Real Kyper & Bourne - Panthers Pull Even

Episode Date: June 9, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the week with a look back on Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final where the Florida Panthers evened up their series against the Edmonton Oilers in double overtime. They marvel over Connor McDavid's highlight-reel assist before welcoming in Hall of Famer Chris Pronger (7:15), who weighs in on McDavid's standing among the all-time greats, the Oilers needing more from their depth, Sam Bennett's antics in the crease, Stuart Skinner's play, and more. Later, Nick, Justin and Sam discuss Senators owner Michael Andlauer not committing to spending to the cap and Capitals coach Spencer Carbery winning the Jack Adams Award.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. 

We are live on Sportsnet Sportsnet 590 the fans Sportsnet 960 in Calgary Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver and Sportsnet plus Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Austin Mackey in and Jake Jake the Snake, Schultz, getting you ready for the fastest hour in hockey. It's the Real Kipper and Bourne show, the show of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet 365. Game day for our show. Stanley Cup final resumes in sunrise.

Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, both looking for a 2-1 lead. Pivotal game three, if I do say so myself. In a few minutes also, Chris Pronger will be joining us. Hall of Famer, Stanley Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist, yada, yada, yada. Yeah, I mean, what an incredible game Friday night. I gotta tell you guys, this is as good as hockey gets.

I know we complained about how long it's taken for them to get to play the games and the gaps are too big and whatever else. We got the right teams in the finals. It's great. It did not sneak up on us. They were just two freight trains heading towards each other.

There's no doubt that over the course of many, many years now, we've made the argument that the best hockey's in the first round and it kind of just dies down towards a Stanley Cup final. But regardless of what the regular towards a Stanley Cup final, but Regardless of what the regular season standings told us these two are the two best teams In a Stanley Cup final and no questions asked there's no what if here what if they're Vegas Colorado Winnipeg no no no no two best teams Deservedly so so in it.

And you know what else I think helps is that Oilers have played some short series, right? They have not really beat themselves up along the way. And Florida too, Florida played Carolina too, a fairly short series. First round was a short series. What was the second round again? But anyway, they've had short series.

So I think you've got a fresher version of the best teams. Two conference finals. I'm sure the bean counters weren't too happy about this, either the league head office or the players association or whatever. But five games. Five games for each club in the conference final gave them plenty of time to get ready again to go head to head.

And now you got the juice like, so the Connor McDavid play he makes on the power play to dry saddle on the back door. With the toe drag and the shift in the. Yeah. I've heard individual stories from people about like what they did or saw. I called my kid was up in his room reading before bed and I called him downstairs to come watch it. My buddy said he I called him downstairs to come watch it. My buddy said he called his wife downstairs

to come watch it. Like it just was such a perfect embodiment of all the things this guy can do, the edge work and the vision and the puck and the hands. Oh, that's gross, dude. He has, he's done that probably a hundred thousand times since he's seven years old. Like that-

But shouldn't do it in the Stanley Cup final. When you do, no, but he can and he should, right? And he did. No, I know, it's just like, aren't the other teams supposed to be better by now? When you watch, when you go to your respective rank and you actually find a skills coach and a player and players, like they now practice that sort of stuff.

They do. The things that they're doing now to train and to get prepared with the stick handling is just stuff we would have said, well, that's never going to happen in a game. So why am I wasting my time on it? The thing that's what they do it now Yeah But like a lot of these guys if you took a bunch of kids a bunch of 12 year old triple-a kids and said Okay, you're gonna make this cut you're gonna pull it back. They can do it

They can do it but the ability to Set people up at the speed of the game and put them in those spots and still see what's happening as you're doing it That's why he's the best in the world. That's why he's the best in the world speed of the game and put them in those spots and still see what's happening as you're doing it. That's why he's the best in the world. That's why he's the best in the world. That's why he's the best to ever step foot on the ice. Like, I mean, he is.

I mean, you can say more accomplished. I sent out a tweet saying he's the greatest hockey player ever and everyone's like, oh, you know, Lemieux, like they're all more accomplished. They're all unbelievable hockey players. But nobody that has ever stepped on the ice has looked like he has looked and maybe we'll say that About every generation. I don't know best player going we do ever say that about Sid No, probably not. Do we ever say that about Ovi? Do we ever say that about like I don't know Connor's the best player to Ovi scoring goals. Yes, right? Yeah

Shooting it in the night. He's the best ever. Yes, but no no question I mean that there are very few like you mentioned call somebody into the room moments Yeah, but that play legitimately took my breath away, and I I audibly gasped by myself sitting on my couch alone I put my both hands behind my head like just Barkov and Eklat do they're no barkov and Eklat too, they're no good. Barkov and Eklat, what? But he knows that like all of that, all those accolades of being like the best and whatever the best means to you

doesn't mean anything if it doesn't come with a championship. And guess what, I don't know if we know this or not, but Florida Panthers won that hockey game, so. Right, right. One more thing on that before we get to the actual in a 37 year old guy Who's five ten was probably the best player on the ice in that game? the last thing on the McDavid thing is he He's always skating even in the offensive zone and earlier on that same shift

He's trying to attack in and get in and do something like that, but it's not there So he bales on it kicks it out, but it's the skating It's the attacking that to me allows you to set people up and here's what Sam. He's talking about Bradley I Could you have more respect for a guy than you have for Brad Marchand right now? I Can't believe it. I can't believe how much I like him He's scoring goals against the Canadian team playing for the Panthers because you do have Blue and white no no

No, no, no, no Yeah, once the Leafs are out of your equation Now you're valuing what he's really done all along for the Boston Brohns, too But I think it's just more about growing up and kind of realizing how incredible career he's had like I mean you're growing up Yeah earlier I was a like I just had like I mean you're growing up Yeah earlier I was a like I just was like I could never ever like that guy then you see him put on the Canada Jersey And he just he's affable and him Barry and biz all the time. He's hilarious like I just He's an incredibly likable guy, and he was dynamite in that hockey game on Friday night

I'm gonna do good shorty, and I think he's got a couple of good more years in him. He doesn't look like he's ready to slow down anytime soon despite knocking on the door of 40 in a few years. He's gonna make a couple bucks this summer, Kipper. We have our man. All right, let's welcome him in. Chris Pronger, hockey hall of famer, two-time gold medalist, and of course, Stanley Cup champion. Prongs, man, you've been on the circuit where Sammy's last three weeks man it's like fine prongs we need prongs bad here how's it going I'm great you guys you guys don't need me you got it all covered no I've been listening no no so no real surprise for you how good the hockey's been.

And am I fair to say that these teams are so good, they're so close, that either one of them could be easily up to nothing or easily down to nothing? Yeah, no, absolutely. You know, I think the one thing about the two games that I wouldn't like if I'm Edmonton is the fact that they've had to come back in both. and one and one, I guess you could say they lost the lead and then wanted to double overtime, but interesting how Edmonton seems to always be able to find a goal when they need it. But I don't know if they want to keep tempting fate that often with the Florida Panthers team that has had success, understands what it takes to win and ultimately will lock down games when they absolutely need to. and ultimately will lock down games when they absolutely need to. Do you think Sam McKee and Elsay and myself too, because I joined in on that, are way off base when making the Connor McDavid comments?

I believe he said best player to ever wear skates. Is he worthy of those superlatives at this point? He's getting there. I don't know if he's quite attained that status, but he certainly as the package He's got everything that it takes to become that that type of player. I think he needs a little bit more longevity and He's missing a what else is missing a large trophy You know, it's a You know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's really, it's kind of not fair, but it's fair that we can sit there and, and marvel at certain guys over the course of their careers.

And there, there's a number of them prongs in history that can go back to Marcel Dion, Gilbert Perrault, we're talking about very, very talented guys, but without that silver trophy, man, it goes down many notches on how they're remembered. It does. And yes, hockey is a team sport, but I think they have shown him and Dreisaitl, the one-two punch that they have there, that given an opportunity, they can at least get them there. The issue is they need that surrounding cast and then chip in, which they did in the first three rounds and, and now have not, you know, losing Hyman Hertz in the goal front.

Uh, Corey Perry has, uh, you know, scored some huge goals for him. Uh, but they need more from the rest of the supporting cast to be able to finish it and win this year against the strong Florida Panthers team who you know as I'm hopping on you're talking about Todd Marchand who plays on the third line and has scored big goals for Florida throughout the course's playoffs and plays a pivotal role on that third line you know and even their fourth line, they don't get a ton of ice time,

but they don't lose momentum for their team. They're still dumping and chasing, grinding, playing physical, wearing on their opponent, and not spending a ton of time in their own end, which gives Paul Maurice that comfort in knowing he can throw them out there and he can give the top three lines a little break when they need it. Well first off, Chris, not to correct you, you did say Todd Marchand.

I think you've got some memories of your Anaheim days creeping in there. Who was speaking of Stanley Cups? Yeah, but but to that point like to the depth. Same stature. Totally different speed levels. I remember Todd had a little bit higher top gear I think. But looking at these, the way that Florida plays and how hard they are on these top guys and you know, McDavid and Dry Settle obviously have held their own against everyone who keys on them every series. Can two guys, can they do enough if these other guys don't step in, don't chip in, are they special enough that they could do it essentially on their own? I know that's exaggerating. It always takes more than that, but you know what I mean. No, I do know what you mean. Frankly, I don't know.

I don't know. They've been able to will themselves into that first game, whether they deserve it or not. Well, that's for the naysayers to suggest. But, you know, I think they can get to even with those two players, but they are going to have to rely on some other players in their lineup to provide some offense or some momentum swings throughout the course of the game. And they get it sporadically, but they don't get it often enough. You're watching and listening to Chris Pronger, Hall of Famer, Stanley Cup champion, gold medalist.

So, Prongs, I can't believe I'm going to ask you this question, but Sam Bennett falling on goalies, what are we going to do about this? Yeah, well, it seems like every time somebody bumps a goalie, something else gets brought up. We are maybe two people on this call that were involved with it, but... What do you think? It seems to become a regular occurrence. And I fall on both sides of it. Do I think the latest one was on purpose? I actually do.

Which got the penalty? Yes, of course. Which was penalty worthy? Which was a penalty, but there was a lot of people, players, former players saying that was not a penalty. Ekholm was pushing him directly to the side and he fell this way. So you do the math on that. Nick, you could maybe speak better to that.

Well, no, no. But you know, at the end of the day, when we evaluate, it's like he gets up, he plays and you move on. If he tweaks a knee, if it's a twisted of an ankle by chance We are talking about a different conversation, correct? Yeah. Oh, absolutely if Stuart Skinner is hurt We are absolutely having a different conversation if you were behind the bench right now What would you be telling if you're Paul Maurice right now? What do you tell Sam Bennett?

Hey, take it easy here. I mean, you're not, you're not, or just, hey, you're okay. Keep doing your thing. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. You do not tell him to, you do not tell him to change one thing in his game. Okay. He's their leading goal scorer.

He's been, he's pushing the envelope though. He's their leading goal scorer. He's been money. He's pushing the envelope though. He is. And you know what? Sometimes you have to. Okay. That's the way he plays. To the best of his abilities and he's playing at the highest level for him, he's occasionally crossing that line and may or may not get a speeding ticket as our friend Brian Burke used to say but for him to play to the best of his abilities for the Florida Panthers he's got to play on the edge and from time to time he will cross it but that that gets the most out of him and they get the most mileage out of him and his skill set when he plays that way. Prongswell can you

tell us about how important the situation is for a defenseman in terms of their ability to play the best? I'm talking about Seth Jones going from a team that wasn't very good. You plug him in on Florida, and all of a sudden, he looks like one of the 10 best demon in the league some nights.

Like, you know, the way he skates, his size, he's even physical right now like he just seems to be a different guy. Well I think sometimes it's the system that you play in too. They have very tight gaps, Florida that is, they have very tight gaps, they play with an edge, they're moving their feet all the time, he's allowed to use his skill set, his tools, great and good skater you know maybe lost a step in the mobility department as we look at his early parts of his career and see him now. But good first pass, can provide offensive production, good shot.

You know, we've kind of seen him from the time he's gotten there to now throughout the course of these playoffs get stronger and stronger and stronger and really kind of feel out his role and understand how he needs to play to help his team win and and he's really flourished and thrived under Paul Maurice's system. Hey Prongs, a lot's been made the last couple of days with so much time off that Edmonton head coach Nal Block changed up the defensive pairs completely, all three of them. So what we've seen in the past between I guess Ekholm and Bouchard now looks like Nerson Bouchard, Klinberg and Ekholm and Wallman and Kulak here. If you were walking into that dressing room the other day and you saw all the switches

and you weren't really told about them, how would that make you feel as a defenseman going in? I know as a winger, as a fourth line guy, sometimes I'd like see a switch up and I'm like, I'm excited for it because I can only get better players, right, on the fourth line. But what about these guys? If in fact that, is it a smoke screen

or is he legitimately thinking about a complete reboot in the pairings? I think he's trying to find the best fit for the matchups that he's looking for against the Florida Panthers top nine. And I don't think Nersz and Kulak have had the best start to this series previous series I thought they played really really well

Bouchard and Ekholm have been okay obviously Bouchard has been up in the attack and providing offense and when you cheat for offense you're gonna have some breakdowns and one thing Darnell Nurse does very well is defend and he's mobile and we don't know how at home is feeling. You know, can he take it looked to me like in that last game, he looked a little tired. He looked a little, uh, uh, not a lackadaisical, but he didn't have the same jump or energy or jam to his game, the second half of that hockey game, and then on into the over times. So that might play a part in it too,

because Evan Bouchard plays a lot, and Darnell Nurse can play those types of minutes. And Klingberg has been very effective. You get the two Swedes together, and then you've got Kulak and Wall and, and, and Walman who played together earlier in the playoffs and played pretty well together. So it gives them a lot of optionality, I think on the back end to first select matchups and who they want to move around. But I think, I think part of it might be if these are the actual pairings, I think one of it is, you

know, they want to play Bouchard and Nurse a lot more. So at home couldn't quite match up with being out as long as he was out. That's a lot of minutes to eat up for a guy just coming back in. So you expect some legit changes back there then based on on what we saw the other day in practice? I wouldn't doubt it. Okay. You know, it would make a lot of sense based on what I saw in game two from at home and

based on the Kulak-Nurse pairing and, you know, struggle might be a strong word, but they had some issues, you know, switching it up. And that's the beauty of their back end right now is they're very versatile. They can move guys around. When you look at their left side, Ekholm and Nurse are defensive defensemen. Bouchard and Klingberg are offensive. So moving them around makes a lot of sense.

Wallman and Kulak, both mobile, both puck movers, both able to jump in the attack. And then you have stat rooms at 7d They're pretty mobile and active back there and I like the The optionality of being able to change it up a little bit. Certainly. I don't think it hurts them So so far the goaltending hasn't hurt the oilers either Do you watch this series with Stu Skinner in mind as like a oh god I hope this doesn't bite them sort of thing. Or are you of the belief that look, he's shown in enough big games that he could be that he's solid.

He's made some really good stops. Yeah. Throughout the course of the playoffs, since he came back in against Vegas, then again, against Dallas, and even in, in game one and game two, he made a number of good stops. There's been a number of shots that have kind of hit him up in the shoulder area, but he's been very square. and the St. Louis and Dallas, Elibach was very hunched over and looked very small in the net for a really big guy. And that shows a lack of confidence. In this case, with Skinner being as big as he is and looking big in there,

I think that's a positive for the Edmunds-Noyles. I'm going to go kind of against the grain on you on that one, and I'm a firm believer of it's the ones that you don't make you get judged on than the ones that you do make. And I didn't like Marchand's game winning goal. Leaky, he's there. Maybe the paddle should have been down, maybe it shouldn't. But that one, you need that save there. Oh, absolutely.

And that's the difference maker in that, as you know, it's not how many you make, it's when you make them. And they needed that save in that particular moment. And it was, to your point, it wasn't like he came in unabated with nobody harassing him and had full control. He kind of lost it as he came over to his back end and just looked like he tipped it. I don't know if he didn't have his paddle down. I don't know if it missed his paddle. But no, it was leaky. There's no question, Nick. But I don't, I'm not gonna hold that. I think he's been pretty good. Yeah, no, I agree. Has he been excellent? No, because if he was excellent he would have made that save. But he's been really good and above average for what he showed in the first series against

LA when he got pulled. So you've been in so many of these playoff series. What type of adjustments start to happen after a couple games when you go from home to the road? What are you looking at doing differently as a team? Well, I think in Nikon and Tessit, sometimes you want to get on the road. Especially in the Stanley Cup Finals, you're away from all the pomp and circumstance. You're away from all the family and all the craziness.

And you're just at the hotel with your teammates, immersed in preparing for what you need to do and how you need to perform and how you need to execute and thinking about the subtle changes maybe that the coaching staff is going to put into place or what you can do if you're a centreman, what you can do on face-offs better if you're a defenceman, you know, how can you get the net, use the net, how can you clear for the front of the net, all the little details, all those little intangibles that the casual fan doesn't really pick up on and those subtle adjustments of the defenseman not standing in the crease or having their feet near the blue

paint but moving up a foot or two so that those cross-ice passes from side to side aren't hitting and with an opponent trying to move him from the front of the net or, you know, take a stick away, what have you. We've seen a lot of ux go in off defensemen this playoff over the course of, you know, what are we at? 80 games or whatever it is all the way up and down. And there's been a lot of goals scored off defensemen's feet, legs, whatnot. And at this juncture in this stage of the playoffs and Stanley Cup finals you want to try to negate any small issue like that happening on your watch. Prongs just one more quick one for me as Sammy's telling me we're squeezing a little bit of time here but I really value your opinion as a top

defenseman in the league over many many years on what Seth Jones is doing right now and where he came from out of Chicago where he was kind of you know in the league over many, many years on what Seth Jones is doing right now and where he came from out of Chicago, where he was kinda, you know, his career as a top defenseman was kinda dead and buried over there. And now all of a sudden he's doing what he's doing. And sometimes is it just about putting a guy

in a situation to succeed? Well, I think you're walking into a room that has the winning pedigree and the culture. You don't come in there and try to change them to you. You're going in and you're changing your outlook. You're changing your mentality to the people in that locker room and the culture that they've created from the head, from ownership to management to the coaching staff, to the star players that are in that locker room that have already won and they're now bringing you along for the ride

and trying to win another one. You know, I think it's provided a new glimmer of hope in his career that he probably felt was fading in Chicago, losing listless every night. And I think his attitude was lowered to that standard, which was we're gonna lose every single night. And now is the standard is we're gonna win every single night and we're gonna compete.

And as we know with the Florida Panthers, they're gonna drag everybody into the fight every single night. And just knowing and preparing every game that you never know what's gonna happen on the ice with them. And the physical side of it, big guy, he needs to use his body, his skating ability, jumping up in the attack, providing offense.

And then the way he defends, long stick, mobile, able to cut down the ice in half and really kind of segment the defensive zone and force his man in the corner where he can then create turnovers and use his good stick. So he has been, I think he's been a little bit better as I mentioned earlier throughout the course of the playoffs, but I think he's been better maybe than they expected at this stage of him getting there. You know, he didn't get off to a great start when he was in Florida. And, you know, I think it,

as we know, it takes a little bit of time to adjust to a new system, new style. And also the compete level that they bring each and every night is going to be a lot different than what he saw in Chicago. Awesome stuff as always on our show, man. We really appreciate your time. Prongs, thanks for doing this. Enjoy the game game three tonight Thank you Oilers. That is the one the only Chris Pronger one of the best To ever suit up on any blue line Yeah

He's he's bang on with a lot of that stuff I like the part about being two feet in front of the crease when you're conducting those battles Yeah, got to be aware where you are with a lot of that stuff. I like the part about being two feet in front of the crease when you're conducting those battles. Yeah. Gotta be aware where you are. Yeah, Sam Vance. Sam Vance, Sam Vance, such a dirt bag. It's so funny how it's like, if you were a parent,

you'd be like, oh, stop it. We know exactly what you're doing. Can't win without dirt bags. Duh. And that's why I'm saying that I'd like the Leafs to pay him $10 million to do it. You need a dirt bag in Toronto Sammy so badly. Yeah, I know I'm fully aware Yeah, okay. Go ahead. I just like you know

Florida has three ufas that are kind of dirt bags You know and then every one the Leafs are just like good. Could we have one of them? Please send us a bag of dirt. How about we sign Jason Spezza instead? Anyways, Game Time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app, play the Stodds, and find out why it's ever ordinary at Bet365, it's 19+, Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. Pretty surprising line tonight for the hockey game. Let me guess, let me guess, let me guess. Florida Panthers. Favorites. Minus 130. Yes. Let me guess. Let me guess Florida Panthers favorites Minus 130 they are minus 140 favorites the Edmonton Oilers are plus 120 in this hockey game tonight As I quickly I'm just gonna see the what the actual series is that?

So it's pretty close. It's minus 105 minus 115 minus 105 minus 105 for the Oilers, minus 115 for the Florida Panthers. So they think tonight is not necessarily a deciding factor. But I mean, I read this, I had this stat in the lineup here that when a best of seven Stanley Cup final is tied 1-1, the winner of game three holds an all-time series record of 23 and seven. 767 winning percentage. That's a pretty big number. I know it's historical. I know it doesn't necessarily matter as much, but like...

No, that matters. To me, that's a huge number. And I don't know. I just think anytime you can get this version of the Edmonton Oilers as a plus 120 underdog, feels like something you got to take. I wonder though, this Hyman thing matters, man. It does. It really matters. But they've scored. They've scored in the game No, I know but he's their guy who falls on the goalie and he's their guy who punishes their D on the four check And like as the series goes on not how they have Kane they have some guys who do it Frederick supposed to do it

but but where is Brown in game three to seven potentially? And where is Kapanen potentially from now to game seven? So those are the kind of question marks, but they don't just help. It might not be enough. They gotta turn themselves into, you know, poor man's hymen for the Oilers.

Can they hit a window of seven to 10 days where they're playing out of their minds? Because that's what it's going to take. Yeah. I think, I think Kappen and Ken, I don't know, you know, like he's, he's a gifted player. He's got the talent, the ability. I would say over the course of his career, there's been frustration that he can't quite be what you know he can be at his best. I think he's taking care of himself

He's trying to seize an opportunity here a guy and Just looking at anytime goal scorers for tonight. I've been a lot of talk. Maybe we'll play the clip of Alex about Alexander Barkov such a bark of Zero points through the first couple games minus four Of course Paul Maurice gave a smarmy answer about it smarmed it right up, but I Would like give me a Alex Barkov anytime goal tonight at plus 220 gets off the Schneid and he gets one on home

Ice so that's my shot for an anytime goal score And that was game time presented by bet three six five visit the athlete is thoughts and find out why is ever ordinary at bet Three six five. That's my plus on terror only please play responsibly Okay, still plenty more on the real kipper and born show. We'll take a quick break when we return We'll talk about a potential three-way trade that the Leafs may have may not have been involved Sammy Yeah, and I'm also seeing edits on my Twitter. I least latest It's like an account that like, you know, just aggregates everything I mean, I love it because it just really lays everything for me

But today I saw an edit of mishmarner and a Florida Panthers Union like what the hell is going on? Anyways, we can talk about Also also some news out of Ottawa where their owner Michael and lower said he He won't commit to spending full salary cap and whether or not this was a good idea or not. So that's always tough. We're a small market team.

He says save it. Save it. We're going to break Sammy back for more real good. Sammy's itching here. Don't go away. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Gutting. We got you covered on all things Leafs, Raptors and Blue Jays every weekday

morning, six to nine. It's the fan morning show Sportsnet 590, the fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. As a reminder, this hour, Real Kipper and Boran brought to you by bet 365. The Kipper Real's Justin Boran, Sammy McKee. All right, we kind of left off on the Ottawa Senators. So let's let's pick that up. Sammy. Ottawa owner says he won't commit to spending full cap and that and they quote as it stands

right now our cash over cap is higher which I mean I don't know really what that means but it's it's not exciting news for the Ottawa senator fans. He's saying we're spending more than you think we're spending. Just lie. No, no, don't lie. Just say yeah. Don't lie. Don't lie, just spend to the cap.

Don't lie. Or that. Don't say anything at all. No comment? What would you, if you're as passionate as him. We're doing everything we can to improve the Ottawa Senators senators and whatever that means to you we know what it means to us and

We'll look at everything in it. We're not gonna spend the money just to spend the money But if we have the opportunity to put a winning product on the ice, we're not gonna not spend to do it Million ways you can go around it. Yeah. But saying that just will kind of go, didn't we just go through that with the last owner about money and complaining and telling us that we could move? Like didn't we go through all that? I actually don't like, we're a small market team

more than anything else, where it's like, the excitement of the new owner thing was that you're gonna run it like a competitive team They're gonna go up against the big boys and then when you win and you get in playoffs and you go deep make a lot Of money. Yeah, you know, that's where the money is like Okay, three is better than what they've had for the last gazillion years. It's great. Okay, so it's a start. Yeah. It's a good start, but the problem is, is the last little while there was, I don't know how the debt got cleaned up.

That was not my business, but they accumulated a lot of debt over the last few years. And it sounds like they may have still lost money this year. So that's what this is. This is what it sounds to me. But when he bought the team with it and debt not have been part of what had to get cleared up in the process or the debt you just you just take on the debt. In a 2021 Canadian census, the city of Ottawa had a population of 1.017 million, while Edmonton's

population was 1.0... They're within a few thousand people, almost exactly the size of Edmonton and Ottawa. The oilers are a big deal. They do not do small numbers across Canada. I know they've been around way longer. The last two years years People would be like It will blow their minds of how much money the Edmonton or say what the last two years or do they make glass? That's right family cup finals last Friday. This is my point though. Everyone's like yeah, the Oilers have won

You're allowed to win too. You win and you build your brand as a winner and your city of champions Spend a win and it build your brand as a winner and your city of champions, spend a win and it all comes back. Did I hear that the 50-50 at the rink was like in the millions? Yeah, is it accumulated over X amount of games or something? The Jayscare one that you buy, is it like a lottery thing? I buy those tickets and never remember to check them. I have a few open. You know remember to check

Remember to check them but like like first of all, it's also a crappy thing. I hate that what I don't like You're in the building pull the number More winners, I personally love our J's Care foundation And he's right it's like Go check your tickets a month later. I remember three Saturdays from now to go what jacket was I wearing? Gone do I have to have my physical ticket to win? Yeah, you still do. Oh Putting that ticket up on the refrigerator There's one thing though that like Western Canada takes pride in. It's like, boy they love a 50-50.

Good! I mean, I'm a big- They should. Anytime I go to a junior hockey game, I buy an arm's length. It's just, it's what I do. Yeah, you go there, you win 14 grand, you go home happy. I went to the Oxford Generals game at every, arm, give me an arm's length.

Mike Futer tells the story all the time on there. He was there scouting a game. He won, who? World Juniors. Futer. No, he didn't. Futes. I don't know. 50,000 or somethingouting a game world juniors 50,000 or something no 50,000 no is it world juniors world juniors I don't know that but yeah I think I was there I don't know yeah point covering the world

juniors back there in the building they pulled this ticket they got us money he went home so the point is 50 50s rock and the center of the sense of a new cheapo owner Tough breaks and space derailed there sir, they're worried about the salary cap. We're like, where's the new rank? I just got a Texas said that feuds total was higher than 50 anyway, I Can't remember if it was Memorial Cup or World Juniors, but it was one of them. Yeah Uh, I still got every nickel by the way. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah of it. Absolutely not to you know Make this a bigger conversation, but I think we're gonna see more of this voice Well, that's a great way to take it like

All a lot of these owners are going oh I could do the 80 million cap 130 or whatever It's gonna be in seven years and the exciting part of a team that is disgustingly rich and will never have to worry about that is Finally having that financial might and being one of the big market teams that like will flex that muscle Yeah, it's like oh my god an advantage for being popular for once I'm fine with you guys piling on Dubas all the time, but he got a really tough belt I mean, he definitely got barbecued by like there's no question as he signed those deals

They're like, oh by the way that wiggle room gone five five years. Listen, there's something to that I'll I'll concede that and the other thing too, especially when you're talking about as He stated we're a small market team, is that's 83 US. Yeah, that's a lot. Yeah. Convert that and find out how many beers you gotta sell to hit the 83 to, what is it, Sammy, 110 Canadian?

It's gotta be higher. 83 million dollars US in rupees is the first thing that comes up, in Canadian dollars. Yeah. $83 million US in rupees is the first thing comes up in Canadian. Yeah. $113 million. One. I'll get you. Go.

It's like this guy knows all the money. Pretty sure. Calculate. This guy's got four American accounts. He knows the money. Think about that for one second. Yeah. And then if it goes to 130 in like five or six years.

Yeah, and it will. Bucks 65. Buck 65. 177, Shmill. 177. All right now. All right. There you go. So let's get that loony back up on par.

I saw a lot of Sleemans to make that up. Oh, it's smoke. Wow. Not sure where we're. We still sell steel. They don't want steel anymore. Spencer Carberry won the Jack Adams award. Now, did you see, I did catch on Instagram his family bringing the award. How did they give it to him? They threw it at a paper plane through his window?

They pretended he was doing an on-air interview for Monumental, which is their local... Our boy Alan May. Yeah, with Alan May. And then they had his immediate family, his wife, his kids, bring in the Jack Adams trophy, which I thought it was kind of nice. Yeah, I will say the Barkov one, I thought it was really cool.

I didn't see this one. I didn't see the Barkov one. But this is the thing, we're not getting to see them, which is too bad. And then we're, I mean, are you watching the awards show either? So. Touché. No, but you know It's more of a mass it gets the masses quicker when they're when you do a show

Mm-hmm, then this way they're having a show on Thursday. Yeah, what is the show? They're given a it's on sports night at six o'clock Which I will be glued to It's it's they're giving out the heart and the Vesna At this well that may have already leaked. I don't know if you guys saw this, but there was some media We want to present it live. Oh, no. No, I'm just reporting. Oh, no. He's just reporting right here. I think Stop it. We're doing a broad. See What did you see? Don't worry about it. I'm going on right now I'm just going by what's out there What's out there? Yeah

Someone somewhere thought they saw some leak of a media release with like the faded image of Connor Hellebuck in the backyard with The Vezna and the heart trophy. Oh, okay. So if it's on the internet, it must be true. Both? I'm not telling you the truth. I'm telling you what I heard. Wow. All right. I don't know. Should be Leon.

Should be Leon. It's not enough to not watch the program to find out if it's true. Yeah. But here's like the good part is like, there's no credibility to it whatsoever because we don't know who's reporting it. For sure. It's just what you saw. No, it was- I saw Mitch Marner in a Florida Panthers jersey today at the internet.

And it could be anything, it could be true. Yeah. Well, and actually, Paul Maurice recently did a part of his press conference where he talked about being mad. I guess there was some AI version. You know, you see all these guys fake press conferences. Where he was talking about, you know, where he said that coaches shouldn't touch the Stanley Cup.

And he's like, I never said that. I've been sent a few AI things by people I will not name because I don't want to embarrass them publicly. But the AI stuff is just like, you're getting wild. I got to tell you, it's been tough on campus generation. The people who sent it to me are answering. They may live in the house that I grew up in. Would you defend everything you see now or hear about yourself on the internet?

No, you'd be around at 24 hours a day. It's it's getting hard to establish truths getting harder to establish a Unified truth of reality and it's yeah, there's stuff out there now that you know, we've had twice I think we've had guests on this show be like, I don't know if you guys saw that thing, and we're like, wait, what? And it was like some AI thing that didn't happen. Yeah.

So just be careful out there. Just make sure you send it to your daughter or son. They'll look at it for you. Yeah. They'll make sure you have it. And at a glance, they'll be like, not real. No, extremely not real. Quickly, I don't know if you care about this or not,

but the Gavin McKenna stuff with him going to the States, do you care about this at all? Sure. I just. About all the good players jumping ship now to go to college. Breaks my heart, yeah. College hockey rules.

Yeah, I know you love it, but like. I do love it, it's so cool. It is, for like, the American guys. Yeah. The know you love it. But like I do love it. It's so cool It is for like the American guys Yeah, the only thing that bothers me too is like Gavin McKenna is the lifeblood of medicine hat It's like I'm gonna get millions to go to Penn State go like go to school then I'm gonna get Alberta like you're only going here's you're only going there for a year year and a half And then you're gonna jump ship and turn pro. It's like what? Because they because kipper now with an IL I get all that they can get paid and how could you ever think you're taking? experience for a year

You know, there's no 16 year olds playing for Michigan State guys. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I don't know I mean, I just think it the system should still be set up for students. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I just think the system should still be set up for students. Oh yeah, no, it's a joke. That is one thing here. To me, that's a joke that the players will go down there for a year and a half to just take the money and then run. Intro to Penguin Training

and whatever else they take. No, you should be going to Penn State because you want an education, because you want to go to school. A great education there. Right? I just, I am, you know, a diehard junior hockey guy at heart. And I am concerned about the future a little bit when it's like, it's a copy, everything

is copycat. And it's Gavin McKenna, who is the best player in junior hockey, is copying. I don't know how much he's going to get off. He's declaring the best path for the next ones Yeah, where it's like oh so I can go make I don't know what two million bucks For one year to play before I make it to the pros development It's like, you know go up to this level with some older people and you know This is kind of gonna be the I don't know. I just it really is scary to me

It's scary for smaller markets like Owen Sound too. For sure. Like I just really worry like I said before we got into it Gavin McKenna is like the next coming of Connor McDavid and You're a medicine hat person who now in his draft year where he's gonna be the absolute best He's about to be he's gonna go dominate the world juniors like it's the big year Mm-hmm. Oh, he's like, I'm gonna go make three dominate the world juniors. Like it's the big year. Oh, he's like, I'm gonna go make three million bucks and play in America. Even though I'm from the Yukon, I came here,

I was drafted here. It's just really against the spirit of like Canadian junior hockey to me. It's really upsetting. I think. Sorry. I think we're gonna see. He's from the Yukon?

Yeah, he's from the Yukon. Between now and maybe another year, year and a half, two years, we're gonna see a lot of different rules Shaping up. They're just not they're just not Like in terms of blocking it's all yes Organize in terms of tightening everything up Between the Federation's and

The NHL led by Gary Bettman and Bill Daley they've got to make sure that the system is healthy for everyone. They cannot see the CHL bearing the USHL, and they cannot see the NCAA bearing the CHL. It serves no purpose to have one eating the other. So they've gotta come up with something that makes sure that it's healthy for everybody. Yep.

There is enough sunshine for everybody here. I know, for sure. But just on the surface. Exactly, it just feels like it's, as soon as you get NIL involved, it seems like it's the absolute wild west. What you see right now isn't how it's I know as soon as you get NIL involved. It seems like it's the absolute Why don't you see right now? Isn't how it's gonna end up and and to your point? Wild wild wild west doesn't work for anybody and and they just can't have guys going from

0 to 10 million dollars there has to be something in between that makes sense I know guys. I know the Collegiate Development Alliance, like there's these other leagues that can form and ways for these people to develop and often, things are shaping up behind the scenes right now, and it's just gonna look very different from how it's looking. It is, and Gary and Bill Daley have a big say

in all of this because these are their future players here. Absolutely. So they're gonna, I'm sure behind the scenes they're working hard on finding a solution. It's crazy like basketball's had the college as a sham thing forever, right? One and done. Yeah, because they used to be drafted at a high school.

LeBron was drafted at a high school. Kevin Garnett, high school. That's like that, think about that. The one thing I do want to see is terrific junior hockey right now in North America. They're gonna have to rebuild that whole thing. There needs to be, the Memorial Cup is great, but it's old and stale.

I gotta add in a couple of new teams from a different league or something. Exactly. Yeah, I'm okay with that. And possibly involve the USHL in the North American Championship. Totally fine with that. And that brings in a little bit more, you know, nationalism and pride and the different teams

from the different countries. I like that. So I guess there's a stale like a final game tonight. We didn't really need to talk about that for that long. But it's an interesting topic. Help Him, it's game three here, folks. Huge, huge, huge, huge huge point it's like this is Stanley Cup winner no winner three it's not these teams are so good you know so far

through two games yeah they've been within one goal of each other the entire time except for 70 seconds they there's been four lead changes in just two games like this is tight it's tight who you like tonight what I just love how the combination of I think experience from previous series that you're seeing and physicality I think Florida moves the puck better than Edmonton so yeah I do I think they're better passing team and there's there's windows where I watch the Florida Panthers pass and I'm like wow I mean they're they're a true team right they're top to bottom that the the one thing I would be worried about for

Edmonton is that if if it doesn't go well tonight then the onus is more on Connor on Leon to make more individual efforts, which could put a lot of stress on the Oilers. You got to get one in Florida for the Oilers. You'd sure like to do it the first night. Give me the oil tonight. Another overtime game. Game three tonight.

I'm going to take Florida. Pre-game starts 730. Puck drop after 8 p.m. on Sportsnet and the CBC. Enjoy game three and we're back tomorrow on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. Thanks to Chris Pronger, Hall of Famer, for joining us. Enjoy your night everybody! You