely you have to handle the players differently but you also have to treat them all fairly and how you balance that is very difficult as a coach and there isn't a just a handbook to say this is what i'm going to do in this situation certain players are you know you don't want to see turnovers at the blue line just because of what are they going to, you know, you don't want to see turnovers at the blue line just because of what are they going to create. You know, obviously, we've been talking about McDavid a lot. You know, obviously there's going to be mistakes and there's going to be turnovers,

but you see the upside of the plays that he can make. I'm opposed to maybe somebody who's not playing the same kind of minutes who's on the fourth line. You know, even if he does beat that defenseman at the blue line, what's he going to do with the next play? And, you know, just trying to get our players to understand that, to encourage them to play to their strengths. You know, it's always, it's never easy.

It's otherwise, you know, everyone can be doing this job. But, you know, I think as a coach, you're just trying to get the best out of every player and getting them to play to their strengths. We're talking to Chris Knobloch, head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, who are now on a 16-6 run since taking over the hockey club. And when you did take over, Chris,

I think it was three wins in 13 for the Edmonton Oilers to start. So where was the top priority when you took over? Was it just the mental psyche here of maybe a shock team or a shock city to reset mentally? Or was it technical, right away seeing something that you wanted different throughout your lineup in terms of strategy or systems? Where did it really truly begin? I think there were three areas that we wanted to address uh one was the psyche the

there's obviously a lot of frustration and anytime players frustrated you're not going to get the most out of them whether it's an elite athlete the best players or your fourth liners they got to feel comfortable confident to play their best ability i think we had to take away some of the pressure off them and kind of just have them just think about playing hockey and focus on the next game opposed to the Stanley Cup or making the playoffs or where they were in the standings. I think that was the priority. Another one was the penalty kill, trying to shore that up and kind of finding a rhythm there.

And then we, you know, Stewie took over the penalty kill and has been doing an outstanding job with that. But also we're using different players in different roles kind of to settle that down. Penalty kill has been pretty good the last couple of months. And then the other one was just on, it's usually team defense. How, you know, anytime there's a coach change, it's usually you're giving up too many goals.

And there's many factors for that, whether it's goaltending or defensive systems or just accountability. I found that a lot of the goals against were coming off the rush. And we kind of discussed what we could do about that and a little bit of system, but a little bit of buy-in and having players do their job.

And, you know, I think we've done a better job of that lately. You know, I think it's a unique situation when you come into a dressing room where a core of the team has been there for some years and you bring new ideas that probably haven't been there. How easy or how receptive have the, has the team been to your ideas and what does that relationship look like when you go to the guys who've done it a certain way and have a certain culture and

say, actually, I'd like to change this. Yeah, no, it's very difficult. Just when you're going to introduce those new systems and and we talked about trying to settle the players down and have them playing to their strengths and you know if you're giving them a bunch of new ideas and new systems and they're not going to be able to just go out and play hockey and relax and when i first got here there's very minimal changes that i that I implemented. First of all, I wanted to find out what is their system,

what is their vocabulary, what are they doing, and how can we improve it? And the first couple of weeks, we really didn't do very much. You know, we had a goal and we wanted to settle them down and wanting them to ultimately just play hockey. After about two weeks, we had a nice little break where we had five days off so there was a couple days off but we had three i feel quality practices then we started to implement some little bit of changes but as a new coach coming in um there's only so much you can do because you, the game comes down to just being able to execute. Yes.

It has a little bit to do with systems and, you know, there's those advantages that you can have, but the biggest advantages you can have is just your players feeling confident and going out there and just playing hockey. Chris, when I heard that Paul Coffey was going to go behind the bench full time, I told him he's nuts.

Like, are you crazy? You got the cushiest job or the cushiest life in the world right now. Why do you want to go into that environment? But yet, this guy's never missed a challenge in his life and not come out on top. How's it been working with him? And, you know, what kind of effect has he had on a guy like Darnell Nurse?

Yeah, absolutely. That would be a challenge. Something, you know, come into the situation and obviously not knowing me very well. And then now we're here, we are working side by side every day. And the effect that he's had on especially the defenseman and i've been so happy with our group of six how well they've been playing all all three pairs of them and i think his message has been very simple and very direct

for the players on just hey we want you getting involved in the play we want you making plays hey don't worry about if you do make a mistake it's how we're gonna recover from that and he's got him skating up and down the ice whether they're getting involved in the play or just being uh defending and it's been nice to see and i think it's just been a nice calming voice on the back end that the defensemen that we have really appreciate his message. And what is, you know, just looking at that decor, I'm fascinated by the pair of Eckholm and Bouchard who are at different points in their careers

and have different priorities, I would say, as players. How are they meshing together? And, you know, just tell us about that pair. I'm fascinated by them in general. They've been, you know, they've got a lot of chemistry before I got here. We haven't changed very much. Defensive pairings, we played around with them maybe in my first week or two, made a little bit of changes, but ultimately we've stuck with what was in place

before I got here. With the Ackholm and Bouchard pairing um right now as a pair they're probably the best pair uh analytically just with the scoring chances that they're giving up has been minimal and the chances they're getting creating has been huge and a lot of that has to do with they're on the ice a lot with mcdavid's line so you're out there with the best line in the nhl you're also going to have good analytics too but um their their play is i don't want to give all the credit to uh mcdavid and uh nugent hopkins and hyman um those two on the back end have a lot a lot to do they've contributed a lot their success. And probably the biggest thing is just puck movement, just being able to get the puck into the forward's hands

so they can go and attack, and they're not chasing pucks down and having to forward check. And having controlled entries is a huge advantage. Just in terms of goaltending, so many question marks around the league right now for even contending teams such as yourselves. I know in Toronto here it's a hot-button topic, but just the way Skinner's been able to handle the workload

and settle things down since Jack Campbell's got waived. And, you know, Chris, is there a thought process that maybe Jack could work himself back into the mix? I don't know. I can just comment on the two goalies that I've seen this year, and I've been very, very happy with both of them. Skins has looked like a very good quality starting goaltender. He's had the majority of our games.

Calvin Pickard has been playing really good. He's got a save percentage of about 905, a winning record. And there's been some games where we haven't been very good defensively and he's come up very big so yeah jack campbell's um has a future with the organization um where he fits in i i don't know but from just from what i experience right now and with the two goalies that we have, they're playing really well and they're going to continue to get their starts. Chris, last one for me. You've been there with the team for a while now.

You guys are having success. It's been a whirlwind, I'm sure. Have you had a moment to have a welcome to the NHL moment? Have you looked around and been like, okay, this is in a pre... I guess just taking stock of where you're at and how successful things have been um i don't know i think every time i that welcome to nhl moment is when um especially when we're at home and the players hit the ice the coaches kind of walk in after that and you know it's nice and quiet in the dressing room because pretty much everyone's cleared out there's very few people left in there besides a couple coaches and maybe somebody, equipment managers that are helping out cleaning up and stuff like that.

But walking out to the tunnel and you see the ice and then it's still quiet. But then you get about, you know, about 10 or 15 feet from the bench and then the noise hits you and the excitement and the energy, then it's like, yes, this is the NHL. This is really exciting, and you're running on adrenaline for the next two and a half hours. Excellent stuff, Chris. We really appreciate your time. Good luck against Ottawa and the rest of the way. We really appreciate you coming on our show.

Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah really appreciate you coming on our show. Thanks for having me, guys. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it. Chris Knobloch, head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. No question. First of all, he's not the flashiest guy. I'm just thinking

that that might be perfect for what they needed at that time he's never going to be a soundbite guy he's never going to come in you're not going to hear that the sarcasm we've heard from other coaches not Paul Maurice not Tortorella this guy he's going to going to coach. Just like his interview, it's methodical, it's all business, and there is a level of calmness. I don't think he'll ever get excited. And it might be the perfect thing right now.

Yeah. There's, you know, there are a lot of coaches like that who say, you know, this is the way we're going to play. I'm going to, you know, hold are a lot of coaches like that who say, you know, this is the way we're going to play. I'm going to, you know, hold the guys accountable and to use that word again today, you know, for not playing that way.

That's right. But you're right. Kip, you know, there was a lot in Canada in particular when there's a circus around the team and questions and articles and interviews for these guys. Some, you know,

not that Woodcroft was not, you know, you know, good woodcroft was not you know um you know good about that sort of stuff either he was good about it too but you're right he doesn't make news and they need no news he could lose six in a row or win six in a row and i don't think you would ever tell the difference by his demeanor i get get your point. Yeah. Yes. No, he's composed. They've won 16 of their first 24 games that he's been the coach.

Yeah. Yeah. So. Can't argue with results. Yeah. It's great. All right. We on to game time?

Oh, they get to play the Ottawa Senators tomorrow. By the way, the Oilers schedule coming up. Ottawa last. Blackhawks last. Red Wings not great. Canadians pretty close to last.

They've got some winnable hockey games ahead. It will not be long before they're in a playoff spot, and it will not be long before it's where are they in the division. And the only question now is not if they get out of a wild card spot and into those top three for me, but just how high up they get. So what are the Canucks at? Because they're leading that division, right? Yes, the Canucks are leading the NHL, I think.

Are they not? No, two points out of the NHL lead. Canucks have 51. The Oilers have 39. Canucks have played three more games. The Oilers, 12 points back with three games in hand. I'm not saying... I got to tell you,

like, you know, we made fun of the West for not like the top end of the West. Very good. Very good. And the Oilers are staring down the barrel here. If they do get hot and they get into a playoff spot or they go up into the third spot in the division,

potential matchup with Vegas. Ooh, give me that again. Give me a repeat. Or in the first round. That's what's so stupid. That's what everyone's the best. Yeah, but that's the stupidest part about this it is stupid about this playoff format and you don't need to get leaf fans started on this but it's like you're gonna have these divisions where you're getting vegas in the first round with against or potentially colorado versus edmonton in

the first round where it's like two of the better teams are playing i hate this format of course what was wrong with one versus eight? You don't have enough rivalries. Oh, my God. Like, no one hits anyone anyway. There's no rivalries. Sound like drunk uncle from SNL. No, it's true, though, man.

Like, oh, we got to have rivalry. Shut up. Just do one versus eight. It works the best. Certainly didn't get the impression that Jack Campbell's coming up anytime soon No, he did not say

that was imminent What are Jack Campbell's AHL numbers? Have we looked at that recently? Oh, don't do this. I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it right now So, if the trajectory It's not good Great drop in, Monte If the trajectory continues for skinner

you you assume that it's his to lose from here on end yeah well yeah which means it's not calvin you're not you're not you're not trading for gibson you're not i don't know i'm asking you i i don't i think that they can say all the right things and still not be confident this guy's gonna win him a cup for gibson no he needs someone and gibson makes i mean is gibson really good i don't know yeah i think there's a market for gibson but i'll tell you what's gonna have to happen sorrows in anaheim is that they're gonna have to eat a lot almost half yeah to get him into a contending team so what's gibson at six million yeah for a long time i feel like so oilers leafs somebody's gonna be able to wiggle them in at three million. Leafs? Don't know. Are they not one of the teams that are considering a goalie?

John Gibson has not been very good for a long time. I guess he's self-backed. I think there's a lot. I think there's interest in him. It's just not at his price. Well, 904, 903, 904, 899, 904. 904. He's a good goalie, guys. League average. Great. 904. That's above league average right now.

League average. Great. Yeah, for $6 million? No, three. We've chopped it in half. Oh, okay. 50% retention. The Skinners make it more than that, right?

Just saying. Not that I'm saying. I'm just saying. And then after Gibson, Jake Allen. Could you see the Oilers taking on Jake Allen and saying more for Skinner, 1-1-A? To me, Skinner is probably better or the same as Jake Allen. That's his sideways move.

The guy is Soros for every team. They should be trading Soros. They get everything for him. We're in the new world of goaltending here. It's not about... Nobody's good? It's just not. Everything for him. We're in the new world of goaltending here. It's not about. Nobody's good. It's about what happens if that guy gets hurt. That's what we're at.

And can he come in and fill the void? Or are we just going to give it to Pickard? Can't do that. No, you can't do that. By the way, I looked up Jack Campbell's AHL numbers with mild disgust. He's played 11 games his his record is five six and uh one shootout loss with a three three two goals against an eight nine three say percentage of the ahl level well yeah just move on i don't know what league average say percentage is in the ahl. Maybe it's 892.

It's probably not 892. All right. That's not how they pictured it going. No. He's been out there for a while. Great guy. I hope he finds his way back. I really hope he does, too. I also think, shouldn't they just give him another chance?

I guess it's the salary cap thing. Just makes too much money. Well, I guess they're only burying 1.15. 1.15, yeah. So is he not better than Pickard? It could just be a chemistry thing. Puck just kept one in his hand. Yeah.

I don't know. It drops today. Yeah. Mean ones. Okay. Chris Knobloch's pretty happy as it is. We just got that sense. Hey, don't break what ain't broken.

Did not want to talk about Jack Hamill. No, they're playing tomato cans every night, so not too bad. Yeah, that helps. 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. Only a few games tonight tonight i'm just quickly pulling up the schedule here three three games we have a hundred or three a hundred or three yeah that's the that's the mix that we have um bedard and the blackhawks on the second half of a back-to-back going into new jersey no value on either side of that clearly um you're not going to probably bet the blackhawks on the second half of a back-to-back going into new jersey no value on either side of that clearly um you're not going to probably bet the blackhawks in the second half of back-to-back but you're not probably going to bet the uh the devils at minus 400 minus 400 yeah so you're

going to stay away from that but to me a uh sorry a conor bedard goal is always a fun bet because he's literally the only thing to watch on that team so plus 175 for a conor bedard goal is always a fun bet because he's literally the only thing to watch on that team. So plus 175 for a Conor Bedard goal. It's going to keep going back to the well last night. I was right on half of my bet yesterday. The Rangers did wax them, but the Conor Bedard did not score. And I'm looking at the Ducks and Winnipeg. I watched the Ducks very closely the other night. They rot.

Stank. They absolutely rot. I like the Jets minus 190. And if you even want to go minus a goal in the half, it's plus 135. All right, now we're done. Okay. Jets are really good and the Ducks are really bad. Correct.

Zgrist. Yes. Was a ghost. Yeah. Zgrist. Does he not rub you kind of the wrong way sometimes? You know, I think you're bringing this up because you guys know how I felt about the audio when he was mic'd up on the bench.

And I, first off, actually got the shivers listening to it. Like, ugh. So on the bench, he said, you know, a couple of things where one, he's just like singing along and whatever. But the other one where he's telling the guy on the team, hey, do you see me in the slot there? No, wide open, wide open. And the guy was like, all right, just holler at me.

He goes, yeah, just take two steps out of the corner and get your head up. I'm there wide open. He's like, okay, just, you know, it just really rubbed me the wrong way. Yeah, you don't like Zegers. No, I'm not a fan either. And, like, maybe he's an awesome guy or whatever.

And they're trying really hard to make him one of those faces and put him on a video game. And, you know, even the Michigan, which is phenomenal. His execution of it is... His Michigan this year is the nastiest one I've had. I don't know. I think I caught in our pregame Wednesday night, maybe it was Jen asking him about the Michigan.

Yeah. And I think he kind of blew it off a little bit right yeah he didn't which i saw this interview did you yeah i know exactly what you're talking about here okay and he was like it sounded like he didn't want to talk about that kind of things he wants people to take him seriously as a player exactly yeah a hundred percent you could almost sense that that you know the the world still wants to celebrate it and talk about it, and he didn't want to. I think he recognizes to get paid, you have to be a winning hockey player.

And he's not. You can't. To your point, no one's taking him seriously. The most he's known for right now is the Michigan. Yeah. And he's not known as a 200-foot player. And he's not seen as a leader. And he's not seen as anything but a guy who can do a trick shot.

Kip, he makes almost $6 million per year, and he has two goals in 17 games. So Michigan it up all you like. People want to see you be more effective. Period. Oh, you know who wants to? His general manager, his coach. Yeah. 5.75 for three more seasons.

And they did not give him an eight-year deal. And he will not be there. He has to show them that he's a hockey player, not a trick shot artist. And the league over the years has had these amazingly skilled guys. Robbie Schrempf was an unbelievable skilled guy and a talented player.

Didn't have the career he maybe could have had with his talent because he kind of got pigeonholed as this trick shot guy. That's all he is to me right now. Play the right way. Hey, who said that? That's not like you or I don't know. That's not like a combination of, was right now. Play the right way. Hey, who said that? That's not like you.

I don't know. That's not like a combination of, was that AI? Play the right way. 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. Okay. We're going to take a break, and when we come back, we'll go through our news and notes.

A couple things we got to talk about including Sid Crosby guys we're not talking about this guy enough and the incredible season he's having well we will after the break also we want you to text us

some questions some thoughts at 590 590 it's off the Rails Friday, which means we'll open it up to whatever you send us the rest of the way. We're back after these words. It's Real Kipper and Born. We're on the air.

My mic was off. Oh, sorry. Oh, it's Friday. It's off the rails. We're actually just saying we're the number one bar show on earth. Just Sammy's friends texting and pictures of themselves drinking at the bar at 530. Well, it's Friday after all. This is a good time.

This used to be prime time. So can you explain to me this guy who was at the golf simulator? Oh, my God. With pleasure. Yeah. Jersey Jerry? Yeah. This is one of the more remarkable pieces of content, as you will say.

Streamed for, I think, 37 hours straight, including him sleeping. They streamed it. He got massages. They brought in a blow-up bed. And all in pursuit of him making a hole-in-one on a simulator because he said he would stream until he made one. Said he would stream until he made a hole-in-one. 80 yards, Pebble Beach, number seven, and he just hit.

He could have been there for months. I mean, he started developing a blister. It's like game over. I had, before we sold our house, I had a golf simulator in the basement. Oh, okay. I had that thing for seven years, eight years. Never made a hole in once?

No. No, never did. And let me tell you something. During the pandemic, I was there four or five hours a day. Every day. My daughter was just born. We had very different pandemic experiences. Let me tell you.

This guy's crushing Vito. Swing the club in the basement. Two kids in a Toronto size apartment. I got my handicap down to a seven. It was just, because I brought this up to you guys early on and I was like, this is hilarious, this is hilarious

and you guys are like, okay, buddy, what the hell are you watching? And then it just swept the internet. Everyone was talking about it. It's not relevant until you're into some endurance like, endurance feat, which it got there. 2,670 swings, I think. People would go on the internet and watch him sleep.

I don't know. I didn't watch that part of it. But, yeah, you could. I don't know if I know that my wife didn't sometimes watch random baby eagles in a nest somewhere on the internet. So, like, you know. That's just weird. Sure, it's super weird.

Of course. Yeah. But they're kind of weird. That what they do and he made baby he made the ace um you both have aces right yeah i don't know very young i will have her you you don't yeah and i won't get one i got two yes you will you have two i got two my first one uh magna okay Not a Big Deal today. 172. Wow. And I'm with Eric Lindros and Rob DeMaio. Really?

Wow. And I hit a seven, and we saw it go in, and you would have thought I scored double overtime in game seven. Well, that's the appropriate reaction. The Big E stepped on my toe and broke it no way oh yeah yeah that's what that's tony fee now with the ace on his ankle right after and then went in the shot minus three for the weekend after that at the masters that's right um my dad has a hole-in-one his one hole-in-one was at the clark gillies golf tournament

where he won a hondi s Santa Fe, 52 dozen golf balls, and a speaker system or something. So he timed his very well. Yeah, that's nice. My dad picked up golf at age 63, I think, and had two. Sammy, you got time, pal. Sammy, plenty of time.

It's never happening. I just have a feeling. Plenty of time. I don't hit them close enough, boys. Sid? Before Sid, United States takes the World Junior gold medal. 6-2 is the final. Have you seen Sam's tweet during our show about this?

No, I did not. I care about your tweet. What did you say? I mean, it was snarky. This is really setting up, in the next few years, Canada versus the U.S. Olympicsics baby well yeah i like they won correct obviously they won they have a very tips they have a very good team full of great players yeah but canada had an underwhelming team this year of course the underwhelming team was one

where the two leaf prospects are playing for it that's very nice captain mr mitten underwhelmed a little bit but they're just. We won't get after it. But, you know, if Canada had their eligible players who were playing in the NHL, they win in a walk. They have Bedard on the team. They'll have Ventilli on the team. Zach Benson's playing for them. That Korchinski from who's playing 20 a night for the Blackhawks.

Shane Wright's eligible still. This is his tweet, which is I'm sure Canada would have been out in the quarters with Bedard, Ventilli, Benson, Wright, Korchinski all eligible. You put more effort in that tweet than you have our whole show. America's guys just can't crack the NHL. America's guys just aren't on NHL teams. They're dominating for Boston College.

Pretty good point. It's true. It's like we have these down years at the World Juniors, and it's just the way it works. But a lot of our young guys are really good because they go to the best league, and they don't get to play in this. They're busy winning NHL games.

Yeah. So, listen, congratulations to USA for winning. Yeah, it was the U.S. team, yeah. They're good for them. That was very sincere. Golf clap. Congratulations, Americaica you did it i will say though it is it's awesome that they're really good it is fun you know it's nice to have

a threat it's nice to have a threat to have the best hockey nation at the end of the game i'm thrilled i think they should have a best i think the real thing should just be a best. They don't need to do this stupid four-team tournament. Just do a best of seven. Let's go. Best of seven U.S. versus Canada. Tomorrow. It would be the greatest hockey thing ever. There'd be no...

That's the true test. Everyone likes making money. You could sell sponsorships on that. Sweden's quite good as well. Yeah. I understand that, but I think America... It'd be a three-team tournament. They can come in.

Yeah, sure. Seven-game series, baby. Yeah, I don't think that'll ever happen. And by the way, everyone talks about goaltending. Aiden Hill leading the league in goals against and say percentage. I picked him for the Vezna on TV last night. So far, Vezna. And he, yeah,

pride of Vancouver Island. I didn't know Devin Levi was a Canadian. It's nice to have more of them. We got some. We got guys. We'll be fine. Okay. Last night. Speaking of guys. We'll be fine. We'll be fine. Okay. Last night. Speaking of guys who are Canadian. Looked like Pitt very much in control.

Boston comes back. But Sid finds a way to get them over the top. I said before the break, like Sid's having another amazing year over the course of his career. I think he's cracked 50 goals just once and probably in his third or fourth year in the league. Here he is turning 37 this summer and he's on pace for, I think, 50 goals this year. Yeah. 2009, 2010, the only time he cracked 50. Okay.

Inside the top 20 in scoring at age 36. That's LeBron, what he's doing right now. 13, 14 years ago. Yep. So, why aren't we talking about this guy more? You know what's interesting is, like, even a year or two ago, Crosby was better than people realized. Like, all the analytics, all that, he was as valuable to his team as some of the other guys.

He really hasn't tailed off much, which obviously physically you have to at his age, so it's incredible that his hockey brain allows him to continue this insanity. This isn't a great team. No, that's for sure.

That's for sure. What are they doing right now? He is absolutely carrying them. Pretty bad. He's 41 points in 37 games this year. Just because maybe for us here in this country that Austin and Connor just suck all the oxygen out of us and there's really not much room to talk about Sid anymore.

It's almost like there's not much to say because he's so consistently good. It's like, hey, look, he's still doing the thing he's been doing for as long as most of us have been watching the last 20 years. More than a point per game in all 19 seasons yeah in his career and so yeah you're right there comes a point where you're like it's when it maintains that level of consistency it's worth noting because he should be tailing off and it's just not happening incredible season by him i do think the the penguins are figuring out a little bit

seven two and one in their last 10 a point out of the wildcard spot now. Sid scoring 50 goals this year and then missing the playoffs is really going to suck for him. National trade to the Montreal Canadiens, who he liked as a kid. He's retiring a penguin, I'm convinced. I think so. Someone actually sent a text.

I'm going through our million texts, but I know what it said, so I can't give them credit. But where would be the most fun, Sid, end of career destination? And my vote would be Toronto. Would be my vote. Just a vote. Yeah.

Just a vote here. No reason. I do think, yeah, Edmonton with Connor McDavid would be a little bit of fun. But I think that guys going home to their favorite teams is nice but then you see jeru go to ottawa when the team isn't ready for them you know they're not ready to compete and it's almost a little disheartening so montreal maybe doesn't have to be on a team where we can watch them play in may and june right so yeah colorado with nate that's a nice one. Yeah, but it's not as fun.

Just Toronto for you? I think Canada would be awesome to have him play in Canada. If Montreal was better, that would be fun. That would be an absolute nightmare. Truly, there would be no better nightmare. Did he grow up a Montreal fan? Yeah, he loved the Habs. This is my nightmare! Yes, correct. Sammy, you'd love that. Did he grow up a Montreal fan? He did, yeah. Yeah, he loved the Habs. This is my nightmare!

Yes, correct. Sammy, you'd love that, right? Him in a Montreal uniform? There would be nothing that would make me more sick. You have said he's your guy, right? He's my favorite. Like, throw up? Yes.

Sick? It's him and Matt Sundy, my two favorite hockey players of all time. I love Sidney Crosby. What would you want? Yes. Sid to win a cup with Montreal? No.

No chance. He's got three. Fine. want Sid to win a cup with Montreal? No. No chance. He's got three. Fine. He's got two gold medals, multiple gold medals. He's got his, like he's fine. But if it's going to be

somewhere else where he wins a cup, Colorado's okay. Yeah. But the Leafs would be ideal. Yeah. I see it. All right.

You got any text for us? I've been pumping it up like crazy. I'm just trying to pour through all the text we got here. So I'm getting a couple text about my take on Canada's guys. They said, hey, guys, love the show. I hate to call out Sammy because I love the guy.

You shouldn't hate that. But I think the U.S. team would have been better, too, with Luke Hughes and Logan Cooley. I hate when people make good points. Two guys. You named seven Canadians, I think. Yeah, Bedard would definitely be the guy that would take it over the top. But, yeah, Luke Hughes and Logan Cooley.

And where are we on Arizona? Who cares? No, I do. I got a question. If we care enough to talk about Cooley, then we're... They're better than expected, for sure. I have a question here. I have a thought on that after.

What do you think Dreisaitl will get for his new contract? I love this conversation. Put your names on the text. I think the Coyotes should be buyers. To your point before. I think that wouldoyotes should be buyers. To your point before. I think that would be fascinating to see them try to get aggressive. Dreisaitl, I think this guy is a really interesting guy. I really like Leon Dreisaitl.

He's one of my favorite guys to listen to. I think his pissiness is hilarious. What do you think Spack gets? I'm curious to see ifon wants to dig in or if he's a guy who just doesn't want the stress and just if he wants to dig in he could probably make a case for 15 million dollars per season more than matthews i mean he's won a heart trophy as well you know his point totals have been higher than matthews pretty much all the way along. You know, Matthews. 15 million.

You're nuts. 15 million. I think contracts are going to go up. I don't think my buddy here is that far off. The salary cap is going to the moon over the next five years. I love driving the price up of Edmonton Oilers players, so sure. 15 million. But that's great.

Great observation. If he wanted to do it, Edmonton cannot afford to have him leave. You can't trade Leon Dreisaitl. You got to pay him what he wants. It's just not trading Leon. It's what message are you sending to 97 if you're moving this guy? Jesus. You're sending a message that, anyways,

we'll save that one for a different day about McDavid. You are at the point, Sammy, where you're thinking about both Dreisaitl and McDavid together. So it's not what you're going to give Dreisaitl. It's what are you going to pay these guys together? And I think it's a minimum of 30, 32 million between the two. How do you want to break it up,

boys? You want to go right down the middle or Connor? Do you want to make a million more than him? But are you going to make 3 million more than him? But are you going to make three million more than Leon? Should. Yeah, probably. But will someone be out there willing to pay Leon almost as much as Edmonton's going to pay Connor?

Connor's just going to take less than time for eight years and just be there. What is less, though? What is less? He'll just take less than time for eight years and just be there what is less though what is like he'll just take under market value for eight years and just play there his whole career and we'll never talk about it like we have to talk about everything in toronto he'll be like yep i'll sign on the dotted line good canadian boy and all the guys here like let's let's make it here 17 or sorry 32 is wild though because now you're talking 17-15. Here's another question. What's my team look like then? I've spent half my career in the prime years

not coming close to a Stanley Cup. Are we winning? Am I signing another eight years to be that guy who is a Hall of Famer but never got a sniff so I can listen to everybody go, hey, good play, but what did he ever win? And your dry saddle is a year later than Matthew's. Just ask Charles Barkley.

That's all he deals with. What did you win? Yeah, he won millions and millions of dollars. And they can too. This is from Kevin. Boys, we need two seven-game series, Canada-USA and Sweden versus Finland. Keep more players, fans involved.

That would be electric. With anything to play in the final after? Yeah, three-gamer in the final. Okay, guys. It's the weekend. Oh, my God. Is it? Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend.

Our thanks to head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, Chris Knoblo knoblock and off the rails friday specialist doug mcclain i can't think of two more different people well said well said thanks for watching thanks for listening if you get a chance give us a rating and review we'd love to hear from you as always we appreciate you have a great weekend